TREX HQ

Bailey stared at the board. The connection was right there. She just needed to find it. Every retrieval Ryan sent in added layers to the board, but didn’t get them any closer to what Stuart Ryan had up his sleeve.

David walked into the room and stopped next to her to stare at the board. She didn’t know where else to turn. Her BIL saw patterns when no one else saw them. It’d been how he’d tracked down a cyber-terrorist’s next target before the madman could strike, saving countless lives.

“Thank you for coming. I hope Charis isn’t too mad at me for dragging you away again.”

“It’s a good thing I earn double miles on flights. I’m racking them up pretty fast on this find.” He nodded at the board. “What have we got?”

“Stuart Ryan just funded a research facility, this one in California. Ryan’s latest data retrieval, along with his insider information, confirms it. It makes no sense. A football stadium. A new arena. Those make sense. He’s a sports nut. But a research facility? It doesn’t fit the pattern.”

“Because you’re looking at the wrong pattern.” He approached the board and pointed at each project the Ryan Foundation had funded. “Take them out of chronological order and put them in order of importance.”

“I’m not following.” Which drove her crazy. She wished she had the ability to pick up on patterns invisible to 99% of the population.

“You’re going to kick yourself when I show you. You sure you don’t want me to give you a few hints and have you figure it out on your own? It’s pretty obvious.”

“You don’t have to boast.” She felt bad enough already. “Just show me.”

“Okay,” he sang, the arrogant ass. He didn’t need to be so damn sure of himself. As he reordered the board, her computer beeped, signaling a message in a chat window. David glanced over his shoulder. “Who’s that?”

“It’s Ryan.” She sat at the table and answered. How can I help you, Cadet Ryan?

We need to talk.

“Nothing good ever comes from those four words,” she muttered.

“What four words?” David asked, facing her. “What’s going on? Is something up with the kid?”

He liked Ryan. Bailey recognized the signs. David only gave nicknames to people he liked. She responded to Ryan’s chat. Now?

Please.

“He wants me to call him. He sounds upset.”

“You got all that from a text?”

Bailey shook her head to disregard his comment. “It’s not what he saying. It’s how he’s saying it.”

“If you say so.”

“Look, you’ve got your pattern recognition. I’ve got text tone recognition.” She stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Text tone? Was that even a thing? She dialed the number.

“Bailey?” Ryan rushes out, which is another flag. He doesn’t rush anything when it comes to his words.

“What’s wrong?”

“Put him on speaker,” David orders.

“I’m putting you on speaker.” She set the phone between them.

“What’s up, kid?”

“Agent Snyder, sir.”

Bailey didn’t miss the tip in David’s lips at being called sir. He definitely liked Ryan. “What’s going on, Ryan? Why’d you need me to call?”

“I found something. I don’t know what it means. Well, maybe I do. But I don’t want to know what it means. I mean, I do. Ah, Jesus.”

“Take a breath,” David said and leaned on the table. “Start over. What did you find?”

“The connection.”

David and Bailey exchanged glances before he went on. “The connection to what?”

“I know why my dad has been jumping on the college board bandwagon.”

Bailey read the board, paying extra attention to the pieces David moved. What did he see that she didn’t? Was it the same connection Ryan had come to?

“Why’s that?” David asked.

“Politics. It’s the logical leap. He’s buying his way onto all these college boards, which gives him way too much power. He can hand pick the college presidents, has influence over the funding. Politics is the next step. He’s already in with so many politicians as it is being a member of so many boards.”

David nodded and grinned. Bailey dropped her jaw and spun around, desperate to find the same connection. What did any of this have to do with politics?

“Nice job, kid. So you know, it’s senate, to be exact.”

“You already knew? How long have you known?”

“About five minutes.”

There was a long pause before Ryan asked, “I can’t believe my dad wanted to be a senator.”

“What do you mean wanted?”

“It’s uh…” Ryan’s voice changed, grew sad. Thick with emotion. “Brain tumor. He’s not going to make it long enough to be a senator.”

Bailey’s heart broke at the news. It wasn’t the fact Stuart Ryan wouldn’t be a senator. It was the sound of Ryan’s voice. The absolute raw grief in his tone.

