“Not nearly as much as I would have had this been done sooner, but it shall be sufficient. Do not let your near failure happen again. It could end up...inopportune for you. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” Scratch answered before Glitch could go all open-mouth-insert-foot. Glitch was grateful, he supposed, for the care. He needed to keep a clear head.
“You mentioned other missions. Do you have any specifics so that I start recon?” Glitch asked, thinking that staying on some sort of task would keep his mouth in check.
“Not at the moment. I’ve had to put a slight pause in our activities while I take care of some outside opposition.”
“Anything we can take care of?” Scratch asked. So like him. He’d try to make them indispensable to Eagle like he always did. At least that way Eagle wouldn’t think they were actively plotting against him. It would actually be a good thing if Eagle believed that they were desperate to please him, like they got the sense they weren’t making him happy, Glitch thought. Might make him get cocky enough to think there was no way that they knew he was turning on them.
“Even I’m not crazy enough to tangle with the FBI,” Eagle answered making Scratch’s jaw drop and Glitch sucked in a deep breath. Never, in all of their time working with Eagle, had the cops ever been on their tail. They’d kept him in the clear, which had kept them in the clear. That meant this was part of his plan. Motherfucker.
“We never had loose ends,” Scratch declared.
“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is the FBI is looking into some stocks, bonds, accounts, and other money trails attached to Hawk Global. I’m afraid, Scratch, they’re going to be a headache for you for a while. I suggest you don’t make the wrong step. As for you, Glitch, keep an eye out, because you very well may need to get into their systems to clear what they think they know.”
Glitch didn’t say shit. He couldn’t. Any hacker, no matter how crummy, knew that going after the government was not something they should do. Okay, so Glitch had pushed those buttons, but he’d done so with a very specific purpose when he’d committed the crime that got him pinched. And look where that had gotten him; jail. Going into law enforcement agency databases and removing file information, connections and information collected on any given criminal was more than anyone should be touching.
Fuck him. Scratch in a federal investigation, and Glitch caught up hacking into their systems. All they needed to know was how he planned on clenching Jack up and he might just be able to find a way to stop him...maybe.
“Will do. I don’t think they have anything. At most, they are spinning their wheels and simply looking into a company that is staying strong in this economy, especially when those around them are failing. Hell, a complaint from some disgruntled CEO could bring about an internal review and some more noise, especially if they are well connected,” Scratch said aloud. At least he was still thinking clearly.
“I think you’ll have enough to deal with. When they are ready, they’ll come back. We just hold strong until then,” Eagle said.
“Contact us with anything you need us to do,” Glitch replied, finally unclenching his jaw.
“When, and if, I need either of you I will,” Eagle said. “For now, safeguard Hawk Global and make sure there are no connections anywhere. That’s something you can work on.”
Of course, they could. Right after Araceli found if there were any more of the corporate hit men out there, Scratch got their money moving for real, Glitch cleared some roadblocks to their safety, and Jack planned an exit strategy. They weren’t sticking around for any of this shit. Once outside the office Scratch turned to Glitch on the elevator.
“He didn’t mention the altercation at Amsterix. You catch that?”
“I did. He couldn’t. He already tipped his hand a bit when we talked the first time and he told me Amsterix was messed up. He wouldn’t do that again. Saying something about that hitman would also make him ask if I found anything on the job, or make him realize I know. He’s just going to come harder now, behind the scenes. We need to be prepared for that.”
“This shit is getting irritating,” Scratch said harshly.
“Agreed. But we won’t be in it for much longer. We’ll get out. No matter what.”
Chapter 15
Time was moving alternately too fast and too slow for Glitch. It had been weeks since his last meeting with Eagle, and aside from a few small research jobs and helping Scratch with his phony accounts, nothing was happening. Well, not as far as his work with Hawk Global was concerned. Personally, things were better than they ever had been. Different, for now he had Araceli in his life, which kept him on his toes and satisfied.
Everything between them just fit. There was no other way to describe it. She got him. Got his tendency to overthink, and granted him the space he needed when he disappeared into his own head. Got his love for all things cyber and shared his interest with matched intensity. When things slowed down or the constant searching threatened to drown them both, she would join him on the runs he took to burn off steam. No, things were not perfect, for they both were know-it-alls. He was sarcastic and she was a spitfire so they squabbled from time to time, but that same passion attributed to the sizzle they created in the bedroom.
Yes. He was very satisfied.
She was also the most talented tracker that he’d ever witnessed in action. In person, or online. With his lead, she was able to ascertain that Eagle, indeed, had obtained another hacker/IT guru and added him to the payroll. What his level of talent was remained a mystery because they hadn’t been able to tag him to any jobs. That could mean a couple of things. Either he hadn’t done any, since Eagle was laying low now that they were on the FBI’s radar or the guy was good and didn’t leave a trace. Glitch preferred to believe the former.
