Hide and Seek by Lara Adrian

Author:Lara Adrian [Adrian, Lara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781941761052
Amazon: 1941761054
Publisher: In Media Res Publishing, LLC
Published: 2015-06-19T23:00:00+00:00

3

This wasn’t going to be quite as easy as he’d thought at first.

For starters, the IP address Nick had traced had led him to the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of D.C., an area that not only housed George Washington University, but also the George Washington Medical Center and numerous government buildings ranging from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the Federal Reserve Building and the Department of the Interior.

In addition, the address wasn’t a private home, or even an office. It was a coffee shop with free WiFi access. Anybody with a laptop could hook into the coffee shop’s free internet and be on their IP address. An extremely odd choice for the computer genius with whom Nick had been at odds during the last few weeks. Why would somebody risk working on an open internet connection where others might be able to listen in? Or was it pure genius, hiding in plain sight?

Nick glanced around the coffee shop. At least two dozen students, young doctors, and suits were hunched over their laptops, working, surfing, and reading. At first glance, none of them looked like a hacker, but then, what exactly did a hacker look like? He knew that appearances could be deceptive.

Was he the scruffy student, who was balancing his laptop on his knees while eating a muffin with one hand? Or the young woman in the white doctor’s coat and the dark circles under her eyes, eyes that kept falling shut while she stared intensely into her computer monitor? Maybe the heavy-set black guy in the gray suit was the man in question, trying to divert any suspicion by looking all businesslike with his manicured nails and trendy haircut.

In short, it could be anybody.

This would take some time. He might as well get comfortable and find a corner from which to watch the comings and goings. Sooner or later, his CIA training would kick in, and he’d pick up on the tells his suspect was giving off. He’d learned that nobody could hide his true nature forever. Particularly once they relaxed and let down their guard, their true self emerged, and Nick would be there, waiting for him to make a mistake. He’d waited three years to get this close to the information he needed; he could wait a few days longer.

Behind the station where the baristas were taking orders and preparing fancy custom coffee drinks, it was buzzing like a beehive. Like a well-oiled machine, the employees shouted drink orders to each other: single shot this, no-foam that, half-caf the other. Even one of the employees could be his guy. They all got breaks during their shifts. Anyone of them could go in the back where they kept supplies and spend a few minutes on a computer. It would be a great cover. And who would suspect a minimum-wage barista?

“Double shot, no-whip mocha for Nick.”

Upon hearing his drink called out, Nick pivoted and snatched his overpriced coffee from the bar.

“Ouch!” he hissed and set it back down.

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