Page 121 of Hard Wired

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sylvie and Tanner strolled along the beachside path. It was seventy degrees, not a cloud in the sky. They passed a beach volleyball game, and people in various states of undress lazed on the sand. Apparently, nobody else wanted to work this Friday afternoon, either.

“Did you know Dominic Crane is back in town? And that Max met with him?”

Sylvie glanced sharply at her friend. “Max? He hasn’t said a word to me about it.”

“About Dominic being back? Or about the fact that they talked?” Tanner’s smug tone conveyed that he already knew the answer.

“I knew Dominic was in the area. I’ve seen him. He never really left.” She hadn’t seen Nic since Faith’s birthday party several weeks ago. It was the right choice for them both. Sylvie knew they wouldn’t be able to resist jumping into bed. She wanted to know they were each in a good place before that happened.

The waiting was tough, though.

“But what did Max say?” she asked.

“He asked me to check up on Crane to make sure his old Syndicate buddies were leaving him alone. Because Max figured if you were hanging around the guy, we needed to ensure you’d be safe. It really does seem that he’s out of his old life, and that the Syndicate—whatever’s left of it—has decided to let him go. And they haven’t been sniffing around you, which is much more important. Thought you might want to know. But if you want to yell at Max about it, say you found out through some hacking voodoo, not from me.”

Why was she even surprised? Max would always be protective of the people he cared about, and Sylvie was glad to be one of them.

Briefly, Max had made her wonder if people really did change, but it was comforting to know Max was the same as ever. There was enough uncertainty in the world already.

“What a crack investigator. Did you even know ‘Crane’ isn’t his name anymore?”

“Nic Anderson, whatever.” Tanner shrugged one of his beefy shoulders. “He’ll always be Crane to me.”

In some ways, Dominic was still ‘Crane’ to her, too. If only because of that tattoo on her shoulder, which made her think of him every time she saw it. For her, the name reminded her of his grace and inner beauty, rather than his family.

“So, are you two together?”

“We’re not…together. Not exactly. We’re figuring it out.”

Dominic was renting Luis’s spare room in Los Angeles now. It had made her nervous at first, knowing he’d be closer to people who could recognize him. But Dominic had assured her over and over that he wasn’t in danger anymore, and Tanner’s investigation soothed her concerns further.

Of course, he’d told Luis the truth about his past, and the photographer had loved the story. The whole mafia vibe had given him ideas for an ad campaign for a leather goods client.

And ever since he’d moved in with Luis, Dominic had been busier. It was good. She was happy for him. She’d had plenty of time to think through her feelings about her family, which she’d needed to do.

A couple weeks ago, she had written to her siblings the old-fashioned way, since she didn’t know their emails. Nor had she been brave enough to dial the phone.

She figured if she never heard anything, she could chalk it up to the post office losing her letter, rather than her siblings deciding not to respond.

They reached the fish taco stand and put in their orders. “You do seem happier lately, though,” Tanner said. “I know you think being in a relationship shouldn’t make you different. But I gotta say, that’s bullshit. I’ve seen you depressed, and you can’t tell me there’s no difference.”

“I guess.” She hadn’t wanted to admit that having certain people in her life dictated her happiness or well-being. But she’d been looking at it the wrong way. Being with the right people just made her more herself.

* * *

That night,Sylvie got a FaceTime call from an unfamiliar number. She almost didn’t answer, but then she realized who it might be.

When the video loaded, she saw her sister Trina staring back at her.

“Sylvie, is that you?” her younger brother asked in the background.

“Of course it’s her. Don’t you know our sister?” Trina was the oldest of the three of them, and she’d always been their spokesperson. Their younger brother tended to sit quietly and go along. “Sylvie, how on earth are you?”

“I’m…” Where could she even begin? “I’m sorry it took me so long to get in touch.”

“You’re sorry?” Trina waved her hands. “Okay, I need to say this, ’cause it’s been building up a long time. I know we hurt you, Sylvie. We didn’t fight back against mom and dad when they cut you out of our lives. But I need to know if you can ever forgive us, because that guilt is damn near killing me.”

---