Glitch couldn’t do more than stare at Hex as Jack drove them back to his home, with single-minded intensity. Had he been setup? Not that he could be completely surprised. They’d all been criminals, in some way or another, when Eagle had come across them. But they’ve worked for him consistently for the last three years with no problems, and had made more money than any of them ever thought possible. Not that they could show that money. Hell, according to the outside world they didn’t even really exist, but Glitch had made sure that they were taken care of. That was his job, one he took seriously.
Now, things were different. If Eagle had worked against him, or was putting him into a position to even further ruin their lives...well, he may have bitten off more than he could chew. It made Glitch wonder though, about a lot of things. Things he didn’t want to delve too deeply into until he heard what Hex had to say.
She was still so beautiful. From the top of her head to her heel covered feet. He wasn’t exactly sure how he should feel about that. It was her...but it wasn’t. He remembered her with this wild mane of dark hair curling around her shoulders and now it was kept in a tidy little bun, straight as a pin. She was contained, classy, in a way that she’d never been before. But she was still the same fireball inside. Shit, she’d called Scratch a nut licker. That was the old Hex he remembered. He just hadn’t wanted to meet her like this.
“We’re coming up to the back of the house, Glitch. I’ll get her in,” Jack said and then got out the van before Glitch could even answer. Scratch stared at Araceli for a moment before he opened the back of the van. Hex tensed and Glitch slid in front of her, just as Jack appeared in the door with his gun ready.
“I still think we should kill her. Makes things cleaner. We can look into what she’s said later.”
“Jack, I want to hear what she has to say. I know her; she wouldn’t bring heat our way.”
“No past, no memories. That’s the deal. You know this as well as I do,” Jack argued.
“And does that make you forget about what was done to your family, Jack? Or make Scratch hate his father any less?” Glitch tossed back. He saw a muscle work in Jack’s jaw but didn’t back away.
“Bitch move, Glitch. I’d kick your ass if I didn’t get your fucking point” Scratch hissed. “As it is, I may still make your teeth acquainted with your guts.”
“Doesn’t change my fucking point,” Glitch said, standing his ground. Yeah, they all were dangerous, in their own right. Jack could shove it if he thought he was going to bulldoze Glitch on this one.
“Fine. Twenty minutes. You get twenty minutes and then I’m getting rid of her, even if I have to go through you. Don’t make me go there,” Jack said and turned away.
“I’ve got business, but Glitch, my man, you and I are going to have a talk later. Hope your girlfriend here is worth the danger she’s going to put us in.”
Glitch sighed as Scratch sauntered off and Jack stepped back to let him get Hex out the van. He left her hands tied and the gag as he rushed her through the back door, Jack on their heels, and up to the top floor. No one else but them messed with this building, but it was always better to be safer than sorry. At his door, Jack stood to one side and Glitch ushered Hex in. Better to keep her out of the line of sight for now. Door closed, Glitch removed her gag and waited.
“Is this necessary? Really?” Hex asked, lifting her bound hands.
“You’re breathing, you could thank me for that. The rest, we shall see,” Glitch said and shrugged.
“You’ve changed. What the hell happened to you?”
“We don’t have a lot of time. Jack doesn’t mince words. If he said we had twenty minutes then he means it. Start talking.”
“You just disappeared, Zero, I didn’t know what to do. Or would you prefer Glitch now?”
“Glitch, and you know why. I got popped.”
“It was like you were a ghost, just a couple months into your sentence.”
“Things happened, Hex. But you’re still not getting to the point, and I need you to.”
“This job didn’t make sense. You were always good. I had to work my ass off just to keep up with you. That firewall job was nothing, and we both know it. It smelled funny so I started looking into it, hitting all kinds of red flags...”
“What?”
“You heard me. You broke into a firewall that already had a backdoor in it, with flags waiting, and they were well fucking hidden. They were waiting for you.”
Glitch frowned. Yeah, he’d thought about how he’d gotten busted. No hacker wanted to say they could get caught. Went against everything they were, but he’d lost. He shouldn’t have, though, and knowing had nearly driven him crazy. If Hex was right, that the program already had a weak point in it before he hacked it, then he’d stepped right into a fishnet, one that Eagle had been eager to cut him loose out of.
“Tell me what you know Hex,” Glitch demanded, his mind whirling.
“I followed the leads to find you, came against a brick wall each time, but a wall I recognized. Started watching for it, seeing jobs go, and some of the back trading happening. Every time I met your wall, Hawk Global had a gain. Started watching small companies lose money overnight and disappear like thieves. The cover-up had your signature. I just knew that it had to be you.”
Damn? She was right. Every step she’d followed and had watched. If she hadn’t known him so well she may have never picked up on the thread. But she had, and what she was spinning wasn’t pretty. The problem? If she could pick up on it then there was a trail, somewhere, somehow, and it was purposefully being set out there. Glitch knew how to make sure he disappeared. Had gotten really good at making sure his teammates were clear too. But he still worked, to a point, on Hawk servers so he could go ghost with them. A security measure so to speak. The only thing that was on its own server so it didn’t raise flags was the separate program he had running for his team. There was a fucking leak.
