Heart-Shaped Hack (22 page)

“My hacker is back.” She kissed him, and he pulled her down onto the couch. “How did it go?”

“It got a little intense there for a while—I won’t bore you with the technical stuff—but we were successful in blocking the attack. We saved a lot of consumers the giant headache of having their financial information compromised.”

“You love it, don’t you?”

“It’s not the same kind of cybercrime my dad fell victim to, but it still feels good every time I stop it from happening.”

“I think it’s wonderful.” She smiled and kissed him. “Ready for lunch?”

“Thai?” he asked with a wide, hopeful smile.

“Thai.”

While they were eating, Kate said, “Can I talk to you about something?”

He looked a little worried. “Sure.”

“It’s nothing bad,” she said. “I just have a favor to ask. Do you remember the little boy named Georgie? We bought that Curious George hat for him at Christmastime?”

“Yes, of course.”

“When he came in with his mom and sisters to pick up their box of food last week, I could tell that Samantha was really upset about something. I pulled her aside, and after a little prodding she admitted how bad her financial situation has become. Georgie had been sick and needed two rounds of an expensive antibiotic, and the girls had outgrown their shoes. The budget billing on her gas and electric bill had increased by eighty dollars, and she told me she was trying to decide which bill she could put off. I felt horrible for her, but she said not to worry, that she’d figure something out. After she left I tried to come up with a way to help her, but I’m not equipped to provide for a family of four on an ongoing basis, and I don’t want to create a potentially problematic situation down the road. I told myself when I started the food pantry that getting personally involved was a slippery slope.”

“Do you want me to help her? Because I’d be happy to.”

“Yes. But it needs to be anonymous. She’s very proud, and it’s hard enough for her to accept help from the food pantry. But I don’t want you to give her any of your money.”

She could tell by his surprised expression that he hadn’t seen that coming. “You don’t?”

“No. I want you to find the most obnoxious thief who’s bragging the loudest and just take it. It’s not fair. Samantha works hard and has three children who never asked to grow up this way. And yet there are people out there who steal and have more than they’ll ever need.”

“Write down her name for me and I’ll take care of it.”

Kate thought about how relieved Samantha would feel upon receiving the money. How the kids would pick up on the fact that their mother was no longer stressed out and afraid. “Something so wrong shouldn’t feel this good.”

“Ah, she understands me now.”

“I always understood you, but now I can feel it for myself. Thank you for helping her. It means a lot to me.”

Ian pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “Anytime, sweetness.”

After lunch she put on her coat and got ready to walk back to the food pantry. Before she returned to the couch to say good-bye, she lingered near the entrance of the room and watched him as he tapped out a message on his phone. She admired the perfect angle of his nose, his well-defined cheekbones, the square line of his strong jaw, his mouth. Ian was gorgeous, there was no doubt about it, but it was the mischievous sparkle in his smile that gave him the extra edge.

He looked up suddenly, catching her in the act, and her cheeks flamed. “Did I just bust you staring adoringly at me, Katie?” He crossed the room, and when he reached her he leaned in for a closer look. “Aw, I’ve missed those blushing cheeks.” He tickled her, and she pulled his hands away.

“Did you know that when you smile, your whole face lights up and there are little crinkles right here in the corners of your eyes?” Kate said, pressing lightly on them.

“I do now.”

“You make me really happy.”

He held her face tenderly in his hands and kissed her. “You make me really happy too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Kate ducked her head against the biting wind that was blowing straight out of the north as she and Ian walked to Dunn Brothers for breakfast one Saturday morning at the end of February. The smell of dark roast coffee beans and the sound of light jazz greeted them when they walked through the door.

“I’ve had about enough of the cold,” Ian said, letting go of Kate’s hand and stomping the snow from his boots.

Kate removed her hat. “Thank you for being willing to endure it anyway.”

“There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

Once they had their coffee and breakfast sandwiches, they sat down at a small table in the corner.

