Page 77 of Their Stormy Reunion

“Stop swearing and tell me what you’re thinking,” Roan demanded.

“Tell me, did Sid have a computer?”

“Yeah, kind of pricey, too,” Roan admitted.

“We need to get over to Fallon’s house. I’m betting he had cameras in the shed to feed video when the door opened.”

“Shit, fuck, piss,” Roan yelled. He stalked across the kitchen and poured out the coffee into the sink. I did the same. We left the house, me re-arming the alarm, and we headed over to the Vickers.

Simon was already at the house when we got there. Fallon and he were in the shed, and he was doing a FaceTime with someone as he pointed his phone along the inside of the shed.

“Stop,” the voice on the phone said. “There. Do you see the black electrician’s tape?”

I don’t know how the person caught that, but there it was.

“I’m betting they had a wireless HDMI transmitter on their camera. They had it set up so that it had a motion sensor detector.”

My blood ran cold. Sid would have seen every moment where Fallon was close to death. He would have fed off my second-by-second agony as I tried the best I could to keep her alive. No wonder there was such glee in his eyes. No wonder he made another attempt on Fallon; he knew she was my Achille’s heel.

“Is there enough to get a warrant to search his place and confiscate his computer?” I asked.

Simon snorted. “Not hardly.” He looked over at Roan. “So, when you were planting the wire, you didn’t notice any surveillance equipment at his place?”

Roan shook his head. “Just the desktop computer. If he’s smart, he has all the other equipment stored off-site.”

“He can’t afford a storage unit on the wages he’s making,” I interrupted. “The stuff’s probably in the trunk of his car.”

“I still haven’t been able to tap any of our usual IT folks from the teams,” Simon said with frustration. “Too much going on in this big bad world. I’d like to get a look-see into Sid’s computer.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Fallon said.

Roan, Simon, and I turned to look at her.

“One of my projects was for the government. It’s not something I can brag about on my company website, but we did some work in cyber-security.”

“You’re a hacker?” I asked.

“Hacker is a word with such a bad reputation, I like to think of myself as a digital locksmith, unlocking doors that were never meant to stay locked,” Fallon said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Simon let out a big laugh. “I can see how you fit in with all the Avery sisters.”

Sid’s apartment smelled like cheap beer, burnt coffee, moldy pizza, and crusty gym socks. Even worse than it did two nights ago. The three of us stood just inside the door, reluctant to go in and be contaminated by the stench.

Simon was the first to move, his sharp eyes scanning every corner of the dingy one-bedroom like he was clearing a breach. Roan lingered by the entrance, his hand resting casually on his hip, but I knew better—he was ready to draw if something went sideways.

Me? I headed for the desk and stared down at the computer that had been where my sick fuck of a father had probably watched Fallon’s agony with glee.

“He’s gone,” Simon muttered, striding toward the desk. “Packed up and skipped town.”

Roan exhaled sharply. “Damn. I was hoping for at least a little more drama.”

Simon shot him a look. “Speak for yourself. I prefer my psychos exactly where I can see ’em.”

The computer was dark, and I pressed a key on the keyboard, but it didn’t come to life. I looked around back to see if it was plugged in. I shouted out a laugh when I saw the bolt cutters laying behind the desk, and the computer cord cut. Really? This is how this genius decided to wipe the computer?

When I showed Simon and Roan the cut cord, they both laughed. I pulled the other end of the plug from the back of the tower.

Simon’s phone rang, and he stepped away, while Roan and I looted through the desk drawers. Candy wrappers, pens, and two notepads with the names and numbers of restaurants that delivered.