Page 62 of Ricochet

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Praying that Mayhem would stay outside would be as useful as letting more time slip by, and Adelia fired up Mayhem’s computer, typing in the password that hadn’t changed in years: Mayhem1234.

She’d even pointed out to Tex years ago, even when she was using it for school projects, that even basic computer safety protocol said they shouldn’t use that combination.A certainamount of hubris kept them vulnerable. Their response had been, “Who would be stupid enough to hack Mayhem’s computer?”

Apparently, she was. She typed in Mayhem1234 and opened a browser to log into their bank accounts.This was the right thing to do, and she especially knew it.She had nightmares about growing up in Brazil and the day she was sold. It did no good to turn these people over tothe cops. They’d never learn, unlike in her sweet dreams where she made them pay for their life decisions. In real life, she was much more logical—just like Tex had been when they saw her for sale and bought her. She purchased others—like father, like daughter—and gave them a better life.

A large transfer of money was pending deposit in multiple batches under $10,000. She scrolled up then counteddown. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…” She didn’t need to count anymore. This was perfect timing, and she tilted her head back to glare at the red-painted ceiling with Mayhem’s giant emblem painted in the middle. “Thank you.”

Whatever higher power of motorcycle gods and Mayhem energy were out there, she needed them right now because without Seven, she was flying blind, and no amountof BS-ing would let her live if she were caught in the next few minutes.

Quickly, she made transfers from the cash-on-hand accounts, knowing that the pending payments would hit the accounts at midnight, and in a day or two, there would be some business completed somewhere in the country to cover her loss. “Playing with imaginary money is fucking hard.”

Her finger clicked all the buttons andreviewed the amounts before agreeing they were correct, and then the transfer confirmations appeared.

“What are you doing?” Ethan’s voice interrupted.

Her fingers splayed as her heart lunged into her throat. She rolled out of her chair, shooting the old thing back, momentarily forgetting the emergency backup plan she had if this ever happened. She tipped forward as though shaking off how startledshe was, hand landing on the keyboard and the mouse shielded by a row of file folders. “What the hell, Ethan? You scared me!”

“Adelia,” he snapped. “What are you doing?”

The screen didn’t face the office door, and he couldn’t see the start menu pop up. Her mouse-hovering hand clicked the shutdown-and-reboot tile she’d created and pinned to the top of the start menu.

“Nothing much.” She crossedher arms as though she were pissed. “Besides trying to check my email.”

“No one is supposed to be back here.” His suspicious eyes narrowed, and he edged toward the desk.

The rush of blood in Adelia’s ears roared like Harley tailpipes as she waited for the old computer to reboot. She hadn’t noticed how loud Skull’s music was as it filtered into the building, but she’d never been so happy fornoise pollution to cover up the sound of the old computer clicking as it turned on.

The sign-on screen surfaced. “But I couldn’t.”

He rounded the desk. “You couldn’t what?”

“Check my email.” How much faux-annoyance did she need before her lying was totally awful?

Ethan studied her and the screen before throwing his thumb toward the door. “Don’t come in here again.”

She sauntered toward thedoor, tossing her purse over her shoulder dramatically as her heart galloped. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll remember next time.”

“Adelia?”

She froze, terrified that he somehow knew what she’d done, even though she’d used an incognito browser. “Yeah?”

“There will neverbe a next time.” Ethan sat down, and his fingers typed in the password as her stomach lurched.

He hadn’t believed her, and why should he?She didn’t trust him. Never had, and today might be the day she found out why.

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