Page 165 of Beautifully Ruined

There’s something not quite right, but I don’t have time for this. I need to get my shit and make the changes.

I turn on my computer and unlock it with the password and thumb print. Then I pull up the viruses and tweak them.

Honestly, by the time I’m finished it feels like five minutes but I’m aware it’s probably a lot longer. I open a drawer and fish out a USB in black to load them on. I check the time.

It took me about an hour and a half. Enzo will be here to get me soon.

So, I want to be ready.

Then I go to get the other USB I need.

I frown.

The top drawer of my desk might look chaotic, but there’s order. Particular order, and the USBs in there are a mess.

One is missing. One of three of the particular ones I need.

My heart thuds a little harder.

I open the next one. And the next one.

There are other things missing, too. Small tools Vi asked me about. Tools I told her I sometimes needed if I had to get into a locked room. Some of the things needed in order to hack into a security system if there’s a keypad. And one of my burners.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

A wild, hot heat storms my veins, and I grab the things I need. A leather pouch she missed, where I keep my personal set of things I might need in any situation. I throw in the USBs, the black one and the other one which has a clear plastic case.

I didn’t pay attention to why she asked about what I’d do, or when I told her I needed to hack into the system physically in the center.

But I never went through every piece of equipment she’d need. I didn’t?—

“Fucking YouTube and people posting how to do anything.”

Picking locks, using a burner right if you want to disappear. Even how to copy computer files…

I call Vi, and her phone’s off. “Fuck.”

Maybe, though, she’s got it on her, somewhere in her bag. I wouldn’t put it past her doing something like that. So, I hack the tracker app to bring up her GPS, anyway. It’s static. And it says she’s at home.

When I look at the cameras, though, her place is empty.

Maybe she’s with her friend. Maybe they’re both plotting Vi’s idiotic plan. Shit, maybe her friend’s going to go in as back up.

If things weren’t so fucking dire, I’d laugh.

I don’t need to do any fancy work to get Lia’s number. It’s on the stuff I hacked and downloaded before. And I’m not above calling the girl.

“Hello?”

“This is Cade, Lia,” I say, not even bothering with niceties. “Where’s Vi? Is she with you?”

“Oh, hi, Cade, how are you?”

The sudden ultra friendliness is suspicious and frankly odd.

“Is she with you?”

“Yes, of course she is. We’re spending the evening together. Having fun. A girl’s night, you know?” And she gives a little giggle.