“You completed your first assignment, Ryan.” David called him by name. “Nice job. You deserve a little time off. Go spend it with your dad.”

“Thank you, sir.” His voice shook.

“Hey, kid? Hang in there. You’ve got a pretty big family now. We’ve got your back. See ya.” David ended the call and rubbed at his eyes. “Jesus.”

“David?”

“He’s a good kid.” He stood and placed his back to her. “If he reaches out again, call me.”

* * *

[Ryan]

Why can’t people remember their passwords? How hard is it to type? As I sit here at the front desk, resetting password after password, my mind drifts to Emma. She’s inside the lab, struggling through her Java class, probably making up some saying like Sweet baby Jesus in a car seat or something equally nonsensical. I love her sayings. And her hair. And eyes. And, yes, even her snarky comments. I love everything about her.

Which is why this agreement sucks. I have to break up with her tomorrow at the DASH and I’d rather cut off my own arm. It’s what she wants, so I’ll honor that. She’ll move on. I’ll eventually move on. I wish I had someone to talk to. The only person I can talk to about this is the reason why my gut has been in knots since I woke up this morning.

What happens after we break up? She’s already agreed to come home with me over spring break. It’s after we break up. What’s that mean? Is she only coming with me as a friend? Or does that mean she doesn’t want me to break up with her? I’m so confused. Frustrated. I can’t make sense of anything anymore.

“Ryan? Can I talk to you?” Nancy Pettigrew approaches the desk, a weird smile on her face. If this is another one of her bitchfests about Emma, I’ll shut her down and walk away. I’m tired of hearing the shit she talks about my girlfriend, fake or not. After last night, I don’t know how fake it is between us. I can’t think straight. I’m so torn about what to do. She’s everything to me. I don’t want to lose her. I can’t lose her. I need her. She keeps me sane by driving me insane. It makes no sense and yet I love every minute of it.

“Today, Ryan.”

I’m about to tell Nancy I can’t leave the desk when Brandon returns from break. Without any reason to stay, I stand and give her a nod as I stop in front of her. “What can I help you with?”

“Alone?”

Shit. I see the way she eyes me, like a piece of meat she wants to take a bite out of. I don’t trust her. Once we’re away from any eavesdroppers, she turns to me. Her sinister smile spreads and the knots in my gut twist. “What’s up?”

She hands me papers. I take them and drop my attention, recognizing the work right away. It’s Emma’s midterm—the one I did for her. My nerves tighten. “It’s code. So?”

“It’s Emma Rae’s code,” Nancy adds.

“She got a B.” I try to hand the papers back to her.

“I’ve reviewed every one of her projects. She’s never even done C work. Professor Baker is too easy on his grading system. When I become a teacher, I won’t let someone with red hair from a bottle and big green eyes trick me into giving her a grade she doesn’t deserve.”

I happen to know for a fact her red hair doesn’t come from a bottle, but I’m not about to point that out to Nancy. And Emma’s eyes are more hazel than green. I keep that to myself as well. “What does any of this have to do with me?”

“I just thought you’d like to know why I’ll be going to the dean to get her kicked out of BU. You can be her comforting shoulder as you help her pack up her dorm.”

My heart seizes. Shit. She knows. “Why would you go to the dean just because Emma got a good grade on her midterm?”

“Because she didn’t do her midterm.” Nancy smiles as she pauses for dramatic effect. “You did.”

“What are you talking about?” I do my best to feign shock, but I’m not a very good liar. The guilt burns into my cheeks.

“I pulled some of your old code when you took this class. Did you know the way a person programs is like a fingerprint? It’s how some hackers are caught. It’s like a trademark. You, Ryan, code with efficiency. You understand object-oriented programming and have very few dependencies in your work. Emma’s code is all over the place. She clearly doesn’t understand what she’s doing. That alone is enough to prove you wrote this, not her.”

I set my jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” She smirks and I tense. Why is she doing this? Does she hate me? Emma? What? What drives a person to want to take down another person so desperately? “Did you know this isn’t the only class I TA? I also TA a creative writing class.”

