Data (Bones MC 8), page 1
Data (Bones MC 8)
Marteeka Karland
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Copyright ©2020 Marteeka Karland
BIN: 009448-03061
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Changeling Press LLC
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www.ChangelingPress.com
Editor: Katriena Knights
Cover Artist: Marteeka Karland
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Table of Contents
Data (Bones MC 8)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Marteeka Karland
Data (Bones MC 8)
Marteeka Karland
Zora: I live a life of wealth and luxury. There isn’t anything I can’t have. Except my freedom. So I turned to the computer for friendship. And that’s where I met my match. More than my match And when my life suddenly falls apart, he’s the one to find me. But he’ll also be the one to rip my heart in two.
Data: I’m not good with people. It’s why I stick to my computers. When my online partner and friend ends up in trouble, there’s no way I’m letting her go it alone. I was expecting a mature woman when I pulled up in front of her house. But the girl is barely eighteen.
And I friggin’ want her. To make matters worse, she’s been targeted by elite members of global organized crime. I’m confident I can keep her safe from that danger. I’m less sure I can keep her safe from me. She’s already had one unwanted relationship with an older man. She doesn’t need a man like me. One who will rule her to make her mine. And kill anyone in my way to keep her safe.
Chapter One
The day was about as perfect as it could get. Zora Hightower relaxed by the pool of her husband’s sprawling Nashville estate sipping the sweetest, most refreshing glass of sweet tea she’d ever had in her life.
“Can I get you something else, Mrs. Hightower?” Renee, one of the assistants in the kitchen, asked her.
“No, thank you, Renee. And please, call me Zora. Who made the tea?”
“Anna, as always.” Renee smiled.
“Please tell her she’s outdone herself. It’s absolutely wonderful.”
“Of course, Mrs. Hightower.”
“Zora.”
The older woman paused, seeming to debate saying something. Then she stepped closer to Zora. “Ma’am, if there’s ever anything I can do for you…” She trailed off, giving her a look that said she meant more than what she was saying. “…don’t hesitate to tell me.” Then, Renee smiled, as always, before leaving her side.
Zora tried desperately to concentrate on the luxuries she had and forget why she had them. Sipping sweet tea by the pool. The warm summer breeze tickling her damp body. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Fuck.
It didn’t matter what she did. The image of Gordon Sandlin, her husband of all of six weeks, filled her vision. He wasn’t a particularly large man, but he was mean. Their wedding night had been the worst experience of her life and had been repeated three or four times a week since. He hadn’t insisted she take his name, though. She’d assumed she would, but he hadn’t insisted and she hadn’t brought it up. She’d also learned quickly not to hide from him when he came for her. Pretending everything was all right was the only way she knew to deal with her new life.
Well, that wasn’t true. There was one other thing.
Immediately, she stood and crossed to the umbrella-shaded table next to her. She had her laptop set up there with a sunscreen so she could use it outside if she felt like it. Another luxury. Her new husband had insisted she not work. Probably to keep a tight leash on her. As such, she’d had time to help an online friend with some information digging recently. She’d pretended to like to game and had more than one on her laptop in various stages of play in case Gordon decided to check on her.
Though she enjoyed games on occasion, her favorite thing, that which took the anxiety away from her life even for a brief time, was her continued correspondence with an online friend. The man was some kind of intelligence person she’d found by accident when she’d hacked his system purely for fun. They’d struck up a friendship, and now she occasionally helped him dig up information. It was something she enjoyed. And, really, the guy was just too sweet. More importantly, he helped take her mind off her current situation.
Fab Z-Na: Got anything for me today?
D Bonez: Always got something for you, cutie.
Fab Z-Na: *giggle* Work, you naughty boy. Do you have work?
D Bonez: Some consider it work. I think you’d consider it play.
Fab Z-Na: D!!! I’m serious! Much as I love this absolutely awesome sweet tea and the pool, I’m hungry for some digging!
D Bonez: Oh. Shit. Sorry, sugar. All the bad guys caught for the moment.
Zora thought about pouting a little. He always seemed to get a kick out of that. As much as she loved flirting with D, she really was in the mood for some work. With him. She and D were awesome on the computer together. She’d learned so much from him, but she’d taught him a trick or two as well.
Fab Z-Na: Look. I’m bored. You know that can only come to no good. Surely you’ve got something. Help a bitch out!
D Bonez: Nope. I was about to take a much-needed break. Planning on a short vacation with my daughter and some friends.
Fab Z-Na: Oh! Sounds fun! Have a great time. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.
There was a pause. Zora was about to disconnect the secure chat when another message popped up.
D Bonez: You wanna join us? Would be great to meet the face behind that brilliant mind of yours.
