Her Perfect Game (2 page)

 

That was one of the many reasons she loved Win. He didn't ask questions; he just came. She got comfortable on her branch while she waited for him and developed a plan. She knew which men she'd need to take out first, and now that Win would have her back, she could attack, and he could swoop in and take their cache.

By the end of the night, she'd at least make a few other people secure, and that might be enough to make up for her evening.

Moments later, she saw the rustle of a bush and knew Win had arrived. He always knew where to find her. She launched her first arrow, nailing one soldier's shoulder. She took out two more before the others realized what was happening. Unfortunately, they figured out quickly where she was and came at her.

She jumped from her branch and led them away from Win's position. Without the rest of their guild, he didn't stand a chance against these monsters. She might be able to outrun them. It seemed like a good plan until one shot a rock and hit her in the head. A breath later they were on her, kicking her and throwing more stones. Her life energy was waning fast. She tried to scramble to her feet, but it was no use. They outnumbered her and had her surrounded.

Suddenly a flash fire burst around her and she sighed. If it had been the enemy, she'd be in flames. This was Win's doing. The group tossed a few more rocks in her direction, but gave up when they realized that it wasn't worth the health points to get past the fire.

 

 

 

 

Then the flames died and Win stood there staring at her, a stuffed bag flung over his shoulder. The mission was a success.

Come on.
He leaned over to pick her up.

In the quiet of her bedroom, Charlie laughed out loud. Win was a dwarf, a short, round guy about half her height. He was strong, though, and he hefted her and ran back to their cave.

Win almost never called her by name. It suddenly struck her as weird. She called him Win all the time, but he never called her Laura.

They didn't speak again until they were safe and Win healed her. He was always doing that, taking care of her. Not that she didn't do her share of saving his ass, but he was a healer and she was a warrior. They made a hell of a team.

When she'd regained her strength, she sat in front of the fire Win had built for them.

 

 

 

 

 

She winked at him.
It'll be fun.
Then she curled up to sleep. Win lay beside her and everything in her calmed.

If only she had that in real life.

F
or the rest of the weekend, Jonah Best was taunted by the words that seemed to have typed themselves on the screen to Charlie.
We'll see.
What the hell was he thinking? He couldn't go to the con to meet Charlie. She'd be pissed to find out who he was, and he'd lose this—her—again. In the game, they were perfect together. They fought side by side. When they disagreed, they fought each other, but the anger never lasted. They'd learned to listen to each other.

So different than three years ago. Back then, neither of them had listened.

He hadn't gone back to the game because he didn't want to hear to her harassment. And he couldn't commit to going to the con either. Then, early Monday morning, the decision was made for him.

His boss, Kyle Zimmerman, called him into his office.

“What's up?”

Zimmerman sat on the arm of the couch. The office wasn't like most. Instead of a monstrous desk and stiff chairs, Kyle's office was comfortable. Jonah flopped into one of the armchairs and settled in for what he thought would be a conversation about the next generation of games.

“Pack your bags. You're going back to your old stomping grounds.”

“What?”

“Chicago. Jaime's sick and can't go to the hackfest. And since the whole thing was your idea, it only makes sense for you to fill in.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea? I might know some of the competitors. Like you said, it's my old stomping grounds.” Jonah shifted in the chair, suddenly not as comfortable as he thought.

“You brought the idea of sponsorship to me. We both know that the winner of the competition isn't going to be the only talent there. Other sponsors will have representation on site. We can't afford to lose out.”

Jonah knew Kyle was right. This kind of competition brought out the best hackers. They could assess things that wouldn't show on a résumé or in transcripts. They needed people who could think on the fly to work in their newly expanded R & D department, and they always needed security people.

“Your flight is booked for Wednesday morning.”

Jonah had no idea what his expression said to Kyle, but it must not have looked good.

