“Do I have to?” he whined and ready to run if his survival instincts deemed it necessary.

“Fuck me with the cap or I go alone.”

“Well... ” He stepped into the shower. “I guess if I have to.”

“It was an accident.”

Jess slammed the truck door, refusing to believe that line of bullshit. “Don’t speak to me.”

Smitty buckled up his seatbelt. “I don’t know how it happened. That cap just went flyin’.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, “Shut. Up.” Jess scowled. “And who doesn’t have a blow dryer?”

“Me. I don’t need it.”

Jess pushed her frizzed mass of curls out of her face. “Clearly you do.”

“Not really. I just get out of the shower and my hair dries like this.”

It was the triumphant smile that insulted her most.

Jess held her hand out. “Hat.”

Smitty reached into his backseat and pulled out a baseball cap with the football team logo for the Tennessee Titans embroidered on the front. She pulled the cap on, yanking it low over her face, tucking her hair back behind her ears.

“Now don’t you look cute as the dickens?”

She had uncontrolled hair, a baseball cap for a team she didn’t even know, Smitty’s way-too-big bomber jacket because the man detested her much beloved parka, and the same clothes from last night except her panties, which she refused to put back on since she simply found that disgusting. So, all in all, she found that compliment damn rude.

“We don’t discuss this again. You don’t tell me how cute I look. And you get a goddamn blow dryer. Now drive.”

Clearing his throat, Smitty started the truck. “Yes’m.”

“And I need more coffee.”

“Darlin’, I think that’s a given.”

The trip should have felt a hell of a lot longer since Jessie Ann never actually shut up the entire time. She’d been pretty cranky until he got her some coffee. Then she cheered up and started talking... and talking... and talking.

Thankfully, Smitty found her pretty amusing. Downright funny, sometimes. The woman could definitely tell a story. And she had lots of those.

Around noon, as the radio news predicted rain, they finally arrived at a small, tidy white house that even included a white picket fence.

“What’s here?” he asked.

Jessie shrugged. “We found the hacker.”

Smitty tensed. “What do you mean you found the hacker? What hacker?”

“We had a hacker problem. And we’ve had this problem before. I’m dealing with it.”

“Should we call the cops?”

“Not yet. Not unless I have to.”

“You should have told me.I’m not prepped for this.”

“You don’t need to be.”

Smitty stared into her eyes. “You know this guy?”

“Yup.”

“Jessie, this isn’t safe.”

“It’s safe.” She grinned. That big, innocent, goddamn goofy grin. “Come on.”

Before he could stop her, she was out the truck and heading up the walkway. Cursing under his breath, Smitty followed her.

As he walked up behind her, the front door opened. A woman not much older than him smiled at them but as she recognized Jessie, her smile faded.

After several moments, she stepped back and yelled, “Carol Marie Haier! Get your ass down here this minute!”

Jess sat in a chair across from a pouting thirteen-year-old. Her mother’s head had nearly exploded when she realized her daughter had gone back to her old habits. Habits that had cost her mother dearly once before.

Marie Haier placed a glass of water in front of Jess. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some coffee or something?”

“No. Thank you. Just a few minutes with your daughter.”

Marie glanced up at Smitty, looking a little nervous.

He gave her a slow, sweet smile. “Actually, ma’am, I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee.”

“Sure. Of course.” She seemed relieved to have something to do and walked out of the room.

Jess looked at Carol. “So we’re back here again.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Carol. Let’s not play this game. We both know how it’ll end. One call and this is all done.”

She shrugged. “Do whatever you want.”

“How will that sit with your mom? When she has to hire lawyers again, pay your fines. You’re not even supposed to be near a computer.”

Staring at the floor, “So what do you want?”

“The truth. What happened?”

“There’s a company. In Spain or something. They’ve offered more than five thousand dollars to anyone who can hack your systems.”

Well, that explained the recent increase in assaults on their system. With her team and less-than-law-abiding friends, Jess was able to keep the wolf from the door, so to speak. But Carol had always been really good. She could hack damn near anything and had already broken into their system four years ago. A lesson they only had to learn once. Especially since it was a nine-year-old that had done it, their competition had loved every moment of their situation. The laughter died, though, when the same companies realized Carol had already been and gone from their systems, taking whatever she wanted with her.

“Where did you get access to a computer?”