Page 8 of Protector Unmatched

“Your brother owes us money. Lots of it. He begged us not to hurt him and claims you’ll help him pay off his debt to us.”

“I don’t have any money.” Her brother knew she was living from paycheck to paycheck.

“We’re aware of that. That’s why you can do us a favor.”

“A favor?” She couldn’t imagine what kind of favor she could possibly do for this thug to get her brother out of trouble. But she didn’t dare voice her skepticism.

“He says you have skills.”

She swallowed hard. She didn’t have to be a genius to know what he was referring to. It figured that her brother had started singing like a bird at the slightest bit of physical pain.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied.

“Now, now, Daphne. You don’t mind if I call you Daphne, do you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “We know all about your past. The hacking, the arrest.”

She cursed under her breath.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.”

“It’s not a secret.”

But Guido, or whatever his name was, continued undeterred. “So you’re gonna do a little job for us. Get us around a little security system, retrieve something, you know, that kind of job. And once we’ve got what we want, your brother’s debt to us is wiped out, and he’s free to leave.”

Fuck, they wanted her to help them rob a place? A bank, most likely? “No way.” If she got involved in anything like that and something went wrong, the plea deal was off, and she’d be going to jail for a very long time.

“You’ve got no choice.”

No, she couldn’t do it. It would ruin her life. There had to be another way.

“Do it, or we’ll start sending you body parts in the mail.”

They were bluffing. Tim couldn’t have gotten involved with the kind of people who really made good on threats like that. During her time as a hacker, she’d seen enough bluffs and called them out. She’d rarely been wrong.

“You’re not gonna do it,” she said. “Because if you do, neither my brother nor I will ever pay you what he owes.”

“You think I’m bluffing?”

Her heart beat into her throat. “Let him go. Now. He’ll pay you back. We’ll work something out.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Let him go,” she demanded again.

“You don’t give the orders here, lady.” Then his voice became more distant, and she realized he wasn’t talking to her anymore. “Looks like your sister doesn’t wanna play ball. What finger should we start with?” Suddenly, loud screams she recognized as her brother’s sounded in the background. Then the call was disconnected.

Her heart beating like a jackhammer, Daphne stared at her phone. What now? She had to call him back, try to reason with him. Seconds ticked by. Maybe she could pretend to go along with the plan, then speak to her probation officer and explain the situation. Then the police could set up a sting and they could save her brother from these mafiosos. Yes, that was what she would do.

With trembling fingers, she navigated to her brother’s number, but before she could call, another message arrived

A photo.

She dreaded having to look at it, but she knew she had to.

The photo depicted a bloody finger. A finger that had been severed from a hand.

Her stomach churned, and she nearly lost the little breakfast she’d had this morning. Guido had made his point. He was serious.

Her fingers trembling worse than before, she typed a short message and sent it: I’ll do it.

Guido’s message came almost immediately. We’ll be in touch with details soon. We’ll be watching you. So don’t be stupid. For your brother’s sake.

She knew what that meant. She couldn’t involve the police.