Technical Threat (Westin Force #4) - Julie Trettel Page 0,41

what you’re describing, but by all means, check. I’m just going to throw it out anyway.”

I plugged in the computer and powered it up. My jaw dropped as I looked over the specs. This wasn’t a cheap budget system. Whoever built this knew their way around computers. Everything was state-of the art.

My heart started thumping as a smile spread across my face when I saw the level of encryption she had at login.

“Got you,” I said aloud.

“I can’t believe it. It’s not possible.”

“Where is your daughter right now, Ms. Dubois?”

I heard a gasp at the doorway and turned to see Sage.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

“Sage, this is Special Agent Tarron with the FBI. Where is your sister? He needs to speak with her.”

“Susan hates people messing with her stuff. You shouldn’t be in here. She’s especially protective of that computer,” Sage said.

Shay scoffed but I couldn’t hear what she said over the roaring in my ears.

Susan was the hacker?

My Susan?

What had I missed? How didn’t I put it together sooner? This horrible woman was Susan’s mother? Was I being played all along?

It felt like my entire world was just ripped from underneath my feet. I had so many questions and my head was spinning. Silently I got up and left the room, left the house, and walked across the street to Shay Vous.

She was talking with a customer. The tinkling sound of her laughter pierced me straight through the heart.

Our eyes met and her face paled. “What’s wrong?”

Susan

Chapter 14

Tarron looked as if he were about to burst. He was angry and upset. It was weird that I knew that with such certainty. My hands started to shake, and fear griped me, not for me, but for him.

I called Michelle over to finish checking out the man I was talking to. He was a regular, but I couldn’t even remember his name in that moment. It didn’t matter.

I walked over and instinctively touched Tarron. When he flinched away, it felt like my heart shattered.

The logical part of my brain reminded me that we didn’t know each other, and I shouldn’t care or feel hurt at his rejection, but my heart wasn’t listening to that rational argument.

“We need to talk, now,” he said in a strained voice.

I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t even say a word to anyone or ensure someone covered my tables. Nope, nothing. When he turned and walked back outside, I followed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked again. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I can feel that something is very wrong.”

“Tell me what you know about the Raglan, Susan,” he demanded.

I gasped. “What? How do you know about them?”

Sage ran across the street to us. She looked a little freaked out too. “He’s FBI, and he was looking for something on your computer,” she blurted out.

“I’m not FBI, that was just a cover,” Tarron said calmly.

He didn’t deny searching my computer though. I bit back the desire to smirk. I was confident he didn’t get what he was looking for from it. My security was top notch. I trusted it did its job.

In the few hours I’d known him I’d already built assumptions that contrasted greatly with the hardened man standing before me now.

I crossed my arms over my chest. It was a natural instinct to put a divider between us. I didn’t mean to do it to put my boobs on full display, but the way his gaze dropped and the whirl of emotions I saw his eyes when he looked told me he was waging an internal war too.

“Sage, go home. This is my problem, not yours.”

“No way. We’re in this together.”

“Go home, Sage,” Tarron said harshly. I saw him flinch at his own voice. With a sigh he turned to face her and softened. “It’s okay. I just need to talk to your sister.”

“Is she in big trouble?”

He shook his head. “No. We just need to talk, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise. She just has some information I need. That’s all. We’re just going to talk.”

“Okay,” she surprised me by agreeing and turned to leave. She didn’t go home, but she did go back to the restaurant.

“Who are you?” I asked softly as he turned back to me.

“I’m still Tarron, your mate, remember?”

“I don’t know you. Why were you going through my things? What do you know about the Raglan? And why are you here? The real reason?”

“Oh, apparently I know you far better than I expected. You’re a computer hacker who enjoys