“I did not turn her into a hacker,” Ian said. “Actually, that’s not true. I did. But social engineering is human hacking. I taught her how to manipulate people so they’ll do what she tells them to do. Then I hack them.”
Chad started laughing. “This is awesome. I love how this family has been shaken up over the past year. Our street cred just keeps getting better and better.”
“Kate’s been instrumental in helping me get my company off the ground again. She’s smart, confident, and fearless.”
“She really is a natural,” Phillip said.
“You’re okay with this?” Steve asked.
“It was actually his idea,” Ian said. It wasn’t that he was trying to make Phillip the heavy, but he’d learned over the years that while he usually succeeded in riling people up, Phillip had a knack for calming them back down.
“Who needs more wine?” Kristin asked.
Chad reached for his mother’s glass and Kristin refilled it.
“I simply pointed out that women make fantastic social engineers,” Phillip said. “Ian needed someone to handle that aspect of his business, and Kate seemed like a logical choice.”
“I still don’t understand what it means,” Diane said.
“Let me give you an overview that I’m sure will put you both at ease.” Phillip gave Kate’s parents a detailed explanation of the social engineering portion of penetration testing. He was still answering their questions when the meal ended and the plates had been cleared, but they both seemed a lot calmer.
“Ian? Can I talk to you for a second?”
He thought she’d pull him into the kitchen, but she didn’t stop walking and he followed her all the way to their bedroom. Oh, shit. She must be really mad if she wanted to talk to him in private.
“I had to say something, Kate. I could tell their comments were bothering you. And I was the one who told you to keep it quiet, so it was only fair that I be the one to break the news.”
Kate led him over to the couch. “Sit down. We don’t have much time.”
When he complied, she dropped to her knees in front of him and unbuttoned his pants.
He blinked because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re… not mad.”
Kate looked at him with love and adoration. “I’m not mad.” She lowered his zipper and tugged on his boxer briefs, freeing his rapidly growing erection. “Do you know how awesome it was watching you jump in to support me like that?”
“I know how awesome this is going to be.”
“I hate to rush you because you deserve nothing less than my best to thank you for what you did out there, but would it be possible for you to kind of hurry?”
“I can do that, and news flash: every time you put your mouth on me, it feels incredible.” Maybe he should have been concerned with the fact that Kate’s entire family was waiting for them in the dining room, but it was hard of think of anything other than his wife’s hot mouth and what she was doing with it. He brushed her hair out of the way so he could get a better view. “That feels so good.”
He no longer cared that everyone might be wondering what he and Kate were doing, and he was reasonably certain no one could hear the sounds he’d started to make. She needn’t have worried about him being able to hurry because her obvious enthusiasm, which she conveyed to him via eye contact and murmured declarations of how much she loved doing that, got him close to the finish in no time.
He put his hands on her head as his orgasm began to build. “Sweetness, you’ve got about five seconds before I come.”
She didn’t stop, and she made sure cleanup was a breeze too.
“Okay,” Kate said, smiling as she zipped him up. “I’ll be out in a minute. Make something up.”
“Where is everyone?” Kate asked when she walked back into the dining room. Her dad was sitting at the table by himself.
“Ian took dessert down to the basement. Your mom and Susan are helping him serve.”
Kate spied an untouched pumpkin pie on the sideboard along with a bowl of whipped cream.
“They left that behind for us so we could continue our tradition,” her dad said.
“I’m glad they did.” Kate dished up the pie and took a seat across from him.
“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to eat that?”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked. She forked in a big mouthful and groaned. She’d made the pie herself, and it pleased her to discover it tasted as good as it looked.
“Ian said you were having some stomach trouble.”
“What?” Kate said around a mouthful of pie and whipped cream as suddenly the realization of the excuse Ian had given for their absence dawned on her. I am going to kill him. She swallowed. “I’m fine. Totally fine. Just a passing… I’m fine.”
They both got very interested in their pie and the awkward silence seemed to go on forever.
“So, Phillip told us all about this thing you’re doing for Ian’s company.”
“Did he tell you the part where Ian totally shot me down when I asked if I could do it?”
“Yes.”
“And how I had to convince him to give me a chance?”
“He said that Ian eventually changed his mind.”
“We compromised,” Kate said. “Both of us just want the other to be happy.” Ian could tell her dad about his return to the task force if he wanted to. Kate wasn’t going to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole.
She walked her dad through each of her completed assignments, explaining how they’d worked and what she’d accomplished with each one. She watched his expression change from mild interest to admiration when he learned how well she’d planned and executed the hacks.
“People hear the word hacker, and they immediately associate it with bad things. But white hat firms are all about protecting people. Ian spent ten years building his first company, and it was hard on him when he threw it away. I love that his new company is something I can be a part of. I know I’m not using my law degree, and I’m no longer running the food pantry either. But I’m using my brain and I like the work.”
They finished their pie and carried their plates into the kitchen. “Are you happy?” Steve asked. “With everything?”
