Текст книги "Luke"
Автор книги: M. Malone
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Текущая страница: 1 (всего у книги 12 страниц)
table of contents
Back Cover
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Excerpt from TANK
Books by M. Malone
About the Author
Copyright
LUKE (Blue Collar Billionaires #5)
Child prodigy Lucas Marshall has written everything from security software to video games. There’s only one hacker alive who is better than he is. His online buddy C7pher. Now that he’s the heir to a billionaire, he wants his friend to help him build coding schools for underprivileged kids around the country. He isn’t prepared for his best friend, his only friend, to say NO. Or for him to drop out of his life completely.
Then he’s asked to consult on a hacking case for the FBI and the hauntingly beautiful suspect seems to know a lot about Luke. Things he’s only told one other person...
When the only person you’ve ever trusted is a liar, everything is fair game.
chapter one
†
LUKE
I was five years old when I first learned that most people are liars. Ashley Graham told me I was her best friend and kissed me on the cheek. I’ve never again experienced a euphoric high quite like when she grabbed my hand and pulled me beneath the jungle gym.
I’ve also never experienced devastation as acutely as the moment I realized she really just wanted me to share the gummy bears in my pocket.
My eyes go back to the email I just received from an old high school “friend” who looked me up on Facebook last month. Brandon was never someone I knew well but at least he wasn’t one of the jocks who made my life hell. I hadn’t thought anything of accepting the friend request.
It was kind of flattering to have some of the same people who never noticed me before suddenly want to hang out. Until after exchanging a few emails and finding out that he was mainly interested in getting me to invest in his new business. A video series.
Reluctantly I click on the attached file and almost snort up the last of my soda when it opens. It’s a promotional poster with scantily clad women mud wrestling in the jungle for a video called Girls Gone Ape.
No, seriously. Girls Gone Ape.
After wiping up the drops of soda on my keyboard, I quickly close the file before anyone sees me looking at it. Maybe it’s a good idea to wait a little while before I respond to Brandon. Although I’m not sure time will help much. There’s only so many ways to say, hell no, please lose my number. Luckily, I’ve been expecting this. Word has apparently gotten around that I’ve inherited a lot of money and this is the result. People are only friends as long as they want something. Not that I didn’t already know that.
Maybe I should look up Ashley Graham while I’m at it and thank her for the life lesson.
I glance through the rest of my emails and then hit the refresh button. All these emails from people I couldn’t care any less about and nothing from the one person I truly consider a friend. Now that I have this sudden influx of cash, I wanted to do something to help others so I asked my online buddy C7pher to help me run a coding school for underprivileged kids. We could set it up any way we wanted, hold classes in different parts of the country even. I specifically threw that part in there because I know he doesn’t like to be tied to one place for long.
He’s suddenly stopped responding to me.
No texts.
No emails.
Nothing.
C7pher has always been secretive. I’ve never even heard the dude’s voice before. But he’s gotten me out of more than one scrape online and covered my ass for me before I was skilled enough to do it myself. Now it’s like he’s fallen off the grid completely.
With a sigh, I shut the lid on my laptop just as my mom rounds the corner carrying a slice of pie and a Coke that I know is for me. She sets the glass down on my table and then continues on. I watch as she sets the pie in front of a man reading a newspaper two booths behind me. He smiles up at her gratefully and even though I can’t hear what he’s saying, it doesn’t take much imagination to guess. My mom is a magician with pastry and all of her longtime customers at her bakery, Anita’s Place, adore her almost as much as I do. Now that she’s started serving a few lunch and dinner options, things are busier than ever.
A few minutes later, she slides into the booth across from me. “What are you still doing here, sweet pea? You’re usually gone by now.”
Even though her voice is steady, her face shows her relief at being off her feet. She pushes her long braids over her shoulder. She’s worn her hair that way as long as I can remember.
“Finn and Tank are meeting me here. They invited me out to have drinks.” As expected, that news brings a smile to her face. She reaches a hand across the table and pats my arm.
“That’s wonderful, baby. I’m so glad you’re getting to know your brothers. Maybe they can convince you to get out there and make some friends your own age. It’s not right for you to be holed up here with me and the rest of these old folks.”
