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The teenage boy stands up, and I can see he’s terrified. “How old are you?” I ask him.
“Fi… fi… fifteen,” he stutters.
“Fuck, man.” I spit. “How the hell did you kids end up here?”
“My… our…” the teenager stammers. “Mo… moth… mother… left us.” He looks at Tilly. “W..w..we used to l..li…live next d…door to Tilly.”
“What’s your name, kid?”
“T… T… Tommy, s… s… sir,” he answers.
“Are the other two your brothers?” I nod toward the other two boys, still kneeling on the floor.
“Yes.” Tommy nods. “Co… Co… Cody and Cane—twins.”
“You two, stand up.” My command booms through the warehouse, and I turn back to Tommy. “How old are they?”
“F… f… fou… fourteen,” Tommy stutters.
“Where is your father?” My eyes narrow at him.
“He left when Cane and I were little,” Cody sneers. “My mother’s a crack whore who chased him away.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Family Times,” James says sarcastically. “But we’d better move. All the equipment is packed.”
“What about us?” Tilly’s eyes narrow on me.
“I guess you’re coming with me,” I tell her and look at Gunther. “Take the kids and get them in the car.”
“Yes, boss,” Gunther nods.
“Go with Gunther, and don’t try anything, Tilly,” I warn her. “I’d hate to have to go against my policy of not hurting kids. And I’d hate Tessa hating me for hurting her sister.”
She nods and follows the boys and Gunther.
“What are you going to do with them?” James asks me. “Where are you going to put them all in your penthouse?”
“I’ll figure that out along the way.” My brow furrows, and I shake my head. “Who the fuck sells their kids to pay off their debts?”
“Those four aren’t just any kids,” James tells me. “They’re prodigies, each with a reputation in the hacking world.”
I look at him, intrigued. “Go on.”
“Tilly is GhostByte, already a renowned hacker at sixteen. She’s been hacking into high-profile systems since she was ten, including corporate servers, government databases, and even some high-security networks. She’s known for leaving a ghostly signature, hence the name.”
“What about the boys?”
“As far as I can tell, Tommy goes by PhantomSnare. He’s an expert in trapping and rerouting security protocols, making him invaluable for breaking into well-guarded systems. He’s been doing this since he was twelve.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And the twins?”
“Cody and Cane, they’re known as CrypticCode and ShadowShift. Cody specializes in cryptography and can crack any code thrown his way. Cane is a master at covering tracks and creating digital misdirection. They’ve been in the game since they were eleven.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “And what about the youngest? Are you going to tell me that cute little blond angel is some devilish genius waiting to take over the world, too?”
James laughs. “I don’t know. I only picked up these four signatures.” His brow furrows. “Seems they’re the ones that got into the Velvet Transport systems twelve weeks ago.”
“Shit, is that how long they’ve been holed up here?”
