allow for a shitty case of bad timing, we arrive at an interesting conclusion. What if he figured out your last name and went looking? What would he find? I did a Google search. There’s a convenient rabbit hole of dumb shit from high school. Newspaper archives and whatnot. The only other thing is Dad. His obituary. I’m named.”
It hit her like an avalanche of rock-hard, day-old dinner rolls. She went underground, but her brother was still out there, and by virtue of his military status, he was rather easy to find.
“An encrypted server and government level defensive security protocols are not within the purview of an amateur. Two things, Summer. Two distinctly separate things—most likely operating without the knowledge of the other—with you and Arianne in the middle.”
“Or just me in the middle, Reed. If what you suggest turns out to be true, there’s every likelihood Arnie doesn’t know about the baby.”
He nodded solemnly. “Mom slithering through a crack in hell is not the work of a pro.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “My money is on the villainess. She’s somehow dropped a pin on you. I don’t know how, and maybe we’ll never know, but the threat level is real. And she’s making a move by bringing Mom into the picture. I’m willing to place a bet that there’s money on the table. Money for access. Got the picture?”
“Reed,” she growled in a voice full of anguish. “You have to figure out how to get around the NIGHTWIND defenses.” She clutched her hands over her chest. “I have a bad feeling. Things are in motion, aren’t they?”
He nodded.
“I don’t want this to end in a court-martial, so please don’t do anything to jeopardize your position, but isn’t there a way to do a reverse search?”
“I’m just waiting until Cy and Joanne bury her mom and have a moment to grieve. After the first of the year, I promise we’ll go ham.”
“Ham?”
“Yeah.” He sniggered. Hard as a motherfucker. H-a-m.”
She looked at Ari.
“She’s asleep.” Summer giggled. “Little minx. She hates tummy time but knows crying won’t work.”
“Looks like she found a creative work-around.”
They stared at the snoozing angel. She reached for Reed’s hand and held on tight.
“I swear on all that’s holy, Reed. He’s a good man. Please reserve judgment, okay?”
“I’d do anything for you, twerp. And anything for Arianne. That’s why I’m telling you all of this. Nothing important is ever simple. There’s more going on than we’re aware of. You keep the faith, sis, and I’ll do the rest.”
23
“Can we talk?” Arnie asked King from the doorway of the man’s office where he stopped out of politeness and waited to be invited in.
King put aside an iPad and looked Arnie up and down. The guy’s piercing gaze had the power to make a man’s balls shrivel. Ferocity was a Maddison family trait. One shared by King’s older sister, Dr. Antoinette Maddison. Like her brother, Toni did not suffer fools and gleefully ate idiots for breakfast.
“Well, I don’t know,” King told him in a deceptively friendly tone. “It depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you’re wearing the socks my daughter ran all around the city looking for. Fucker,” King drawled. “Do you know how hard it was to find seasonal socks in your size? We ended up at Giants R Us.”
A belly laugh seized Arnie as a hilarious visual sprang front and center in his head. He wasn’t the only one Nicole had charmed. She also had her new daddy wrapped around her little finger. The idea of King Maddison stomping around New York City with a preschool princess in search of seasonally decorated large-sized men’s socks was priceless.
He casually stuck one foot out, tugged on his slacks to pull up the leg, and with a grin, he displayed a pair of snowman-themed socks. For good measure, he stuck his tongue out like a snotty kid, and said, “So there,”
King laughed, flipped him off, and invited him in. “Sit down and tell me why you’re here. I thought you were Connecticut bound.”
“I am,” Arnie replied. “Been coming and going since before Christmas. Quality time.” He laughed with air quotes. “Hanging with Dad, Stan, and Darnell Senior. The driving back and forth is killing me, but it’s been worth it.”
“And the rest of your dubiously illustrious clan?”
“Started arriving on Monday. The first session isn’t until Thursday night, so I’m holding out until then. That’s kind of what I wanted to talk with you about. I, um, need to take some personal time. More than just for the