ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

I ignore the slight shake to my hands and the fast beating of my heart at the thought of it being her. I know that I shouldn’t ignore it, I shouldn’t feel like this, but there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

I take a deep breath, pulling the door open and releasing it as I see Luke standing there, hands on his hips with his head turned toward the warehouse.

“Luke?”

“Evan.” He puffs out a breath, turning around and meeting my eyes. His ice-blue ones are guarded, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. “That guy you were looking for for Kitty? He’s here.”

My brows rise high on my forehead as I step out of my cabin. “Kitty’s guy? Really?”

“Yeah.” He nods as I jog down the steps onto the gravel and then walk over to the warehouse with him beside me.

For months now, since Kitty first went to rehab, I’ve been searching for the guy who used to be her bodyguard, but after several emails and messages all with no replies, I started to think that the guy was a ghost.

“You saw him?” I ask Luke.

His guarded eyes meet mine and his lips turn into a grim, straight line. “I don’t trust him.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope,” he says, popping the p. “Why turn up after all this time?”

I chuckle and shrug my shoulders, saying simply, “Because Kitty asked him to?”

Luke makes a noise in the back of his throat before I pull the warehouse door open.

Everyone is scattered all over the place but my eyes immediately zone in on Dean where he stands in front of my computers, moving the mouse and bringing the screens to life.

“No!” I shout, darting around the meeting table and over the mats to where he’s standing. “Don’t touch.” My voice comes out weak so I clear my throat. “That’s mine, you don’t touch, nobody touches my things.” I know I sound like a petulant child, but this guy can’t come in here and start touching my stuff.

“Hey, man, I got it.” He holds his hands up in the air, his mouth pulled up into a smirk as his deep voice surrounds us. “You Evan?”

“I am.” I nod, crossing my arms over my chest and just now realizing that I’m wearing the same clothes I was yesterday. I really should have at least changed before I came over, but Geena has my head in a mess and I don’t know which way is up and which way is down right now.

I never know which Geena I’m going to get: whether it’ll be the one that I first met—the kind one, the one who was soft spoken—or whether I’ll get the one who flies off the handle at the smallest thing, who talks down to me.

“Nice to meet you, man. I’m Dean.” He holds his hand out and I stare at it for a fraction of a second before placing my hand in his and shaking it. “I got your message but I was on an assignment so I couldn’t get back to you, but I tracked you down and figured if you were here then Kitty would be too.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “How did you track me down?”

His eyes widen as he stares at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. “I erm… I pinged the message that you sent me.”

I watch him for several seconds, not knowing whether to be impressed or suspicious.

“She’s here,” I finally reply, tilting my head to where she’s standing talking to Ty and Charlie.

“I know.” He turns around and stands shoulder to shoulder with me. “She’s grown up a lot, eh?”

“I suppose.” My eyes widen and I cough to cover up the awkwardness that I feel.

“Anyway,” he says, clearing his throat. “I heard you’re the best there is.”

“Huh?”

“The best computer expert—you know you’re a big name in the cyber world?”

I puff out my chest, a grin widening on my face. “Well… I don’t like to brag, but—” I cut myself off when I realize that the only way he would know that is if he’d been asking about me, which in turn means that he’s been asking about all of us.

My gaze skirts to his as I assess him. I’m good—no, great—at analyzing people when I first meet them. He’s not giving me any bad juju though, so I let it go and turn to face Kitty as she walks toward us.