“Sounds like fun to me,” Devon commented. “I think I’d like to do something like that when I’m done working. Take the time to see all the things I always heard about.”

  “That was their plan. This winter they said they want to be in Arizona and New Mexico, and then they’ll start driving east once again, making a spin through the South and heading north for summer. I talk to Mom about once a week, but it’s going to be a while before I get to see her and Dad.” Powers sounded resigned to it.

  “Do you miss them?” Devon asked.

  “Yeah. But they did their job, raising us, so they deserve all the happiness and fun they can get. I could be a dick and get resentful that they’re gone, but instead I try to be happy for them. I mean, they raised us well and gave us everything they could. Now it’s our turn to let them live their lives and be happy.” Powers grew quiet and contemplative. “To answer your question, yes, I miss them a great deal. I can try to put up a front about it, but I do miss them.”

  Devon tilted his head slightly. “Why did you tell me that? You could have stopped and given me a pat answer, basically telling me nothing, but….” He continued running the various scenarios through his head. Powers confused him in a lot of ways.

  “If you think I wear my heart on my sleeve, I don’t. I rarely talk about anything of a personal nature with anyone other than Lucy.” Powers squeezed him and then released the hold slightly. “Can you imagine trying to hold anything back from her? The CIA should employ her to do their interrogations. I swear she could get the secrets of the confessional from the pope.”

  “She’s also your twin. I imagine that superpower only works on you.” Devon grinned and snuggled closer. “Why me?”

  “Because you listen,” Powers answered. “What about your family? Do you see them often?”

  “Sometimes. Greta has an insane schedule a lot of the time. Her husband stays home with the kids. He works from home part-time.” Devon smiled. “I really like Barrett. He’s fun to be around and really mellows out my sister, who can be as intense as a hurricane. They live just on the edge of town on three acres, and they built Dad a small house on the far side of their property. He has a private space of his own and can enjoy his retirement and his grandchildren.” Devon shrugged. “I think Dad was disappointed that I most likely wouldn’t be giving him kids to carry on the family name.”

  “Do you get out there?” Powers asked.

  “I do. The train goes over, though it’s a couple of hours. I don’t have a car because it’s expensive here in the city, and I don’t really need one most of the time. I see Marilyn more often because she’s local. She’s busy too. Marilyn is a leading scholar, and when she isn’t teaching, she writes and researches. On pure smarts she has us all beat, hands down. But she isn’t always the most practical.” Devon smiled and thought a few seconds. The movie was coming to an end, and he hummed along with the closing numbers. “Are you going to stay here again?”

  “I wasn’t planning on it,” Powers answered.

  “Oh,” Devon said, now even more confused.

  The movie ended, and Devon turned it off, sitting up. He wasn’t sure what to do. This wasn’t how he’d expected the evening to go.

  “I told you I was going to prove I was different.” Powers took his hands. “It’s not that I don’t want to take you in that bedroom and make love to you until you can’t remember what day it is. I do, and we will. But you need some time, and I want you to think about this. Would any of the other men you dated have backed away?”

  Devon shook his head, knowing that answer immediately. “They never would.”

  Powers nodded. “I think we need to take things slow. After all, you’re worth waiting for.” He flashed a bright smile and then kissed Devon before standing up. “Get some sleep, and be sure to lock the door. If you hear anything or need me, just call and I’ll come right over. But I think as far as our late-night visitor friend is concerned, they should have what they wanted and you should be out of it. At least I hope.” Powers paused. “I can stay on the sofa again if you want me to.”

  Devon shook his head. “You deserve to sleep in your own bed.” He stood right in front of Powers. “I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, and I promise to call if anything happens.” For some reason, knowing Powers was only a phone call away kept his nerves at bay.

  Powers cupped his cheeks and kissed him deeply. “I mean it. On Saturday I’ll have some work to do, but maybe you and I can go out and have some fun. Lucy says I’m a huge stick-in-the-mud and I work all the time. Maybe you can help me prove her wrong.” Powers kissed him once again.

