“Okay, okay,” Lord Override said. “Let’s suppose for a moment that I believe you. How come we’ve never actually met?”
“The person you thought to be Helenos-9 was really my brother. He was the face of our operation, which we ran together. But he couldn’t even hack into his university’s database to change his transcript, much less do any of the things I mentioned.”
Lord Override resumed pacing, templing his fingers. He placed them against his lips and squinted as he formulated his next thought. “This sounds like a fanciful tale, one that you concocted after you dug through his personal records. So, I’m going to need to know something more personal, something you wouldn’t be able to find on any of his laptops.”
“You ask the question,” Mia said. “He told me everything.”
“One night we were drinking at Mayhem and I told him the proudest moment in my life. What was it?”
“You’re trying to trick me, hoping I’ll slip up and name one of your more famous hacks, maybe your most famous one when you hacked Wall Street and sent the stock market into a free fall for six hours. But that’s not what my brother told me about you. He said you told him your proudest moment was when you held your son, Felix, in your arms for the first time.”
Lord Override stopped again and crossed his arms. “This is a cruel trick, isn’t it? Anyone could’ve guessed that.”
“Perhaps I guessed at that, which I didn’t. But how else would I know that your favorite DJ is Kasper Bjørke or that you’ve probably been drinking glogg tonight even though all your friends love akvavit or that the only sport you’ll watch on television is tennis. Yep, I probably just guessed all that.”
He gasped. “You were twins.”
She nodded. “Inseparable until we got older, but, yes, twins.”
“He did tell you everything.”
“How else would I have known to look for you here?”
“I cried when I heard he died,” Lord Override said. “And I rarely cry.”
“Thanks,” she said. “It took me some time to get over it, but I’ve only just now come to terms with it myself.”
The two embraced. Mia fought back tears for a few seconds, finally letting them flow when she noticed the light glint off Lord Override’s tear-stained cheek. After a long minute, they both sniffled and wiped the corners of their eyes before stepping back.
Lord Override held onto Mia’s shoulders. “So, I suppose you didn’t come here just to tell me that your brother died but my true partner in crime is still alive, did you?”
“I have a job for you, one that requires your level of expertise,” she said.
“Anything for you,” he said. “Just name it.”
“When my brother died, the CIA was onto him. Now, they’ve frozen all our assets, somehow figuring out all our joint accounts.”
“You had nothing in your own name?”
“I had a little. But we were twins. It was a trust thing.”
Lord Override nodded. “So, you want me to help you unfreeze it?”
“Pretty much. We need to hack into some CIA databases and find out who’s responsible as well. I’d like to exact a little retribution.”
“That should be fun,” he said.
“Great. I want to get started right away.”
“Okay,” he said. “First thing tomorrow. But tonight, we have much to celebrate. And I must admit that if I’d known Helenos-9 was so hot, I would’ve told your brother I was only dealing with you directly.”
She suppressed an urge to roll her eyes. His comment was the exact reason she didn’t want to deal with people like him. In the moment they shared, she realized that he had a genuine affection for her brother. And she had leveraged that into getting him to help her, even if it was a little lie. He’d forgive her … at least, she hoped he would.
After a couple hours of drinking and dancing, Lord Override convinced her to stay at his apartment while they worked together on her project. She commandeered the couch after he placed fresh sheets on top of it and in a matter of minutes, she drifted off to sleep.
* * *
BEFORE MIA OPENED her eyes, she felt something cold jabbing at her. Still in that place before she was fully awake, she wasn’t sure if the pain she sensed was from her dream or was real.
She wanted to open her eyes but refused, her eyelids heavy from a half-night of sleep. She turned to the side, but the sensation was still there. She rolled onto her back and then opened her eyes.
Standing over her was Lord Override, a gun jammed into her forehead. His eyes were narrowed as he glared at her.
Startled by the image, Mia tried to scramble away, but he held her down, his free hand pinning down her chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide with fear.
“No more fooling around,” he said. “Who are you working for?”
CHAPTER 10
Monza, Italy
HAWK LUGGED A PAIR of suitcases up the narrow staircase and into the hotel room. Alex had already flung the windows wide open, drawing in deep breaths of the crisp autumn air. Hawk dumped the bags at the foot of the bed and joined her at the window.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked. “This place is just perfect.”
Hawk nodded in agreement. “Don’t get too caught up in this place. We still have a job to do.”
“Stop ruining my fun,” she said, hitting him playfully on the arm. “A girl can dream, right?”
“Of course you can … just as soon as we nab Sinclair.”
She sighed and began unpacking. Hawk lingered at the window, scanning the cobblestone street below. Their room overlooked the Lambro River, which lazily snaked through the city.
“Come over here and help me get our stuff out,” Alex said. “You’re not allowed to bask in the beauty of this town if I can’t.”
He spun around and began to get to work.
Just a day earlier, neither one of them imagined visiting Monza. In fact,
