The Darkness Beyond Part 3

Cody trailed along behind her, clomping up the steps to her apartment. "I thought you should know that Ed has been messing in your files and maybe working on your case."

She stopped at the landing. "Which case?"

Although she knew. That jerk! After the incident the other day, Mr. DeLuca had specifically told Ed to back off and leave the Knightwalker to her.

"Did you actually catch him in the act?"

The kid shrugged as she unlocked the door. "Not exactly."

Inside her apartment, she handed Cody a bottle of water and twisted the top off one for herself. "Okay, start at the beginning and tell me what you did see."

Cody flopped down on the couch. "I left my calculus textbook at the office and stopped by to pick it up. On my way in, I saw Ed's car pulling out of the parking lot. I didn't think much of it. Lots of us work weekends."

He stopped to take another drink. "But inside, our cubicle reeked of cigarette smoke, and your chair wasn't pushed in all the way. You never leave it like that. Besides, n.o.body else would have the b.a.l.l.s to smoke in the office. Even if it weren't illegal, we both know Mr. DeLuca wouldn't put up with it."

That was true. Their boss was a serious health nut and encouraged his employees to be the same way. Ed had been hired by the previous owner and had stayed on after Mr. DeLuca bought the company. The relationship between the two men was an uneasy one. She suspected that if Ed hadn't been so good at his job, he'd have been fired long ago.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Darn it anyway. I had a feeling Ed wouldn't drop the investigation even after the boss told him to. Well, he wouldn't have found much. I've been doing most of my work on my laptop here at home for just that reason."

There wasn't anything she could do without hard evidence. She looked at Cody and caught him eyeing the basket of fruit she had sitting on the kitchen counter. He never complained, but between his tuition and rent, she knew money was tight. Too tight for him to always have enough left over at the end of the month to eat much more than cold cereal.

She would have to play this carefully because the kid had his pride. If he thought she was offering him a handout, he'd take off out of sheer stubbornness even if it meant going hungry for the night.

"I was going to order some takeout for dinner, but I don't have the energy to go pick it up."

She sagged back against the wall to give credence to the lie. "If I buy, will you go get it?"

He eyed her suspiciously but then nodded. "If you're sure."

She tossed him the menu. "I'll take broccoli beef and spring rolls. In fact, order me cashew chicken and a double order of fried rice and get whatever you want. If there are any leftovers, I can take them for lunch next week."

"Sounds good."

As he reached for the phone, she dug her spare key out of her junk drawer. "Here, take this so you can lock the door on your way out. I'm going to grab a quick shower while you're gone."

He caught the key and nodded while he rattled off their order. She was glad to hear he'd taken her seriously about ordering extra. Knowing Cody's appet.i.te, she doubted there'd be more than a few grains of rice left after he was done eating. That was okay. She didn't have that many friends; she couldn't afford to let one starve to death.

Chapter 4.

D.J. hung back and watched the door to the apartment building. By his calculations, R. Morrison lived on the second floor, in the end apartment. He'd been unable to determine if the initial stood for Reggie for certain, but his gut told him he was on the right track.

He spotted a kid who looked to be about twenty cutting across the parking lot. The guy headed right for the apartment building with a bag of what looked like takeout. He twirled a key ring on his finger. This was definitely promising.

For one thing, he looked like the quintessential computer jockey. He was too skinny for his height, vibrated with overloaded energy, and wore gla.s.ses. His complexion was on the pasty side, as if he spent far too many hours at a computer and not nearly enough outside.

D.J. smiled. He liked the kid already, even if the punk had been leading him on a merry chase for the past couple of months. He planned on getting right up in his face about p.i.s.sing in the wrong person's pool, hoping to put an end to Reggie's forays into Paladin territory. He had his doubts though. The forbidden fruit was always more tempting to a dedicated hacker.

He should know.

D.J. remained in the shadows long enough to give the kid time to get inside and feel safe before making his move. Five minutes later, he headed for the door. Time to go introduce himself to one Reggie Morrison. This should be fun.

Inside the building, he took the steps two at a time. A hunter by nature, he automatically avoided making any noise right up until he was ready to announce his presence. No use in giving his target any advance warning.

D.J. stopped to listen before knocking. c.r.a.p! Reggie wasn't alone. He should've guessed that was the case considering how big the bag was that the kid had been carrying. There was definitely a woman inside the apartment. The door m.u.f.fled the conversation too much to make out what they were saying, but it didn't really matter.

D.J. hadn't driven four hours and risked his friendship with Devlin to give up now. He needed to get this mess settled so he could head back home and get with the program. He rapped on the door and then stepped back to wait.

Reggie handed Cody a couple of plates and dug out some serving spoons. The rich scents of ginger and garlic made her stomach growl. Judging by the speed with which Cody was opening all of the cartons, she wasn't the only one hungry.