“I have to go back to my place after breakfast,” Ian said. “There are some things I can’t take care of from my laptop.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Come with me.”

Usually whenever Ian needed to work at his apartment during the weekend, Kate occupied herself with a number of different activities: she called a friend to go shopping or to meet for lunch and a movie. She went to Pilates or ran errands or cleaned her apartment. But lately he seemed to want her near him all the time. And since there was no one else she wanted to spend her time with as much as she wanted to spend it with him, she smiled and said, “Sure.”

When they arrived at Ian’s, Kate made herself comfortable on his couch. She’d brought her laptop and busied herself sending e-mails and working on a few things for the food pantry. Ian settled in at his desk, and soon his fingers were furiously tapping the keyboard.

An hour later she walked over and stood behind him, massaging his shoulders.

He groaned. “Ah… that feels good.”

Kate looked at the blinking cursor on one of the computer monitors. “Who’s Phantomphreak?”

“Me.”

“Seriously? That does
not
sound like you.”

He let out a short laugh. “It wouldn’t be my first choice for a screen name, but I needed something that would fit in. Phreak refers to a type of hacking using phone lines. Phantom is my own little inside joke.”

“So this is the forum?”

“This is it.”

“And you’re monitoring their activity?”

“Yes. Gathering information, engaging when necessary.”

“How did you get them to trust you?”

“A fabricated yet credible backstory that can be verified by a Google search goes a long way. That and patience.”

Kate read the words appearing on the screen. The interactions seemed mostly an exchange of insults interspersed with racial epithets.

“Do they always speak to each other this way?”

“It’s posturing, mostly. Everyone’s a badass on the Internet.”

“Is it tedious?”

“This part is. I greatly prefer the hacking end of it—plugging security holes and intercepting information—versus watching a bunch of low-life thugs brag about all the credit card numbers they just ripped off.”

“So they’re all thieves?” Kate asked pointing to the user names running down the length of the screen.

“Pretty much.”

Kate used her thumbs to gently knead the tight muscle on the back of Ian’s neck.

“Oh yeah, right there,” he said.

“What will happen next?”

“Once we have enough evidence, we’ll round up the worst offenders. Many of them will see jail time. If they’re smart, the ones that are left will scatter.”

He turned his chair around and pulled Kate onto his lap, which was one of her favorite places. His long legs were strong and solid underneath her, and she loved it when he wrapped his arms around her and held her that way.

“Kiss me,” he said.

She pressed her lips to his and dipped her tongue into his mouth. “Like that?”

“Just like that,” he said, pulling her in for another.

For lunch, they picked up sandwiches from Mona’s because Kate won the coin toss after stating she could not eat Thai food one more time. Ian insisted the sound of the TV wouldn’t bother him, so she watched a movie after they finished eating. Kate knew he was telling the truth because he was so immersed in his work he didn’t look away from the screen when the movie ended and she stood up to stretch and go to the bathroom. The sunken whirlpool tub caught her eye when she was washing her hands. A nice, relaxing bath would be an excellent way to pass the time until Ian was finished.

She searched the cabinet under the sink while the tub filled, but Ian didn’t have any bubble bath. She’d have to remember to bring some the next time she visited. When the water reached the level she desired, Kate undressed and lowered herself into the tub, hitting the button to turn on the jets.

Now
this
was a bathtub.

It was big enough for two, even if one of those people was a six-foot-four-inch man. Kate could see herself buying one of those little air-filled pillows and maybe a tray where she could set a book and a glass of wine. She’d suggest to Ian that they should spend more time at his place, and that he need not look farther than his bathroom if he wanted to find her.

After ten minutes of the pulsing water massaging her body, Kate felt incredibly relaxed. She turned down the jets and rested her arms along the side of the tub, eyes closed. She opened them when she heard the door open.

“You don’t have any bubble bath,” she said, knowing he could see her body clearly under the water.

