Chapter Fifteen

Scarlett Harmon slid on her sunglasses as she exited the campus library and checked her phone. No messages. Her sister still hadn’t responded to her texts, so she tried calling instead. It kicked directly over to voice mail. She let out a frustrated sigh and dropped her phone in her backpack. Ruby hadn’t even hit her teens yet and she was already trying Scarlett’s patience. This was why she was more comfortable with computers than with people. Computers never let you down…well, they did when they crashed or refused to perform a function, but she could manipulate them until she was satisfied with the result. People, not so much—at least in her experience.

Ruby was the reason Scarlett decided on Northwestern University for graduate school. After finishing her undergrad at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she’d planned on continuing at MIT. A computer prodigy, she attended college on a full-ride scholarship at sixteen, graduated at nineteen and at twenty-one, she was about to finish her master’s degree. She already had several lucrative job offers from some of the most prestigious companies in the Silicon Valley, but a phone call altered the course of her studies. She’d been headed to a lecture on innovative computer viruses and worms when her cell rang. She didn’t recognize the number but answered anyway. When the man on the line told her that her father had perished in a small plane crash, she wasn’t sure how to feel. She wasn’t happy, certainly, but she wasn’t devastated either. Numb would’ve been the best description.

She remembered dropping to the mattress in her dorm room, listening to her father’s lawyer describe details about the man she barely remembered and his current wife going down in a Cessna in a storm off the coast of Mexico. He might’ve fathered her, but he was a total stranger. He’d left her and her mother when she was four. Though he was absent physically, he supported them financially and even set up a trust fund for when Scarlett turned twenty-five. He’d made millions in the stock market and investments and while she and her mother weren’t rich, they lived comfortably on the monthly stipend he provided.

When Scarlett was fifteen, her world shattered when her mother died. Scarlett had no idea how to get in touch with her father, nor did she have the desire, so she moved in with one of her high school friends until she left for college the next year.

As the lawyer droned on, she zoned out until something he said caught her attention.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Nunn, what was that?”

“I said you’ve been listed as the next of kin for Ruby Harmon.”

“Who’s Ruby?” Had her father left her his pet poodle or something? She loved dogs but was pretty sure they weren’t allowed in dorm rooms.

“She’s your sister…well, half-sister.”

Scarlett paused, letting the information sink in. “I have a sister?” Wow. News to her. Many times over the years she’d been tempted to dig up all she could on her father, but she held back, not wanting to know about the life he’d led after he abandoned her and her mother. Resentment overrode curiosity.

“As I was saying, Ruby is in the care of child services. As her only listed relative, it’s up to you if you want to accept the role of her guardian.”

“But I’m in college.” How could she take care of a kid?

“Yes, I realize that, but you’re named in your father’s will. He left a letter for you as well.”

Over the next few days, she learned that Ruby was ten and if Scarlett didn’t step up and take care of her, she’d be alone in the world, a ward of the state.

To say the beginning of their relationship had been rocky was an understatement. Ruby hated having to move from her fifty-room mansion to a small one bedroom apartment, and she also resented their father’s glowing praise of Scarlett—something that stunned her since she had no contact with the man for over fourteen years and didn’t realize he kept up with her activities and achievements.

If Scarlett were honest with herself, she begrudged Ruby’s relationship with their father since she’d never had one. But Ruby was just a child and she needed stability and support since her world had been upended. Scarlett knew exactly how that felt and had been committed to making it work, and the last six months had been good ones. That’s why she was worried when Ruby didn’t respond to her messages.

“Scarlett Harmon?”

She spun around at the summons to see a man she didn’t recognize. He was attractive in a bad boy way with longish black hair tied into a ponytail and dark stubble covering his chin. He wore a black leather vest over a white t-shirt tucked into blue jeans and industrial looking boots. His arms were covered in sleeves of the tattoo variety. She was pretty sure she hadn’t seen him in any of her classes. He was memorable. “Yes?”

“I’m a big fan of yours,” he gushed. “I heard you can hack the unhackable and you’ve even developed a tracking drone that can’t be detected.”

That was something she was still working on and it’d yet to be perfected. The government had already expressed interest. It wasn’t common knowledge, so she wasn’t sure how this man knew about her research. “Who are you?”

“Oh, right. Sorry. My name is Leo Wilkins. I need to borrow your services for a project.”

“Borrow my services?”

“Bad choice of words. How about pay for them.”

“I’m not for sale, Mr. Wilkins.”

“Everyone has a price.”

“Well, I don’t.” She turned to leave when he stepped in her path, blocking her exit.

“I’m betting you do. Here, let me show you the terms of our agreement.” He punched buttons on his phone and swiveled it around so she could view the screen. Her vision blurred and she grabbed for his phone, but he jerked it out of reach.

“Is she okay?” The image of Ruby tied to a chair with her head lulling to the side made Scarlett’s gut cramp and she was afraid she was going to be sick on Leo Wilkins shoes.

“She’s fine and she’ll stay that way as long as you do exactly as I say.”

“What do you want?” Her voice was a hoarse croak.

“I’ll explain the details as we leave.” He lifted one flap of his vest to reveal a gun. “Come with me quietly and your sister won’t be harmed.”

He had Ruby so she had no choice but to follow. Her legs shook so hard, she could barely walk. She spotted a campus policeman and tried to telepathically urge him to glance in her direction, but he was more interested in the woman he was talking to—or more specifically, the perky boobs spilling out of her skimpy t-shirt. No help there. Besides, she had a feeling Leo would make good on his promise and harm Ruby if she didn’t cooperate.

He led her to a powder blue Mustang. She didn’t know much about cars, but this one was an older model, probably a collector’s edition or something. After sliding inside and buckling her belt, she tried to recall the instructions her self-defense coach drilled into her head, but her mind was a complete blank.

Streets passed by in a blur. She should be trying to memorize the area to lead the cops back when she escaped with Ruby, but all she could think about was how scared her sister had to be all alone in a dark room. Acid bubbled up her esophagus.

He drove them to an area packed with warehouses. They continued past ones that looked reputable into a section of derelict buildings that should’ve been condemned years ago and parked in front of the worst one. She had a hard time standing on wobbly legs. With a huff, Leo reached down and grabbed her arm, practically yanking her from the vehicle. Her protests to slow down fell on deaf ears as he dragged her inside. The space was cavernous, with dusty boxes and broken crates littering the floor.

“What is this place?”

“It’s our home.”

“And who are you?”

His lips contorted into a predatory grin, showcasing a gold tooth. How had she ever thought him attractive? He was revolting.

“We’re the Daggers, sweet cheeks. The meanest, deadliest, nastiest gang in all of Chi-town.”