“Mom, I have friends.”
She rolls her eyes affectionately. “You know what I mean. Real friends. Real people that you can see face to face.”
This is an old argument so I don’t bother explaining again that my online friends are as real as it gets. Unlike the jackasses coming out of the woodwork to be “friends” now that I have money, my online friends have been there since I was a twelve-year-old hanging out on chat boards because I was lonely. Our connection is based on nothing more than a meeting of the minds and not because they want something.
She sees the look on my face and squeezes my arm. “I just want to see you getting out more instead of staring at a screen all day. You’re doing important work online and you know how proud I am of you. But I want you to have other things in your life, too. You know, friends. Girlfriends.”
“Mom, stop.” The blush I feel coming on mortifies me almost as much as this conversation. Somehow, no matter how old I get, my mom can make me feel like a kid.
She holds up her hands. “I didn’t say anything.”
My phone dings and I pull it out of my pocket to check it. It’s a message from my brother, Tank.
“It looks like the guys are going to be late.”
Mom stands and then waves to the waitress who just walked in. “I’ll just go change now that Rory is here to take over the floor.” She kisses me, a gentle buss against my forehead, and then disappears behind the counter.
I’m about to send a message back to Tank when an alert shows up. There’s only one person on my email list that I have an alert for. I open my email and then stare in disbelief at the one word answer from the guy I thought was my best friend.
No.
That’s it. No explanation, just no.
Another text message pops up from Tank telling me they’re on the way. It covers the email I was looking at but it’s like it’s burned into my brain. More than a decade of friendship distilled down to one word. I don’t want to be angry but I suspect the anger is better than what lies just beneath. Hurt.
I quickly type a text back to my brother. “Rain check on tonight. Something came up.”
†
That email stays on my mind over the next few days. I’ve sent several messages to C7pher but he hasn’t replied to any of them. Did I do something to piss him off? Or maybe he’s worried about the money aspect? Does he think that because I’m funding the school that he’ll be obligated to put up the same amount? Maybe I wasn’t clear in my original proposal.
Whether I’m working or hanging out at the bakery, the whys and hows of it are all I can think about. Then it hits me how insane it is that one word from someone can mess with my mind this much.
Maybe my mom is right. Having this level of attachment to someone without knowing who they really are is unhealthy. But knowing that doesn’t change the reality of the loss. For years C7pher has been the person I confided in, commiserated with and relied on for advice. My mom tries, she really does, but it’s hard for her to talk about my work when she doesn’t really understand what I do. Cypher filled a gap in my life that I hadn’t even realized was there until he was gone.
We don’t even know each other’s real names. He only knows me as DarkAngel, the persona I created as a kid. But he’s taught me so much and without ever asking for anything in return. If it had just been a No to working on the school with me, I could have accepted it. But as days have passed and there’s been no further response from him, I’ve come to accept what that No really means.
It’s a no to our friendship.
Cypher has dropped out of my life as surely as if he never existed. And as much as it kills my ego to admit it, he’s one of the few hackers I’ve met who’s better than I am. If he doesn’t want to be found, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Several days later, I’m working on building the framework for a new suite of security software I’m developing when someone slides into the booth across from me. I look up into my oldest brother’s stark face.
For so many years, I was the outsider in my family. The product of my mom’s failed marriage to a man who didn’t care enough to stick around long enough to meet me. My mom’s family is pretty old school. So finding out that my mom had a shotgun wedding to some random white guy during a time when interracial marriage just wasn’t done was a shock. My grandpop didn’t speak to her for a long time and I know that hurt her a lot. I can’t help but feel that I was a constant reminder of her mistake. The pale child that didn’t fit in with the rest of the clan.
When I met Tank, it was a shock to realize that I look kind of like him. Well, I look like him minus the scary badass part.
“What are you doing here?”
Tank shrugs and then picks up the menu card pushed to the end of the table and studies it. “Emma’s freaking out because the guy she hired to create our wedding website screwed it up and it’s not working. She was hoping that you might be able to fix it.”
