Wicked Man by Beth D. Carter Page B

tomorrow,” Jeff Edwards said immediately.
    “Behind the library. Noon.”
    The call disconnected. Wick looked at the glowing numbers of
    the clock. He only had to wait ten more hours.

Chapter Nine
    Jeff Edwards waited for him in the alley behind the small
    library the next afternoon, dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt, and
    sunglasses. Even though he didn’t wear his badge, he screamed cop.
    Perhaps it was his body language. There was an air about him that
    seemed rough and menacing, and Wick knew that he was immediately
    being sized up.
    Jeff didn’t hold out his hand. He didn’t acknowledge him at all
    expect to hold out a folder. “Am I gonna find his body full of bullet
    holes?”
    “Maybe.”
    Jeff sighed. “Well, you might want to reconsider that.”
    Wick took the folder and opened it up. From the shiny gloss of
    photo paper, Billy smiled up at him mockingly. Wick had a strong
    urge to scratch out his eyes like some type of adolescent preteen.
    “How’d he do it?” Wick asked. “How was he able to track her
    for years?”
    “I hate to say this but William Walker is one amazing hacker,”
    Jeff said. “His specialty is targeting ordinary people who have
    accumulated their life savings, and then hacking into whatever
    banking facility they have and taking it.”
    “So that is how he’s tracked her. By hacking into her
    computer.”
    “Who knows the lengths he took to find her,” Jeff said with a
    shrug. “Hacking into her computer was probably the easiest way for
    him but I’m sure there were other ways. A man who knows his way
    around a motherboard has no limits on what he can do. The FBI had
    courted him once, to be on their cyber division, but it seems he
    preferred the easy criminal life. Instead of being on their side, he’s on
    their wanted list.”
    “And if he winds up with a bullet in his head?”
    “There will be questions asked,” Jeff replied. “This man has
    been watched for a decade. He’s small time, but he’s still a person of
    great interest to certain parties. I don’t have to remind you that you
    don’t want to bring attention to your club.”
    Wick closed the folder, handing it back to Jeff. “How the hell
    am I supposed to protect her from a cyber-ghost?”

    “Find a different way,” Jeff said. “Listen, I may be a homicide
    detective but I know there are things our justice system has fucked
    up.”
    “Thanks for the info,” he said with a nod of appreciation.
    “You’re welcome,” Jeff replied. “But don’t contact me again.”
    Gripping the folder tightly, he marched into his truck, started
    it up, and drove away without looking back. Wick’s phone rang and
    he dug it out of his pocket. The name Kix flashed on screen and he
    answered immediately.
    “Yeah?”
    “Get back here as soon as you can,” Kix said grimly. “We’ve
    got a problem. The building behind the grandstand.”
    The call disconnected. A sense of dread filled Wick, as if he’d
    seen the axe and was waiting for it to fall. Gunning his bike, he sped
    back toward the White Death’s homestead. He didn’t care if he broke
    speed laws to get there. Something inside was telling him this had to
    do with Abbott, and now knowing the exact type of man they were
    dealing with, he half wondered if there was any safe place for her.
    When he parked in front of the grandstand he hurried to the
    place Kix had told him to go. He didn’t even bother knocking, just
    simply entered, and it was like walking into a freezer. The
    temperature was so cold he could see his breath, but he supposed that
    was needed for a dozen monitors and numerous computer stands
    littered throughout the large room. Thick cables extended in all
    directions and he had to watch where he stepped. Kix and Slade stood
    behind a very skinny man, covered in tats and piercings.
    “What’s going on?” he asked.
    “We’re being hacked,” the skinny kid said grimly. His eyes
    were glued to the computer monitor in front of him as his