Page 22 of Slap Shot (Charm City Chill #3)

Heather pulled up Oliver's location data from the triangulation program. The Meridian Building, suite 847, with ninety-seven percent probability that Kai was operating from that exact location.

She grabbed her phone and dialed 911, her hands shaking as the operator answered.

"I need to report a federal fugitive," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Kai Moreno, parole violation, currently operating from suite 847 at the Meridian Building downtown. He's a cybercriminal who's been conducting attacks against local businesses."

"Ma'am, can you provide more details about the nature of these attacks?"

"Data theft, extortion, corporate espionage.

He's violated his federal parole and is currently in possession of stolen financial records from multiple organizations.

" Heather was already grabbing her laptop bag, shoving portable drives and equipment inside.

"I'm Dr. Heather Quincy, head of cybersecurity for the Charm City Chill. We have an open case with Detective Stevens of the Hartford police.” She fumbled with his business card.

“Case number 4565. I can provide evidence of his crimes to responding officers. "

"Officers are being dispatched now. Please remain at a safe distance from the suspect."

"Understood." But even as she said it, Heather was heading for the elevator. Oliver was walking into a confrontation with someone who'd already betrayed him once, and police response time in downtown traffic could be twenty minutes or more.

Twenty minutes was too long.

The drive to the Meridian Building took twelve minutes of aggressive lane changes and running yellow lights. Heather's mind raced through scenarios, each one ending badly. Kai had spent years planning his revenge, and Oliver's arrival was probably exactly what he'd been waiting for.

She parked in the building's garage and took the elevator to the eighth floor, her laptop bag heavy with equipment she hoped she wouldn't need. The hallway was quieter than the public spaces below, lined with small offices behind frosted glass doors.

Heather followed the suite numbers until she found 847, pressing her ear to the door and hearing voices inside. Oliver's voice, tense but controlled. And another voice, smoother, mocking, carrying the particular brand of arrogance that made her want to punch something.

"—Then you come back where you belong. With me. As partners," the second voice was saying. "Because once all this comes out, once everyone knows what you really are, I'll be the only person left who understands you."

Kai was trying to manipulate Oliver into some kind of partnership. Heather felt sick imagining what that might involve—probably more illegal hacking, more destruction, more innocent people getting hurt.

"That's never going to happen," Oliver's voice was firm, but she could hear the strain underneath.

"No?" Kai's voice turned predatory. "This is Coach Victoria Kovalchuk's email to Jack Westlake from last Tuesday..."

Heather listened as Kai read what sounded like a private email, her stomach dropping as she realized how damaging it would be if taken out of context. He wasn't just threatening Oliver—he was threatening to destroy Coach Vicky's career, her reputation, everything she'd worked for.

She checked her phone. No messages from police dispatch about their ETA. Oliver was in there alone with someone who'd already proven he was willing to use violence to get what he wanted.

Heather couldn't wait for backup.

She tried the door handle. Locked, but the mechanism was cheap—standard office building security, not the high-end systems a real professional would install. Her cybersecurity work had taught her that physical security was often the weakest link in any defensive system.

The lock yielded to techniques she'd learned during her first job, when they'd needed to access server rooms in buildings where the previous IT contractor had disappeared with all the access codes. Sometimes the digital approach wasn't the fastest solution.

"—Twenty-four hours, Oliver. That's how long your friends have left," Kai was saying as Heather eased the door open just enough to see inside.

The office looked like a mobile command center. Multiple laptops connected to portable servers, cables snaking across the floor in organized chaos. Kai sat behind the main desk, completely focused on Oliver, who stood near the door with his back partially to her.

Perfect positioning for what she had in mind.

"Working something out?" Heather said, stepping into full view. "Interesting negotiation technique."

Both men whipped around to face her. Oliver's expression shifted from surprise to relief to horror, probably realizing that Kai now had two targets instead of one. Kai's eyes immediately began calculating threat levels, his hand moving toward something on his desk.

"Dr. Heather Quincy," Kai said, his voice carrying false warmth. "Your reputation precedes you. Though I have to say, your cybersecurity skills are somewhat overrated."

"Are they?" Heather moved further into the room, noting escape routes and potential weapons while keeping her voice cold. "Because I've been tracking your operations for weeks. I know your methods, your signatures, your favorite proxy chains. You're good, Kai, but you're not invisible."

"Good enough to turn your precious team against itself." Kai's hand definitely had something now. The glint of metal suggested a knife. "Good enough to destroy everything Oliver cares about."

"Maybe. But here's the thing about destruction.

It tends to be mutual." Heather pulled out her phone, showing him a screen full of network traffic analysis.

"See this? I've been running a trace on your systems since the moment I walked into this building.

Every packet, every connection, every piece of data flowing through your network. "

It was partially true. She had been monitoring his digital fingerprints from her office, building profiles of his methods and attack vectors. But the real-time trace was a bluff, meant to shake his confidence and buy time for police to arrive.

