Caleb Rivers

device type. No luck with location datar either.“ A flimsy start to begin with, but any information was better than none. “Maybe we should all meet.” Caleb looked away from the computer to capture Hanna’s gaze. “Put together all of the A.D. communication and see where that leads us?”

kind of thing.” With Hanna’s phone connected to his computer, pulling up the meta data on A.D. messages proved easy enough. A frown pulled at his lips and Caleb released a frustrated sigh. “No luck. A.D. is knowledgeable enough to mask not only their number but information like —

computer world.” The term was vague enough to encompass so many things, and there was something distinctly Hanna about relegating entire professions to the realm of computer stuff. “I’m a programmer, but a lot of projects ask for multiple skills like web design, a background in security. That —

it just his imagination or was she refusing to make eye contact with him? Caleb set up his laptop, connecting to the wifi, and using a cord to attach Hanna’s phone. Glancing up from the screen, a smile played on his lips at Hanna’s wording about his profession. “Yes, Hanna, I still work in the —

It didn’t surprise Caleb that Hanna chose not to speak with Jordan in front of him. No doubt she felt the awkwardness that seemed to grow by the moment, and that kind of personal conversation might compound the situation. “Thanks.” Caleb mumbled the word while he accepted the WiFi password. Was —

screen. “Is -A switching professions, becoming an engineer?”

“Ready to see inside the mind of
-A?” The files had generic names that offered little details about their purpose. A quick scroll of the list revealed multiple photographs simply titled numerically. Caleb opened a random image file and a topographic map appeared on the —

newly decrypted files. “Before we do anything, I’m going to make a backup. Just in case -A has gone all Mission Impossible with self-destructing in the mix.” Caleb setup a virtual machine which he would use to open the files, hopefully shielding his computer from any malicious intentions. —

heavy fatigue. He was just about to broach the subject again when the computer made a series of beeps and pulled his attention back to the monitor. The program completed its mission seemingly decrypting the files on the thumb drive. “We’ve got something.” He clicked over to the folder filled with —

Lack of sleep could wear down anyone leaving frayed nerves; Caleb knew this firsthand having experienced the cost of multiple sleepless nights in a row. He wanted to suggest Spencer take a nap while she was here, but from the sound of it, sleep wouldn’t easily find her even with what was probably —

future messages.” Caleb set Hanna’s phone down beside the laptop, and it immediately began to ring with Jordan’s number emblazoned across the screen, which he clearly saw even as he slid the device in Hanna’s direction. “Oh, I think your fiancé is trying to reach you.”

dancing around some unspoken issue, but they weren’t together anymore and the tense atmosphere meant it was safer not to comment. He settled his laptop bag on a nearby counter and went about preparing it to check Hanna’s phone. “I can install something on there, see if we can backtrace any —

fatigue or stress translating into moodiness. Before he could respond, Hanna mentioned the WiFi and appeared to accept help after all. This kind of temperament change would have resulted in comment from Caleb had they still been together. He would have asked what was really going on instead of —

was cool between the friends. All Caleb could hear in Hanna’s remark was resentment, and he couldn’t figure out why. She was engaged to another man. Maybe this was a hint about Spencer silently suffering and his failure to see she was troubled by -A once more? Or maybe it was the late hour and —

Instead of accepting his help, which Caleb thought was the point of this visit, Hanna brought up Spencer in what felt like a passive aggressive defensive posture. Confusion clouded his thoughts. Spencer said she talked to Hanna about what was happening between them, insinuating that everything —

Normally, Caleb wouldn’t turn down the offer of caffeine. Though not quite as avid a fan as Spencer, he enjoyed his daily fix(es) too. “I think I need to pass on the coffee or I’ll be up all night.” More than that, the energizing boost would only fuel his internal jitters after his meeting. —

continued running in an effort to decrypt what might be an elaborate trap. -A would never be careless enough to leave precious information around. “When was the last time you had real sleep, Spence?”

the thumb drive, and a cascade of questions came to mind. How exactly did Emily and Aria get these files? Did they simply stumble across the thumb drive? Had -A sent it in the form of a taunt? Were they breaking into -A’s latest lair in search of evidence? The computer hummed away as the program —

his attention to elicit too many emotions she wasn’t ready to face, his hand moved away as he sat back in the desk chair. Empathy remained etched in his features as he watched her, allowing space for Spencer to either open up or collect herself in whatever way she needed. His thoughts returned to —

The self-assured, quip-ready Spencer vanished before Caleb’s eyes, and some of her inner turmoil was laid bare. A warm hand shifted forward to rest comfortingly atop hers. “Hey.” He waited until their eyes met to continue. “We can avoid anything that’s too heavy right now, k?” Because it wasn’t —

bag slung over his shoulder. “Let me do some checking to see if any -A Easter eggs will lead us to something helpful, okay?”

professionalism took precedent over Caleb. He didn’t harbor any resentment. What happened was in the past, but a dull ache of nostalgia or proximity to old wounds reared up. Caleb indicated Hanna’s phone clasped in his left hand. “I have my laptop here.” He patted the messenger —

the truth.” He had no intention of leaving. Not without answers. Briefly, he recalled the last tense conversation they’d had before he boarded a plane for Europe. When Hanna chose her job over their relationship, Caleb was gutted, but their relationship eroded little by little even before that as —

Spencer—are they receiving them, too?” Familiar concerns crept up as Caleb assessed the situation. Could Spencer be concealing an issue like this? They’d all harbored secrets in the past, usually out of a misguided attempt to protect the people they cared about. “I’m going to help you, but I need —

The threat caused his brows to knit together, and Caleb went through the familiar steps to see if any easy clues remained in the message’s meta data. It came as no surprise that this new -A wasn’t sloppy. “Hanna, how long have you been getting messages like this? How about the others—Aria, Emily, —

the skepticism in his question. Finally, his eyes darted down to the phone in his grasp, pouring over the simple text message from -A.

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦?
𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶
𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.
𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢.
– 𝘈.𝘋.
—

Talk about a head spinning response as Hanna shifted between apparent evasiveness to acquiescing and offering her phone to Caleb and finally dismissing him with what sounded like a manufactured excuse. “Hanna, it’s the middle of the night. Do you really have somewhere to be?” His features matched —

was hard to imagine it dropped on the street. “And how long has this been going on, Spence? How long has -A been back?”

their playful dynamic, he needed some answers, not just to aid with the decryption, but to understand the whole situation. “This thumb drive, Spence, how did you get it?” The -A he knew, or at least prior occupants of that anonymous name, was not careless with possessions, so it —

mite infestation, underwatering, overwatering—you name it, he’d seen it. “I spare him the details of his fallen comrades.” When Spencer peered at the computer, lines of code scrolled endlessly across the screen. Caleb monitored the decryption algorithm before turning to her. As much as he enjoyed —