Exploited
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She had always been unscrupulous when it came to holding on to me. I had thought she would have moved past that after all this time.
“I just think it’s strange I can’t find any mention of Hannah Whelan anywhere. That you happened to call me after years of no communication to tell me this pretty huge thing that you happened to stumble upon. Where did you see this?” I challenged, keeping my voice low, even though I was alone in the courtyard.
“I told you it was in an encrypted chat. You wouldn’t see it, now would you? I know you think you’re the queen of the crackers, but I can assure you that there are still some tricks you’ve yet to learn.” Rose sounded angry. I was glad to hear it. I hated her emotionless.
“So what did you find out, Rose?” I asked heavily.
“Look, I’m telling you the truth. Whoever is spreading your name around the deep Web is covering their tracks. They are virtually untraceable—”
“So why call me at all?” I interrupted.
“Because I think you’re dealing with someone really skilled. And this person seems to have a personal vendetta against you. They want you discovered. They’re encouraging people to share your name. I’ve been able to shut this person out of the chats, disproving their allegations, but it’s only a matter of time. Who the hell have you pissed off?” Rose asked.
“Besides you?” I countered.
“I wouldn’t tell anyone about you. No matter what you’ve done to me.” She was emphatic. Maybe too emphatic.
“What I’ve done to you? I wasn’t the one who left without a word,” I reminded her.
“And I wasn’t the one who shut down an operation we had been working on for months just because you were worried I was taking all the credit.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Wow, definitely not going there with you.”
“I don’t want to go there either, Hannah. That’s not why I’m calling—”
“Are you riding to my rescue, Rose? Is that what you want to do? Swoop in and save the day? I know you like that,” I hissed.
“Man, you really have a high opinion of yourself.”
“No, I just have a really low opinion of you.” I could see Kyle watching me from the cafeteria. “Look, I’m at work. I’ve got to go.”
“Hannah, don’t be stupid just because you have some ax to grind with me,” Rose implored.
“The truth is I don’t believe you, Rose. You’ve given me no reason to trust anything you have to say. Leave me alone, please. I’m quite fine without your rescuing.”
Trust.
It hurt when it broke.
I knew that all too well.
“Seriously, Hannah—”
“Bye.” I hung up the phone.
“Whoa, whoever you were talking to needs to watch out,” Kyle said with a laugh when I rejoined him.
“It was nobody important with nothing to say.”
I couldn’t afford to obsess about her warnings.
I had other things to focus on.
Chapter 17

Mason
“I thought you were coming home this weekend to see your mother.” My dad’s accusatory tone didn’t have the same power it normally did. “I have plans I can’t change,” I told him, anticipating the guilt trip that was about to be unloaded on me.
And not really caring.
Because I was happy.
It had been a long time since I had felt anything like contentment in my personal life. I had been convinced I didn’t deserve it. That it wasn’t fair for me to be happy when Dillon wasn’t alive. It felt like a betrayal.
I knew it was stupid to think that way. Dillon would never want me to self-flagellate to the point of martyrdom. But my parents had done a damn good job of reinforcing my misery.
My job and random hookups had been my only way out.
Now there was Hannah.
And things were suddenly very, very different.
She had bought us tickets to a musical. She called me every single day. She showed up at my apartment in the evening with takeout and a movie.
We had entered into an intimacy I hadn’t expected but found I was enjoying.
She’s almost too perfect.
The voice of uncertainty hadn’t gone away. In fact, it had grown louder the closer Hannah and I became.
Part of me thought I should be listening to my instincts. The voice was yelling at me for a reason. I had been trained to pay attention when it spoke.
But it was that voice that had insisted I follow a lead instead of keeping a promise to my dying brother.
It had been that voice that had left me alone and hardened for most of my adult life.
I hadn’t realized I had lost trust in the voice until it made me question Hannah.
She had come along at a time when I was just starting to become aware of how truly lonely I was.
I had tried to fill the void with Madison and it hadn’t been right.
Hannah was right.
Is she?
Yes, I convinced myself.
“Plans that are more important than seeing your mother? She just got out of the hospital! She’s in a very precarious state right now, Mason. You owe it to her to be here. When you moved away, you broke what was left of her.” Dad’s voice shook and I sighed.
“Dad, it’s my job. I can’t very well tell the agent in charge I can’t relocate because of my mother.”
“That job is why you weren’t there for Dillon either. Don’t you forget that,” my father snapped, attempting to plunge the knife in deep.
I should never have attempted to unburden myself of guilt by telling my father about my last conversation with Dillon before he died. Because he used it to hurt me whenever possible.
“I can’t come this weekend, Dad. I’m sorry,” I said, not rising to the bait, his barb deflecting, not hitting its intended mark. For once his words didn’t bruise.
I was flying high. Not just because of Hannah but because of work too.
Things were lining up so damn perfectly.
Two days ago I had gotten my first break in the Freedom Overdrive case.
I knew it was only a matter of time until I cracked it completely.
—
Perry and I had been monitoring the IRC chat room **bike for sale** for the last week, waiting for some movement. Watching Internet traffic is probably the most mind-numbing job out there. Cataloging script. Sifting through data logs. It’s boring as shit.