They also discovered that there were fifteen men, in total, that had at some point, worked under the fake job titles that Glitch, Scratch and Jack currently filled. Most of them had either disappeared or been sent to prison; a couple killed. More evidence that their suspicions of Eagle’s ill will towards them was dead on accurate. It was nothing, save a miracle, that Jack hadn’t already killed the man. That and the fact that he had been on some mystery job for over a week. Those long jobs were always the dirtiest, and Glitch wondered what sort of web Eagle was spinning for Jack.
In spite of this knowledge of their now sworn enemy, each man was able to swallow his pride and anger, and pretend that everything was illegal business as usual. Doing so was the hardest for Scratch, because not only did he have to work side by side with the man every day, but somehow the company’s CFO had set his sights on investigating all of accounting, but more specifically his accounts. He expressed this concern one night over drinks with Glitch and Araceli.
“Do you know how many fuckin’ dummy accounts I’ve created, floated money through, and buried over the last three years?” Scratch paced the room as he recounted the latest status update on their pending investigation.
“A lot?” Araceli figured the news was bad, but she had no idea why Scratch was so worked up.
“A lot? Yes. Two hundred and thirty-four, to be exact. Almost three hundred accounts that we have to come up with a reason as to why they exist, and why Hawk Global has money in each and every one. They want contracts, Glitch. They want tangible facts, and of course everything has to fall under full corporate compliance. I’ve got the damn senior auditor emailing me every five seconds asking me questions about shit no one even knew existed. He’s gonna bury my ass with this shit. The mother fucker,” he raged.
“What the hell?” Now it was Glitch’s turn to yell. “Why the hell do they even know these accounts exist? You and I worked together to tie up all of the loose ends. As International Treasurer, you should only have three accounts under your actual ledger.”
“How do they know? I don’t know the exact details yet, but someone provided a list to the lead accounting manager, and now she’s stuck on stupid because it makes her look like an as
s for not knowing about so many accounts and such a large chunk of cash. So she wants each one researched to see if they should be listed in the reports that accounting has to provide to the Feds. Apparently they're looking for accounts in excess of a hundred thou. That’s like the minimum for the jobs we run. This shit is so fucked!”
Araceli flinched, and Glitch rubbed his temples. This entire time he’d been so concerned that he was going to be the link that broke the chain, but somehow Scratch was the first one to enter the hot seat. He understood the man’s anger, for not only was he being framed by the very man who had given him the job, but it was the exact same way he had wound up in prison the first time. Taking a fall for all the dirty money that had been filtered through his family's “business”. Scratch’s uncle had employed him to clean up the books, and then let him take the fall when the cops came knocking. If Scratch got pinned for Hawk Global’s dirty laundry, he might never see the light of day again.
While Scratch continued with his rant, Glitch’s mind began to do what it did best. Think in overdrive, hyper-speed. His first thought was that he needed to do something to slow down the research and recovery process, so the accounting servers had to go down. Pronto! That would give him time to create several dummy corporations to produce all the contracts that Scratch would need to validate the individual money transfers to each account. If he could find a way to link or group the accounts together, that would be even better. Araceli simply rubbed his thigh, offering her silent support for whatever he came up with.
“Talk to me,” Scratch implored when he saw that Glitch was in deep thought.
“I’ve got a plan,” Glitch said with a nod as it all came together.
“The things you say to get me to love you,” Scratch professed, with a theatrical show of his hand over his heart. Then just as suddenly, his mood switched to feigned anxiety.
“For fucks sake! Put me out of my misery already,” he barked, even as he patted his friend on the shoulder and gave Araceli a high five.
*
Later that night, after Glitch had placated Scratch with a plan that he deemed ‘doable’, he and Araceli lay in bed. Exhausted and worn out. He felt like he was chasing his own tail. He worked almost like a ghost for Eagle, and now he had to take all of his ‘were never here’ jobs and breathe life into them and make them real. While he knew the road to freedom would be ugly, he longed for it more and more.
Beside him, Araceli tossed and turned. He rolled onto his side and pulled her against his chest. She let out a deep sigh and snuggled into him.
“Are you ok?” She peered up into his face, brushing away a few strands that had fallen into his eyes while looking down at her.
“I will be. As soon as all of this is settled,” he replied.
“What’s going to happen to this Eagle character?”
Glitch wanted to tell her he didn’t know, but looking into her eyes, he remembered her plea for him to always be honest with her. Sighing deeply, he answered her as best he could.
“Let’s just say, that karma will be paying him a nice little visit. If everything goes accordingly, he will suffer the same fate he has in store for us.” There was a brief stretch of silence before she spoke again.
“Do you think all the things that you’ve done working for Hawk have made you a bad person?”
“You wanna know if I think I’m a bad person?” He chuckled at her choice of words even though the subject at hand was far from funny.
“Yes. I want to know if you’ve let this Eagle guy and all these jobs get to you,” she clarified.
