Hard Love (Hacker #5)(64)
Author: Meredith Wild

The water was angry today, blending into an unfeeling gray sky. Sometimes I would wonder what it might be like to be out there, stranded in the midst of the waves and the cold, at the mercy of a merciless Mother Nature. That’s how I felt in this moment. Maybe I wasn’t alone in that either.

My heart ached for Catherine and Greg. Today had been devastating for me. I couldn’t imagine what this was doing to them. And they didn’t know about the baby yet. Alli and Heath knew, but I was glad now that we hadn’t told the rest of the family. Knowing Blake’s freedom was in jeopardy, I couldn’t share the news with them now.

“What did the lawyer say?” I asked.

“He’s got his work cut out for him,” Heath said. “The police traced Blake’s computer activity when you all got back from the honeymoon. We all know he hacked Parker’s accounts. Obviously he wasn’t trying to be malicious, but they’re going to try to nail him on it.”

Fiona’s phone rang. “That’s Parker.” She shook her head and set the phone to vibrate. “I can’t believe Blake would do this. What the hell was he thinking?”

“He was only looking out for you, Fiona,” Catherine said.

“He should know better. My God, how many times does he need to learn his lesson?” She threw her hands up, as angry as I’d ever seen her.

“This is what he does, Fiona. You know he doesn’t always follow the rules,” Heath said.

“He invests in real estate and software development. I didn’t realize he made a habit of illegally hacking into people’s affairs.”

Catherine shook her head, her eyes glistening again. “All these years, and I can’t believe we’re right back here again. It’s a nightmare. A living nightmare.”

Alli was silent beside me. My hand rested on my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was reassuring the baby that everything was going to work out, or if I was silently asking it for reassurance. In this room surrounded by family, I felt like we were a team of two.

“This is who he is,” I finally said. “I don’t like it any better than any of you do, but frankly he can’t help that it’s so easy for him to do these things. It’s a talent—an unethical one, maybe. But it’s who he is. It’s why none of us will ever want for anything. You can’t vilify him for that.”

Silence fell on the room. Catherine blew her nose into a tissue and left the room without a word. She returned with a bottle of wine under her arm and both hands full of wineglasses.

Heath gave her a concerned look. “Mom, it’s not even eleven o’clock.”

“I couldn’t care less,” she muttered.

I heard the front door open and close again, and a few seconds later, Parker was joining us in the living room.

Fiona’s eyes lit up. “Parker . . . What are you doing here?”

His lips were tight. “You’re not answering my calls. I was worried.”

She tucked her short brown hair behind her ears and avoided his stare. “I guess we need to talk.”

He winced. “I already know about all of it. Your brother is a nosy bastard.” He shot a knowing look among all of us. “And I don’t give a shit. I care more that I haven’t seen you or spoken to you with all this going on.”

As her gaze fluttered to his, her lower lip trembled. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d be angry.”

His eyes fixed on her, as if she were the only person in the room. “Fiona . . . this doesn’t change anything.”

She exhaled audibly and stood up. He reached for her. She took his hand, and he pulled her into a tight embrace. They stood that way a moment before a flushed Fiona led him swiftly away from the room and us.

Catherine sighed and shook her head. “Thank goodness,” she muttered under her breath as she began to pour the wine into glasses.

“I’m going to go make myself some tea, if you don’t mind,” I said when she set a glass in front of me.

“Let me make it for you, dear,” Catherine said.

“I can get it,” I insisted and disappeared into the kitchen.

A minute later, Heath came up beside me and took a mug from the cabinet for himself. Catherine’s and the other’s voices were a mere murmur. Fiona and Parker were nowhere to be seen.

“You okay?” he asked, helping himself to the tea bags.

“What do you think?”

His light hazel eyes were filled with the concern I shared. “Gove will get him out of this, Erica. Blake isn’t the first wealthy guy to get out of a legal bind.”

I closed my eyes and rested my hands on the counter. “I’m tired of people telling me that everything is going to be okay. I’m tired of walking through life with this blind faith that everything will magically work out. That somehow I can trust everyone to care as much as I do, to do their jobs, to find the truth that no one seems to want to find as badly as I do.”