Kai's expression shifted, confidence wavering for the first time since she'd entered the room. "Bullshit."

"Is it?" Heather's fingers moved across her phone screen, executing a script she'd built weeks ago specifically for this moment. "Let's find out."

The digital attack hit Kai's systems like a sledgehammer. His screens flickered, error messages cascading across multiple displays as carefully constructed network connections began collapsing. Months of preparation, years of planning, all unraveling in real time.

"What the hell?" Kai lunged for his keyboard, but Oliver was already moving.

Kai's hand shot toward something metallic on his desk, a letter opener or small knife, just as Oliver's shoulder drove into his midsection.

The impact sent both men crashing sideways into the desk, laptops sliding off the surface and clattering to the floor.

Cables tangled around their legs as they grappled for control.

Oliver's hand clamped around Kai's wrist, keeping the blade away from his throat. Kai twisted beneath him, using his smaller size to slip partially free and drive an elbow toward Oliver's ribs. The blow connected with enough force to make Oliver grunt, but he didn't let go.

They rolled across the floor, knocking over chairs and scattering equipment. Kai managed to get on top for a moment, the knife inches from Oliver's face, before Oliver bucked him off and slammed his hand against the ground until the weapon skittered away under a filing cabinet.

"Stop!" Heather shouted, staying back from the fight but positioning herself between the struggling men and the door. She couldn't interfere with what was clearly self-defense, but she could make sure Kai didn't escape.

Oliver finally managed to pin Kai face-down on the floor, one knee planted between his shoulder blades. He had both of Kai's arms twisted behind his back in a position that made any movement painful.

"You think this changes anything?" Kai snarled into the carpet, his voice muffled but still venomous.

"You think overpowering me stops what's already in motion?

I've got backups, Oliver. Backups of everything.

Your past, your girlfriend's secrets, your precious coach's career, it's all going public tomorrow morning whether I'm here or not. "

"Not if you're in federal custody," Heather said, keeping her distance from the crime scene but watching for any sign that Kai might break free.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside, followed by authoritative voices shouting commands. The police had finally arrived.

"Hartford Police! Building security is directing us to this floor!"

Relief flooded through Heather, though she realized the local police might not fully understand the federal implications of Kai's crimes.

"In here!" she called toward the hallway. "Suite 847! Suspect is restrained but was armed!"

The door burst open as three Hartford officers swept into the room, weapons drawn but immediately assessing the situation. The lead officer took in Oliver pinning Kai to the floor, the scattered computer equipment, and Heather standing well back from the physical altercation.

"Sir, step away from the suspect," the lead officer commanded Oliver.

Oliver immediately released Kai and moved back, hands visible and non-threatening. "He had a knife. It's under the filing cabinet."

Two officers moved to secure Kai while the third began cataloging the scene. Kai didn't resist, couldn't, really, with his arms twisted behind his back and handcuffs being applied, but his mouth kept running.

"This is harassment," he said as they hauled him to his feet. "I'm working legally from a rented office. These people broke in and assaulted me."

"Mr. Moreno," the lead officer said, consulting his notes, "you're under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and violation of a restraining order. You have the right to remain silent..."

As the Miranda warning continued, another officer approached Heather. "Ma'am, you're the one who called this in?"

"Dr. Heather Quincy, head of cybersecurity for Charm City Chill," she said, pulling out her identification.

"Kai Moreno has been conducting systematic cyber attacks against our organization.

This is actually a federal parole violation case.

He's been operating under restricted computer access terms."

The officer nodded, making notes. "We'll need to contact federal authorities then. In the meantime, we're taking him in on the assault charges. You'll both need to give statements."

"Everything's documented on secure servers back at our facility," Heather said. "Attack logs, network traces, evidence of data theft and extortion attempts. The federal authorities will want access to all of it."

As they prepared to transport Kai, he caught Oliver's eye one last time. The hatred there was pure and undiluted, but something else lurked underneath, a kind of desperate disbelief that his carefully constructed revenge had fallen apart.

"This isn't over," he said. "They can't hold me forever."

But Heather saw something different in Oliver's expression than she'd expected. Not the fear and trauma that Kai's threats used to inspire, but a kind of calm resolution. He'd faced his past and survived the confrontation intact.

"Yeah, it is," Oliver said, his voice steady. "It's over."

The officers led Kai away, leaving his equipment to be processed as evidence. The office that had been a command center for digital warfare now looked like what it really was, a rented space where a desperate man had tried to rebuild his life through revenge.

"We'll need you both to come to the station for formal statements," the lead officer told them. "Federal authorities will probably want to interview you as well once we contact them about the parole violation."

As they walked toward the elevator, the weight of the past few weeks finally lifted. Kai was in custody, his operation dismantled, his immediate threats neutralized. The salary leak and media attacks would take time to fade, but the source of the poison was finally contained.