Hack, page 21
M didn’t follow me, and that pissed me off even more. In my cloud of unreasonable anger, the only thing I thought I could do something about was my hair.
A new guy I didn’t even know—probably appointed by Jimmy—was working the bench, and he nodded to me out of respect—maybe the most I’d gotten the entire morning. I drove to Juliana’s salon, parked on the street and slammed my door shut—my four-alarm tantrum still brewing at a boil.
The chatter from the filled chairs ceased when I walked in. I stalked to the back of the salon where Angela and Juliana sat at the small table behind the beaded curtain. Juliana had a swollen eye, a split lip and a bandage peeked out of her long sleeve. No matter how many times I’d seen her beat up, it never got easier.
Angela shook her head at me. “You know this is your fault, right?”
“No,” Juliana said and her hair framed her face as she looked down. “I was stupid. I betrayed Stevie. I deserved it.”
“He’s double your size, Jules.”
Juliana laughed but it was fake, desperate. She stopped and placed her hand on her ribs before turning her gaze to me. “I just wish you would have told me you’d used Diego. I said something about my cousin and rats and, well…”
There was nothing to say. The damage was done. I kissed her head and apologized softly then left.
I sat in the car for a long ass time…maybe two hours. I’d had enough—enough of not being tough, enough of being trapped, enough of the fucking peace I was in charge of keeping.
When I got back to Covington, I didn’t go home. Instead I went to the M’s place and found her at the computer in what was what we joked as ‘our office’. She pulled off a pair of headphones.
“You still have that look in your eye and you didn’t get a haircut.” She placed the headphones on the table in front of her.
“I need the feed on Jefferson. Pull it up.” I toggled my finger at her laptop.
“Why?”
I ground my teeth. “Can you do one fucking thing without questioning it?”
M narrowed her eyes and her nostrils flared. My beast had awoken her own—probably a mistake—but there was no going back. I’d made up my mind about what I was going to do about my cousin’s broken face.
“I thought I was pretty clear earlier. I’m not the cause of your problems. Don’t be a bitch because you can’t shit or get off the pot.” Her breath went shallow and she stood up.
Oh, I hadn’t just awoken her beast. I’d prodded it…with a branding iron. Another day, one when my head would have been screwed on in its normally happy place, I would have gone in for the kiss. Making out with her when she was pissed was hot. But a desperate switch had flipped inside me. My desire to impress Anton and myself overruled my otherwise-still-horrible judgment.
“You are the cause of my problems. Anton told me this morning I’d gone soft since you came along. And you know what? He’s fucking right.” The diarrhea of my mouth wouldn’t stop. I was out of my body, looking down, knowing I would regret every word, but I lacked any ounce of self-control to stop. “You fill my head with bullshit about not getting my props, then when I want to do something—fucking finally take some action—you stand in my way. Your pussy isn’t that fucking sweet, M.”
She sat back in her chair and lifted her eyebrows. “You fucking coward.” Her penetrating stare burned through me. She shifted her jaw a few times then looked away. In an unexpectedly soft voice she said, “If it’s easier to blame me than to say what’s really going on, fine. But at least have the balls to be honest about that much.”
After a sigh, she wheeled up the desk and clicked a few times to find the Jefferson Manor feed she’d successfully hacked into months ago. In that time, we hadn’t really used it for anything, not wanting to tip our hand. Their bullshit recording on loop was still what the city saw and only Anton, Jimmy, M and I were aware of the real one. It had been another thing that pissed me off when Anton had overshared with his new favorite.
The frustration of the day lightened a little with M’s resolve. She was on my side. I couldn’t lose sight of that. I welcomed her calm, appreciated her loyalty. She was keeping me from my worst instincts. I pulled out the chair from my desk and focused on the four black-and-white squares of live feed.
The screen in front of us showed nothing out of the norm. Drug deals went down in plain sight, people loitered or went about their business.