“Think of it as a free vacation. Spend some time with hackers. Check out the skimpy outfits on cosplayers. Have a few drinks. Have fun, but do what you have to do to recruit.”

While he knew many people would dress in costume to look like their favorite movie and gaming characters, it didn't do much for Jonah. “I'm not a recruiter, Kyle. I can pick out the best, but I don't know that I'll be able to convince anyone to join us.”

“Lay the groundwork. That's all we need you to do. We'll handle the rest.”

Jonah left Kyle's office and went back to his own work space. It wasn't an office or a cubicle. When Kyle designed the office, he wanted everyone to be able to interact, so the old loft space was left open. Drafting tables were shoved together for conference space, usually a team talking story lines over cheap Chinese food or pizza. Each team member had a computer station that they worked from, but they shared everything. It wasn't unusual to find one of his teammates at his station.

So he shouldn't have been surprised to see Tim sitting in his chair waiting for news of his meeting with Kyle. As much as Jonah enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of his job, sometimes it was inconvenient.

“So?”

Jonah shrugged. “I'm going to Chicago for the rest of the week, so you need to keep the team on track while I'm gone. We're still having problems with
Resskaar
. People are getting in and fucking with abilities. You need to find the issue and create a patch before there are bigger problems.”

Tim swiveled in the chair. “Bigger problems like what?”

“I don't want to know. That's my point. Right now, the few I've seen are guys figuring out how to steal the same thing more than once or restore their health without a healer.”

Tim stood and shrugged. “What's the big deal about that?”

“It's not a big deal yet. But players will start to notice, and if one guy makes changes, others will follow. It could fuck with the whole system.” Jonah took the seat Tim vacated.

“I know that, but that game's been out for a couple of years. Why waste the time and energy when we should be focusing on the new version?”

“Because we have loyal players on this version. We want them to follow us to the next. If they think the world is unstable because of a few hackers, we lose customers.” He spun in his chair and hoped Tim would take the hint.

“Whatever, man. We'll get in and figure it out.”

The hacking bothered Jonah more than it probably should. Every game had people who hacked to make modifications. But
Resskaar
was the first game Jonah had worked on and he had a soft spot for it. It wasn't a perfect game. It had plenty of issues and glitches that they'd had to fix over the years, but he loved the world and the premise of the story.

And this was the game that had led him back to Charlie.

Wednesday came too soon for Jonah. He felt like he was leaving too many things unfinished at work. He was only going to be gone for five days, but the hacking issues in
Resskaar
had doubled since the weekend. He'd checked forums to try to find who was spreading the information, but he'd had no luck. Now he had to trust his team to handle it.

As the plane touched down in Chicago, Jonah turned on his phone and checked for messages from Tim. Nothing. His fingers itched to be on a keyboard, searching for the problem. He'd spent most of the last two nights doing just that and he was exhausted. The idea of being smashed in throngs of people at a convention made him cringe. Even at his best, he didn't like crowds.

He followed the passengers off the plane as they moved like cattle; the bodies pressing against him tightened every muscle. The airport wasn't much better. After walking probably a mile and a half to get his suitcase and find a cab, he was finally on his way to the hotel. While the cabbie dodged traffic on the Kennedy, Jonah checked his e-mail as the downtown skyline came into view.

They passed the WinTrust building, and he tried to remember what mural had been there the last time he'd seen it. It was one of those things he had overlooked as he'd drawn near downtown while in college. He'd been aware of its presence, but had never paid attention to the art. This time, he found himself setting his phone down to look.

The John Hancock and the Willis Tower stood tall, their tops not visible because of cloud cover. Maybe this weekend, he'd take a trip to the sky deck at Willis Tower. The glass platform had just opened his last year here and he'd been too cool for touristy things. As they pulled into downtown, the cab became darker with the tall buildings concealing the meager sunlight. He'd arrived late enough in the day that they'd missed rush hour, but the traffic moved slowly through downtown.

