Page 45 of Wine, Whiskey, & Lipstick 2

“Figured.” He shut his eyes. “It’s not just you anymore. Someone else is depending on you.I’mdepending on you.”

His words felt like the ice bucket challenge, temporarily dousing her red-hot curiosity to unravel the clues left behind. Contemplating her next move, Dillyn pressed her lips together while staring at the back of Ben’s head. She glanced back at her monitor and then back over to him.

Ben was right. Whoever attempted to enter her network was caught dead to rights. Now that her security was back in place, with a few more keystrokes, the offender could do nothing.

Dillynshouldgo back to bed. This was a high-stress moment for them both, and stress wasn’t good for her. Dillyn wondered if this was the beginning of having to put her child first.Wouldn’t unraveling this mess be doing just that? She sighed before typing in a few more keys, then begrudgingly got up from her seat.

Ben felt the bed dip as soon as Dillyn got back into it. She pressed her cheek against the heated skin of his back and wrapped her arms around his waist. She whispered, “It’ll keep until morning.”

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

Dillyn could feel a little of the tension leave his body. She figured he probably wasn’t going to sleep a wink. Then again, neither was she.

Chapter 19

Ben hadn’t been able to sleep a wink. Shortly before sunrise, he’d slipped out of bed and left Dillyn sleeping, or at least pretending to be. Ben figured if he hadn’t been able to get some shut-eye, then Dillyn probably couldn’t either.

Whisper was going to get a heck of a workout. Ben trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. He needed to shower and get changed. His mind had been so preoccupied that he failed to skip over the squeaky step.

Shit.He hoped it didn’t wake the house, but Wyatt and Lucas were light sleepers. Especially, Wyatt.

Like clockwork, his door cracked open. He smiled mischievously, “You’re home early.”

Ben spoke in hushed tones. “Yeah. I need to go for a ride.”

Everyone knew what that meant. Wyatt’s brows grew together with concern. “Something else happened that I should know about? Did Dillyn talk to Cat and Palmer about us moving over there for the short term since you kinda just sprung it on them?” He opened his door a little wider.

“Whether they agree or not, it’s safer for all of us to be together.” Ben finished climbing the stairs and came to stand in front of him. “Have your contacts found out anything about Syntax? Can they enhance the security video more so that we can identify who is on it?”

“Not yet to either question. You think he’s behind this?”

“I don’t know, but we must look into everything.”

“True. Syntax is like a fuckin’ ghost. There is nothing on the man. I’ve resorted to a basic internet search. I’ll even take rumors at this point. At least they are usually steeped in some truth.”

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, “Somebody tried to hack into Dillyn’s network last night.”

Wyatt didn’t believe in coincidences but didn’t want to worry Ben more than he already was. His ears perked up as he downplayed the breach in Dillyn’s security, “In her line of work, that is kinda routine, isn’t it?”

“According to Dillyn, last night was different.”

“How so?”

“She said there has never been a successful attempt over the last twenty-something years to get into her network. She thinks it’s connected to Selah’s abduction and maybe even Steven’s death. Honestly, so do I.”

Wyatt figured there was no point in sugarcoating it. “Yeah, no such thing as a coincidence. Did they get in? Did they get what they were looking for? What were they looking for?”

Lucas opened the door to his room and walked out into the hallway, rubbing his eyes. “Y’all loud as hell.” He yawned. “Your whispers would wake the dead. What’s upnow?”

Wyatt quickly brought Lucas up to speed. “Somebody hacked into Dillyn’s network.”

Whatever fog of sleep Lucas had cleared up real quick. Concern was evident in his eyes. “First, the property, and now her computer. They want something bad.”

Ben was afraid of that.

Lucas asked a follow-up question. “Were they successful?”

Ben shook his head. “I don’t think so. Dillyn said they got through her first line of defense but couldn’t get inside fully. We all know this shit is connected. We need to figure this mess out and fast.”

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