Page 18 of Lennox Lane

Unknown: I know you saw my last text. You can’t ignore me forever. We need to talk.

A second message arrived.

Unknown: Meet me, or I start telling people what you used to do after midnight.

Nova’s voice lowered, asking, “Who is that?”

Lane locked her phone and set it face down, her mood shifting instantly as she replied, “It’s nothing.”

Cadence’s eyes said she knew Lane was lying, and when she reached for her drink with a shaky hand, it confirmed Lane wasn’t okay. Lane closed her eyes, hating to open this door. Lane hated how quickly the past could drag itself into a sunny afternoon like an entrée with a side of childhood trauma, but this was Cadence and Nova; she could trust them with her pain.

“My mother has been reaching out,” she said.

Cadence and Nova’s expressions changed immediately. There was a mixture of concern and sympathy because while they didn’t know the whole story, they knew enough.

“What does she want?” Cadence asked.

If I had to guess, I’d say money, my attention, and access to try and make my life miserable as hers,” Lane answered before continuing, “and when I say no, she brings up my past as a threat.”

Lane fully expected them to ask for more details, but the questions never came. Instead, they reminded Lane that it was okay not to be okay. Lane had her head down, shying away from looking at her friends, but when she looked, there was no judgment in their faces, only anger on Lane’s behalf. Feeling their love for her even without words spoken, Lane was able to open up.

“When I left home, I had nowhere to go,” Lane said. “I was still in school, and working at the library wasn’t enough, so I got fake documents and danced school nights and weekends. I was a midnight ballerina and had to survive.”

Nova’s grip tightened around her napkin, hearing the pain in her voice. They reassured her that she had done what she had to do as a child whose mother had failed her.

“Jeanette knows enough. Now she’s threatening to leak it,” Lane spoke, disappointed.

“That evil bitch would only let the world know how awful of a mother she was,” Cadence said angrily.

Nova agreed with Cadence, adding that she hoped Laney’s mother stepped on Legos every day for the rest of her life. A giggle escaped Lane’s mouth at what Nova had just said, and this is why she loved her girls the way she did. Not only were they able to empathize and be angry on her behalf, but they also knew how to make her smile.

“She keeps demanding a meeting, like blackmail is encouragement,” Lane added.

“You should tell Lennox,” Cadence suggested.

“Absolutely not,” she replied, staring at them incredulously.

Cadence pressed her lips together, but Nova failed first as both women started laughing.

Lane blinked. “I just confessed to being blackmailed, and y’all are laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” Nova said. “It’s not funny.”

“It really isn’t,” Cadence agreed.

“Then what’s so funny?” Lane asked again.

“Because you asked why you should tell Lennox, and I just realized that you don’t know he’s one of the best hackers and cyber analysts in the world,” Cadence informed Lane.

Lane blinked in confusion.

“He’s who the government calls when their cyber folks can't figure something out,” Cadence added. “He handles cyber threats, security sweeps, encrypted communications, all of it.”

“He found the burner account of a guy harassing me in under fifteen minutes,” Nova said.

Lane stared before asking, “And nobody thought to mention Lennox was Batman with Wi-Fi?”

“You spent a whole vacation letting him blow your back out; we thought you knew,” Cadence joked.