Page 65

His sister picked up on the third ring, the sound of rapid-fire typing in the background. “What do you want?”

Judging from the bark in her voice, on a scale of one to tear your nuts off, he pegged her mood around an eight, which was the equivalent of a giant flashing neon sign that read “Tread Lightly.”

“Hey, sis, I just wanted to see if you cracked the password on that flash drive.”

The line went quiet for a solid ten seconds, never a positive sign when it came to his sister. “You do realize I have a mountain of work on my plate, right? I can’t just shove it all aside at the drop of a hat.”

His jaw clenched. “That flash drive almost got me and Dorcas killed.”

“Are you currently in danger?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Then you can wait. Cava Tech got infected with ransomware last night. Some asshole had the nerve to demand ten grand to restore access to the data.”

Nate’s stomach sank. That was one of his largest accounts. Not only did Six Points handle their cyber security, but they also installed and monitored their on-site security system. “Shit. How the hell did that happen?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Lucky for Cava, I set them up on a continuous backup plan, so they didn’t lose any of their information. But it still takes time to purge the malware and restore everything.”

And knowing Larissa, once she finished all that, she’d track down the person or persons responsible for the ransomware and make their lives suck giant donkey balls. Her idea of vengeance was swift, severe, and perversely creative. It was one of the things he loved about her the most.

Now he understood why she hadn’t gotten to the flash drive yet, and he felt like an ass for bugging her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had that mess on your hands.”

Her tone softened. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. You had no way to know what was going on.”

Yeah, because he’d blown off his responsibilities to the family business so he could help Dorcas. Even worse, he’d taken employees off their regular details to aid in her protection. It weighed on his conscience, but what else could he do? The woman needed help.

He stole a glance at Dorcas and decided that yeah, he’d do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, he’d probably do just about anything she asked of him, and the realization blew his mind. “Look, I uh—”

“Just give me a few hours to clean up this mess, okay?” Larissa cut him off. The sound of more typing carried over the phone. “Then I’ll have time to see what’s on the drive. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”

“Thanks, sis. I owe you one.”

She snorted. “You owe me a lot more than that.”

“Everything okay?” Dorcas asked as he set the phone on the counter.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine. Larissa’s running behind, so it’s going to be a bit longer until she can work on the password for the flash drive.”

“Oh. Okay.”

But it wasn’t okay. He could see the disappointment in her eyes as she finished the last of her breakfast and placed the empty plate and mug in the dishwasher.

He needed to do something to put the light back in her eyes. Of course, sex was the first thought to enter his mind, but he also thought of another distraction that might help to make her safer. “Put your shoes on. We’re going out.”

“Where?”

He grinned. “You’ll see.”

AS USUAL, THE INDOORshooting range was busy, and they had to wait fifteen minutes or so for a lane to become available. Nate would have preferred the outdoor range, but it was hotter than hell outside, and he didn’t feel like sweating through his clothes.

He glanced to Dorcas as the clerk rang up their range fee. She wore black jeans and a pink T-shirt, and her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail. Shooting up paper men had a way of burning off frustration, and he hoped it worked with her. If not, at least it would help to get her comfortable with a gun, and he liked the idea of her being able to defend herself in the event something happened to him.

Once they both had eye and ear protection in place, he opened the door and made a sweeping gesture for her to enter. The acrid bite of gunpowder filled his nostrils as he led her to the stall on the far end of the range and removed his weapon from the case.

“This is a Glock 19.” He inserted a fully loaded clip into the butt of the gun and pulled back the slide. “It fires 9mm bullets and carries fifteen rounds in a clip. It’s popular with the military and law enforcement because it’s reliable, versatile, and easy to use in concealed carry situations. It also has a light recoil, which helps with accuracy.”

To demonstrate, he clipped a red-on-black human silhouette target onto the rack and sent it down the range. He got into position, took a deep breath, and methodically fired all fifteen rounds until the slide locked open.