ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

The door opens when we’re a couple of feet away from it, and another guard appears, only this time it’s a brute of a man.

He doesn’t make eye contact with any of us, instead he stands there like a sentinel.

“Boys!”

Clapping of hands has my attention moving to the middle of the room.

Darrell Le’Fraine.

His light-brown hair sticks up in all kinds of directions, and when he stands, my eyes widen. He’s smaller than I imagined, he can’t be much taller than Kitty and she’s only five foot two.

The brute moves aside, allowing us into the room as Darrell’s dirty-blue, beady eyes meet mine. His lips turn up into a grin as he steps around his large, glossy, black desk.

“You must be Evan,” he says, holding his hand out.

“I am,” I reply, placing my hand in his and shaking it as I keep my eyes connected to his.

He stares at me for several seconds before pulling away and stepping back behind his desk. “Sit,” he offers, waving his hand out toward the chairs that sit the other side of his desk.

I discreetly move my gaze to Seb and he subtly nods his head and sits beside me.

“So, these guys tell me that you’re the best in the business?”

“They do?” I ask, chuckling as my eyes wander around the room, taking it all in and compartmentalizing it. All of the walls are stark white, black picture frames containing nothing scattered on the walls and a black sculpture of a lion sitting in the middle of the wall. Gold accents shine through the black and I narrow my eyes at it.

I’m sure I’ve seen that somewhere before.

“I see you like my lion.”

“I…” I turn back to face Darrell. “I suppose if that’s your kind of thing.” I shrug.

He laughs. “It’s worth ten mil.”

I act uninterested as I stare at him, but inside I’m screaming “what the fuck?” Pushing down in the seat, I let my legs straighten out in front of me as my elbows rest on the sides of the chair.

“Are we here to talk business? Or to shoot the shit?” I ask, my voice sounding bored.

The atmosphere changes, and when I look back up at Darrell, I see his eyes narrowed and his mouth in a grim line.

“Look…” I start, sitting up and shrugging. “I’m a busy guy, I have several jobs on the table. All worth a lot more than that lion over there.” I hook my thumb toward the lion. “If you wanna drag this out then I’ll leave now and save you the trouble.”

Darrell’s brows rise on his forehead, his eyes skirting to Seb who sits next to me. “You said he’s the best?”

“He is,” he confirms.

“Good.” He nods his head several times before waving his arm to the brute who is still standing by the door. “Pass him the laptop.”

A couple of seconds later an open laptop is placed into my lap, the screen full of green code against a black background.

“Get me into the central bank.”

I raise a brow, knowing what he wants without having to ask. But I’m the smart one here, so I start typing away and ten minutes later, I’m standing

up and placing the laptop screen on the desk in front of him.

“Holy shit, you did it.”

“Of course, I did it,” I scoff. “That’s a warm up for me.”