But after only fifteen minutes of watching, Stevie’s smug face caught my eye. Even through the grainy feed I could tell that Juliana had hit him in the head with something. I suspected a frying pan. The women in my family were known for using items in the kitchen as weapons.
“That fucker is going down.” I pointed to him.
“Raf…” M’s pretty eyes couldn’t stop me. The pull between us couldn’t stop me. I didn’t know how to do the right thing. It was why we were perfect for each other. She didn’t either.
“He beat the shit out of my cousin. It was my fault. I used her for the info then forgot to give her the details.”
M rolled her head on the back of her chair. “So what? You’re going to drive over there and pick a fight in front of his whole crew? Alone?”
Okay… When she put it like that, it was a stupid plan.
I frowned. “You got a better idea?”
“Not yet. But waiting until he’s alone is a much better option. Or at the very least, take Jimmy.”
“I hate Jimmy.”
She smiled and fuck if it didn’t warm the coldness my heart had been trying to keep all day. “We all hate Jimmy. He’s a slimy fucker.”
“Your buddy Angela doesn’t seem to mind.”
M pretend to puke a little in her mouth. “I don’t trust either one of those idiots. Hey—” Her eyes lit up. “You still pissed? It kinda made me horny.”
A massive wall of revelation smacked me in the chest. I was falling in love with Marigold.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Marigold
Wrangling Rafa’s worst intentions had worked once, but he watched the video feed of Jefferson Manors every chance he got. It would only be a matter of time before he struck out and sought his revenge.
In the meantime, I didn’t like bumping into Angela on our mutual morning walks of shame. It had been all too convenient how she’d stopped obsessing about Rafa and moved on to Jimmy. I tried not to care, but there she was every morning with the lowest of the crew after she’d wanted Rafa first. So, in my paranoia, I did what I did best. I hacked her phone.
Rafael still had her number in his contacts and the dumb bitch left her location setting on, it was so easy that I was bored. While Rafa obsessed about the guy Stevie, I yawned my way through Angela walking from work to Jimmy’s and vice versa.
Her presence pestered me. There had to be more to her motivation than just flaunting her ass in Rafa’s face. He didn’t care. Plus, Jimmy was okay-looking but she was out of his league. She was a stunner. It didn’t add up.
So I dug deeper. Social media was the perfect way to slide into people’s lives. It had worked when I held more and more small towns hostage and it worked for Angela. I just had to do it when Rafa wasn’t around. I didn’t want him thinking I was an obsessive stalker.
I met Anton in the kitchen while Rafa got dressed for their daily workout. He drank his coffee black and mine was more of a milkshake with caffeine. It wasn’t as if Anton and I had become friends, but the project for his new stepfather had brought us closer. He liked it when I made up ridiculous rumors and planted them all over the Internet. I relished in him underestimating me. It worked in my favor.
Sometimes I wondered if Anton had registered that we were rivals for Rafa, but his ego was so enormous that he didn’t take the threat seriously. That was okay. I did. I had a goal, and it included the man I was pretty sure I loved, a beach and a shitload of money.
I finished my coffee and my pitiful small talk with Anton and opened the door to be hit with Angela and Jimmy swapping spit across the hall. I stared at them, searching for a tell. Their relationship had to be fake. I was certain.
Angela broke away and snarled at me. “Take a picture. It lasts longer.”
“You should consider bottling that as a diet plan. I think I’ve lost my appetite for eternity.”
Rafa slinked an arm around my waist and whispered, “Play nice,” in my ear. I scowled at the sight in front of me then ignored Angela’s middle finger as I walked down the hall to my place.
But that beautiful witch had been right about one thing. Pictures did last longer. I searched all her online photos and one massive thing stuck out. Zero Jimmy. There were recent videos of her and her friends dancing in clubs, a few pictures of client’s hair she was particularly proud of and some family gatherings, but Jimmy’s face was noticeably absent. And considering they’d been dating for almost the same time as Rafa and me, it was suspicious.