Kate thought what he really meant was Are you happy with this life you’ve chosen? Was he worth it?
“I’m very happy. With Ian, our lives together. Everything.”
He smiled. “Okay. That’s all any parent wants for their child, Katydid.”
Kate and Steve joined the others downstairs. Her mother and Susan were clearing plates and refilling coffee while Ian talked to Chad and Kristin.
“Ian? Can I talk to you for a second?”
He grinned and followed her into the hallway. “Kate, what’s gotten into you?” He lowered his voice. “I don’t know if I can go again so soon.” He chuckled like he couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “Wait a minute. Of course I can. I totally can.”
“Did you tell everyone I was suffering from some kind of”—she made air quotes—“gastrointestinal distress?”
His eyes narrowed and he looked at her worriedly. “Maybe?”
“Ian!”
“I’m sorry. They were all staring at me when I walked back into the dining room. I think we were gone longer than we thought.”
“Oh my God.”
“I couldn’t exactly tell them you were on your knees, now could I?”
Kate raised her hands, palms up as if she were weighing one side against the other. “Those were the only two choices?”
“Well, there aren’t a lot of things to choose from when a man and woman disappear for a while. Trust me. Nobody ever questions stomach problems.”
“The supreme court justice did. And thanks to my being caught completely off guard, I don’t think he bought my fumbling explanation. The only thing that saved me from cross-examination is that he probably knew what we were doing in there and would rather shove a hot poker in his eye than hear anything
more about it.”
Chad passed them as he walked down the hall. Before he reached the bathroom door, he turned around and started laughing. “I’m sorry. Do you need to get in here again, Kate?”
“You’re hysterical, Chad. And there’s nothing wrong with my stomach.”
He didn’t say anything for a second, and then he groaned. “Oh, Jesus, I just realized what you two were really doing.”
“Yeah, well, we’re newlyweds, so deal with it.” She turned back to Ian. “I won’t be able to look Phillip and Susan in the eye. I’m too embarrassed.”
“Eh, shit happens, Katie.”
She laughed and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Oh my God, stop.”
He slid his hands underneath her jaw and kissed her. “Mmmm. Minty.”
She pinched his ass—hard—as they walked down the hallway on their way back to join the others.
“You know what? You’re a pincher. I’m going to pay you back for that later. You can count on it.”
The women went into the theater room to watch a movie while the men opted for whiskey and pool. Steve and Phillip sat down with their drinks while Ian racked the balls.
“Go ahead and break,” he said to Chad.
“So Kate’s really good at this—what do you call it again?” Chad asked as he sank two balls in the left corner pocket. He knocked two more in on his second shot, but on the third the ball banked off the side and rolled just short of its goal.
Ian lined up his shot, aimed, and knocked his first ball into the pocket with ease. “Social engineering, and she’s phenomenal. She’s smart and she can think on her feet. Plus she’s likeable and people trust her. The truth is, she was bored and she was never going to be satisfied without something more stimulating to fill her days. She’s much happier now.”
“My sister has always succeeded at anything she put her mind to,” Chad said, and there was no mistaking the admiration in his tone.
“You know what else she’s really good at? Pool. We play a lot, so if she challenges you to a game, don’t assume you’ll beat her. There’s a good chance she’ll wipe the floor with you.” Ian sank his second, third, and fourth shots before missing.
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Chad made his next shot but missed the one after that, a rather tricky bank shot. “You seriously hacked the Pentagon?”
“It was just so damn tempting. I was young and thought I was invincible.”
“That’s cool that you and Phillip are so close now. I’d wager not many long-term friendships begin with an arrest.”
“He thought I needed some guidance, and he was right. He’s been a great mentor.”
When they finished their game, they joined Phillip and Steve. Ian fetched the bottle of bourbon, and Phillip poured two more, sliding one across the table to Chad.
“How long have you worked for the FBI?” Chad asked Phillip.
“Almost thirty years.”
“Have you always worked in the cyber division?”
“I have for the past twenty. Been leading task forces for almost fifteen.”
“I bet that’s been interesting,” Chad said.
“Technology is constantly evolving, so we always have a wide range of cyberthreats to address and eradicate. The task force recently brought down a large carding ring responsible for bilking consumers out of millions of dollars, but fraud and theft will always be an ongoing battle. Hacktivism activity and cyberterrorism are our biggest concerns right now.”
“What’s the difference, exactly?” Chad asked.
“Hacktivists are driven by ideology, and the end result is often more disruptive than damaging. A hacktivist group might protest outside a church whose beliefs they don’t agree with, but they’re just as likely to bring down a ring of pedophiles because they hate anyone who would harm others, especially children. They don’t believe in suppressing information, and they definitely don’t want to be silenced, so their first objective might be to steal data before proceeding to a denial of service or destruction of data attack. Hacktivism is something we were battling long before the Sony hack drew the attention of the mainstream media.”
