Page 41 of Slap Shot

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Having fun yet, partner? Your girlfriend's security is impressive. Almost stopped me.

Almost.

Check the news in an hour. You'll love what I've done with your credentials.

One way or another, you're coming back to play with me.

He stared at the screen, recognition washing over him. The familiar taunting tone, the casual cruelty, was pure Kai. HexAngel, more like HexDevil.

His breathing became rapid and shallow, his hands clenching at his sides. The office walls seemed to press inward, and suddenly he was back in that warehouse three years ago, zip-tied to a chair while men asked questions about federal investigations.

"Oliver?" Heather's voice sounded distant.

"Kai," he whispered, the name scraping his throat. "Kai Moreno is our hacker."

Charlie immediately pressed against his legs. The familiar pressure helped anchor him to the present moment, reminding him that he wasn't in that warehouse anymore.

"He's supposed to be in prison," he managed, his voice tight. "Federal prison. Maximum security. He can't be—"

His legs were unsteady, but Charlie's presence kept him upright. He forced himself to breathe deeper, to focus on the dog's warmth against his leg instead of the panic.

"Check the facts," he told himself, running his hand through Charlie's fur.

With Charlie against him, Oliver’s breathing began to slow. He turned to his computer, pulling up secure databases and digging deeper than his previous searches.

"What are you doing?" Heather asked.

"Triple-checking," he said, his voice steadier now. "Something's not right. Kai shouldn't be able to coordinate attacks like this from maximum security."

He broke the first layer of federal database security, then the second. Each barrier he bypassed revealed more detailed records, more recent information. When the real data finally loaded, his chest tightened.

"Son of a bitch."

"What is it?"

"Kai was released two months ago. Early release for good behavior, transferred to a halfway house program." He pulled up the dummy search results he'd found earlier, the ones that had shown Kai still incarcerated. "But look at this. He created false database entries to make it look like he was still locked up. Anyone doing a standard search would find these fake records instead of the real ones."

"Which means he's been planning this for weeks," Heather said. "Free to operate while making everyone think he was still in prison."

"And he violated his probation the minute he started hacking again."

“Why is he doing this?”

"Kai was my partner during my white hat days. We worked on government contracts together, tracking down criminals, exposing corruption."

"What happened?"

Oliver's jaw tightened as he pulled up archived case files. "There was a job. We were tracking a group selling military secrets. Dangerous people with serious connections." He paused, the memories still raw. "When they got too close to discovering our identities, Kai sold me out to save himself."

"He betrayed you to the criminals you were investigating?"

"Fed them information about the federal investigation, told them exactly where to find me." Oliver's voice stayed level, but Heather could see the cost of the memories in his eyes. "They grabbed me after work one night. Held me for three days, asking questions about what the feds knew."

Heather's breath caught. "The warehouse."

"Kai's betrayal put me there. If a homeless man hadn't heard something and called the cops..." Oliver shook his head. "I got out. Eventually. But the trauma never left."

"And now he's back."