I had no online presence on social media and neither did Rafa. We were smarter than to trust the world wide web with our secrets.
The little tracer flashed on my screen, Angela was on the move, but that was information I’d already known. I scanned through her recent pictures again. There had to be something. She wasn’t that smart.
Nothing. Not a single clue. Maybe I was imagining something that wasn’t there.
“Hey.” Rafa stood in the doorway, freshly showered. How long had I been pillaging through Angela’s social media accounts? I hit ‘Command W’ a few times to close the incriminating windows on my screen.
He continued, “We’re going to the shooting range. Jimmy’s idea.” A little eyeroll followed. “Oh and I changed all the codes to the doors. The list is on the counter if you need to get into our place before I get back.”
Rafael should have known better than to trust me with that. The evidence that he was softening because of me just kept piling up.
He was almost out of the door when I thought of something.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?” He turned around with his bushy eyebrows up.
“Remember how we were talking about how much of an advantage it is to be underestimated?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that was a mistake you kept making when we first met. Why?”
“Well, it worked for you. It was a good tactic.”
He crossed his arms and studied me with a tilted head. “You got something you need to share?”
About all that money I was making on the side? Nope. Not yet. But about Jimmy and my suspicions? Probably too soon without proof.
“I just…” I pressed my lips together, still not sure what to say.
“Spit it out.” His voice was flat.
I owed him some truth. “I don’t trust Jimmy.”
He rolled his eyes. “You don’t trust Angela.”
“That too.”
He checked his phone and slid it back in his pocket. “I gotta motor. You have any other psychic premonitions you need to share?”
I grinned. “I predict hot sex later.”
“Will you tell me you hate me, for old time’s sake?”
“Always.” I waved goodbye and waited until I heard the door click shut before I popped up, showered in record speed and beelined to an electronics shop.
A listening device was taped to the backboard of Jimmy’s bed and connected to my phone within two hours. God, I just hoped he and Angela didn’t do their talking while they fucked.
That night, Rafa had to work the bench, apparently to make up for a bet he’d lost at the gun range. He was cranky, but it let me listen to Angela and Jimmy in real time.
“It almost seemed like you enjoyed that kiss this morning.” Jimmy’s didn’t waste any time proving to me that they were a sham. But why?
“Do that again and your boss will cut your balls off.”
Anton would do what?
Jimmy laughed. “I doubt that. Anyone who sends his girlfriend to sleep in another man’s bed doesn’t think much about his girlfriend.”
I sat my phone down next to my laptop and scoured Angela’s social media again. Who the fuck is her real boyfriend?
Angela scoffed and a crackling noise came through my phone. She must have gotten into the bed. “You don’t know much about his girlfriend or him. He likes to watch me get fucked, then he beats the shit out of the idiot who did it. If you’re lucky one day, it might be you. Now go be a good little soldier and sleep on your couch.”
“You can report back that Rafa is hopeless with a gun but Anton is almost as good as I am. Almost.” Jimmy’s confidence had always been what the crew had liked about him, but it was a fault in my eyes. He was a traitor and the only thing that made sense was that he was working for Jefferson.
“Do me a favor. Make a move already. I’m sick of seeing Rafa’s smug face.”
“Suck my dick and I’ll pull the trigger tomorrow.” Jimmy’s slithery tone gave me the chills.
“Anybody else’s dick and I might be tempted.”
They really hated each other. No wonder we only saw them saying goodbye in the morning. The show of the relationship was the only thing that mattered.
A door shut and I quit the listening application on my phone. I clicked through Angela’s photos one more time, still coming up with nothing. I was going to have to get my information the old-fashioned way—gossip.
I powered everything down and went down the hall to Anton and Rafa’s place. I wasn’t even tempted to tell Anton he had a rebel in the ranks. Information was power. I just needed to confirm who, then I would have to work fast to get Rafa and myself out of Covington.