Phillip took a sip of his whiskey. “Then there’s cyberterrorism, which is our biggest concern of all. Attacks are often politically motivated, and the intent is to do great damage, including loss of life. Traditional terrorists are not as technically savvy as cyberterrorists, and they’re more likely to rely on time-honored methods such as bombs. But it would be naïve of us to think they’re not working to combat that. Terrorists taught themselves to fly planes. There’s no reason to believe they’re not honing their computer skills right now, or aligning with hackers who have a vendetta against the US government. Any hacker who’s capable of exploiting the technical vulnerabilities of our computer-supported infrastructures is a threat to us, whether it’s the disruption of our electricity, the pipelines that deliver our natural gas, or the systems that ensure our cities have clean drinking water.”
“What about nuclear weapons?” Chad asked. “Do you think anyone will ever have the ability to control or override them?”
“They already have,” Phillip said. “In 2009, a computer worm called Stuxnet caused the centrifuges that separate nuclear material to spin out of control at an Iranian nuclear power plant via its control system. You can read about it online.”
“This is some seriously alarming stuff,” Chad said a few minutes later, looking up from his phone. “Is this the kind of thing your task force is involved with?”
“Not yet. The issues we’re trying to combat are domestic, and we have plenty of help. But we’re definitely an exclusive task force, and the threats we deal with are of a certain nature.”
“I’m not sure when would be the ideal time to break this news, but before this discussion goes any further, I think you should know I’m working with the task force again,” Ian said to Steve.
Steve remained silent as he processed Ian’s statement. “Does Kate know?”
“She’s the one who encouraged me to return.”
Steve rubbed his temples. “Of course she did.”
Did Steve regret the day Ian came into his daughter’s life? Probably. But the closeness of this family was the one thing working in his favor. They might still be a bit unsure about him, but they loved Kate, and if they hadn’t completely accepted her decision to stand by him no matter how much havoc he’d already wreaked on their family, he hoped they soon would. The Watts family was a stoic bunch, and Kate came by her roll-with-the punches attitude naturally. Diane especially seemed to want to embrace Ian unconditionally the way she did Kate and Chad. She was simply too kind, too genuinely interested in the well-being of others, to shut him out.
“I was under the impression that working undercover was a risk you were no longer willing to take.”
Ian had a pretty good idea of the thoughts that were probably swirling in Steve’s head. Especially since you dragged my daughter along with you.
“I’m not in an undercover role this time. I’m simply there to help.”
Phillip chimed in. “We’re facing some difficult challenges, and Ian’s had extensive interactions with this particular group. His prior experience is invaluable.”
“What about the person who might be looking for you?” Steve asked. “Do you think that threat has passed?”
Guilt consumed him as he answered Steve. “I’d like to think so.” Before someone had followed his wife home, he would have been telling the truth. But now Ian wasn’t sure, and he worried it might be just the beginning.
Steve’s glass was empty, and Ian poured him another because after everything Steve had learned that night, he was pretty sure his father-in-law needed one.
Ian topped off his own glass too because there was no question at all whether or not he did.
Later, after everyone had retired to their rooms, Kate changed into her pajamas. Ian was still buying them for her. She would go to put clothes away in the dresser and there they’d be. They most
ly ended up on the floor next to the bed, but at least she had something comfortable to lounge around in while they were watching TV.
Kate crawled under the covers, and Ian turned off the lamp on his nightstand and joined her, pulling her into his arms and settling her head onto his chest.
“It seems my mother and Susan have come down with a raging case of baby fever,” she said. “I bet if we listen closely, we’ll be able to hear my mother’s clock ticking all the way in Indiana.”
“I noticed that. They weren’t exactly subtle about it, were they?”
She laughed. “No, they were not. The women at Pilates were every bit as forthcoming with their opinions.”
“Is having a baby something you’ve been thinking about?”
“I started thinking about having your babies when we were still in Minneapolis,” she said. “But maybe it’s not a good time.”
“We could wait. We could put everything on hold until we think enough time has passed. If it would ease your mind, then that’s what we should do.”
But how would they know when they’d waited long enough? Should they wait six months? A year? Three? Kate didn’t want to do anything foolish, but she didn’t like giving an outside force the power to make a decision that should only be made by the two of them. “I don’t think my clock is ticking quite as loudly as my mother’s, but I’d like to start trying soon. See what happens. What about you?” She remembered how adorably happy he’d looked when she pretended to have morning sickness. “Is your clock ticking?”
Her head was still resting on his chest, and he ran his fingers idly through her hair. “I’ll be really happy when it happens, but it’s your decision. You’re the one who has to do all the hard stuff. All I have to do is have an orgasm, after I’ve given you one, of course.”
“Naturally,” Kate said.
“I think we should practice right now.”
As he kissed her, he slowly unbuttoned her pajama top and slipped it off her shoulders. His hands caressed her breasts, his touch gradually growing rougher until Kate ached for him to replace his fingers with his mouth, which he did as if he could read her mind.
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