Heart-Shaped Hack(79)

“It’s a lot to consider,” she said.

“I understand. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m in the middle of the rather delicate process of sorting out an insurance claim on a seven-million-dollar car owned by a man who’s not actually dead. The red tape is ridiculous.”

Kate nearly dropped her coffee cup, and it clattered onto its saucer. “The Shelby was real?”

“Oh,” Phillip said, looking alarmed. “I thought you knew.”

“I assumed it was a replica. I didn’t know his company brought in that kind of money.”

“His company was extremely profitable, but Ian’s also very technically gifted. I don’t know of many hackers who can code like he can. When he was in college, he did a lot of the early programming for a social network start-up. There may be a bit of rivalry between MIT and Harvard, but if I told you the names of some of his friends, you’d recognize them. Those Cambridge boys don’t mind helping each other out. But Ian had no interest in being a part of someone else’s company, so he accepted a small stake in lieu of any named credit or involvement. That company went on to be worth billions.”

“I told him once that he used his money to excuse his behavior. He agreed and said there weren’t many problems his money couldn’t solve.”

Phillip smiled, looking thoughtful. “I think he might have been wrong about that, Kate.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Kate cleared the coffee cups from the table and took them into the kitchen. Susan was unpacking her seeds and bulbs.

“Did you find everything you needed at the garden center?” Kate asked.

“Yes. It’s a little early yet, but I’m really looking forward to planting everything.”

“Do you know where Ian is?”

“I think he’s out front.”

She found him on the porch. “Hi,” she said, sitting down in the empty chair next to him.

“Hi.”

“That was nice of you to help Susan.”

He smiled. “It’s nothing compared to when she’ll want me to unload an SUV full of forty-pound bags of dirt. That’ll be next.”

“Phillip said the plane will be ready to take me home soon.”

“Okay.”

“It’s not… it’s not your plane, is it?”

“No. But I paid the charter fee. The FBI puts up with a lot from me, but I don’t expect them to fly in my girlfriend.”

He reached for her hand. “Right before you came out here, I was thinking about when I saw you on TV. I told you that the Shelby had broken down, and when I went to pick her up, I was waiting in the lobby of this repair shop. They had a TV mounted in the corner. I was looking right at it when you started talking, and there was something about you that absolutely captivated me. The first thing I noticed was how beautiful you were, and the second was that you seemed so down-to-earth and so real. You were asking for money, but not for yourself. I wanted to know if your passion was genuine and if you were really as kind as you appeared. When I got back to the hotel I was staying at until I could move into my apartment, I pulled up the clip online and watched it an embarrassing number of times. When I was in Canada, I’d started feeling something that I thought was restlessness, like I wanted to get away. But after seeing you on TV, I realized that what I was feeling wasn’t restlessness at all. It was loneliness. I don’t remember ever feeling that way in my twenties, so maybe it was because I was getting older. I wondered how it would feel to have a girl like you by my side. Someone who was beautiful and selfless and wanted to help people the way I did. I thought maybe if I met you in person I’d feel differently. Maybe you’d be dull or standoffish or even rude. But then you came crashing into me on that sidewalk and you were none of those things. I told myself, ‘Do not drag her into your f*cked-up world,’ and then I did it anyway. I pushed every limit you had, and every time you gave me an inch I turned around and took a mile because I knew there weren’t very many women out there who would be able to handle me. But you could. And even after all that you still saw the good in me. And you still wanted to be with me. You made it so damn easy for me to love you, and just as easy for me to like you. You just kept doing everything right.” He turned to look at her. “Have you stopped loving me?” His voice was low and raw.

“No.” She looked into his eyes as the tears ran down her face. “But maybe I’m not cut out for this after all,” she whispered.

“Maybe you’re not.” His eyes were dry, but she had never seen such sadness in them.

Phillip opened the door and stepped onto the porch. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’d better get going.”

At the airport, when the three of them got out of the car, Phillip turned to her and said, “Please be aware of your surroundings at home, Kate. If they’re still watching and you’re seen smiling or laughing, it could undo everything we’ve done.”

Kate didn’t think she’d be doing much of either, but she said, “I’ll be careful.”

Phillip nodded and then reached out and shook her hand before getting back into the car.

Ian walked Kate onto the tarmac, and they stopped at the foot of the stairs. He pulled a phone from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. “If there’s anything you need or anything I can do, I want you to call me. Okay?”