Page 13 of Ghost

It’s been so long that I almost forgot about that.

“What job?”

So that’s what this is about.

Another puzzle piece clicks in place, but I can’t see the full picture.

“I was helping a corporation track down information. Hacking data for them. You know I used to do that. You all did.”

My gaze cuts to Ghost before I scan the room. My work before the club is no secret. It’s one of the reasons Steel offered to let me stay here while I went to school. He gave me a roof over my head, and I offered my unique skill set. It doesn’t make sense why it’s an issue now.

“Who hired you for that particular job?” Steel’s tone somehow manages to be even colder now.

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “Most of the work I accepted back then came through anonymous listings. That was one of them.”

Steel hums, but I can’t read him well enough to know if he believes me.

Either way, it’s the truth.

The type of hacking I performed wasn’t legal, so it wasn’t unusual for my employers to want to keep their identities hidden. I’d respond to anonymous postings onmessage boards, and neither party knew who the other was.

“When they hired you, what did they need you to look for?”

“Bank account numbers. Statements. They were looking for a financial trail for a shell corporation.” My palms sweat as I rub them on my thighs. “But I couldn’t find anything, so they never paid me for the job. Whoever was on the other end shut me down before I could get any real data. I think they knew I was in their system from the beginning because everything I found was nonsense.”

Steel hums, glancing over at Ghost.

“Can you just tell me what’s going on?” I glance between the two of them. “Did I do something wrong?”

“You tell me, Luna.” Steel fixes his gray stare on me. “Did you really have no idea you were working that job for the Merciless Skulls?”

“The—” My eyes widen as I cut myself off. “No.”

Panic swells in my chest when I realize what Steel’s asking me. When I met Ghost in the coffee shop, I didn’t know anything about motorcycle clubs. But after arriving in Vegas, I heard rumors around the clubhouse telling me why they were in Albuquerque when I met them. The Twisted Kings were helping take down the Merciless Skulls.

And now Steel is implying I was helping their enemy.

“I swear. It was like any other job to me. I had no idea who I was doing it for. Or who—” I pause, swallowing hard. “Who was Ihacking?”

This time, I look at Ghost because it occurs to me that they already know the answer.

Ialready know the answer.

I just need to hear it out loud.

“Us,” Steel says.

My heart races as I sit back in my chair.

I’m a traitor—an enemy—and I didn’t even know it.

My stare meets Ghost’s, and he’s barely moved. His tattooed hands are resting one over the other on the table in front of him, unsurprised by anything said up to this point.

“Did you know?” I ask, even if I know Steel won’t let him answer. “Is that why you came into the coffee shop that day? Were you the one who shut me down?”

I think back to that day, remembering Ghost walking in. He’s impossible not to notice, especially when he drew the attention of everyone working behind the counter. Their eyes widened as they watched him.

They were afraid of his tattoos and perma-scowl.

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