  Devon nodded his agreement, and then Powers stepped away to open the apartment door. Devon followed him, holding the door as Powers went out and walked down the hall a ways before turning around.

  “I mean it, if you need anything….” He flashed a grin and then disappeared down the hall.

  Devon closed the door with a smile. Maybe there was hope of not repeating the mistakes of the past.

  Chapter 6

  POWERS WANTED to scream. He was getting nowhere in figuring out who was behind the threat.

  The firm had indeed beefed up security around the new system in development. There had been plenty of grumbling throughout the office because it had meant changes for everyone, but Powers figured these changes were probably overdue, and they all needed to deal with it.

  “What are people saying?” Powers asked Devon toward the end of the work day.

  “It’s about normal. The grumblers grumble, and the others go on with their work.”

  Powers nodded. “Any comments out of the ordinary or people complaining who usually keep quiet? Or were there people who normally complain but were quiet? Sometimes what isn’t said is as valuable as what is.” He leaned over the desk, where Devon sat right across from him.

  “I don’t….” Devon’s eyes widened. “Mark was unusually quiet today. But he gets that way sometimes.” He shrugged.

  “Did you notice anything else out of the ordinary?” Powers didn’t want to read too much into that kind of comment, but he made a note to ask Lucy to look more deeply into Mark’s background.

  “No. He and Susan are usually the gossipers, and both were heads down. Maybe they got talked to or something. I don’t see them as involved. I mean, why would they be? Neither of them has any access to those systems, and they don’t work on them.”

  “Money. This whole envelope handoff is so amateur hour.” Powers leaned back in his chair, thinking. “We can’t discount anyone at this point.” He knitted his fingers together as he thought. “Maybe what we need to do is turn up the heat a little.”

  “What do you mean?” Devon asked, interest shining in his eyes.

  “Start a rumor that the new security measures were because someone stole from the company. You don’t know what, but everything is being locked down and you expect the company to start checking bags and things when people leave. Don’t mention it to anyone in your group, but to a few people from other departments. Let it percolate a little.”

  “What are you driving at?”

  “My guess is that it’s going to make our thieves move up their plans, scrap them altogether, or panic like there’s no tomorrow. I have this feeling they’re working on a plan, and if we can disrupt it, then they might make another mistake. All we need to do is get to one person. They’ll lead us to others, and then we’ll have them.” Powers was coming to like this idea. Stir things up and see what rises to the top—or falls to the bottom, in this case.

  “But what if it backfires? If they already have the design and technical details, then it isn’t going to do anything… or they’ll still panic and sell them anyway.”

  “The thing is, if they have the information already, it’s nearly impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.” He hated to admit it, but it was true. Knowledge was power, and once that knowledge was spread, it was done. Secrets were only good if they remained a secret. “We have to try to get them to make a mistake. That’s our chief hope.” He furrowed his brow as another seed of an idea settled in his mind. He dismissed it because this would require Devon putting himself in harm’s way, and he didn’t want to do that.

  “Okay. I’ll see what I can do. Don’t forget that Alexander will be over tonight.” Devon stood, his hand on the doorknob to leave. “What do we do if we never get anywhere?”

  Powers shivered. That was the nightmare scenario. “Some cases are easy, and others require us to make something happen. So that’s what we’re going to try to do here.” Sometimes it worked and other times it didn’t, but time was ticking. “I’ll see you at your apartment tonight. Do you want me to bring something for dinner?”

  “That would be great.” Devon smiled and then left the office, closing the door behind him.

  Powers sat thinking some more, forcing his mind away from thoughts of Devon, which was difficult.

  POWERS KNOCKED and entered when Devon opened the door. He had kept his phone nearby for the rest of the day in case Devon needed him, but it had been quiet, except for Lucy calling to make sure he got her dinner as well. His response had been “duh.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Devon said, slightly breathless, and instantly Powers wondered if something was wrong. He leaned in to kiss Devon, but stopped at the sight of a woman in her thirties sitting on Devon’s sofa. She had the same eyes as he did. “Powers, this is my sister Marilyn.”

