Page 72 of Defenseless
Sabina nodded. “If he went to the trouble to protect the information, he wouldn’t then make it vulnerable by allowing endless password attempts.”
“I know you don’t know the answer, but what would be your guess as to how many tries you get?” Chad asked.
Sabina bobbed her head from side to side. “Five to seven would make sense. But given that he provided this to us without any clues whatsoever, I’d guess it’s more like ten to twelve. Although I wouldn’t stake my life on that.”
Chad held his tongue, as did Ethan. This was something the sisters would need to figure out. It was probably something from their past, or perhaps something they shared. It wouldn’t be anything Chad or Ethan could help with.
“Try Gomer,” Kara said.
“Good one,” Sabina replied. “Our dog growing up,” she added, no doubt for his and Ethan’s benefit. After typing the words in, she hit the Enter button.Incorrect Passwordpopped up in tiny red letters.
“What about Kentucky Lake?” Sabina said.
“Can’t hurt to try. It’s really the only spot we vacationed at more than once,” Kara said.
Sabina typed it in, but the results were the same. The sisters let out identical breaths.
“We don’t know how many tries you have left,” Ethan said. “Is it worth coming up with a list using a pen and paper and then evaluating them before trying again?”
Sabina looked at her sister, and they seemed to communicate something without speaking. After a beat, Sabina shut the computer down and pushed it to the center of the round table. Chad turned and grabbed a pad of paper and pen and handed them to her. Once Sabina and Kara had their heads together, Chad gestured to Ethan, and they stepped away.
“That was a good suggestion,” he said. “I don’t think they have too much of a shared history with their dad. Making the list will take some of the pressure off. They’ll be able to brainstorm without constraints. Once they’re done, I think they should sleep on it, though.”
Ethan studied him. “You mean not make any more attempts tonight?” Chad nodded. “And you want my help in distracting—or convincing—Kara.”
Chad inclined his head. “I know you two got thrown together because of Sabina and me. But I don’t think I’m out of line in thinking that there’s more to spending time with her than being the HICC operative assigned to the role.”
Ethan crossed his arms and his gaze drifted to the two women, heads still together at the table. Sabina had torn a piece of paper off and pulled another pen out from somewhere, presumably her bag, and they were each making lists.
Ethan inclined his head but didn’t outright confirm Chad’s presumption. “We could get them drunk.”
Chad barked out a laugh. The two women turned and stared at them. “It’s nothing,” he assured them. Sabina’s gaze lingered, but after a beat, she went back to her list.
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Chad said. “I don’t want them so drunk they won’t want to get out of bed in the morning. But enough that they’re distracted tonight and then feel enough under the weather tomorrow that they forget to be nervous? Not a bad idea.”
Ethan’s eyebrow went up. “Seriously?”
Chad shrugged. “We can’t force them to drink, but if we make it available, it might not be a bad thing.”
Ethan’s steady green gaze held his then he shook his head. “That’s kind of fucked up, but I can see where you’re coming from. I ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, but there’s a liquor store around the corner. What’s their drink of choice?”
“I don’t know about Kara, but Sabina’s is tequila,” Chad answered without missing a beat. He may not have spent many nights drinking with her, but he’d heard her talking with colleagues often enough to know what liquor she favored.
“High or low end?”
“High,” Chad answered. “We don’t want them feeling like a cat crawled into their mouths overnight and died.”
“Memories?” Ethan said with a smirk.
“Ones I’m not revisiting. Not even for Sabina.”
Ethan laughed. “Liar. You’d totally revisit those for Sabina.”
Chad shrugged then grinned. “Probably.”
Ethan smiled then sobered. “I know you don’t need anyone’s approvals. But I like her. I like you with her. She doesn’tneedyou, but she likes you. She wants you, too. Which is always good.”
Chad’s gaze drifted to the woman in question. Ethan was right. There was something heady in knowing that she didn’t need him, but that she wanted him. And in more ways than one, itwasgood to be wanted rather than needed.