She was about to ask him what he'd like to drink when someone knocked on the door. Who could that be? No one other than Cody was in the habit of dropping by uninvited. She took two steps toward the door and then froze, oddly reluctant to open it. She didn't want to be bothered.

Cody looked up from reading the slip of paper he'd pulled out of a fortune cookie with a grin. "Want me to get it? This says that 'The winds of change will come knocking and the daring will profit.' I'm not sure how wind is supposed to knock, but I could sure use a little profit about now. My tuition is almost due."

She waved him back to his seat. Her home, her duty to answer the door. "No, I'll get it."

The peephole didn't tell her much other than that the unexpected guest was tall and male. She slipped the chain in place and opened the door far enough to peek out.

"May I help you?" she asked before she got a good look at the guy.

When he moved directly under the light in the hall, her stomach lurched as if the floor had just dropped out from under her feet. The Knightwalker's avatar had come to life and was standing right outside her door. She blinked twice to make sure.

The avatar was speaking, but the only thing she could hear was a loud roaring in her ears. Instinct had her slamming the door closed and throwing the lock, but that accomplished nothing. As soon as she did, a big fist pounded on the door and an irate male voice shouted her name. This time, from behind the dubious safety of her door, she made out every word.

"Reggie, let me in. We need to talk."

"What does he want? Should I call the police?" Cody was already reaching for the phone.

"No, that's okay. He's okay." She hoped. "I just wasn't expecting company."

"Are you going to let him in?"

She'd have to. d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n, double d.a.m.n. What had she been thinking by toying with the Knightwalker? She should've handed everything she had over to her boss the minute the case landed on her desk.

The pounding started again. The last thing she needed was for one of the neighbors to get involved. Besides, she didn't want Cody to know who was standing out on the landing. As much as she liked the kid, he couldn't keep his mouth shut on a bet. If he had any inkling he was about to meet the Knightwalker in person, he'd be blabbing it to the world.

Reggie wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans and braced herself. As soon as she touched the chain, there was blessed silence. She slid it free and yanked the door open.

"What a surprise, D.J.! I had no idea that you were in town." That much was true. "Come on in. I'm sorry, but my friend Cody and I were about to sit down to dinner, so-"

At least now she wasn't the only one who looked confused. D.J. glanced past her to where Cody was now standing and then back to her.

"You're Reggie?" he mouthed, his eyebrows arching high in surprise.

She nodded.

He let out a deep breath and then a slow grin spread across his handsome face. "Yeah, Reggie, I'd love to join you for dinner. Suddenly, I seem to have developed quite an appet.i.te."

Short of slamming the door again, which would put her right back between a rock and a hard place, she had no choice. One way or the other, she was going to have to deal with the man. At this point, all she could hope for was that Cody would take off after they ate. Once he was out of the line of fire, she'd figure out what to do about D.J.

And didn't that thought bring a lot of interesting ideas to mind? The man would definitely be in the eye-candy aisle at the store. In an effort to clear her head, she performed the necessary introductions while she dug out one more plate and poured three gla.s.ses of iced tea.

"Cody, this is D.J., an online acquaintance of mine. D.J., this is Cody."

The two men shook hands, obviously sizing each other up, trying to figure out where each of them fit in the scheme of things. Poor Cody, he was seriously outgunned and he knew it. Despite having seen D.J.'s most recent avatar, she would never have guessed that he'd based the character on his actual appearance.

If she thought the animated version was attractive, it had nothing on the man himself. D.J. was tall, broad shouldered, and had the kind of muscles that came from physical work, not a gym. His dark hair had a definite wave to it and was considerably longer than current fashion. Those dark brown eyes sparkled with a good bit of humor, all part and parcel of a complete rogue.

Her apartment was plenty big enough for one woman living alone, but it was amazing to see how much room the two men took up. She felt crowded-no, make that cornered. D.J. knew it, too, and clearly thought it was funny. Not that he made any threatening moves. Instead, he seemed completely at home in her tiny kitchen eating dinner with two total strangers.

He heaped his plate high, deliberately brushing his fingertips against hers as he pa.s.sed the cartons. When she dropped a piece of chicken on the table, he quickly snapped it up with his chopsticks and held it up to her lips. She'd rather bite his hand but accepted the offering with barely disguised disgust.

The jerk actually winked at her before turning his attention to her coworker. "So, Cody, Reggie never mentioned you to me. How do you know her?"

Her friend shot her a hurt look before answering. "We work together. Come to think of it, she's never mentioned you either."

Okay, this could get ugly. "Cody, I only just met D.J. recently. If I'd known he was coming into town today, I would've mentioned it."

Not.

