High Note

PROLOGUE
A FEW WEEKS AGO…

It was early when they left. The day had a watery gray
kind of brightness to it. Not that the sun wasn’t shining,
it just seemed hazy. Maybe fires in the west. The
light glinted off the window as they passed, but my proximity
to the road didn’t worry me.
The camouflage tucked my vehicle out of sight. I also
didn’t rush to follow. Today’s vehicle had a tracker on it. A
slap-and-track I’d placed myself. I took the time to finish my
notes before putting away the laptop.
Five minutes later, I pulled out, following the red dot on
my phone screen. She was too good not to pick up a tail.
Spooking her wasn’t the plan. I caught up to “them” at a gas
station. Since a top-up wouldn’t hurt me, I parked at the
pump farthest away.
Pulling the card from my wallet, I skimmed my gaze over
the name. Today I was… “Bruno.” Humming to myself, I got
the gas going and leaned back against the car. The angle
from the windows of the little convenience store let me track
their movements.
The hacker was with her today. I’d already pulled
Fletcher Reed’s background and added it to my notes. He
seemed to be nursing a hangover—though the way he
swayed a little when he walked suggested he might still be
drunk.
Poor company.
Worse backup.
Suppressing the urge to curl my lip, I didn’t linger after
my gas tank was full. Leaving the station ahead of them. I
parked one block east and one block south.
Then waited.
The gas station was a pit stop. When they started
moving again, I fell in behind them at the same distance I’d
maintained earlier. Her destination proved to be a storage
facility. Curiosity pulled me from my vehicle, but I stayed
downwind and out of sight.
Located in an isolated spot, the place just reeked of
abandonment and disuse. The grass growing through the
cracks in the pavement and blacktop pretty much cemented
the local town’s lack of interest in keeping up the maintenance
in the area.
The address tickled something in the back of my mind.
I’d check it out later. Low-glare binoculars gave a front-row
seat as they opened the locker and went inside. It was empty
—save for some file boxes. Standard. No guarantee of what
they contained.
Tragedy crossed Vienna’s face. The expression arrested
me. While I would never label her as guarded, she’d always
radiated a self-possessed air. Ethereal. Capable.
Talented.
A sigh half-escaped me, and I had to shake it off when
the hacker kissed her.
It wasn’t just a peck on the lips.
No, there was a ferociousness to that kiss that prickled
over my skin. A possessiveness that had me curling my
fingers into my palm. She allowed it.
Lucky for him, she returned it with equal fervor.
That move could have gotten him killed.
When they left the locker, they took the boxes and
sealed them up. Even as I tracked their movements, I
considered the storage facility. Once again, I let her leave
ahead of me and just waited. If she turned in the direction
of her home, I’d go investigate now. If she didn’t—and it
turned out she didn’t—I’d make a point of returning later.
The next drive was nearly as long as the first, only we
didn’t go back to her place at all. We went to the port. Aware
of exactly who owned the dockside warehouse, I parked a
mile back. Any closer would really tip her off.
No one else was here.
The hacker was waiting in the car like a good pup.
Amusement flared through me. Had she left the window
open for him? Having been here more than a few times, I
knew a couple of access points that would let me slip in
undetected.
I made it just in time for the show. It was a show. Vienna
worked with a kind of elegant efficiency few could ever hope
to achieve. Captivated, I almost wished I’d brought a camera
that would let me film her. She didn’t play games, tease, or
taunt.
She went straight to the questions. While I was too far
away to catch all the words audibly, I could read lips. The
last year had been very hard on her, not that you could see it
in her professionalism. But the barest crack in her voice
betrayed an ocean of agony.
It almost made me homicidal, an urge I kept in check.
She didn’t need me to take this from her. She had it.
While I soaked up and savored every moment of her
work, someone else decided to interrupt. The bastard
walked in, clapping. A sigh would have escaped me if I
allowed it.
Rude.
He could have at least waited until she finished. Edging
was fine. Taking one’s time was fine. Interrupting her at the
cusp of the orgasm in her work?
To… fanboy?
I was a heartbeat away from taking the decision away
from both of them when the hacker appeared.