“Sure. Although I have to warn you that I have no talent with websites. The ones I build are functional but not exactly fancy.”
“That’s better than one that redirects to a porn site.”
I choke back a laugh. “Yikes. Are you sure the site is broken or is the guy just pissed off?”
He makes a face. “I may have threatened him. He was a little too friendly with Emma.”
“Ah, now I see. It’s probably best if I just build you a new one. But you could have just emailed me for that.”
Suddenly he won’t meet my eyes and is super interested in the menu card he’s been pushing around. “I was in the neighborhood.”
As many times as he’s been here, I’m sure he’s got the menu memorized by now and Tank lives nowhere near here. I look over my shoulder and notice my mom watching us. When she sees me looking, she gets really busy wiping down the counter.
“My mom called you, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. Pretty much. Plus, I wasn’t going to turn down free pie.”
“Who said something about pie?” Finn appears at the edge of the table and sits next to Tank, stretching his bad leg out. He props his cane against the wall of the booth. Finn’s hair is lighter and he doesn’t have a nose that looks like it’s been broken multiple times but you can definitely tell they’re brothers.
“You guys act like crack addicts with the food here. You might as well just insert an IV and mainline it.”
Tank chuckles. “If that was an option, I think Finn would take it.”
Finn makes a face. “Hey, I regret nothing.”
It’s become something of a tradition to give my brothers a hard time when they come and check on me. I spent months trying to avoid them, wanting nothing to do with my absentee father or his other sons but they just wouldn’t leave me alone. Now I’m forced to admit that I’m glad they didn’t give up on me. After a lifetime of feeling like an outsider in my own family, it’s kind of nice to have that connection. Not that I would ever tell them that.
Tank’s dark eyes swing back to me. “So, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nothing is wrong with me. My mom just worries.”
“Is it a girl?”
I miss a key typing and insert a line of nonsense into the code I’m working on. “Fuck. No, it’s not a girl.”
Finn starts playing with the sugar packets on the table. “It’s cool if it’s a guy. You could tell us.”
I snort out a laugh. “Sorry to disappoint you but there’s nothing interesting going on. There’s no scandalous love drama to entertain you.” I falter, unsure of how much more to say. It’s difficult to explain the dynamics of online relationships to most people. They just don’t get it.
“It’s just that someone I thought was a friend … turned out not to be. I’ll be fine.”
Finn nods. “We just wanted to check on you. But we’ll leave if you’d rather be alone.”
I can see in his face that he means it. They’ll leave me to wallow in my funky mood if I ask them to. Brotherly concern is still an unfamiliar experience but one I’m starting to find I need more and more.
I look out the window, a little uncomfortable at the sudden serious turn of the conversation. My eyes are drawn to a spot across the street. A girl is standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring right at me. She’s completely still, nothing moving on her except for her hair as it blows gently in the wind. People move around her, almost as if she’s a part of the landscape.
She’s wearing all black and the dark wave of her hair against her pale skin is extremely striking. My heart speeds up and I lean forward trying to see better. There are people around her yet she seems completely, heartbreakingly alone. Like a lost angel. There’s also something familiar about her, like a word that’s on the tip of my tongue. I feel it through every cell of my being. I know this girl.
But I’ve never seen her before, I’m sure of it.
Finn raps on the table and I turn toward the sound of the noise. He and Tank are both watching me expectantly.
“Luke? You okay?”
Frantically, I turn back to the window. She’s gone. My eyes scan the street outside and the sidewalk across the street. It’s still raining and the few pedestrians outside are covered in rain ponchos and huddled under umbrellas. But there’s no one in all black.
No angels with haunted eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” But my eyes go back to that spot on the sidewalk.
I’m not sure why I felt such a sense of foreboding when I saw that girl but it took me off guard. If I even saw a girl. I rub my eyes. The project I’ve been working on this past month has kept me up late. I’m more than likely just seeing things. I shake it off. She’s probably a character in one of the RPG games I play sometimes. Because how many people just stand in the rain without moving like that?
Tank and Finn are still watching me. When I finally turn back to the table, Tank narrows his eyes. I can tell that my half-hearted assurance hasn’t convinced him.
