Page 19 of Tango (Hunt Brothers Search & Rescue #4)

Alice

I can’t sleep.

Not even a few minutes. I know this video is a fake, but even as I sit here staring at it, rewatching it over and over again, I’m even starting to wonder how it’s possible. That woman is not me—the braid, the clothes—but she looks enough like me that, in this grainy footage, it might as well be me.

And Ramiro—he’s wearing the same clothes. A gray T-shirt and dark jeans. My chest aches, so I rub the heel of my palm against it, then get up and walk to the large picture window overlooking the ranch. The moon is high tonight, illuminating the world beyond this pane of glass in silver.

Does Tucker stand here often? Does he take in this scene every day and on nights when he can’t sleep? I glance down the hallway where he said his bedroom is. Is he sleeping now? Or unable to sleep like me?

“Because I’m your only hope, and you know it.”

He’s not wrong, which is why I’m still here. If he wakes up in the morning and chooses to still turn me in, then I’ll have to face that. But I know that, even if I’m cuffed and hauled away to be shoved in a cage, he’ll keep looking for the truth.

Because I may not have known Tucker Hunt long, but he strikes me as a man who won’t rest until he knows—without a doubt.

My computer dings, so I take a seat behind it again and check my email.

One new message from Logger91. Logan. Quickly, I open it, my heart pounding. Did he find something? There’s no message or subject line, just a voice memo attached as a file. I stare at it a few moments, honestly wondering whether or not I should wait for Tucker to open it.

What if this is the key piece of evidence that will clear me?

Then again, what if it’s only another red herring with my name on it?

And with that in mind, I decide it will be better if I hear it first, just in case. If it’s not helpful, I can keep it to myself—for now. But if it’s something that helps, then I can get Tucker to stop looking at me like I’m a liar.

I tap the attachment, and my entire screen freezes.

It pixelates, starting from one corner to the other as the virus takes over the computer byte by byte. Why would Logan—and then it hits me.

Logan wouldn’t maliciously hack my computer. But someone else would. Someone who knew that I went to Logan for help. Which means everything on Tucker’s network is at risk.

Without waiting any longer, I rush to Tucker’s bedroom and bang on the door. “Tucker!”

He rips it open seconds later, bare-chested and sleepy-eyed. “What is it?”

I’m momentarily stunned by the sight of his muscled chest. Of the tattoo right over his heart. Psalm 27.

“What’s happening?

His sharp words snap me back into reality. “My computer is being hacked.”

I step out of the way as he rushes down the hallway and into the room. “Is it connected to the network?”

“Yes.”

He turns on his heel and rushes down toward his office. As soon as he’s inside, he rips the power cord to the router out of the wall—his attempt to keep whoever is hacking my computer from accessing anything on his database.

As soon as it’s shut down, he moves to his computer and removes it from the internet completely. Even though it’s not connected, he needs to sever that connection just in case.

“Alice, are you there?” Logan’s voice echoes down the hall, and I freeze, my gaze locking with Tucker’s.

“How—”

“I don’t have time to wait. I have to believe this is getting to you.”

I sprint out of Tucker’s office and down the hall toward my computer. The screen is black except for a blinking light in the center.

“I’m sorry for the theatrics, but I couldn’t risk anyone else getting their hands on this. At least this way it’ll be harder for them to know—” He trails off. His tone is strained, and even though I can’t see him, I can imagine his worried expression.

“Who is that?” Tucker demands.

“My friend,” I say. “Logan.”

“Look, I don’t know what you and Ramiro got into, but it’s big.

I did some digging like you asked, and they’re watching me.

” He whispers that last part. “I found bugs in my apartment the day after we met. That’s what prompted me to really start digging.

Now they’re saying you killed Ramiro in the server room.

That the drive-by was a cover for the investigation.

I know you didn’t do it even though I saw the video.

You never braid your hair. The idiots didn’t get it right.

They didn’t get the details—” He trails off.

I glance back at Tucker, whose jaw is set as he listens.

“I know you too well to believe that you would ever hurt anyone. They told me to eliminate contact with you. That if I was talking to you, I would be implicated as part of it. But because I care about you, I need to warn you: things are changing here. Big-time. They’re cleaning house.

Seven patch workers have been fired. They’re saying that the information was stolen by you, and they don’t know the depth of the breach yet.

I imagine I’m next, but they haven’t—” A loud bang echoes through the line.

“They’re here. I’m out of time. I need you to know that you’re onto something.

Keep pressing, Alice. You’re the smartest person I know, and if anyone can figure this out, it’s you.

Huck—” Another loud bang. “He’s in on it.

But he’s not the only o—” A gunshot. I flinch.

