Page 8 of Keeping Kasey
James studies me. “Matteo mentioned that. I didn’t believe him.”
I arch an eyebrow, and he narrows his eyes.
“When was the last timeyouwent out?”
I don’t say anything—mostly because I don’t know the answer.
I can’t remember the last time I went out with the sole intention of getting drunk and laid. I had my fair share of party days, but when I turned twenty-one, my father moved Uncle Antonio to lead our Detroit base and made me his underboss.
From there, my days of recklessness were behind me.
I’ve never resented the loss. I’m proud of my work and care about doing it well, but I deserve a night out.
“Does that mean you’re coming?”
He shakes his head with a smile, but he doesn’t get the chance to answer before the room plunges into darkness.
I wait for the blaring alarms to sound or for the backup generator to kick in, but the base stays eerily silent and pitch black.
James and I draw our weapons and move to the door, listening for any signs of distress before opening it.
Dead silence.
My phone buzzes, and I answer Ford’s call.
“What’s going on?” I demand.
“You need to come to my office right now.”
Pac-Man.
I’m staring at a full-sized screen ofPac-Man.
After Ford’s call, I went straight to his office. James is currently doing a perimeter check. With our security systems down, we need to increase protective measures in case this turns out to be more than just a cyberattack.
“Just close it and get the power back on.”
Ford visibly tenses. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
He types vigorously on the keyboard, but nothing on the screen changes. “It’s some kind of virus, but I have no idea where it came from.”
A deep sigh comes through Ford’s phone. “It’s gotta be from Cam. He must have caught us snooping, and this is some sort of revenge.”
I point to the phone with a scrutinizing gaze.
“That’s Kade Manning,” Ford explains. “There were too many files to go through, so I called him for backup. Their base was hit with the same outage.”
My jaw ticks.
Kade is Moreno’s cybersecurity capo, and while I agreed to allow him to stay in the loop, I don’t like using him.
“Whatcanyou do?” I ask in as controlled a tone as I can manage.
“I’m not sure I have any choice but to play.”
“Play?” I rub my forehead. “Our power grid is held hostage by some maniac, and you’re going toplay Pac-Man?”