“Seriously, I’m cool. My mom thinks I must be depressed or something just because I’m not out partying with other people my age. You guys can stick around. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve been disappointed in my life.”
Tank pantomimes holding up a tiny violin and playing it.
Even though half of my mind is still on the girl I saw in the rain, I can’t help but laugh. “You’re such an asshole.”
Finn chuckles too and the sound lifts my mood. My mom comes over and sets down two pieces of pie and before he can move, I grab his fork and stab the second piece. His expression of mute horror is so good I wish I’d been recording it.
“Just for that, find your own damn pie.”
chapter two
†
SEVEN
Today I’m going to do it.
I look around the hotel where I’ve spent the last two nights. There are several shirts thrown over the bed from when I changed clothes three times this morning. My laptop is on the desk and my e-reader is on the nightstand. Normally I’m in and out of hotels so quickly that I barely have time to unpack. But not this time. This time I’m settling in like I’m here on vacation.
Because I haven’t worked up the nerve to do what I came for.
Frustrated, I flop down on the bed and pick up the manila envelope I left there this morning. For the first time in three years I’m taking a vacation and this envelope holds the reason why. With trembling fingers, I pull out the contents. My secret shame. A photo of an adorable cherub-cheeked boy.
Lucas Marshall.
For so long the computers at the school library were my only escape from overcrowded foster homes and the pain of being separated from my little sister, Grace. Then I met Luke on a message board. Our friendship over the years became one of the constants that kept me going whenever I lost hope. People at my school weren’t exactly lining up to be friends with the weird girl with the scar on her face.
But then I’d log on and Luke would be there with another story about his mom or his crazy uncles. Through his words I disappeared into an existence where there was warmth and happiness.
There haven’t been many constants in my life but Luke has always been one of the only things I’ve been able to count on.
It never occurred to me then what a breach of trust it was to investigate my online friend. In my mind, I was just doing what any teenage girl does when she has a crush. Look for information. Plus, I was young and stupid, eager to put my newfound skills to use.
My fingers run over the rough surface of the photo. It’s slightly crumpled and the quality is grainy but considering I had to hack several administrators at West Haven High to get access to their yearbook proofs to get it, it’s in pretty good shape.
“Luke” was listed under Extracurricular Activities as editor of the school newspaper so I assumed that was what he preferred to be called. He also appeared really young despite being listed as a sophomore. He told me later that he was thirteen at the time.
Luke had told me himself that his mom had a bakery and a simple search had allowed me to figure out where it was. The website for the bakery Anita’s Place lists Anita Marshall as the proprietor. I knew he was the only child of a single mom and had a hard time making friends, too.
With every detail gathered, a picture emerged of a boy much like me. He didn’t exactly fit into his world, either. We learned together and challenged each other and when he got himself in trouble hacking something he shouldn’t have, I was there to bail him out. That day we made a pact to always be there for each other. To be the person the other could call if they needed help. Any time. Any place. He’d promised to always be my friend.
But that was because he doesn’t actually know who I am.
His email asking me to help him build coding schools for kids excited me in ways I haven’t felt in years. Underprivileged kids often lag behind in technology education simply because they don’t have easy access to computers. I spent as much time as possible at the library instead of whatever foster home I was assigned to but even that wasn’t enough sometimes.
I was so excited about the project until the ugly truth hit me. To do this, I’d have to meet Luke face to face. He’d finally know what I’ve taken so much trouble to hide. And everything would change between us.
“Sometimes you have to take a risk,” I whisper.
It’s been years in the making but it’s finally time to reveal myself to Luke. I can only hope he’ll understand why I lied to him.
Decision made, I gather up the clothes strewn across the bed. Packing my suitcase will give me something to do while I gather my nerve. Today is the day and no matter what, after this I won’t be staying in this hotel. If I chicken out again, then I’ll be on the first thing smoking back to New York. Or if I go through with it and Luke is pissed. Maybe he won’t want to talk to me. Maybe he won’t forgive me.
But if he does …
If he does then maybe I’ll finally have what I’ve dreamed of for years, the chance to be with him for real.