“Thank God.” He stripped off his T-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans in one fluid motion. After he removed the rest of his clothes, he eased in behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her.

“I wasn’t trying to distract you,” she said. “I just couldn’t resist this tub.”

“It’s okay. I’m officially done for the day.”

She rested her head on his chest and angled her neck so he could reach it. He kissed it and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I was not specifically invited to join you in the bathroom, but here I am. Pressed up against you, even.” He skimmed his palms down her breasts.

“You are
not
a good rule follower.”

“The worst,” he said. “It’s the hacker in me.” He kissed her neck again and gave it a little nip that made her shiver despite the warm water.

“Kate, I have to go.”

Her body tensed and he tightened his hold. “When?”

“Soon. Within a month or two.”

That meant the end of April at the latest.

“Once the arrests are made, those who managed to elude us will be extremely motivated to find out who brought down the forum. I’ll be on borrowed time.”

“Do you know where you’ll go next?”

“No. The only thing I know for sure is that I want you to come with me.”

Their commitment to one another was deep enough that Kate had already known he’d ask. She thought she’d been prepared for it. But the reality of packing up and leaving everything behind was something she’d have to carefully consider.

“How would it work?”

“We’d pick a destination. Someplace large enough to get lost in. Preferably warmer this time.”

“Texas?”

“Anywhere but Texas,” he said, and his tone left no doubt about whether he had any desire to return to his home state. “I’d shift to my private-sector clients for a while. You could do whatever you wanted. You could find another nonprofit to work for, although you wouldn’t have to work at all if you didn’t want to. You could volunteer somewhere if that’s what you’d rather do. The possibilities are endless.”

“Would we ever stop moving?”

“I hope so. Living in rented apartments at thirty-two isn’t the same as twenty-two. Someday, maybe soon, I’ll say no to the next government assignment and put down roots somewhere. Buy a house. Share it with a beautiful brown-eyed girl. But even so, the risk of someone finding out who I am will always be there.”

She was silent for a moment. “You said you’d asked two women in the past ten years to come with you. Why did they say no?” Kate knew Ian had been single for about a year when he met her and had been with his previous girlfriend for nine months. But she didn’t know anything about the two women he’d asked before asking her, and she was curious about their reasons for declining.

“I dated the first woman for three years. She’d actually moved with me twice by that point, but when it was time to move again, she said she wouldn’t come unless I married her. I understood her reasoning, but I was only twenty-four and I couldn’t fathom settling down at that point. After we broke up, I dated but didn’t get serious with anyone until a few years later. What I discovered when I asked the second woman to come with me is that the only aspect of my lifestyle she was willing to tolerate long-term was my income, so I moved on.”

Kate did not need an engagement ring in order to make her decision, nor was she interested in Ian’s money. She turned around so they were facing each other.

“It’s a lot to ask of you,” Ian said. “Selfish, even.”

“Wanting to be with someone doesn’t mean you’re selfish. It just means you want them.”

“What do you want, Kate?”

“To be with you.”

“Is there a certain place you’d like to live?” he asked.

“I’ve always thought North Carolina was beautiful.”

“If you decide to come with me, that’s where we’ll go.”

“Just like that?” She sometimes forgot that anything was possible in Ian’s world.

“Sure. Why not? But you still have time to make your decision. I don’t want you to feel pressured.” But his yearning expression belied his true feelings on the matter.

“I don’t feel pressured.”

She owed it to herself and to Ian to make sure this was what she wanted. It wasn’t that her feelings for him were in doubt, because they weren’t. But Kate would be starting down an unfamiliar path, and life as she knew it would change. For all Ian’s talk about turning down the FBI’s next assignment, there was something about it that he loved. She could see it in the way his eyes lit up when he talked about it.

He kissed her then. His arousal had been evident since he’d climbed into the tub and pressed it against her, and now her body responded in kind.

“How do you feel about drying off and moving this to my bed?” He rubbed his thumbs across her nipples, and her skin felt electrified under his touch.