Page 37 of Twice the Rivalry

Code sat back down, put on the headset, and announced, “Alright, I’m here. I’ve got eyes on the others, and they’re definitely trying to figure out where you are.”

Glitch tried to ignore the way his voice filled her head, how he sounded so calm and collected, like this was just another day at the office. She could admit to herself that it was kind of impressive, but she would never admit it to anyone else. She let out a low curse as her hacker once again attacked her firewall with everything he had, almost slipping past her before she could stop him. Damn, this guy was good, which meant she needed to focus more on him and less on what was going on around her.

She would not allow him to succeed.

As she worked, she tuned everyone else out while she wracked her brain on who he could be. She allowed herself a brief moment to look at the camera feed again, taking him in. She figured his height was over six feet, though she couldn’t quite tell from this angle with how he was sitting. An idea sprang into her mind, and she cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner. She slammed a wall down on him again, and she heard him curse again through the feed. Then she activated the webcam on her computer and finally got a full view of his face.

As soon as she saw him, she felt the familiarity. She had definitely seen him before. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black in the screen’s light, and they were currently narrowed in concentration. His shoulders were a bit bulky, but from the tightness of his black shirt, she could see that his arms and chest also sported some muscle. She had to figure he was a gym rat, but his fingers moved over the keyboard at lightning speed, so he spent a good amount of time in front of his computer too.

She just couldn’t quite place him.

“Who are you?” she whispered, stopping him once again from skirting her firewall. Anger flared in his eyes, and if she wasn’t mistaken, hatred. Now that was surprising. Who hated her that much? Sure, she didn’t really make friends, and she had some enemies, but this, this was a look of personal hatred that made her sit up and take notice.

“They’re done tossing the place,” she heard Simba remark, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked at her other screen and saw that they had indeed tossed all the bedrooms, and had done the same to the common room. Hell, they had even smashed their TV and gaming consoles. Seemed they were angry they hadn’t found anything.

“They’re heading for your guy, Glitch,” Karissa added gravely.

No one said a word as they watched them head into her office. She took them in carefully. There was nothing distinguishing about them. No skin showed except for the small openings around their eyes and mouths. “No one’s here,” one of the men barked furiously as he stormed into her office. She was right, he was American.

“I can’t find a single fucking trace of them here, either,” another one cursed, bringing a foot up and kicking over her small shelf full of additional supplies. Anger simmered in her gut at that, but she knew it didn’t matter. Nothing there was extremely valuable, but it still pissed her off that she would have to replace it all.

“You think they knew we were coming and took off?” the first guy asked. “I thought you said they didn’t know we were even back in the country. You fucking slipping again?”

“I’m not slipping,” her hacker bit out. “And you fuckers need to shut the fuck up. They got cameras around here, and I bet they got audio, so you’re giving plenty to go off of.”

“Like I give a shit,” one of the men in the doorway scoffed. “Let them come. I’ll leave them a nice surprise.” To emphasize his point, he pulled out a lighter, and she saw a quick flash of glee in his eyes.

“Someone likes fire. That’s sure to have come up at some point in his career,” Vulture said softly.

“On it,” Code replied equally softly, already clicking away.

Something niggled in the back of her mind, but she still couldn’t place it. It was frustrating as hell. Who the hell were these guys?

“There were a few guys who were fire bugs,” Karissa remarked absently, clearly also trying to place him. “Can’t be that many though. Fuck, I wish I could remember that shit faster.”

“Why the hell is it taking so long to get into this shit?” the first guy demanded, pulling them all back to the present.

“Because she’s a fucking hacker and knows her shit,” hacker boy snarled. “And she knows we’re here, because she’s keeping me out.”

“Which means they’re probably monitoring the cameras,” the main guy summarized, glancing around the room. She saw the moment he noticed the camera, and she saw the evil smile that pulled his lips through the hole in his mask.

“They’re going to be dumbasses aren’t they?” Taz groaned. “It’s so cliche.”

“Can’t be too smart,” Copper agreed.

“I give it ten seconds before they all pull their balaclavas off like they do in those shitty gangster movies,” Taz predicted.

Glitch didn’t care about the rest of them. She wanted to know who the hacker was, because he was the one who seemed to have the most beef with her. And she really wanted to put a face to the man she would humiliate.

As predicted, all the men, minus her hacker, pulled off their masks and looked up at the camera. “Bet you don’t remember us,” the main man scoffed.

“Running facial recognition now,” Code announced. “Glitch, your guy still trying to get through?”

“Yep,” she replied gravely. “Though now that they’re talking to him, he doesn’t seem to be as focused.”

“Good,” Simba said. “Good job, Glitch.”

She accepted the praise, but didn’t pay much attention to anything else. Who the hell was he?

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