Hard Wired Trilogy by DeAnna Pearce (smart books to read .TXT) 📕

Silence sat heavy between them for a moment, until Patrick finally spoke. “And you believe them?”

“Why would Niomi lie? She said they got all they needed from him and took him home in hopes that I’d show up.”

He was quiet, and Ari lifted her gaze. He watched her carefully as if trying to pry into her thoughts. His lips pursed into a tight line.

When he did speak, there was a controlled anger, soft and sharp. “You’re going to try to get him. Right? Put everyone in danger, including your family?”

She opened her mouth to argue, to justify and explain, but the words were woefully inadequate, so she snapped it closed. He was right. She didn’t know her next step. If Reed was back home, getting him would be difficult. Everyone would be watching his house around the clock, teams on standby—especially after her incident the day before—to capture and bring her in. It would be suicide to try, and that was assuming he was even there.

Or if he wanted her to come at all. She’d turned his life upside down and abandoned him. He probably was better off without her.

Right now, she should be focused on her team, on Tricky’s recovery and everything else.

“I don’t know.” Turning back to the dark landscape rushing past, she tried to push out of the haunting thoughts of what could have been.

They arrived back in the German sector by morning. After grabbing a peace offering of coffee and pastries, they headed to meet up with Marco and Joe. Sugar and caffeine may work for Marco and Joe, but she’d have to do a lot more to make things right with Patrick. Though his words gave nothing away, Patrick’s cool demeanor spoke differently. Inside the stucco white apartment building, she buzzed the door.

Marco opened the door, a serious expression on his face. Then he nodded at the coffee and the white bag. “Cinnamon?”

“Of course.”

The edge of his lip curled. “Okay. Get in and explain yourself.”

She handed Marco the bag and set down the drink carrier. Grabbing one of the coffees, she headed over to Joe, who sat behind the screen. “I had to guess how you took your coffee. It’s black and I brought cream and sugar if you want.”

“Black is perfect.” He reached for the cup. “I’m glad you made it back okay.”

“Thanks.”

She went back for her own cup and leaned against the dresser.

Sitting on the bed, Marco dug into the bag to pull out a cinnamon and sugar twisted pastry. “I finally know what Mom felt like, Ari. I wanted to track you down and tie you up once I heard what you did. I get why, but you should have told me.”

“I didn’t want to chance you being used against me.”

He glared at her. “You’re an idiot.” Then turned to Patrick. “I hope you told her that.”

“She’s been told that more than once.”

“Good.” He bit into the pastry, while still glowering at her. “So, what happened?”

Patrick lifted a hand. “While you catch him up, I want to see what Joe is working on.” He moved to the other side of the room and pulled up a foot stool to sit beside Joe.

Ari explained what went down: Reed was supposedly at home, and VisionTech had been making a play for her. The warm liquid settled her stomach as she realized just how stupid she had been to walk into their blatantly obvious trap. Maybe Marco could have helped her, or maybe things would have been worse.

She tried to push away the past and concentrate at the job at hand. “What is going with our programmer? Any hints of Echo in the VR community?”

“Actually yes.” Marco nodded and moved off the bed towards Joe and Patrick. “Our programmer appears to be a lush.”

“Lush?” Ari wasn’t familiar with the term.

“A drunk, a tabber, a gamer, or overall a huge addict.”

“Really?” Ari questioned how the deadliest virus in VR realms was created by a lush. “Does drinking promote creativity, maybe?”

“Not how he does it,” Marco commented as he sunk into a nearby chair. “He appears lonely and self-destructive. We worried we wouldn’t get him out of his apartment. That isn’t going to be the problem. I followed him last night. He was pretty wasted and focused on the next program.”

Ari felt like there was a story Marco wasn’t sharing, but she didn’t want to know. “So, you befriend him, Marco, and get back into his room.”

“He’s not into friends. Marco tried to approach him,” Joe said from his desk in a way that again suggested there was more to the story. “He’s a loner.”

“No,” Marco said with a little force. “I can work him. Set it up where I save his butt, then I’ll get upstairs. It may take a few days. A week at most.”

“A week that Tricky remains in and out of consciousness,” Joe said.

There was something going on between them, but Ari couldn’t say what. Patrick stayed focused on the screen and ignored them. Ari’s gaze flitted back and forth, waiting for one of them to spill. Neither one did.

“What is it, Joe?” Ari asked.

“Echo has a weakness for women. Most of his VRs revolve around women,” Joe said with almost an apologetic look on his face.

Marco shot to his feet. “You’re not asking my sister to be a prostitute.”

“She doesn’t have to sleep with him, just get him upstairs.”

“Just act like some common—”

“Stop.” Ari spoke over the both of them, then turned her heavy gaze to Marco. “Don’t act proud now. I’ve seen the girls you’ve been with.”

The anger in her brother’s eyes flared more, but his mouth remained shut nonetheless.

“I don’t have to do much. I just need to be nice. Flirt maybe. Given the lack of exercise he gets, I should be able to handle myself. If I can get him upstairs, then I can knock him out with a simple drug or something.” After her run in with Niomi,