“I pray this gets—” he trails off, his tone strained as if he’s fighting to even speak now. “Always lov?—”

The message ends.

My heart is in my throat.

Tears roll down my cheeks.

“No. No.” I rush toward my computer and start hammering keys, even though I know it won’t work. Whatever he used locked it down completely. Not surprising since Logan was a white-collar hacker when he got out of the army. It’s why Web Safe hired him.

“Alice.” Tucker grabs my hand, and I whirl on him.

“No! He was only in this because of me! I asked him to get involved! He’s fine. He has to be fine.” I charge forward, and Tucker stops me by wrapping his arms around me. The sound of the gunshot echoes in my mind.

I couldn’t even see it this time, but I can picture it easily enough.

I’ve lived through one tragedy; it’s not hard to visualize another.

Bullets all work the same. Tearing through flesh and muscle, destroying the spark of life that once resided within. Spots invade my vision as I try to suck in breath after breath, yet find none. Why is this happening? Why?

“Breathe, Alice,” Tucker tells me. He holds me against his strong chest, and I can hear the steady beating of his heart. Doing my best to focus on it, I let the sound of his life ground me in this moment. Thump, thump.

“He wasn’t involved from the beginning,” I whisper. “I asked him to keep an ear to the ground for me. Tell me he’s okay, Tucker. Please. Tell me that was something else.”

“I won’t lie to you, and I don’t know. But if you give me a minute, I can put out feelers.”

I nod then pull away from him. Tucker walks back to his bedroom, returning with a shirt on and his cell phone, which is already pressed to his ear. “I need you to do a check on someone.” He looks over at me.

“Logan Tarmac,” I tell him. “He lives a few blocks from my apartment. Works at Web Safe.”

“Logan Tarmac,” he repeats. “Yeah. Thanks. Call when you know something.” He ends the call then shoves his phone into the pocket of his sweats and crosses over toward me.

In a tender gesture, he puts both hands on my shoulders.

“Let’s have some coffee, okay? A buddy of mine is going to go check on him.

He’s a homicide detective with the LAPD. ”

“Okay.” It all feels surreal. But who knows? Knowing Logan, he’s probably just fine. I bet we’ll all laugh about this one day. Once the smoke is cleared and everything goes back to normal.

I follow Tucker into the kitchen and take a seat on a bar stool as he preps the coffeepot.

“They’re here. I’m out of time.”

He’d known they were coming, which is why he’d written the virus to deliver the message. He probably killed his computer in the process, just as he did mine. My chest aches, and I rest my head in my hands.

Why is this happening to me?

Lord, why?

“Are you okay?”

I don’t even try to hide it. I’m barely clinging to sanity as it is. First, losing Ramiro, and now, maybe Logan—what’s next? Will they find their way here and finish the job with my parents? Will they bring war to the Hunts’ doorsteps? “No.”

“Then talk through it.”

“I don’t know what there is to talk about.”

“You said that you asked Logan to get involved.”

I nod. “Aside from Ramiro, he was the only one I could trust at Web Safe.”

“What did he do for them?”

“When he got out of the army, he spent his time hacking into databases and reporting their weaknesses. Specifically in regard to virus protection software companies.”

“Which is how he knew to hack your computer rather than just send a message. It’ll scramble it. Make it nearly impossible to trace.”

I nod. “I asked him to keep his ear to the ground, but I never imagined he’d—” I trail off, my chest aching. “I can’t lose him too.”

I expect Tucker to pry. To ask who Logan was to me and what else I said to him. So when he walks around the counter and takes a seat on the barstool next to mine, turning my chair to face him, I’m honestly a bit surprised.

And then he says, “‘Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.’” Remember the Psalm, Alice. ” He takes my hands in his.

“I don’t know why I thought I could do this. I can’t take on a company like Web Safe. They have people everywhere. Government contracts, law enforcement—why did I think I could do this alone?”

“You’re not alone,” he says to me.

“You’re just another body that can pile up, Tucker. If you were smart, you’d turn me over to the police and never think about me or this case again.”

“We don’t know that he’s dead, Alice. Just breathe, okay? If we find out they got to him, then?—”

“Then what? You’ll do as I suggested and turn me over?

They already killed Ramiro, likely Logan, nearly got to my parents.

How many more people have to die before I realize that this isn’t a fight I can win?

I’m not David, but Web Safe is certainly a Goliath.

” I’m rambling, but I don’t know what else to do.

The world is steadily spinning out of my control.

The coffeepot beeps, so Tucker gets up and fills two travel mugs with coffee. “Go get some shoes on. I want to take you somewhere.”

“This is not the time.”

“I think it’s the perfect time. We’re waiting for answers, and there’s nothing we can do right now except keep our heads and pray.”