Rafa came in late and took a shower. When he climbed into bed, I laid my head on his chest. It was still damp and a little cool.
“I fucking hate working the bench. Bridget is so fucking strung out. It’s fucking hard to look at.”
“Then don’t do it anymore.”
He let out a long moan. “And do what, M? I can’t live if I don’t steal. I’m just as much addicted to crime as those people out there are to drugs.”
I interlaced my fingers into his. He couldn’t see past the concrete buildings that was Covington Heights. But he didn’t have to. I would do all the work.
“Remember when you hated holding my hand?” He tucked his chin and turned to me.
“I was a fool.” I kissed up his chest and moved to straddle him. His lovely eyes scanned over my body. The moment was there. One of us could have showed the courage to confess to what we both knew was true.
And I probably should have told him about Jimmy and Angela, but I couldn’t risk him proving his loyalty to Anton and ending up dead. Dead or jail… That was what he always said.
I ground my hips into his crotch, his erection starting to come to life.
“You’re many things, Marigold Pfeifer, but a fool isn’t one of them.” Rafa flipped us and stared down at me. The words were on the tip of my tongue but I needed to save them for when it really mattered.
He slipped his hand into my pajama shorts. “How do you want it?”
“Rough.” I crinkled my nose. “I hate you. Remember?”
The sex was a tool. By being physical, we avoided the emotional. And fucking hard and fast and animalistic allowed us to forget how much we needed the tender moments between us. The grunts and gasps blanketed over the true feelings we’d caught. It was a show we put on for each other, a safe place to exist in lies.
But as much as we tried to hide from the connection, it always wiggled back. We could spend thirty minutes slapping our flesh together but inevitably we would finish and someone would forget to keep pretending. I would take care of the condom or he would get me a glass of water. The honesty was in the details.
I crawled out of bed early, determined not to run into Angela for fear that I may say something stupid. A small town on the West Coast had paid their ransom overnight. It was the third of the week. I really needed to change computers but didn’t want to explain to Rafa why.
From the tracking application, Angela’s little dot didn’t go to work. It went downtown instead, and I took the opportunity to head to Juliana’s salon. It was relatively quiet, just a middle-aged woman getting her hair straightened.
I waved from the reception and Juliana came over, her light eyes matching Rafa’s.
“Hi, I don’t have an appointment, but Rafa said you could squeeze me in.”
“How do you know my cousin?” She rubbed her lips together, spreading the gloss that was already shining.
“I’m fucking him.”
“Huh.” She tilted her head. “That actually makes perfect sense. Have a seat. I’m free after this one.”
Juliana washed my hair, and it wasn’t until I was back in front of a mirror that I started digging for little nuggets.
“I think I know one of your friends, too.”
“Oh, yeah?” She combed a lock of my hair and snipped the ends.
“Yeah. Angela…although she doesn’t like me very much. I stormed in on her date with Rafa.”
Juliana laughed. “Yeah, that was funny. She was all about him for weeks then nothing. She must have realized she wasn’t his type. I tried to warn her. Now I think she’s given up on love altogether.”
“That’s sad.” But interesting.
“Yeah, she used to date my boyfriend’s older brother. Then he dropped her for no apparent reason. I think that fucked with her self-esteem. Criminals are unreliable pricks. But you probably already know that if you’re dating my cousin.” She smiled and clipped. “Who does your color?”
We chatted a bit more and I left her a nice tip when I paid. After all, she’d given me all the information I needed. Angela was a plant from Jefferson Manors, Jimmy was a fake and I needed to make my move.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rafa
I was a chicken, a complete coward who had no idea how to express my feelings. Even admitting that I had them made me cringe. That was why I had promised myself not to say anything until she did. Also, I was horrified of rejection. Marigold could very easily just have been in it—whatever it was—for the thrill. Criminals didn’t exactly skip down stone paths and find happily ever afters. We had baggage.
