The Love Hack

Chapter 2

One Month Later

Lexi bobbed her head along to 'Seven Nation Army,' by The White Stripes, filtering through her Bose headphones. As she skimmed the list of names on her computer screen, she adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses. A tap on her shoulder startled her back and she let out a little yelp.

"Oh, sorry, Lex! Didn't mean to scare you!" her mother said after Lexi quickly pulled down her headphones and turned around.

"No worries, Mom. I think I almost solved this one. The uncle is living in Mississippi, it seems. Based on the records, it's looking like he's the only one left in her family after the rest were brutally murdered last year."

"Oh, amazing! That's exciting!" Scarlett leaned back on Lexi's desk facing her, and Lexi wondered which part her mom found exciting. "You're solving this one so quick. I just gave it to you this morning!"

Lexi shrugged and smiled. "Well, we don't really have any other cases on the docket, so I was able to spend today working through it."

"Okay great. Well, anyways, speaking of, I just came over to tell you there's nothing else that came in today, so you can just call it quits early if you like." She adjusted a Harry Potter figurine on Lexi's cluttered desk, before heading back over to her much more organized desk.

Lexi glanced at her dad who had glasses down to the tip of his nose and was busy typing away at his own desk at the other end of the room. She was about to place her headphones back on, when her mom called back out to her. "Oh, honey, did you want to be the one to tell the client the news once you're done?"

Lexi shook her head and her messy bun jerked in the process. "Not really."

"Okay, sweetie, no worries. Just let me know whenever you've confirmed the details and I can give them a call."

The typing from her dad's computer was all that could be heard before Lexi put her headphones back on and turned the volume up. She knew that she needed to speak with clients directly someday, but after what happened last month, she resolved to just keep doing what she did best – working behind the scenes. Sure, she would cling to every word her parents or Cole would say after a field mission. And sure, she would get a burning feeling in her chest whenever Cole went into detail about how he escalated a case to a point where the police got involved. Yet, sitting there in her sweats and black t-shirt, in her family's garage, she was comfortable with how she was making a difference in the world.

She thought about what would she even say to the client. Something like, 'Oh hey, girl, what's up? Your uncle may have killed the only family you know. Thanks for the business. Bye.' Lexi laughed out a breath through her nostrils and shook her head. She knew the best thing would be was to stick with a language she was most familiar with - coding.

Lexi closed out of her work files and opened up her web browser. Before she began typing, she subtly gazed over toward her brother's desk behind hers. She knew he was in the other room playing video games, but one could never be too careful.

As if each lettered square on her keypad was as delicate as a thin wafer cookie, she pressed out Tom Miller into the search bar. The name stared back at her, begging to be searched. It taunted her, like the memory of that night. The worst part of the cruel reminder was the images of his face and the kisses they had shared. As much as she tried to forget about the softness of his lips and his hands roaming her body, she had resolved that it was just something she would forever have to live with. Replaying it over and over again in her mind, forcing pleasure aches to fill her, was simply collateral damage from a failed mission.

Don't do it, Lex. You've gotten this far without looking him up. Don't do it now. Nothing good will come out of this.

A ping alerted her to a text and as soon as she saw the name, she let out a sigh of relief. It was as if Mindy knew what she was thinking and was right next to her to snap her out of it. Lexi quickly deleted the name lurking in the search bar before unlocking her phone.