Xena''s POV


    That''s the million dor question. We''ll brainstorm over pizza tonight. Ryder sounded exhausted, his voice carrying the weight of everything we''d been through..


    “I don''t understand why we can''t find anything they own. Even underke names, they still need to transfer money somewhere. There has to be a money trail. Same PO. box or some bank. Has anyone thought about hacking into their phone systems?"


    "What?" Ryder poked his head out of the shower, water dipping from his hair as he stared at me.


    My heart raced as an idea formed in my mind. This could be the breakthrough we''d been searching for. "Well, all our banking is done over the phone and fax. There''s an app that can scan or photographny check to deposit it. I mean, I doubt Dad has stepped foot in a bank in decades. While we can''t track him, his phone will have all the numbers he''s called. We can figure out what bank he uses, what- buildings he calls, everything."


    "We''d have to infiltrate his tot to do that." Ryder said it like he was actually considering the idea.


    A thrill shot through me. "No. You can hack directly into whatever service provider


    he uses and get his records that way. Unless you want to tap his calls, in which case yes, you''d have to get into his territory."


    "There are only two major phonepanies here." Ryder said quietly


    "Yes, sir."


    Ryder shut off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist before walking into our bedroom. "So we could get someone to hack into the phonepany and get his information. Then we could search those phone numbers and find out where they lead.


    I felt a surge of satisfaction that he was actually taking my suggestion seriously. "Theoretically, yes. If the numbers aren''t registered, then you run into other problems, but yeah. However, if the samepany services the unregistered numbers, you can look up that number too and find out who it belongs to."


    "How do we find the right numbers for their territory?"


    "They probably have a dozen, just like us. But it depends on location. If they''re cell phones, we can find that number and locate where it''s positioned. Physical addresses would be in their system though, because that''s how they know which wires to use for connection." I shrugged, watching him get dressed. Apparently, I''d gotten his mind so active that he''d forgotten our flirtation.


    "Interesting." Ryder seemed lost in his own thoughts.


    "You can look further into inte and data. If they only pay for data and use inte to make their phones work, you can track that too. You''d be able to know which devices-"


    A knock at the door interrupted me. "Don''t even think about it." Ryder walked over to answer it.


    "I brought the pizza downstairs." William stood in the doorway, hands shoved in


    his pockets. He was only wearing athletic shorts, nothing else.


    I started walking toward the door. "I''m starving." My stomach growled on cue.


    "You have a rough day?" William looked at me, raising an eyebrow.


    "Just staring atputer screens all day." I shrugged as Ryder locked the door behind us. "I guess my mouth will have to wait," I


    said through om mid link.


    pyder looked at me, narrowing his eyes. All he got In response was smile,


    Sounds awful, William said with sarcasm in his voice.


    *I would have much rather been blowing shit up all day."


    "You could have been blowing me..." Ryder grumbled through the mid link..


    My cheeks burned as heat flooded through me. This man glways knew exactly how to make my insides twist.


    Ryder and I headed downstairs to the kitchen, pushing through the door to find warriors devouring pizza.


    Hurry up, Alpha! All the meat lovers pizzas are about to be gone!


    I really needed to learn these warriors'' names. How many times now had I spoken


    to them without having any clue what they were called? About twenty different men sat around the kitchen. Their ages ranged from what looked like eighteen to well into their fifties. However, every single one was muscled and looked dangerous


    "I do love meat," I said to Ryder through our mind link. He rolled his eyes at me as we walked toward the table with all the pizza. Ryder handed me a paper te before grabbing one for himself. Looking at my choices, I selected a slice of meat lovers and a slice of in pepperoni. Ryder took three slices of supreme. Following him, we made our way to the couch. Most of the guys had gathered around, but they''d left space on the sofa for the three of us.


    "What''s the n, Alpha?" a warrior asked.


    "Sorry, I don''t know everyone''s names. Could you tell me when you speak so I can get to know you all better?" I felt embarrassed having to ask this question.


    "Sorry. I guess we really haven''t had a chance to meet. I''m Novak." The warrior who''d just asked Ryder about the n answered. He was one of the younger


    ones.


    "Let him eat first, Novak." He shot Novak a disapproving look before turning to me. "I''m Jimmy." He was probably middle-aged.


    "It''s fine. Actually, Xena and I were just talking. She had an interesting idea." Ryder looked at me as I took a bite of pizza.


    "I mean, that was more of a sarcasticment, but sure, let''s call it an interesting idea." I couldn''t help myself. My smart-ass response earned several chuckles and smiles.


    "What''s the idea?" another warrior asked. I looked up to see who it was. "Bastian, Luna," he quickly answered without waiting for me


    to ask.


    "The thing is I swallowed my bite. "We don''t know what buildings he owns. Obviously, that''s been a difficult thing to figure out. So I suggested we tap his phone."


    "Tap his phone? That would mean we might have to get into his territory. That''s a terrible idea!" Novak sounded shocked.


    "Let her finish," Ryder said, looking at Novak with annoyance. "However, tapping his phone, while it would let us hear his conversations, wouldn''t actually find locations or any information. We need to hack into the phonepany, look up his address, and get into his n. You can get into that system and see every number every line has called. Same with the phonepany."


    *Well, damn." A warrior to my left sounded shocked. As soon as we made eye contact, he immediately gave his name. "Keir. He looked older, withpletely gray hair.


    "If he has data, we might be able to find where they''re actually located. We''d need someone with serious hacking skills. There would likely be tons of firewalls and other stuff." I took another bite of pizz.


    "Galen," several of the younger uys said simultaneously.


    Galen? Ryder looked around questioningly


    Chapter Comments