  She stood and smiled, shaking his hand very delicately, not that Powers would put any strength in it. Devon’s sister was a little over five feet, thin, but with a warm smile and the same intense eyes as Devon. “I was just stopping by to make sure he had food in the house and wasn’t existing on mac and cheese.”

  Powers snickered. “He tried to feed me that once.” He lifted the bag. “It’s Japanese, and I have plenty if you want to stay.”

  “I have a faculty dinner tonight.” She looked about as interested in that event as she might have been in dental work. She hugged Devon and then went to the door. “I’ll call you next week, and we can go out to eat.” She left the room, and Powers closed the door after her.

  “That was a little weird,” Powers commented. He wasn’t sure if she was really as cool as he thought or not.

  “You better believe it. Marilyn has probably been here two or three times. She came with groceries and to have a talk. She thinks that I should go back to school, get a master’s degree and then a doctorate. Because she’s my sister and has a permanent position on track for tenure, the college will help pay for it, and if I go to the university where she works, I can even attend for free.” Devon rolled his eyes.

  “Is that what you want to do?” Powers wondered just how much pressure Devon got from his family to do what they wanted him to do.

  Devon scoffed. “Marilyn thinks that her way is the only way, always has. But it isn’t what I want. If it was, then I would have done it before. I don’t want to spend years more in school and then teach. It isn’t what I enjoy. But Marilyn and Greta only see me as the little brother.” He shrugged. “I’m the kid who used to tag along behind them and sneak around the cars when they came home from their dates.” He chuckled.

  “What deviltry did you do?” Powers couldn’t wait for this. He carried the food to the kitchen and set it on the counter. He knew where the plates and things were, so he went ahead and got them out.

  Devon joined him, plopping onto one of the stools. “I used to watch for them to come home. I had built a fort behind the front bushes. They’d do their good-night things, and I’d sneak up on the car and pound on the windows as they were kissing. The guys would think it was my dad, and one of them even screamed like he was a scream queen.” Devon chuckled. “It was beautiful. I thought he was going to mess himself. At the time I didn’t really understand what they were doing. Mom got mad at me, and then she got angry with Marilyn, and the two of them had one of their ‘talks’ afterward.” He used his fingers to make quotation marks.

  Powers chuckled and got the door when Lucy banged on it, leaving Devon to finish getting out the food. He let her in, and she bellied up to the counter that served as a table as though she were home. “It’s good to see you.”

  Lucy already had a plate in front of her by the time Powers rejoined them. “Did you find anything?”

  “Still working on the money,” she said. Powers glared at her. “What? You think breaking federal law is easy? I need to make sure I don’t get caught. Remember?” She smacked him on the arm. “It’s taking a while, but I’ll get there. I have a friend….”

  Powers rolled his eyes and shared a look with Devon. “What sort of friend?”

  Lucy set down her fork, which could only be bad news. “The kind that wants to get in my pants. Okay, Mr. Nosey?” Of course she only answered that way to try to get under his skin.

  Powers didn’t bite. “If he does, make sure the information you get is good,” he snapped back.

  Devon snorted, alternately looking at each of them. Lucy rolled her eyes, and Powers winked to let him know they were kidding.

  “Miles is really interested in me.” She shot him another icy glare.

  “Okay. But are you attracted to him?” Lucy always had men trailing after her. She was pretty, intense, and could kick ass. But she was never really interested in any of them. Stunning guys had tried to catch her eye, but she never went for any of them.

  “I don’t think so. Miles is nice and kind of quiet.” She shrugged and returned to eating her sushi. “He intrigues me, though.”

  “How?” Devon asked. If Powers had pressed, Lucy probably would have bitten his head off, but she turned to Devon with half a smile cocked on her lips.

