Heart-Shaped Hack(87)

“Really?” Ian said.

“Yes. People get married here all the time. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“We cannot elope,” Kate said once the hostess had walked away. “Underneath my mother’s sweet and mild-mannered exterior lies a woman hell-bent on immersing herself in the planning of her only daughter’s wedding. She’s been looking forward to it my whole life. She won’t admit it, but when I broke up with Stuart she mourned the loss of that ceremony. She hasn’t been able to scratch her itch with Chad because Kristin’s mom is just as cuckoo about weddings as she is. If she doesn’t get the chance to make her wedding fantasies come true with me, she’ll come unglued and then my dad will kill you for real.”

“Oh, I know all about your mother’s wedding obsession. After she helped me with your ring, we sat on the couch with my laptop for hours while we were waiting for you. She showed me flowers and dresses, we looked at tuxedos and wedding cakes. I know we can’t elope. But what about inviting everyone to come here? It shouldn’t be hard to plan, especially with your mom’s help.”

“That’s actually a really good idea.”

“Do you think she’ll be upset that we can’t have a large wedding?” Ian said. They’d already discussed the fact that only Kate’s parents and Chad and Kristin could know what had happened with Ian.

“She’ll be fine. And considering we’ll have to pull it together quickly, she’ll have her work cut out for her.”

“What about you? What do you want?”

“As long as my immediate family is here and you’re waiting for me at the end of the aisle, that’s all I care about. Maybe everyone could spend some time with us on the island before the wedding. You could meet Chad and Kristin. Just a heads-up: my brother thinks you’re crazy.”

“I’ll win him over. You’ll see. I’d want to invite Phillip and Susan too.”

“Of course,” Kate said. “Maybe we could also invite your mom.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

But Kate didn’t think he would.



Diane had thrown herself headlong into planning the wedding, and she’d already made a trip down to meet with the wedding planner and go over things with Kate. They’d decided to get married at the inn as their hostess had suggested. It was such a small affair that everything came together easily, which was exactly the way they wanted it. Kate bought a dress online, which had almost sent her mother over the edge, but once Diane saw a picture of it she calmed down considerably. The ivory bias-cut silk sheath with narrow straps was simple and understated and would look beautiful on Kate.

“Has Ian seen the dress?” her mother asked one day when they spoke on the phone.

“No. I told him he had to wait until our wedding day. He did ask about my hair. I said I was going to wear it up and attach the veil underneath. I have no idea why he wanted to know.”

“I know why,” Diane said.

“You do? Tell me.”

“Absolutely not. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”

“You’re just giddy about it, aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it,” Diane said. “You’re going to be so surprised.”



“What do you feel like doing today?” Ian asked one morning a week before the wedding. They had walked to the Coffeehouse to pick up breakfast and were now sitting in the Adirondack chairs on the patio, drinking coffee and eating, the air around them growing steamy and humid. “Beach day at Nags Head? Lunch in Rodanthe?”

“It’s supposed to storm later, so I vote Rodanthe,” Kate said. “We can have lunch at Good Winds and then come back here and crawl into bed while it rains.”

“I like the way you think.”

“Heard from Phillip lately?” Kate asked, taking a drink of her coffee.

“I actually got a call from him this morning while you were on your walk. He said he was losing hair at an alarming rate and that what was left was turning white. He sounded worried.”

“He should be basking in the glow of a job well done now that the forum’s been shut down.”

“Phillip doesn’t bask. Despite the stress, he’s not happy unless he has a new problem to solve.”

The carding ring had been fully dismantled, but the arrests had all been carried out after Ian had been doxed, leaving him to wonder if it was actually a carder who’d discovered his identity. He’d admitted to Kate that the possibility of it being someone with a different motive worried him immensely.

“What’s got him so rattled?” Kate asked.

“Hacktivists. They’ll rattle anyone, even Phillip.”

“Hacktivists? Hackers who are activists?” Kate knew the combination of those two words couldn’t be a good thing.

“That’s exactly what it means. They’re socially and politically motivated. Largely nonviolent, but they care deeply about their agenda and will pursue it at any cost. It’s keeping Phillip awake at night.”

“Are they really that bad?”

“They make the carders look like Boy Scouts. But unlike cyberthieves, they’re not profit oriented, which makes them much harder to stop. They just want to be heard.”

“So if they don’t steal, what do they do?”