Page 67

Elliott

My mind feels a little less clouded now that I’ve showered and let the hot water release some of the tension in my muscles.

I’m still sore from the training, but I’ve been sore every day since I started.

My body isn’t used to it but at least every day gets easier.

I pull a pair of my sweats on along with one of Kameron’s t-shirts and toss my towel dried hair into a messy bun.

Taking a deep breath, I leave the room to head to the kitchen, where Hunter’s cooking for us.

The smell of breakfast instantly fills my senses as I make my way down the hallway and round the corner into the open kitchen.

Hunter must have changed because he’s in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

He’s pulling bacon off a pan and laying it on a paper towel covered plate, I smile at how he looks so… normal.

The last time I saw him in something other than business attire was when I woke up in his arms from my night terrors.

It was not the usual outfit for Mr. Hunter Sinclair.

He looked like an average Joe, nothing like a CEO of a security company, or like a man who helps orchestrate missions to help people escape the unseen horrors in the world.

He turns my way with a smile, “Coffee’s ready. I’ll make you a cup in just a second.” The bacon grease pops, “Shit!” he shoots back. “This is why I hate cooking bacon.” He pulls another two slices from the pan, holding them up to his face, “You’re lucky you taste so fucking good.”

I giggle to myself at his sudden playfulness, a side I have seen glimpses of but not nearly as much as I would like to. Hunter isn’t as open as Kameron, but when he is…it’s a sight to see.

“Talking to bacon now are we?” I walk up next to him, pulling two mugs out of the cabinet. I hand him one mug of black coffee, before getting the creamer out of the fridge for the next one.

“I told you I would make it.” Hunter huffs out.

“I know, but I can make it too.” I stir in some vanilla creamer until it's just the right shade of light brown, then place it back in the fridge. “I’ll be right back.” I kiss Hunter on the cheek.

“Where are you going?”

“Gonna give Marcus some caffeine…” I tap the mug in my hands with my thumb, “Thought maybe he could use it with all the work he’s been doing.”

“I agree.” He smiles at me.

I leave the kitchen, making my way through the house to Marcus’s room .

I stand outside of his door a bit hesitant to go inside, but I take a deep breath and knock.

“Come in.” Marcus shouts from inside.

I open the door and peek in to see him tapping away on his computer. The monitors are all on and he’s moving at rapid speed. His head darts from each screen as he moves things around and starts to tap on the keyboard again.

Garbagè chirps at me, coming to rub her body against my legs. I lean down, giving her a quick chin scratch, “Just here to provide your dad with some caffeine.” I whisper to her and she meows at me in return. I straighten up and walk to Marcus’s desk.

He looks at me with a double take, “Oh hey, I thought you were Hunter coming to berate me on where I was at on all of this.” He gestures to the monitors.

“Nope. Just me and a mug of coffee.” I extend the cup to him, “For you.”

“Oh–” he stares at it, then takes it from my hold, “Thanks, you didn’t have to.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to.” I take a look at the monitors, “How do you keep track of everything on all these screens?”

He takes a sip of the coffee, his eyes landing on me. “It’s something you get used to, but it helps me finish so much more work. Cuts down on opening and closing tabs.”

“What about the stuff on this screen?” I point to one with just letters and numbers appearing in rows. “What does it even say? ”

“It’s running a code I inputted,” he pulls the screen down to a lower monitor. “See, it's analyzing a command I put in.”

“Uh huh.” I nod, having no clue what that even means.

He chuckles, “I’m trying to find a hole in their security system.

I have been trying different commands, attacks, twinning their system to make it look like I’m a part of it all so it will grant me access.

” He takes a longer sip of the coffee, placing it down and leaning back in his chair, running his hands through his hair.

“But none of it works. If anything, it mostly backfires and I have to combat it to not overtake my own shit.”

“That sounds–frustrating.”

“Very.” He huffs out, sitting back up and tapping a series of words and symbols into the computer again, his finger flying across the keyboards and then pressing the enter button.

He leans back in his chair again, eyes scanning each row that comes up.

One last line pops up and Marcus rushes to his feet, his chair rolling away from him and he starts to pace in place.

“Fucking shit.” he mutters, but runs back to his keyboard. The taps are even more rapid than before.

“It didn’t work again?” I watch him still glued to the monitors.

“No, it did.” He takes a glance at me but quickly returns his focus on the screen.

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to blanket myself so it doesn’t flag them, or start infiltrating my system. ”

I stand next to him, his hands flying over the keys for a few more minutes before they drop by his side.

“What happened?” I ask, but the screens start to flicker, a digital map of Everton stares back at us. One of them being the cathedral where Samuel’s office is. My eyes land on him at his desk and my heart sinks into my stomach.

“I’m in. Why did that work this time around?” Marcus stands straight and I feel him taking glances at me. His eyes snap to where mine are locked. “That’s Samuel?” He grits out.

“Yeah.” My voice trembles along with my hands. “That’s him. He’s just at his desk…like always. As if nothing is wrong.” My eyes burn as I glare at the image of him shuffling through papers. Joshua comes into view, bending down and says something to him.

“Who is that?” Marcus points.

“That’s his right hand man, Joshua. He goes practically everywhere with him.”

“We need to talk to Hunter before I dive in further. We need to update Kam.” He says, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him out of the room.