Would she ever. Unfortunately, she was certain her husband wouldn’t approve. Secondly, no matter how much she was tempted, no matter how much she wished she hadn’t married Gordon in the first place, flirting was all she was willing to do, and even that was crossing a line she shouldn’t. This was her mess. She’d figure it out. Dragging sweet D into her problems wasn’t something she could do.
Fab Z-Na: I’d love to. Can’t though. Plans.
D Bonez: Never said when we were going, cutie.
Fab Z-Na: I know. Truthfully? I’m married. One of those arranged things, you know. But still.
D Bonez: Wow. You should have mentioned that. I hope I’ve not made you uncomfortable.
Fab Z-Na: NO! I just don’t like giving out personal information. Wouldn’t have said anything except I thought you should have a truthful explanation.
D Bonez: Baby, you don’t owe me. If anything, the reverse is true. You’ve helped me a lot over the last couple of years.
Fab Z-Na: Years? Has it been that long??? I thought we just met up a couple of weeks ago. ??
D Bonez: Time flies when you’re having fun.
Fab Z-Na: Yeah. I guess it does. You have a wonderful time. Show me pictures and tell me all about it when you get back.
D Bonz: Will do, cutie.
Zora disconnected the chat with a wistful sigh. She’d met D when she got caught snooping on his private network. She’d wanted to see where it led. At first, he’d been angry. With himself. Not her. Then they’d struck up a friendship and he’d tightened his security. She’d never been able to get into it again. But he’d given her a way to communicate with him when she wanted to.
Why couldn’t she have married a man like D? If she was lucky, Gordon would be gone again tonight. He’d taken great delight in humiliating her during sex and seemed to enjoy it for the first few weeks. Thankfully, the last eight or ten days, he’d only been home for brief amounts of time. In fact, the only reason he’d been home as often as he had was, as he put it, “If I’ve gotta give your old man half my Goddamned fortune, I’m gonna at least have the satisfaction of knowing that he knows I’m fucking his daughter.” A statement he’d backed up every single time by taking pictures during the act and sending them to her father.
Zora had never been so humiliated in her life. She hated Gordon, but because of the arrangement he had with her father, she was powerless to do anything about it. Both of them had made it sound like her father’s life was at stake. All Gordon had mentioned was money, though. She was beginning to think it was in her best interest to throw caution to the wind and do a little digging on her own. She’d prefer D’s help, but she could do it without him, and she didn’t want to drag him into her private mess.
With a sigh, she took another long pull of the tea before going to the pool and diving in. When her mind wouldn’t settle, swimming laps sometimes helped. She hoped it would this time.
Gordon was a real estate investor. Zora’s father had been in business with him for years, but the two had had a falling out just a month before her father told her she’d be marrying Gordon. The particulars hadn’t seemed important at the time in the wake of the news. At first, she’d protested, but her father had become angry and, for the first time in her life, he’d struck her -- a hard, backhanded blow that’d sent her spinning.
“You’ll do what I damned well tell you to! Gordon agreed to marry you, and you’ll do it! Do you hear me?”
His anger had shocked her. She’d felt like whatever had happened between them was her fault for questioning him. Looking back, that was likely exactly why he’d done it.
The wedding hadn’t been a big church affair, or even a small ceremony at the courthouse. A friend of her father’s had shown up at the house an hour later along with Gordon, and they’d simply signed the marriage license and the certificate. No vows. No words of love or even affection. Gordon had simply given her dad a smug, angry look and had kissed her so aggressively she’d nearly gagged. Then Gordon and her dad had gone to his study where Gordon had opened a laptop. He’d placed his thumb on the screen, tapped a few keys, then turned it to her father so he could inspect whatever was on the screen before Gordon slammed the thing shut.
“There. Done. Make this fucking go away.”
“It was your power-hungry greed that got us into this mess in the first place,” her father said.
“And your Goddamned job to make it fucking go away! You benefit or hurt from this as much as I do. Fix it!”
Zora had been so shell-shocked she’d nearly missed the whole exchange, but they hadn’t bothered to hide it from her. As a rule, she was quiet and submissive. She never put a toe out of line. Never drew attention to herself. Because of that, people tended to underestimate her and sometimes forget she existed at all. She knew then she’d have to look into whatever was going on. She just couldn’t do it immediately. If she made a mistake -- like she had when D had caught her two years earlier -- it might not end so well for her. She’d decided the time was right. She was going to figure out what was going on. She’d just have to be careful.
