Page 23 of Cast in Shadow
“I thought we covered this. She hired me to find you.”
“Yes, but why did she choose you if she’s never worked with you before?”
He’d wondered the same thing himself, especially when Charley had proven so adept at getting to him. He kept coming back to the same thing: Charley was working with someone else. Someone who trusted Charley but didn’t necessarily trust everyone in her organization or want them to know about Robin Hood.
To Aggie, he said, “I’m very good at what I do.”
“And finding people is what you do?”
“Among other things.”
“Hmm,” she hummed softly. “What else do you do besides bounty hunting?”
“What do you care?” he asked, throwing her words back at her.
She blinked, taken aback by his sharp tone. He was somewhat surprised himself.
“I don’t. I’m just trying to make conversation to pass the time. Know your captor and all that.”
She turned her gaze toward the window. The air in the car felt noticeably colder. He tried to put himself in her position, and the raw truth was, he didn’t like the way it felt.
“Charley knew you were in Parryville,” he said, breaking the silence, “as well as the fact that you went missing.”
“How?” she asked, looking paler than she had just a short while earlier.
“She’s quite familiar with your work. Even sent me a list of your greatest hits.”
She looked skeptical, so he told her about the links Charley had sent him. Judging by the way her face paled further, he guessed she hadn’t expected anyone to connect the dots and certainly not follow them back to her.
“You really don’t know who she is or who she works for?”
“No, I really don’t.”
She went quiet again. A quick side glance showed her brows creased and her fingers flexing, as if itching to let loose on a keyboard.
He debated whether to tell her his theory, then decided she needed to know. He liked her. Liked her spunk and her style. Recognized a kindred spirit. Maybe, just maybe, the knowledge would help her evade detection in the future. Based on what he knew, the woman was as much of a nomad as he was, and that feeling of being trapped and hunted, well, he wanted her to have options.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know how you came to be on Charley’s radar, but I think I know how you stayed on it.”
“How?”
“You have a pattern.”
“I do?” she asked, surprised.
He nodded. “Most people do. We’re creatures of habit. And whether you realize it or not, you have a unique signature.”
“Do tell.”
She was looking at him again, her eyes burning with curiosity. He’d take that over her furrowed brow and worried expression.
“You’re a skilled hacker, right? There’s not a digital system you haven’t been able to crack. Because of that, you have access to information and intel that no one outside of the highest levels of security should have.”
She neither confirmed nor denied that, just waved her hand in a small circular motion for him to get on with it. “So? The world is full of hackers.”
“True, but most of them use their skills for personal gain—to achieve wealth, power, a position of influence. You have a different angle, one most people wouldn’t consider. You funnel ill-gotten gains elsewhere, presumably in amounts small enough to avoid detection, but never to yourself. Hence the code name Robin Hood.”
“Is that it?”