“Bullshit,” Glitch said out loud, agitated.
“Not bullshit. Endgame, Glitch. Think about it. Why would a company take three convicts out of jail to be their personal lapdogs?”
“No one is supposed to know about us Hex.”
“Yeah, but I do, because I was looking. I can look better than most, but give yourself a few more jobs. A few more screw ups like Amsterix, where someone is tagging you and then what? Won’t be so hard to find you then will it? Amsterix was set up to trip Interpol, by the way. I did what I could to stop your program from hitting the flags.”
Glitch’s brows knitted in confusion “Interpol? What the hell does Amsterix have to do with Interpol?”
“I don’t know, Glitch, and I don’t care. I just wanted to make sure you were safe and warn you. Didn’t plan on this welcome, but there it is. I’ve found the trail, but I don’t know what it all means.”
“Shit,” Glitch roared and then jumped when Jack slammed through the door, gun in one hand and a knife in the other. He scanned the scene in a second and then looked to Glitch.
“She wasn’t lying,” Jack stated and exhaled roughly.
“No, she wasn’t.” Glitch agreed grimly.
“How much do you know?” Jack asked Hex.
“Enough to know that Hawk Global never had any intention of keeping you guys out of the slammer. Enough to know that you don’t have a bunch of time left. Oh, and that this time they probably plan on life sentences, without parole, the way they’re setting you up.” Jack frowned at her for a moment before he looked to Glitch.
“You sure about her?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not. She stays until we know what the hell is going on. I’ll let Scratch know.”
“And what if I--” Hex began.
“Would like to die? Because that’s your two choices,” Jack said, interrupting Hex. “Stay or die. Which is it?”
“I was going to say what if I needed my equipment? If Hawk has been leaking you then some of what you have here may be traced. It could be a long shot, bu
t it could be why I was able to open a back door. Glitch you know better than using someone else’s proxy.”
“Part of the deal. Their proxy and their servers. Now I see why. But all my toys aren’t out and aren’t connected to them. I’ll pull them out. You’re going to have to remote access into your system and then burn it. We can’t risk you going to your safe house,” Glitch explained.
“Then I’m going to need your laptop, Cheetos, a shit load of grape soda, and some music. I’ll take everything I can and then I work on erasing your steps.”
“Won’t he notice?” Jack asked.
“I think the clock is already ticking, Jack. We have to make our own moves. Hex, I’ll get you set up. But don’t jerk me on this. Jack isn’t easy to keep on a leash. And, besides, I won’t really care to keep him there if you do.”
“That’s obvious. I’ll do what I can, but there has to be another plan. Just cleaning up your steps won’t be enough. They’ll just make more.”
“Then we need to talk to Scratch, too. Hate to mess up his good time, but he needs to come in. We have to decide what we want to --” Glitch stopped when his phone went off. Only three people knew the number: one he was looking at in the room with him, the other was busy and wouldn’t call, and the third Glitch wasn’t very interested in seeing right now.
“Eagle,” Jack said. Glitch was sure that it was. The man that was screwing them all over.
“Glitch,” Glitch answered calmly, stepping away from his computers and nearer to Jack, who pulled out a scrambler from his pocket. The small machine would stop any tracing capabilities that might occur. Glitch had a ping program working for his computers to constantly scroll through IP addresses, but he couldn’t be too careful with the new information he just got.
“It seems the Amsterix project is having some issues. I need you in the office.”
The line was disconnected before Glitch could even answer, but it was enough to validate what Hex had said. How would he have known that it hadn’t worked? He always waited for a call within a specified amount of time to know the job was complete.
“Hell, Jack, she’s fucking right.”
Chapter 6
The rest of the night consisted of more speculation and possible reasoning for their current predicament. The trio reaffirmed their exit strategy, now adding the biggest mark of all to their resume. Araceli had fallen asleep on the couch while the guys conspired to get the drop on Eagle, and bring him to his knees. Glitch hadn’t gotten much sleep at all as he stayed up most of the night working his job, and watching her murmur and whimper like a baby. It was like he’d walked into a rabbit hole without warning.
The call from Eagle cleared away all the doubt that Glitch was having about Hex’s sudden reappearance in his life, and confirmed a suspicion he’d had for a while. The same suspicion that had spawned the idea for the trio to start their ‘get out of the game’ nest egg. The notion had been born on a long night of hard drinking after a particularly nasty job. Where they, usually, parted ways after an assignment, that night both Glitch and Scratch had witnessed Jack at work, and the result had left the three of them exhausted and shaken. Almost at once they had come to the conclusion that being criminals for hire wasn’t something they planned on doing until retirement.