The one thing Zora was good at was anything to do with the internet or a computer. She was a hacker. So far, she’d only used her powers for good, but she was ready to get her hands dirty on this one. Her new husband was nothing if not predictable. It was twelve-thirty now. That meant he’d be getting back from lunch and would be at his office. She knew because she’d hacked his phone and set up a tracker. The purpose had been so she always knew where he was and, more importantly, when he got home. She always tried to be ready for him when he got home. And by ready, she meant doing something vigorous so he would leave her alone. He didn’t like sweat or anything to do with working out. If she was on the treadmill, he wouldn’t touch her until she’d had a shower. Likewise if she were swimming. He hated the chlorine smell.
She checked his location on her phone before beginning her task. Hacking into his company and, more importantly, his personnel files.
It took some doing, but she managed to get past the company’s security and into Gordon’s personal server. She’d been preparing for this since that first night he’d… well, since their wedding night. It had been a painstaking process, but it was paying off now. What she found was one scheme after another. Cooked books. Shady deals. Offshore accounts. Shit she’d never even heard of but knew was wrong because the math didn’t add up. But that wasn’t what concerned her the most. Hell, what got her attention was a stray footprint. A tiny bit of code that shouldn’t be there. She supposed that, to most people, it wouldn’t be noticed. But she wasn’t most people.
Zora had hacked enough for fun to know each hacker had a signature, just like a bomb maker or a sniper. Sometimes it was intentional. Sometimes it was like a tell. They didn’t even realize they were doing it until they got caught and someone explained how. It could also be a trap. Or even a set up.
She debated on whether or not to follow it. Then she found the same footprint on Gordon’s personal server, and her curiosity got the better of her. Yeah, no way she couldn’t dig further. The files being targeted were all financial in nature. The date the hacker had accessed them was about two months prior, shortly before Gordon and her dad had their falling out. Then, by accident, she stumbled onto a second footprint. This one had attempted to erase or alter certain files but either thought better of it or had been hasty and sloppy. She retrieved the files for study later. If someone else was interested, she was interested. But she suspected the interested party was the government, and that both her dad and Gordon were in deep shit.
Careful to blend her digital footprint in with the ones already there, Zora painstakingly made her way out of the system without setting off any alarms. It took several hours, and Gordon would soon be on his way home, assuming he did come home tonight. She uploaded everything she’d found to a private cloud and removed any evidence from her laptop that she could. It might not hold up to top-level computer geeks if they went looking to see if she’d breached the company’s security, but it would fool most people.
That done, she shut down her system and dove into the pool.
* * *
Data watched as Zora went offline. How had he not known she was married? He’d tried to respect her privacy, but he really should have found out at least the basic information about her. She was so intelligent with computers and code, and with her ease of getting through any network undetected he’d always figured she had his level of experience, which meant she was close to his age. But what did he really know about her? If she was in an arranged marriage she could be of another nationality, but her English was flawless. He’d spoken to her a few times over voice messaging, and if anything she had a pleasant Southern accent. She’d sounded younger than he thought she was, but it struck him then how little he actually knew about her.
Which set his curiosity ablaze. Not good with a hacker. So he’d gone digging.
He knew her real name. He’d contented himself with that. Fab Z-Na was Zora Hightower. Before now, her name had been enough. Well, that and knowing without a doubt she couldn’t breach his firewall again. He’d watched her try several times when she thought he wasn’t looking and had been satisfied with the results. Her attempts had been genuine and not something designed to throw him off, and his security had held fast. But now, he had to know more. Mainly because he’d grown attached to the spunky hacker. He’d never seen a picture of her. He’d knew next to nothing about her. But she was a hard worker, super intelligent, and now he had this image of her in a loveless marriage. It just didn’t seem right.
Drawing in a deep breath, he took the plunge. First, he did the easy stuff. Social media and public records provided all he needed, really. And he felt like he should shoot himself now, because he was getting ready to commit an unpardonable sin.
The woman -- girl, really -- was absolutely, stunningly gorgeous. She tried to downplay her looks by hiding behind overly large glasses and fixing her long, caramel-colored hair so it partially hid her face, but there was no denying her beauty. There was not a single picture of her with makeup or in formal wear. No wedding announcement. No pictures of her with her husband or even with him as her boyfriend before they were married. Her infrequent posts had stopped almost two months ago. She had a few friends -- less than a hundred and fifty -- and very few of them commented on her posts. But what was getting him into trouble was her age. The last post on her feed, two months before, was the only post that had more than a handful of “likes.” Wishing her a happy eighteenth birthday.
Data sat back heavily, stunned to his core. “Fuck. Me.”
“Something wrong?” The voice coming from the entrance to his office startled him. The man was as quiet as they came. Big, gruff, with the biggest heart of any man Data had ever met, Stunner stood awkwardly just outside his office. He looked decidedly uncomfortable, but wouldn’t pass on by knowing one of his brothers might be in need of help.