Even with the sluggish traffic, Jonah realized he'd missed this city. He hadn't returned in the nearly three years since graduating. He'd almost forgotten what had drawn him here in the first place. The cab pulled up to the hotel. Jonah paid the fare and grabbed his luggage. After checking in, he dropped his bags in his room and doubled back downstairs to assess the conference room that would host the first challenge for the hackfest. The first two nights they booked large rooms because they expected a huge turnout, but only the best would move on to subsequent challenges, so the last night would be held in a smaller room. His biggest concern was making sure the power was adequate.

While waiting in the lobby to speak to one of the conference organizers, Jonah saw her. Even after three years, Charlie was unmistakable. Her messy blond hair was only partially hidden by the knit cap she wore. With her black backpack slung over one shoulder, she checked in.

He knew she saw him, felt it in the air, but she took her room key and walked to the conference registration table. He waited, but even after getting her registration material, she didn't turn to acknowledge him. And why should she? He'd left without a word.

He strode up behind her and called, “Charlie.”

There was a brief hitch in her stride before she turned, but when she faced him, her bright smile dazzled him. “Best! What the hell are you doing here?”

She threw her arms around him in a too-friendly hug. Best. He'd forgotten that she'd always called him by his last name. Except in bed. Then he was Jonah. He forced images of Charlie in his bed away and answered, “My company is sponsoring the hackfest.”

“Hackfest?”

She never did play dumb well. “Drop the act. Yes, it's supposed to be secret, but I have access to the registrants. I knew you'd be here.”

“Sponsorship, huh? So that means you're not competing?” Hopefulness filled her face.

“I haven't decided.” No, he hadn't planned to compete, but he liked to push her buttons.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?”

“We sponsored the prize money. A third party created the challenges and will determine final winners. I'm here to observe.”

Relief came into her eyes. “I guess I'll see you later then.”

“How about a drink?”

Her lips curved but didn't quite make a full smile. “We'll see. I have a busy week planned.”

He watched her walk away. He'd expected her to be pissed off, maybe a little hurt, but she showed no signs of either emotion. It had been almost three years. He supposed it was possible that his leaving didn't have nearly the same impact on her as it had him. For some reason, that bothered him more. He had five days to set things right with Charlie. He didn't know exactly what that would mean, but he knew that it was something that he'd been working toward for more than a year.

As he stood thinking about Charlie, one of the conference organizers caught his arm and offered to show him the room for tonight.

When the elevator doors closed, Charlie released a shuddering breath. Of all the things she'd hoped to experience this week, a reunion with Jonah Best didn't even come close to making the list. As soon as she'd entered the lobby, she noticed him. How could she not? For a few brief months three years ago, Jonah had been her friend, her lover, her mentor, her lifeline. No one had ever had such an impact on her.

Part of her was a little pissed that he still looked so good. After he'd left, she'd wanted to believe that he'd get old and ugly, as if three years would make that much of a difference. The other part of her couldn't control being attracted to him. He still affected her without even trying. She attempted to steady her breathing and lower her heart rate. What the hell was she going to do?

The hackfest was her best shot of doing something she loved with her life, but she couldn't go up against Jonah. First of all, he'd taught her most of what she knew about hacking. Second, he was a huge distraction. There was too much between them. Too much history, too much emotion, too much . . . God, she didn't even have the words to describe the tornado swirling in her chest.

By the time she got to her room, her hands were steady enough that she got the key card to work on the first try. She wanted to talk to someone about running into Jonah, but who? She'd never told anyone about her relationship with him. It had all happened so fast, and she was in such a bad place that she'd wanted to have him all to herself. Layla and Felicity might recognize the name, but they'd assume he was just some guy she'd fucked. He'd never been that.

There was only one person she could think of that she could vent to. After dumping her bag on the bed, she booted up her computer and logged on. Of course, it was still afternoon, so Win wouldn't be playing the game, but she could leave him a message. He'd left her one, early this morning.