“I wish I could say it hasn’t, but I can’t,” he answered with a deep sigh. “It would be a lie if I said that being used to destroying other people’s lives or livelihood doesn’t bother me. When I used to hack for self, I always knew who it would affect and how. It was about me testing my limits, and exploiting the weak spots of people who were deserving of it. It wasn’t about greed or power. Now, everything I do is based on making another man successful. It’s not about me at all.”
“And now,” she paused thoughtfully before continuing. “You learn the man you work for views you as someone to exploit.”
“Right. You have to understand,” he began, shifting further onto his side as he gently caressed her arms. “I was never disillusioned about how callous or conniving Eagle is. That’s why I had our contingency plan in place. That’s why I started that nest egg so that we could walk away when we were ready. It’s just that now he’s forced our hand.”
“And now you’re going to have to do some very ugly things to deal with him.”
“Unless you have a kinder, more friendly option,” Glitch teased.
“We will figure something out,” she said on a yawn. “We’ll drive ourselves crazy if we think about this stuff too much.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing,” Glitch answered, with a yawn of his own. He was tired, and Araceli was right. All they could do was wait until they had a program up and running and go from there. For now, they were only spinning their wheels. Wheels that could be of much better use for something else.
Like figuring out what to do with the woman that was now fast asleep in his arms.
Chapter 16
She was beautiful. Glitch wasn’t really a man for soft words and promises. Most of the time he figured that once words were spoken they never, really, could be taken back, and he wasn’t in the mood for playing the games. He just preferred to stay in his own head, where he knew exactly what was what, and deal with his two friends that didn’t ask him to give them more than he could.
Araceli was different.
She made him wish that he were more inclined to give her softness and rainbows. She’d probably slap him for embarrassing her, but he knew, deep down, she’d love the fact that he did. He wished that he hadn’t done so much wrong in the world. She would never know the extent of what any of them did, but, if he gave it much thought, he wouldn’t deem himself worthy to touch her.
She was perfect.
From her naturally tanned skin, her wild dark hair, to her pretty little toes. No, he couldn’t give her words. Not yet. But maybe, just maybe, he could show her how much she meant to him. How much she mattered. That there was no one else in the world for him. And that he was happy as hell that she had been searching for him. Had never given up. He was lucky enough that this beautiful creature wanted him. Had always wanted him. He slid his arms from around her as easily as he could, so he didn’t disturb her sleep. He’d get her nice and awake in a second, but for now he wanted to get into position. They’d fallen asleep naked so he didn’t need to undress. He knelt at the end of the bed, slowly pulling her covers off her body. It took a few moments but finally he had the bedding bunched on the floor beside him.
Now all he had was her gracing the navy colored silk sheets that covered his bed. She twisted as if looking for his warmth before her eyes blinked open. He smiled, feeling like he knew her well enough that she’d wake up from the cooler air. Her eyes found him unerringly.
“Liam?” she questioned with a slightly confused expression on her face.
He just shook his head, not answering her, and lifted her foot. Let me show you, he thought. With soft hands, he massaged the instep of one foot before heading to the other. Back and forth he went between her feet until her legs were boneless. He took his time as he kissed the soft flesh of her instep. Slowly, he kissed his way up the inside of her leg, paused at a moment at the soft spot behind her knees. Her breath hitched when he nipped the bottom of her thigh and he licked the sting away. His hands followed the path of his lips, tracing lightly over her skin, watching her flush.
As his mouth traveled up behind his hands she gasped. The inside of her knees, he gathered, were sensitive. He took his time there, kissing, licking, and sucking until she was panting. Until he knew just how to touch her, with barely a whisper, to make her cream for him. When he pushed her thighs open so that he could see the evidence of his touch he was breathing
hard. His cock was so hard he swore he could cut diamonds with it, but he held off. Wanting this moment to be for her. He blew lightly on the plump, wet lips of her pussy; enjoying the way her body tensed and twisted. The warm gusts of his exhale made her flesh blush the prettiest pink he’d ever seen. He wondered, then, if it would taste sweeter this time. Would she taste like fanciful things, like spun honey and cotton candy.
When he trailed his tongue, slowly, from the base of her pussy to circle around but miss her clit, he decided she tasted better. She tasted like Araceli, more than what he could ever dream. He kept her gaze as he licked and sucked, never quite taking her clit into his mouth. With one hand he played with her nipple and he gave himself over in the taste of her.
Into the slightly tangy taste of her inner folds. The sweet nectar that leaked from her with every swipe. The slick bundle of nerves that poked out to find him without shyness, begging for his touch. He played with her, swirling his tongue around her hole and then flicking her clit with precise, easy motions. She sucked in a breath, her body tensing. He wanted to feel that. Taste it. He stuck his tongue deep inside of her, flexing against her quickening muscles. So strong. Those muscles would clamp on his dick, milk him for everything he was worth. He groaned into her flesh, feeling his cock leaking onto the bed.
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