Page 56 of Havoc

Mace patted Nine, who rolled over to get his tummy scratched. Grinning at me, he replied, “They don’t call him Hacker for nothing, bro.”

“I say let’s do it.” Turning to Riley, I told her, “It’s your phone though. That makes it your call.”

Chapter 17

Riley

Without hesitation, I answered, “Absolutely. Go for it.”

Havoc hesitated for a second or two before explaining. “I thought that’s what you would say, but I didn’t want to assume that just because it was okay for me to look through your phone that you would be okay with a virtual stranger doing the same thing.”

His respectful attitude only endeared him to me more. “No, I don’t mind Hacker looking at my phone. He’s been really helpful so far. If anyone can find out if there’s a tracking app on my phone, he can.”

“I trust that you wouldn’t have suggested it if you didn’t think it was necessary. I trust you and your club brothers because you’ve been nothing but kind and supportive during this whole ordeal. Besides, now is not the time to nitpick about phone privacy issues.”

Mace came smoothly to his feet and sat down at the desk pushed against the far wall. He turned on the club’s laptop, and we watched it boot up.

Havoc gestured to it and explained, “Hacker set up the laptop a long time ago along with a security system we turn on at night. We all take turns using it, so we don’t have to lug our own laptops back and forth. It’s important to lighten the load when you’re riding a motorcycle.”

I tried to stay calm, but making small talk was getting harder by the minute. “I never thought much about how bikers have to travel light until I started riding on the back of your bike.”

I sat back on the sofa, letting it envelop me. I even grabbed a pillow and wrapped my arms around it. I didn’t feel unsafe with the two bikers, but I was worried about Slater circling back around at some point, maybe with some of his cop buddies.

Havoc walked over to stand behind Mace. He’d called Hacker and had his phone held in front of him with the speaker feature turned on so we could all hear the conversation. Havoc’s facial expression was tight and grim as he waited for his club brother to answer his call. He was taking the situation seriously, and that made me feel safe.

Hacker answered immediately, his voice deep and steady. “Good evening, Havoc. What do you need?”

“We need remote assistance, right now if possible.”

“What’s going on? Talk to me, brother.”

“We just got a visit from Slater. We went at it pretty hard. I called Storm, and he’s sending out reinforcements and wants us to move to our secondary location.”

“It must be serious if he’s sending you to the bunker. Tell me what you need from me.”

“Riley’s phone has been eating energy,” Havoc explained. “That, coupled with the fact that Slater found us out in the middle of nowhere, makes us think he might have put some kind of tracking app on her phone. We eliminated every other option.”

“That sounds about right. Dirty cops play dirty games, thinkin’ they’re above the law.”

“Yeah, dude thinks he’s a fuckin’ god. Mace said you could access her phone remotely through a laptop.”

Hacker immediately said, “Mace is one hundred percent right about that”

Havoc responded, “We’ve got that encrypted laptop you installed at the cabin up and running.”

“Good. My encryption program will make sure no one can trace anything back to the club.”

I heard keystrokes on Hacker’s end. We all waited for him to tell us what to do. Even though we’d joked around there for a few minutes to bring the tension down, it was back full force with the addition of Hacker to the mix. I remembered Havoc telling me Hacker used to work in military intelligence. It was obvious that he was in his element when it came to electronic surveillance.

His voice crackled over the speaker again. “I’m gonna send you a link. I need you to click on it to start syncing our computers. I’ll be able to see everything going on. Whoever this turns out to be, I’ll be able to track them down. They won’t realize they’ve been caught until it’s too late.”

A cold satisfaction bloomed in my chest. “You get me a name, an IP, or even a scent trail—I’ll handle the rest.”

“I know you will,” Hacker said. “Sending the link now.”

The call ended. Seconds later, Mace’s laptop chimed.

“Got the link,” Mace announced.

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