toy, and anything else he might have picked up throughout the day. It had become a joke around the office. Whenever someone said they needed something, they were told to ask Maury to check his pockets.
“If King finds out—”
“Which he’s not going to,” Jack replied, giving him a pointed look.
Maury sighed. “Which he’s not going to. At least not from me. But this is King we’re talking about. He always finds out.”
“I’ll worry about that particularly scary bridge when I get to it. I needed to make sure the upgrade to Frank’s system was ready.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Maury assured him. “You know it is. You’ve been over it, I’ve been over it, Meg and Sil have been over it. Shit, even Leo has been over it.”
Jack nodded. He took a sip of his latte and moaned. “Fuck, this is good.”
Maury chuckled. “You say that every time.”
“And I mean it every time.” Jack dropped into the chair behind his desk and took a big bite of his breakfast sandwich. “Thanks,” he said through a mouthful of food. Maury shook his head at him. His smile faded, and he shifted uncomfortably. Swallowing his food, Jack studied him. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried about Sil,” Maury said quietly, his gaze going to the door in case Sil happened to appear, even though they both knew Sil wouldn’t be in for another hour.
“How so?”
Maury leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He ran his hands through his messy hair before sitting back. “You know what? It’s nothing. I’m sure it’s fine and I’m just being paranoid.”
Jack frowned at that. Maury wasn’t the paranoid type. He had great instincts, and when he had a hunch about something, he was usually right. “Maury, if something Sil is doing is making you nervous, I want to know about it.” They’d never had trouble being open with each other in the past. Sil was like a little brother to the team, so Jack understood Maury’s hesitation.
“It’s just that he’s been kind of quiet lately, and I mean, that kid’s never quiet, you know that.”
“When did this start?”
“It started the day we worked Mr. Stevenson’s case. After we left the truck. He was just all quiet. I asked him if something was wrong, but he said he was fine. Then at work he’s constantly checking his personal phone.”
Jack shrugged. “He’s always been surgically attached to that phone.”
“No, I mean like, nervous-looking-over-his-shoulder checking. Like he’s worried someone will see what’s on his phone. I love the kid, you know I do, but his behavior has been off. Meg and I are worried…”
Maury didn’t need to finish that sentence. When Jack had offered Sil a job, the kid had been on the road to bad places, and that included getting involved with a less-than-reputable hacker group, but Sil had sworn to Jack that he’d never accepted their invite to join and never would. The kid hadn’t let him down yet, but as much as Jack wanted to give Sil the benefit of the doubt, Sil was in a position where he had access to incredibly sensitive information. They handled security systems for business owners like Frank, all the way up to billion-dollar empires like Colton’s.
Jack met Maury’s gaze. “Am I wrong to trust him?”
“Don’t ask me that. Sil idolizes you. He’s always joking that he wants to be you when he grows up.”
His stomach turned at the thought that someone he trusted could betray them. He hated that was where his mind went, but experience had taught him just because someone earned your trust, didn’t mean they knew how to hold on to it.
“Okay. Do I need to worry?”
Maury seemed to give his question a good deal of thought. “Not yet. If he’s gotten into some kind of trouble, we’ll find out about it. Our systems are built for that. His clearance level isn’t as high as mine, Meg’s, and nowhere near yours. We’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thanks.”
Maury stood and headed for the door. “Finish your breakfast before it gets cold. And make sure you get a nap in later or something.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jack teased, though he appreciated the way Maury looked out for him.
“Ass.” Maury chuckled. He’d just opened the door when Jack called out to him.
“Thanks for having my back.”
Maury’s smile widened. “Always. Oh, I almost forgot. Emmett keeps asking me if you saw his request for the Feldman job.”
“Shit. I saw it, but I haven’t had a chance to look it over.”
“Can I be honest?”
“You know you can.”
Maury