Page 47 of Lethal Illusion

“Did you succeed?”

“What do you think?”

He laughed because they both knew Larissa was one of the best in the business, if not the world.At first glance, she appeared unassuming: a doting mother with two young girls, a husband, an SUV, and a house with a white picket fence.But she was also an absolute demon with a keyboard, feared and respected in the digital world by those who knew her professionally or by her hacker alias.The things Larissa could do with a computer were kind of scary at times.It was a wonder the government hadn’t drafted her into service.Then again, maybe they had, and they just weren’t aware of it.It honestly wouldn’t surprise her.

They hopped over a narrow creek that fed into the lake, and she did her best not to wince.The blisters on her feet still throbbed, though the pain had lessened since Navarre treated them the night before.For now, the best she could do was grit her teeth and keep moving forward.

“What did Larissa do to you?”

Navarre watched her with a singular focus, as if every word that came out of her mouth mattered to him.She wasn’t used to that in a guy.It knocked her a little off-balance.

Warmth flooded her cheeks, and she hoped he didn’t notice.Not because she was affected by the way he was looking at her—okay, maybe a little—but because the next part was just plain embarrassing.“She goated my laptop.”

As expected, he gave her a puzzled stare.“Okay, I need you to explain that one to me in simple English.”

She sighed.“Without getting too technical, Larissa is really good at designing Trojan horses within computer systems.It’s some serious next-level stuff.She toys with hackers and lets them believe they’ve breached her servers.But as soon as they try to access a file or insert any malware…” She clapped her hands together.“The trap is sprung and you’re totally screwed.By the time the hacker figures it out, it’s already too late.In my case, the trap was a virus that took over my computer within seconds and wallpapered every file with images of baby goats wearing pajamas.”

His sandy-brown eyebrows drew closer together, a common reaction for anyone not familiar with the world of cyber security.“Why goats?”

“You’d have to ask Larissa,” she said.Somewhere up above, a woodpecker drummed its brains out against a tree.She glanced up, but it was impossible to spot it among the tangle of branches.“My goats came with her contact information and a message that if I wanted to corral the goats, I’d have to call her within the next ten minutes.After that, the virus would permanently corrupt all the data on my hard drive.So I called, and she offered me a job.”

“That’s a creative recruiting technique,” he said, amusement clear on his face.

“It’s not uncommon in the field.Some people view hacking as an audition.Larissa said she would have offered me more money if I’d actually made it into the server.”

“That sounds like something she’d say.”He paused, consulted his map, and then altered their course slightly to the left.“How is she to work for?”

“When I started, she scared the crap out of me, but that was before I really got to know her.Her skills are at a level I don’t think I’ll ever achieve, even if I live to be a hundred.I mean, there are times I can’t wrap my brain around some of the stuff she does.But if you’re willing to learn and put in the work, she’ll pull up a chair and stay for however long it takes for you to understand things.She expects a lot, but she treats her people fairly and works with us when we have things going on outside the office.”She shot him a glance, taking in his profile, noting the straight line of his nose, the strong set of his jaw.“Your turn.What brought you to Six Points?”

“One of Jackson’s buddies is friends with Austin.He told us about this security company that was expanding in the Orlando area and was looking for people with our…talents.We were leaving the Army in a few months, so Jackson gave him a call, and Austin hired him on the spot.Then he handed the phone to me, and I got hired too.”

“You’ve been here—oh, shit!”The smooth soles of her boots skidded across the loose leaf litter, and Navarre caught her just before she face-planted on the forest floor.Her heart skipped several beats, and she blamed it on the close call, not the feel of his hands on her waist.“Thanks.I take it you like working for the Flints?”

“Like you said, they expect a lot but they’re fair.Good pay, time off, I like who I work with, and I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.I can’t think of anywhere else I’d want to be.”He waved a hand in front of his face, presumably to ward off an insect.“Your turn.How did you become a hacker?”

Her muscles tensed.“That’s a longer story.”

“It’s not like we’re short on time.”When she didn’t say anything right away, he added, “Like you said before, what else are we going to talk about?”

She let out another sigh, because she hated having her own words thrown back at her.That part of her life wasn’t filled with shiny, happy memories, so she condensed them down to as few words as possible.“I was sick as a kid and spent a lot of time indoors with my laptop.It sort of went from there.”

His gaze sharpened with a mixture of interest and empathy.“What kind of sick?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, not really.”He turned his focus forward where the canopy was starting to thin.“It’s your business.Forget I asked.”

Great, now she felt bad about snapping at him.In her defense, it was a part of her life that she rarely shared, not even with Nina or Larissa.Not because it was embarrassing or shameful, but because it dredged up unpleasant memories she’d rather keep in the past where they belonged.But for reasons she couldn’t begin to articulate, she felt comfortable sharing them with him.“I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was six.”

His eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline.“Oh shit, I had no idea.”

“Why would you?I haven’t had a seizure since I was seventeen.”She usually avoided telling people about her childhood, because even though it shaped who she’d become, she didn’t want it shaping people’s opinions about her.She hated it when people looked at her as if she were damaged or diminished.She’d fought hard to overcome that stigma.

Navarre didn’t look at her that way.Instead, he looked confused.“I didn’t realize that kind of thing went away.”

“It’s not always the case.I was lucky.Some people need lifelong treatment.But once I was diagnosed, my mother treated me like I was going to break at any given moment.She practically strapped a helmet on my head and cocooned me in bubble wrap.I wasn’t allowed to climb on the playground equipment, or ride a bike, or have a skateboard, or any of the fun stuff that normal kids did.Don’t get me wrong…I understand why she did what she did and I appreciate her watching out for my safety, but it set me apart from the other kids.”

“That had to suck.”

---