Page 56 of Critical Strike

“I’ll go to sleep, too,” he offered.

She touched his cheek with tender fingertips. “Something tells me you haven’t been asleep at all.”

“You’re sharp, Kitten.” He bent one arm, propping his head up on his forearm with a groan. “I’ve been too busy thinking to sleep. But one of us should, if we can.”

“I kept having bad dreams, anyway,” she admitted. “It’s easier to be awake, when my subconscious doesn’t make things seem so real.”

“I’m sorry.” He stroked her silky hair, letting it run between his fingers like a golden waterfall. When this was over, he would take a solid day and devote it to nothing but this—the simple pleasure of touching her.

“What are we going to do?” He knew it wasn’t a question she expected him to answer, at least not right away.

“We’ve spent all this time on the defensive, right? Running away, hiding, barely escaping. He hasn’t backed down an inch—if anything, it’s made him more determined than ever. He’s getting desperate. Going after the people who were once a part of your life, at least the ones he can trace. He figures he has to cut out anybody who could be helping you until you have nowhere left to turn.”

“Until I figure the only way out is to turn myself in,” she whispered, cringing. “Which is exactly the impulse I almost followed.”

“It’s not your fault. He knows you’re a decent person with a soul and a conscience. He might not have either for himself, but he knows they exist in other people. He wanted to prey on that. We’re still smarter than he is. We won’t fall into his trap.”

“So what will we do?”

“We’ll go on the attack. We’ll turn the tables on him.”

“How? He’ll know in a heartbeat if I try to hack him again. He’ll be waiting for that.”

“I know. I’m not talking about hacking.”

“What are you talking about?” She pushed herself up on one arm and looked down at him. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we use his weaknesses against him.”

“How do you know he has any?”

“Everybody has a weakness, Kitten. One of the things I’ve had to learn in my business was how to figure out what those weaknesses are. They’re a way inside.” His breath caught when he realized what he was saying.

She knew it, too. “The way Ballard’s been using my weaknesses to flush me out.”

“I’m sorry.”

Chewing on her lip, she lifted a shoulder. “Okay. So, we’ll use my skills to find his weaknesses. You know by now that I can hack my way into anything. There’s got to be information about him somewhere—though knowing him, he’s done everything he can to hide it so nobody can find it.”

“We don’t have to find his personal weaknesses, per se.” He sat up, scrubbing his hands through his hair as the closest thing to a plan he’d come up with all night started to reveal itself.

“What does that mean?” In the early-morning light, he could clearly see the skepticism written all over her face.

“Think about it. A man like Ballard surrounds himself with a lot of people to do his dirty work. He thinks it keeps him safe, but what it does is leave him vulnerable. Because those people have weaknesses, and they’re more likely to leave their weaknesses where a person with your skills can find them. They don’t have the resources he does.”

“So we look them up, instead.” A smile began to dawn. “Of course.”

“I knew you’d understand.” He got out of bed, eager to get started. That was always the way. Once a path showed itself, he couldn’t wait to move.

Claire wasn’t so eager. “Where would we start?”

“Personally, I’d like to know more about those detectives who made it their mission to trail me and my brothers, Fisher and Arellano. One or both of them have to be in bed with Ballard, which means he’s either holding something over their heads or giving them money—again, because he’d know they need it for some reason. Which means you’d be able to find what he found. I know you can.”

“I’m glad you have that much confidence in me,” she said. “What if he has people monitoring their accounts or whatever, in case I go looking around?”

“What if he does?” Luke knelt beside the bed, taking her hands in his.

She drew a deep breath. “Right. Of course. I know how to be careful.”