†
Rain drips from one of my eyebrows and onto my cheek. The awning for Anita’s Place is sagging slightly under the rain but it’s still easy to read the letters. This is it. There’s a good chance Luke is in that building right now.
Cursing, I step under the awning for a business across the street. I clearly didn’t think this plan out properly since I have no idea where to go from here. Just because this is where Luke usually hangs out doesn’t mean he’s in there right now. He could be at a friend’s house or even out of town. My heart sinks and I suck in a sharp breath. Suddenly my heart is pounding and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
What if I’ve come all this way and he’s not even here?
Movement in the window across the street draws my eyes. A man sits down in one of the booths. It looks like he’s talking to someone. The way the light hits the glass makes it hard to see so I move down the sidewalk a little. That’s when I see who he’s talking to. Only from the side but the sight still takes me off guard.
The man is on a laptop typing furiously and even though he’s obviously much older, and much bigger, I think as my eyes roam over his tall frame, it’s definitely Luke.
“Hello friend,” I whisper.
Looks have never played a part in our friendship for obvious reasons. But I can’t deny how unsettling it is to see how handsome Luke has grown to be. My hand goes to cover my cheek unconsciously before I pull it back down. That won’t matter to him. I know it won’t.
We have a bond that transcends anything physical. I’ve never been able to get attached to anyone before besides Grace. I have friends, sure. The barista at my favorite coffee shop. I’m friendly with the girl who lives at the other end of the hall in my apartment building and have accepted several invitations to hang with her friends.
I’ve tried to build connections outside of the virtual world but every single one of them pales in comparison to the way I feel about Luke.
He is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a best friend.
I’m so arrested by my first sight of him in the flesh that it takes me a moment to notice that another man has joined them in the booth. The two guys sitting across from Luke must be friends since it looks like they’re having a pretty in-depth conversation.
This wasn’t part of my plan. Stupid as it sounds, it hadn’t occurred to me that Luke might not be alone. The first day I was too chicken to even leave my hotel room and yesterday, I got as far as this street before turning around and walking back to my hotel.
Now I finally get the nerve to speak to him and he’s not alone? Maybe it’s a sign.
“No more running. No more running.”
I repeat it to myself until I feel calmer. No matter how hard this is, it’s time to reveal myself. He might be angry but all I can do is hope he’ll understand.
When I look up, Luke is staring right at me. Caught in his gaze, I can’t look away. For those seconds, minutes, hours, time stands still. Then one of the men in the booth leans forward and Luke looks away. The spell broken, I blink away the rain dripping into my eyes.
What the hell was that?
I glance around, suddenly aware that I’ve been standing in the rain in the middle of the sidewalk while people walk around me. I walk around the corner out of sight. My heart is pounding from just that intense moment.
“Oh, excuse me!” I jump back as I almost slam into two men wearing dark suits. There’s a black SUV at the curb. I step back to give them room to pass but they don’t move. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as one of them moves behind me.
“Miss Parker?”
Now my heart is in my throat. This last year I’ve been so careful but what if some of the less than legal things I’ve done in the past have finally caught up with me?
Not now when I’m so close.
Another man climbs out of the SUV. He stops in front of me and removes his dark sunglasses. He should look ridiculous wearing them in the rain but I have a feeling this is a man who wears a suit and sunglasses everywhere, including the shower.
“I’m Agent Walker.” He shows me a badge but puts it away before I really have a chance to examine it closely. “We need to talk.”
“About what?” I glance at the two guys with him. Like most repeated lawbreakers, I know my rights. I have the right to ask what they want with me and I also have the right not to answer any of their questions. Keeping your mouth shut is the best defense against any charge.
“Let’s take a ride.” He gestures toward the SUV at the curb.
I’m already shaking my head. “A ride where? If we’re going to a police station then I need to call my lawyer.” Too bad I don’t actually have one but he doesn’t know that.
“I don’t think you want to do that.”
“Oh is that right? Why wouldn’t I want to do that?” His smug attitude is already annoying me.
His eyes gleam. “Because I can help you get something you want. And I think you can help me, too.”
