Page 61 of Hacking His Code

I look away, because I’m too much of a coward to face him, but I hear him stop and pivot in my direction. I can’t recall a time I’ve ever felt this naked when fully clothed.

“Giving up so soon?”

“You know as well as I do that your father owns a tech company. He employs some of the best technical minds on the planet, and I’m sure he’s done everything he can to find your aunt. What I’m doing is—”

“Insightful. To be honest, you got me thinking about things in a way I haven’t before.”

“But that doesn’t solve the case, and that doesn’t pay my tuition.”

“Your tuition was paid the day you were taken to my family’s estate.”

My head snaps in his direction. “Huh?”

“The check’s dated to be cashed the day before you go back to class.”

“But…why?”

“I’m not a complete asshole, but I wanted to keep you hungry. Wanting it.”

“Well…thanks.”

“Will you get back to work now?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“There’s this saying: know when you’ve been beat. There’s no way we’re ever going to find out what happened to your aunt. The best of the best have already been on the case. There’s nothing I can find that they wouldn’t have already.”

“I don’t trust them, though.”

“You don’t trust your father?”

His mouth opens slightly, like he wants to tell me something, but no words come out.

“It’s okay to want answers, but sometimes you have to realize that you just need to move on. Sometimes there are no answers.”

“I received an email,” he says quickly, like the words burn his throat.

“An email?”

“The person who sent it says they are my aunt.”

“Your Aunt Lucy? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She, or whoever is claiming to be her, is making demands.” He runs his fingers through his tousled hair. “I really need you, Ari.”

“Why didn’t you go to your parents with this?”

“She demanded discretion. Said that if I told anyone, she’d release information that would be damning to my family.”

“Oh…”

“My parents aren’t monsters, I can tell you that much, but every family has their secrets.”

“How do you know it’s a serious threat and not some fifteen-year-old kid, like I was?”

“They sent a string of code that Lucy wrote over two decades ago. If it’s not her, it’s someone that knew her.”