Oh, shit.

That smirk grows to a maleficent grin. The glimmer in her eyes can’t be good. “I can see by that look on your face, you know where I’m going with this. In a class you’re barely passing, you scored a B. Funny how you suddenly jump up a grade in a creative writing class, a subject Emma is very good in, and she turns in almost flawless code. How can that possibly be?”

Now I’m pissed and struggle to control my temper. “Why do you know so much about her?” Maybe if I get her talking about why she’s doing this, catch her in something, she’ll back off.

She narrows that cool glare. “I don’t like dishonest students. Emma doesn’t deserve to pass this class. Hell, she doesn’t deserve to be at Bainbridge University if she’s going to cheat her way through. She doesn’t deserve that scholarship your dad offers. Did she sleep with you to get that?”

I’m numb. I’m pissed, yet I’m numb. “Is that why you’re doing this? Because she got the scholarship?”

“She’s here for free and is wasting the chance to do something great with an opportunity like that. My God, she’s a general studies major, for Christ’s sake. If it were me, I’d be taking full advantage of being at such a prestigious university.”

“That’s your issue, not hers.”

“What do you think the dean will say when I bring you both in? I’ll be on the short list as one of the faculty hired on for the next academic year while the two of you get to apply to community colleges.”

“This isn’t just about her getting a scholarship to pay for school.” I shake my head in disbelief when it sinks in. “You’re doing all of this for a job? You’re insane.” I step back. “This conversation is over.”

Nancy gets in my face, shaking the papers in her hand. The stench of coffee is overwhelming and I lean back so I can take a breath without gagging. “I know what you two are playing at. I overheard Emma and Brittney talking about it. She transformed you into eye candy. In return, you’re taking her to the Delta DASH.”

I don’t bother to deny it. “So? Why does that have anything to do with any of this?”

“You’re taking me instead.”

“The fuck I am.” I turn away, but she whips me back around to face her.

“Let me put this is terms you’ll understand.” She narrows her beady little eyes. “You break up with her now and take me to the DASH, or I go to the dean with proof that will get you both kicked out of BU. It’s that simple. This is my last year as a student. I want into the DASH.”

My heart hits the pit of my stomach. Holy shit. She’s serious. She’s willing to ruin both my and Emma’s college life for a job and a goddamn party. “Nancy, think about this.”

“Oh, I have been. This is just one of my demands.” She gives me slow once over and I shudder. “I want to see what Emma sees in you.”

Now I’m sick to my stomach. Sweet Jesus, she actually thinks this will work with me? “I’m not sleeping with you.”

Her eyes widen, and I curse. “So, you two are sleeping together? That makes her an even bigger whore than I thought.”

“Say that again and I’ll have no problem hitting a girl.”

She grins and shrugs. “You have until this class ends.” She glances at her watch. “That gives you about five minutes. You’ll break up with her, right here, right now, and let everyone watching know you’re choosing me over her. This is life, Ryan. Make the right choice or you’ll end up destroying your future. Oh, and let’s not forget about Emma’s. You may bounce back from this, considering who your daddy is. Emma, well, doesn’t have Stuart Ryan as a father.”

“Mother fu—” I stop and grit my teeth as my rage vibrates inside me, tightening my muscles and making my nerves raw. Goddamn it. I steal a glance at Emma. She smiles as she doodles something on her notebook. I love her smile and conjure up the sound of her husky laugh that usually goes along with it. Images of last night invade my thoughts. She trusts me.

Jesus Christ. My decision is killing me. Nancy gives me no choice. If I refuse, not only will Emma be kicked out, but I may be as well. I don’t even know if having Stuart Ryan as a father will save me. It definitely won’t save Emma. Even if she doesn’t get kicked out, she’d lose her scholarship. Either way, she’d be forced to leave BU.

If I agree to Nancy’s demands, I break Emma’s heart. All she wants is to go to that party. If I do this, I take that away from her, not to mention destroy her trust in me. But at least she gets to stay at BU. She loves it here.

As much as I hate the idea, I know what I have to do.