Page 68 of Twice the Rivalry

Glitch stared at her screen, and then on a hunch, she did a deep dive into her firewalls, and that’s when she saw it. “Oh you fucker,” she hissed. “No fucking way.”

“What’s wrong?” Code asked, concerned. She heard his chair creak as he turned around but she didn’t bother to glance his way.

“That asshole Slip is trying to covertly hack my system,” she bit out.

“Fuck,” Code hissed. “Let me in and I’ll help.”

“No, I got this,” she barked. “You keep working on trying to track them. I can handle him, but if we’re going to catch them, we need to figure out how the hell they’re getting around.”

“That’s why they’re out and about,” Simba said grimly. “They wanted us to see them, and now you’ve just announced yourself online again. Can he track you to where you are?”

“No, I’m re-routing myself all over the world, and I’m behind some pretty damn big firewalls,” she assured him absently.

“Good. Less chance of him heading your way before we can get back,” Simba said.

“I think I found how they’re staying mostly out of view,” Code announced. “If you look just at the edge of the frame facing the coffee shop, you can see a flash of white, but if you look at the frame from another camera down the street, you can see it’s a white van. They haven’t approached it, but it’s a white utility van with no signage, and the license plate isn’t registered to the vehicle itself.”

“It’s big enough that Slip could be in the back, set up without worrying about being seen,” Glitch agreed as she slammed down another wall on Slip’s attempt to break past it.

“Sounds like a very cheesy FBI movie,” Taz remarked with a snort. “Damn, these boys need to get out more.”

“Code, you said you don’t see Slip or Spook?” Simba asked.

“Not yet,” Code replied grimly. “I’m wondering if they could be there but just in disguise. Hazard and Maggot were the bait in case Slip could track Glitch through her tracking them, while Crisp and Spook are around somewhere asking questions to try and find you through word of mouth.”

“Well look at that, he does have a brain,” Taz drawled. “Damn, Glitch must finally be rubbing off on you.”

“Fuck off,” Code grunted, and Glitch snickered. Taz laughed, unfazed.

“Is there any way to run partial facials or anything that would pinpoint possible people to watch for?” Vulture asked.

“I can do partial facial recognition,” Code replied carefully. “But I can’t guarantee that it’s going to be accurate. If they’re wearing sunglasses, the most I can go by is their facial structure. And some people know how to obscure their face enough that the software would skip right over them.”

“It’s also possible that Slip is making sure you can’t spot them,” Glitch said thoughtfully, smiling smugly as she booted Slip out once again. Bet that pissed him off, she thought.

“I never understand any of this computer shit,” Warg groaned.

“All you need to know is that we know what he could be doing and since we know, we can work to get past it,” Code told him simply. “Still, from what I can see, they’re on Main Street, and they’re clearly trying to figure out if anyone knows who you are. Hazard went into another coffee shop down the road, and Maggot is in an antique store.”

“Like bulls in a china shop,” Taz snorted.

Glitch tuned them out as she continued to block Slip’s every attempt. He improved his skills through the years, but he still hadn’t learned the art of subtlety. It was tempting to taunt him, but she knew it wasn’t smart. It would just open her up to him trying to hack his way in and find her location. But with each attempt and each passing minute, she could tell his frustration was mounting. He was getting sloppy, and almost angry in his approach. Or at least, it seemed that way to her since she knew him enough to know that he didn’t like to be denied.

“Oh, they’re on the move,” Code suddenly announced, pulling her back to the present. “Both men are heading toward the white van.”

“So they are in there,” Simba remarked. “Glitch, is Slip still trying?”

“Trying and failing miserably,” she answered happily. “And he’s not happy about it, from how sloppy he’s getting.”

“Alright, Code, can you track them while Glitch continues to hold him off?” Simba asked.

“Already on it,” Code told him absently, clicking away furiously. She glanced over her shoulder at him, seeing him wholly concentrated on his screens. She felt a stirring in her gut and forced herself to look away.

God, she was getting to be such a sap, she thought to herself in annoyance. A little good sex and she was sleeping in the same bed, all curled up against him, and now thinking she liked seeing him like this. She was losing her damn mind. She turned back to the task at hand and nearly laughed when she saw that Slip had sent her a message.

Slip: I will find you, Eliza. You can’t keep me out forever, and when you finally make a mistake, I’ll be there to end this once and for all.

She knew better than to answer, but she couldn’t help herself. Careful to make sure he still wouldn’t be able to find her location or any information on her, she shot him back a message.

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