The conversation ended there. The two men at her table kept a wary eye on each other as they finished every last sc.r.a.p of food Cody had ordered. Knowing her young friend had a sweet tooth, she offered him her secret stash of homemade chocolate chip cookies from the freezer. Those didn't last long either.

As she finished the final one, she considered her options. Cody probably had studying he should be doing, but it was obvious he wasn't going to leave until D.J. did. Somehow she doubted the Knightwalker had plans to go anywhere until he was good and ready.

Fine. She'd kick both of them out at the same time. To give them the hint, she stood up, preparing to clear the table. To her surprise, D.J. refused to surrender his plate.

"Let me. You bought. He fetched. The least I can do is clean up."

Not to be outdone, Cody gathered up the empty cartons and tossed them in the trash. Robbed of anything useful to do, Reggie sat back down. She wasn't quite sure how to react to having two guys banging around her kitchen while she watched. It was hard not to smile at the obvious rivalry between the two. Cody was doing his best to make sure that D.J. realized how at home he was in Reggie's place.

D.J. was obviously well aware of what the younger man was doing. She liked the fact that he even conceded the point by asking him where things were kept rather than rooting around in her cabinets. But in a straight one-on-one comparison, there was no way for Cody to win. Eventually his body would fill out to match his height, and he'd be a very good-looking man. But D.J. was definitely already in his prime.

He moved with a grace and confidence that Cody could only hope to achieve someday. She liked her friend, but she wasn't attracted to him. That didn't mean she was happy about the way her eyes kept wandering back to D.J., watching the play of his muscles as he worked and admiring the fit of those well-worn jeans.

The man was a criminal, at least by the strict definition of the law, even though he wasn't into hacking for profit as far as she could tell. Though she still wanted to know what he did with the rest of his time when he wasn't waging cyberwar.

Martial arts, for one, she guessed. She'd spent enough time in gyms to recognize the significance of the calluses on D.J.'s hands. That would also account for how well he moved and the confidence he wore with the same ease as he did those faded jeans.

Oops, he caught her staring. He grinned as he folded the dish towel and hung it on the stove handle to dry.

"Thanks for doing that."

"No problem."

Before he could sit back down, Reggie stood up. "I hate to rush both of you off, but it's been a long day."

She expected an argument. Instead, D.J. dutifully led the parade toward the door. He pegged Cody with a questioning look.

"I've got my truck outside. Need a ride?"

Cody looked relieved as he picked up his backpack. "Sure, if it's not out of your way. I don't live far."

This was going to be easier than she'd thought, but then he'd made his point just by showing up on her doorstep. There would be no hiding from him now. And if she turned him in, he would know who'd done it. She forced a smile, not wanting D.J. to know how aggravated she was.

D.J. followed Cody out the door, saying, "On the way, maybe you can recommend a good motel nearby. I've decided to stay in town for the weekend."

" 'Bye, guys," she called after them, closing the door with exaggerated care.

If she gave in to the urge to slam it, it would only put one more point on D.J.'s side of the scoreboard. As they clomped down her stairs, she ran to the balcony to watch them leave. She wrote down D.J.'s license plate number as the big truck roared to life, her first real lead in finding where the Knightwalker lived.

Oh, yeah, two could play this game.

D.J. let the silence in the truck drag on for several minutes after Cody gave him directions. He considered pumping the kid for information about Reggie but rejected the idea. Anything he said or asked would get back to her sooner rather than later.

"So you and Reggie work together."

Not exactly a question since the kid had already told him that much.

"Yeah, we've shared a cubicle for the past two years and hang out together on weekends and evenings when I'm not in cla.s.s. She's taught me a lot."

The kid injected a little extra emphasis on that last statement, clearly still trying to prove that his relationship with Reggie was a special one. No doubt it was, but if Cody thought she was feeling anything for him other than friendship, he was sorely mistaken. She clearly treated him like a favored little brother.

No use in calling him on it though. "So what are you studying?"

"Computer engineering with a minor in business. I want to design and market my own games."

D.J. nodded in approval. "If you've got the talent for it, you could be set to make some major bucks when you graduate. I have a friend who does that. His newest game just hit the market."

He wondered what Jake would think about D.J. claiming him as a friend, especially considering the amount of time they spent just s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with each other. Heck, if that wasn't friendship between hackers, what was?

For the first time, Cody dropped his att.i.tude. "Really? Which game?"

"Clash of the Golden Dragons."

"No s.h.i.t? You know the guy who designed that? The graphics are incredible!"

"I can put you in touch with him. You know, if you'd like to talk to him about the business."

"Think he'd mind?"

"No. Give me your e-mail address and I'll introduce you. He has another job that takes up a lot of his time, so don't think he's blowing you off if he doesn't respond right away."

"Sounds good." Cody was grinning as he pointed down the street. "That's my apartment building at the end of the block, on the left."