Page 152 of Nowhere to Hide

“Could these be keys for access?” I handed her off the compilation of things I’d found. “See how each name has a six, eight, and twelve character at the end. Like the deeper you go into the names, the more complex they become. Those aren’t for bank accounts.”

Nyx sat up and grabbed her sphere, tossing it from hand to hand.

“Passwords are used for what? To log into something, right?” She set it down hard enough that the blocks actually cracked open and a few scattered.

“Right. The dark web uses decentralized networks though. So even if one goes down, the whole network can still run. It would just reroute to another server.”

“Wait, wait.” Her fingers flew on the keyboard. “What if they’re access points to a website? I kept getting directed to video files on a server, but I couldn’t get them to play. What happens if the passwords fit there?”

It took a long slog of incorrect combinations, but because Nyx was a programming genius she was able to try every combination with the videos that she found on the same server as the cameras from the wharf.

Finally, a video file opened.

“Booyah!” Nyx stood up with her arms above her head. She hit play and my breath stalled.

It was me.

On theKnot On Your Life. Different angles of me on the upper deck, the below deck, sleeping in Locke’s bed. The video was cut up into six boxes like a security panel. Locke and I cooking together, him tending to my wounds, and more.

I shoved my seat back. Locke and I on the couch when we were first intimate.

Nyx hurriedly closed that video. “Cilla,” she said softly and covered my hand.

I pulled away. “Oh, God. He’s been watching us all along. Did he see everything?”

Another opened and this time it wasn’t me. It was on the beach. The angle was wide, but it showed a figure in all black lowering a body to the beach. Wrapping her body in the intricate ropes.

My heart rate went into high alert. Memories that I’d been able to stuff down flooded back.

I bent at the waist, trying to breathe.

“Turn it off.” Bastian’s voice as savage.

“No!” I shouted. “No, don’t.”

“You don’t need to see this, Cilla.” Bastian slammed the space bar to make the video stop.

And frozen on the screen was the hooded man with only a tiny flash of his face showing.

“Black eyes,” I said softly.

Nyx blew up the video. “It’s grainy as hell, what do you mean black eyes?”

“That night on the wharf, his eyes were so dark. Absolutely black—like he was something else entirely.”

“Contacts?” Bastian said. “You can get contacts that black out your eyes. I wore some for Halloween one year. They aren’t the most comfortable things, but I got used to them after an hour or two.”At Nyx’s frown, he shrugged. “I went as Demon Dean from Supernatural to a Halloween party.”

She snickered. “I just bet you did.”

“Easiest costume ever. I still have the shirt.”

The interlude was enough to break the fear sitting on my chest. “Please keep going on the video.”

“You don’t need to see that.”

“I do. I could have been this girl.”

He seethed, but hit play.