“I need you to keep track of Levi Green for me.”
Adam groaned. “Damn it. You’re going to get me arrested, aren’t you?”
“If I do, I’ll go in with you,” Ian promised.
Adam snorted. “At least you’ll protect me.”
Ian grinned. “Nah, I’d sell you for cigarettes, buddy. I don’t smoke. Ramen noodles. I’ve heard those are premium items in the joint.”
Adam’s eyes rolled. “So you want me to use my incredibly superior surveillance techniques on a CIA operative? I’m only saying yes because he’s such a fucking asshole.”
“I’m only asking because right now Jax and Hutch are working on it, and Jax needs to go back to Colorado soon. I’ve got an assignment for Hutch coming up in a couple of days,” Ian explained. “I would put it on someone else and keep him here, but it’s for an old friend of mine.”
“Anything I can help with?” Adam asked.
“I think Hutch is the best person for this particular job,” Charlotte replied.
“She’s plotting.” Ian slid his wife a sidelong glance. “The client is a friend’s daughter, and she’s adorably dorky. And single.”
“And she would look so cute with Hutch. They’re both a little nerdy and sweet, and I heard she’s into baking.” Charlotte’s eyes sparkled as she played matchmaker. “Hutch has a big old sweet tooth. I think it’s going to work out. I can feel it.”
If only it were that simple. “I’ve actually got something I wanted to ask you all about. I meant to talk to you about this earlier, but I got sidetracked.”
“That’s what we call it, too,” Tag snarked.
She ignored him. She wasn’t about to tell him nothing had gone nasty between her and Beck in his office. It had been sweet. It had been emotional. It had been so fucking scary. “The day Levi showed up at my store I got this weird package. It was sent via courier, but it was nothing more than a single piece of paper. Remember, remember the fifth of November,and then a line that told me to look for Reva. Honestly, I didn’t think about looking into it with everything that’s gone on, but it had my name on it. K. Solomon. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but it seems a little coincidental to me that I would receive a message sent to my store the same day Levi showed up.”
Tag was on his feet. “It’s not a coincidence, and I think that message should have been sent here.”
Adam was groaning. “I don’t think Hutch is going to make it to his assignment.”
“What’s going on?” Kim watched as Tag threw open his door. “Hutch! Don’t you hide. I see you. You cannot get away from me. I know all your hidey holes. Get in here, now.”
Greg Hutchins walked into the room, a grimace on his face. He was a stunning man in his early thirties, with golden brown hair and a lean, muscular body that he somehow kept even though the rumor was the man loved candy. “Hide? I would never hide, boss.”
“Who is Reva?” Tag asked.
Hutch started to turn. “I take back what I said. I’m hiding.”
Charlotte intervened, catching Hutch’s arm. “Come on, Hutch. We know you’re not active.”
“Do we?” Tag asked, looking every bit like a dad who would get his kid to talk. “Do we?”
Kim turned to Adam. “I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I think Hutch’s past is coming back to haunt him,” Adam said. “When Hutch was a kid, he got involved in a group called the People’s Revolution. They were a bit like Anonymous back in the day, and they were way too invested in a comic book series called V for Vendetta.”
“Which centered around an anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask.” She knew that much. “I think I remember a bit about them. They were a hacktivist group, right?”
“We were trying to do good things.” Hutch seemed to be resigned to his fate, and he took a seat.
“You were releasing private paperwork and hacking citizens’ computers.” Tag stared at Hutch.
“Only to point out hypocrisy and to catch criminals.” Hutch turned his blue eyes Kim’s way.
Tag patted his shoulder. “Hutch, are you still working with them?”
Some of the tension left the room as Hutch rolled his eyes. “No. But I do check in on them from time to time. Especially Reva.”
“So this Reva is a real person?” Kim asked.
“Yeah, I’ve known her since we were kids. And by know, I mean online,” Hutch admitted. “But she’s not in the business anymore. She hasn’t worked with the People’s Revolution for years. She’s married with two kids.”
“She told you she’s no longer working with the group?” Adam asked.
“I believe her. Look, I haven’t actually messaged her in a couple of months. Some of the old crew checks in every now and then.” Hutch pulled out his cell phone and offered it up to Adam. “Here. I’ll let you go through everything I have.”
Tag shook his head. “I believe you. I wasn’t really upset. I think I have resting dad face now. I called you in because Solo got a message a couple of days ago to look for Reva.”
Hutch’s eyes widened. “Shit. That’s not good. Why would anyone look for her? Like I said, she hasn’t done anything for years.”
“Did Reva specialize in anything?” Charlotte asked.
Hutch nodded. “She was an animal activist. She liked to prove that some of the makeup companies who said they weren’t testing on animals were merely allowing third parties to do it for them.”
“So she used to hack corporations?” Kim started to put some things together. “Here in the US?”
“Nah, she was somewhere in Europe at the time. She was from the States, but she was living over in Germany when I knew her. We bonded because we both came from military families and had knocked around the globe a lot,” Hutch explained.
All of her alarms were starting to go off. “Did she ever do side projects? Hire out her skills?”
“We all
