Page 92 of Hard Wired

Chapter Twenty-Nine

They raced down the freeway. Normally, the trip from West Oaks to Los Angeles was over an hour, but at this time of night traffic flowed smoothly. Sylvie knew Tanner was keeping a close eye on the vehicles around them, watching for any signs they were being tailed.

She leaned forward in her seat. “Everything look good out there?”

Tanner nodded. “So far.”

She checked her phone. The Bennett Security office was full of people right now because of this operation. She’d asked Priyanka to keep her apprised of any data coming in from the Russian hackers. But Priyanka’s last update, from just a few minutes ago, said she hadn’t seen anything yet.

Sylvie cursed under her breath. There should’ve been something by now. It was daytime in Russia. The black-hat hackers would be active.

“You all right?” Dominic’s shoulder leaned into hers.

She exhaled, forcing a smile. ”Of course. Everything’s going to be fine.”

About twenty minutes into the drive, they got word that Maureen had arrived at the West Oaks safe house. “You should call Raymond and let him know we’re on our way.”

Dominic took out his burner phone. He’d left the other back at the house. He punched a button and lifted the phone to his ear. Sylvie heard it ringing.

But Raymond didn’t answer.

A crease appeared between Dominic’s eyebrows.

“I’m sure he’s just getting ready,” Sylvie said. “None of us had much time.”

Dominic nodded, though his frown remained.

“You should try to sleep. I can wake you when we get to your brother’s dorm.

He smirked. “How about you rest, and I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

They both knew that nobody was going to be sleeping on this car ride. So she snuggled against him instead, enjoying these last few minutes of being together.

“When we get to the safe house with Raymond, you won’t be able to stay,” Dominic whispered. “Will you?”

“Maybe for an hour or two, but that’s probably it. When we get there, Tanner and the other bodyguards will be in charge. It won’t be so easy for me to boss them around.”

“Too bad. I enjoyed that.”

The safe house was about ten miles from Raymond’s West Los Angeles campus, according to the Google maps search she’d run earlier. The distance wouldn’t take too long to cover at this time of night. During peak L.A. traffic, it could’ve taken an hour just to make that small piece of the trip.

From there, the Bennett Security bodyguards would take over, and Tanner or Rex—the man driving them right now—would take Sylvie back to headquarters. She had no idea when she’d be able to see Dominic again, or even speak to him. Sylvie hoped the security measures wouldn’t be that drastic. But it all depended on what the Syndicate decided to do next.

“Where will you go afterward?” he asked.

“I’ll be somewhere safe. Don’t worry about that.”

She had the feeling Max and Tanner would insist she not go home for a while just in case Charles Traynor decided to send someone after her. She wasn’t looking forward to it. Max had an apartment on the third floor of their headquarters building, and he’d recently moved out of it to get a new place with Lana. Max would probably tell Sylvie to hole up there. At least she’d be close to work.

She didn’t want to discuss the topic with Dominic, though. He needed to focus on himself right now, not on her.

They pulled up outside Raymond’s dorm just after four. The building was a large rectangular brick structure. A few students wandered the sidewalks, obviously on the way home from parties.

Tanner unbuckled his seatbelt. “Have you reached Raymond yet?”

Dominic was trying his brother again. “He’s not answering. This isn’t right.”

“Tanner, what about our surveillance on Raymond?” Sylvie asked.

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