They also knew they couldn’t trust their handler. It wasn’t anything that Eagle said, and it definitely wasn’t the hefty salaries they each collected, but something about his attitude towards them was off. He was too casual about their illegal activities, and the manner of their acquisition hadn’t made any sense. Why them? There were millions of criminals in this country. Why were they chosen, handpicked to join Criminals-R-Us? Their questions had never been answered. Too grateful to be on free land, and not wanting to rock the boat, the issue had never been pressed.
Now here stood Hex confirming what they thought all along. They were nothing but pawns in a game of corporate greed and manipulation. Despite not being surprised, Glitch couldn’t help the cold grip of dread that had seized his veins. This mission was just the beginning of the trouble to come. He could sense that, feel it in his intuitive psyche.
He watched Araceli as she emerged out of the bathroom fresh from a shower. She looked much more relaxed now after a probably much-needed nights rest. Also, Jack was gone, and he’d convinced her that she was in the clear. Sort of. Glitch knew there was more to her story that had nothing to do with his involvement with Hawk Global, Scratch or Jack. She said she’d been looking for him for years, and he needed to know why. His instincts may have been telling him that she was telling the truth, but he needed to hear the words.
“Hex,” he said suddenly, causing her to jump and freeze in place. She’d been walking towards the snacks she had demanded of him earlier. Now her big brown eyes glared at him with unease. He stared at her for a moment, marveling at the fact that his long ago dream was standing before him. Gorgeous as ever, slightly damp from a shower, and wearing one of his t-shirts that fit her like an oversized dress.
“Araceli,” she corrected. Her voice vibrated with nervous tension, and her posture was defensive. In that moment, Glitch wanted to take her into his arms and soothe her fears. Something that he’d never wanted to do for anyone before. Sure he’d had plenty of women, but none that he ever cared about. Through a computer screen something about the woman before him had tugged his dormant heartstrings, but seeing her in the flesh was slowly melting his normally cold reserve.
“Araceli,” he let her name roll of his tongue. “Do you have something you want to tell me?”
She stiffened, brows drawn and eyes flashing with fire.
“I’ve told you everything already,” she snapped. “I thought you said you believed me.”
“That’s not what I’m asking about,” Glitch replied calmly.
“Then what?”
“Why were you looking for me? You said you’ve been looking for years. Why?”
His voice and external demeanor exuded a calm that did not belie his internal struggles. His heart was beating so fast and hard he feared cardiac arrest at any moment. The thought that she could possibly have wanted him too, and wanted him enough to track him all these years did crazy things to his emotions. He was too wired to keep still so he walked over to his wet bar as he waited for her answer.
Araceli released her breath in a short puff of relief. He turned away from the bar, remembering his manners and silently motioned to her with his glass to see if she too wanted a drink. She looked like she was searching for the right words to answer his question. Glitch noticed how she bit the corner of her lip as her eyes sized him up. The thought struck him that the shady events that led up to their reconciliation may have affected her feelings for him. Whatever they may be.
His eyes locked onto hers as he strode towards her, drinks in hand. Glitch watched as her breath quickened, and a fiery blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks. Whatever her feelings for him were or weren’t, she was attracted to him. And damn if he wasn’t just as attracted to her, if not more. It was taking everything in him to focus on their current situation, and not the constant throbbing of his dick.
“Thanks,” Araceli murmured as he handed her a glass. He sipped on his gin and tonic and watched as she downed her drink all in one shot. His eyebrows rose up in slight amusement.
“Liquid courage?”
“Something like that,” she replied with a wry laugh. Her sharp eyes studied him as if she was trying to read his soul.
“I missed you,” she uttered softly. Glitch tried to ignore the unfamiliar tightening in his chest. Maybe his drink was too strong; he tried to reason with himself.
“You missed me,” he repeated for clarity.
“Yes. I missed you and I couldn’t understand why you just abandoned me like that.”
“Abandon? I didn’t abandon you. I got locked up,” he replied incredulously.
“Yes,” Araceli sighed exasperatedly. She handed him her empty glass, gesturing for a refill. Glitch smirk
ed but headed back to the bar as she continued.
“But, I waited for you to contact me. For you to let me know that you were ok, but you never did. I gave you some time. Figured you were angry or embarrassed at being caught, but then almost a year went by with no word from you.”
Glitch returned to her with her second drink. She nodded her thanks, taking a small sip then squinting her eyes at the extra shot he gave her before she continued her story,
“So I decided to come to you. I would just plan a visit and finally see you face to face. Only, when I tried to look you up in the state database to confirm your facility and set up visit, you were gone. Poof. Vanished.”
“Yeah, as I told you earlier, that was a condition of our release. They basically erased any ties that led to our past, which was pretty easy to do.” As Glitch said the words a connection was made. That was one thing the three men had in common. A shitty past with little or no family. His own parents had died in a freak car accident three months after he’d gotten locked up. Taking the deal was probably the easiest decision of his life.
Glitch Page 4