Page 44 of The Hacker
“I don’t know what I’d do without my phone,” Tiffany said with a sympathetic grimace. “Good luck finding it!”
“I appreciate that, darlin’.” Leland started toward the door.
“How much later do you have to stay tonight?” Dawn asked the receptionist, giving Leland time to get to his limo around the corner.
“Another fifteen minutes unless someone comes in—which they never do this late on a Saturday.”
“Sorry you get stuck with this every weekend.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. My friends never go out until after ten anyway.” She held up her phone. “We’re going to meet at Go Karaoke tonight. Want to come?”
“Me, sing? You don’t want that—trust me. But thanks.” Dawn pushed away from the desk. “See you Monday.”
She walked out of the gym and around the corner, ducking through the limo door that Leland shoved open.
Exhilaration sparkled through her and she planted a hard kiss on Leland’s mouth as the limo pulled away from the curb. “We did it! Tiffany didn’t suspect a thing and if someone asks her, she’ll be all about how hard it is to lose your phone.”
Leland snaked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Don’t get any ideas about doing more of this. People on the dark web don’t respect the law. That’s why they’re there.”
That reminded her of the discovery in Ramón’s drawer, and her excitement died. “There’s something I have to tell you, even though there has to be a good explanation for it.”
He eased his grip and shifted back so he could see her face. “You sound upset.”
“I found a gun safe in Ramón’s desk drawer, under his office supplies.” She couldn’t bring herself to reveal that it had her boss’s name proudly emblazoned on it.
Leland muttered a curse. “Double what I said about your further involvement.”
“But he hates any kind of violence. He’s very clear on that.” She felt the tears well up again. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He stroked her arm. “I know you respect him but—”
“It’s more than respect. He gave me back my life.” She hadn’t meant to say that, but without the purpose and sense of security Ramón had granted her, she’d still be holed up in her apartment behind her security system and expensive dead bolt. How could the man who made her feel it was safe to go out in the world own a gun?
“Dawn, I won’t ask you but when you feel you can tell me, I want to know what happened to make you have an alarm system fit for Fort Knox.” He kissed her softly. “But not until you’re ready.”
She thought about the horrendous day that had ended her college career. Only Natalie, Alice, and one of her sisters knew what had happened. Of course, the college administration did too, but they had pressured her not to report it to the police. She’d refused their offer of counseling out of pride and the sense that they didn’t have her best interests at heart. The latter was true, but the counseling would have helped.
She tried to form the words to tell Leland but found them clogging her throat. It was too ugly, too sordid, too raw. Still. “Not tonight,” she choked out. “I don’t want to ruin tonight.” Because she didn’t know how many more nights she would have with him, she couldn’t afford to waste any of them.
“How could it ruin our night if I understand you better?” His stroking continued, soothing her into resting against him to draw on his strength. “I feel you stiffen in my arms sometimes and I hate that I’ve caused it. But I don’t know how to avoid it.” His voice vibrated with concern.
The tears that had started because of Ramón overflowed down her cheeks. She twisted and reached up to cup his face. “You feel it and you always let me do what I need to get past the problem. That makes all the difference.”
He wiped the tears away with his thumb. “I’m an ass for making you cry. Forget I said anything.”
“I just don’t want to believe that Ramón could be mixed up in this. He seems so decent, so solid ... sogood.” The tears flowed again and she swiped them away with the back of her hand. “But I felt I had to tell you about the gun safe. Just in case.”
She heard and felt him take a deep breath, but he had turned his face away from her so she didn’t know what he was thinking.
“You did the right thing,” he said. “Even though you don’t want to implicate your boss. That takes integrity.”
No, it took the realization that she cared more about Leland’s safety than Ramón’s reputation.
“I don’t want you to get hurt. My conscience would kill me.”
“Now you know how I feel,” he said. “We can go up to your apartment now. The limo’s been parked for a while.”
She hadn’t noticed the cessation of motion, and the driver hadn’t announced their arrival. He was either very discreet or he felt it was unnecessary to state the obvious.