  “He’s smart, but he talks to me like I have something to say, even when I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about. And he actually listens to me.” She pushed the plate away with half her food still on it. That was a first.

  Devon took her hand. “And this bothers you. Why? You’re bright and interesting. I think you’re pretty, and you have the same intense eyes as your brother.” He smiled and glanced at Powers, sending a river of heat running through his veins. “You have a ton to offer someone.”

  She leaned over the table. “Miles is going to get bored with me. I can barely keep up with him now, and he’s going to find out that I’m a woman with a computer and a smart mouth and little else.”

  Powers opened his mouth to protest, but Devon beat him to it.

  “Bullshit. I bet you’re a lot of fun, and you aren’t afraid of much. So my guess is that you do like Miles.” Devon paused. “If you like him, then hold on and see where it leads.”

  Powers wasn’t sure if Devon was talking to him, Lucy, or himself. Maybe he was speaking to all three of them.

  “But he’s so quiet, and I’m… not.”

  “Opposites attract. Maybe you can help him out of his shell, and he can help you into one.” Devon actually winked at him. “And show you some table manners.” He passed her a napkin, then wiped his own mouth.

  Lucy sent one of her patented cold stares at Devon, which lasted a fraction of a second before she burst into a smile. Devon released her hand and returned to his beef hibachi, which he ate with his usual neat precision.

  Just as they were finishing, Devon’s phone vibrated. He answered it, talked for a short period, then set his phone back down. “Alexander will be here in ten minutes.”

  “Why the cloak-and-dagger?” Powers asked.

  Devon shrugged. “It’s his way.”

  “How do you know him?” Lucy asked. “Is he an old boyfriend?”

  Devon shook his head. “No. He was the voice of reason when I was dealing with one of my past losers. Alexander was a year ahead of me in college, and his dorm room was just down the hall. He and his roommate spent hours on their computers, seeing what they could get into. They were hackers and very nearly didn’t graduate because of some of the things they were doing. As far as I know, Alexander never stole anything or was malicious. It was all about seeing what he could get access to. Eventually he started contacting companies and even the government to let them know what he was doing and how he was able to get access to their systems.”

  “And he parlayed that into a career?”

  Devon nodded. “Yes. But most people don’t know a lot about his background. He exists in two separate worlds. He’s still very active in the hacker community. Basically, he’s rather shadowy in a lot of ways so he can keep doing his real job.” Devon slipped off the stool to take care of the dishes. His phone vibrated, and he left the dishes in the sink and went to the door, where he waited and then answered the knock.

  Alexander was of midheight and thin, maybe a hundred twenty pounds soaking wet. There was nothing threatening or even very memorable about him, which was probably good in his line of work. He and Devon hugged before Devon led him to where Powers and Lucy waited.

  “Alexander, this is Powers and Lucy,” Devon said as Alexander set his bag near one of the chairs.

  “Thank you for coming,” Powers said as they shook hands.

  “Devon said he needed some help,” Alexander answered as though that were all the explanation necessary. He turned to Lucy, and within seconds his face lit into a smile. “You must be his sister.”

  “Yes. I’m Lucy.” She smiled back warmly as he took her hand. Powers didn’t roll his eyes, though the impulse was strong.

  “What sort of questions do you have for me?” Alexander asked without turning away from Lucy. “I’ll do what I can to help you.”

  Devon cleared his throat. “Yes. We’re working on a new system, and so far there are two possibilities. One is that they have already stolen the designs, and the other is that they plan to. We aren’t able to discern which is true yet.” Devon motioned to the chair near the sofa, and Alexander sat down.

  “I see.” Alexander snapped out of his adoration as they all sat down, Lucy in the chair right across from Alexander, leaving Powers and Devon on the sofa. “Devon told me the system you’re using, and it’s good for what it does. Most of these systems are designed for two things. The first is to protect the original code from people outside the company, and the second is version control. That’s to make sure that old code doesn’t get migrated into the production environment.” Alexander leaned forward as Powers nodded.