Page 40 of Pressure

“Patrick, I swear to God, you better have a good reason for pulling me out of the dungeon. Do you know how often I get to see Elijah right now? Not very fucking often.”

Marissa and Lance turned to the doorway to see a very irritated Holly and a smirking Patrick.

“Sorry, Holly. It’s my fault,” Lance said. “Can you tell me where your dad is right now?”

“He just got released from prison. He’s on house arrest for the next nine months. Why?”

Before Lance could answer, Patrick exploded. “He what? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you said you didn’t want to know where he was.”

Patrick slammed his fist into the doorframe. “I meant I didn’t want to know which prison he was in. Why the hell would you think I wouldn’t want to know he’d been fucking released?”

Holly shrugged. “I figured I would tell you next time you came to California.”

Turning to Lance, she said, “What’s this about?”

“We found the person we think is the hacker. The thing is, he’s in prison and the prison he’s in is the same one your dad was just released from. It’s possible that it’s a coincidence but you know how I feel about those.”

Patrick dropped into the chair next to Lance and Holly leaned against the door.

“God. I really thought I was done with that man.”

Marissa was so confused. “I feel like I need someone to fill me in here, guys.”

Holly came further into the room and shut the door.

“It’s a pretty convoluted story but I’ll do my best to give you the Cliff’s notes version.”

By the time Holly finished her story, Marissa’s head was spinning.

“OK,” she said, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face. “So, this definitely doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”

“Is the entire board here this weekend?” Lance asked. His tone was subdued, and Marissa worried for him.

Patrick nodded. “As far as I know. What do we need to do?”

Lance cleared his throat. “Shut down the website.”

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