Nicky Read online

  “Have you been online?”

  Nicky heard his father’s voice growl. “Yeah, I’ve been online.”

  “You were able to stop the hacker?”

  “Yeah, I stopped it.”

  “Can you backtrack this bastard and get me an address so I can dig this person out of the woodwork and stomp on his crooked neck?” Nikoli growled. “This has to stop.”

  “I’m working on it, dad,” Nicky assured his father. He was still staring at the message he’d printed off.

  “Well, work faster,” Nikoli demanded. “I want this to be done. I want to marry Bella and I’ll be damned if I will do that if there is a threat out there. I want no more problems with this.”

  “I’m working on it, dad,” Nicky stated again. “I may have gotten a new lead tonight. I want to follow up on it.”

  “Get it done then.” Nikoli hung up the phone.

  Nicky sat forward and began typing in commands on his computer. He was running a tracking program and he wanted to see what it could do. This was a new program he just put together. This hacker was good but now he had to prove he was just as good.

  He didn’t track the computer location but instead he was tracking the secret chatroom address. He wasn’t aware if this hacker knew this or not but he stayed on just long enough to get an address. The hacker had to know he would check this. Nicky wondered what he would when he went there.

  He knew better than to go alone, so he gave his father’s security team a call. Kirill answered the call and he agreed to go with him.

  Moments later, they met on the elevator and Kirill asked, “What is this about?”

  “I might have a lead on the hacker that’s been after my dad.” Nicky looked at the other man. “The weird thing about this whole thing is the hacker is asking for my help.”

  Kirill frowned and glared at Nicky. “What the hell?”

  Nicky nodded. “I know right?” He shrugged. “Not only that but he stayed in a secret chatroom just long enough for me to find him.” Shrugging he said, “Any hacker worth his salt would know exactly just how long to stay online and when to get off quickly. But this one stayed on long enough for me to determine his location.”

  “Do you think this might be a trap?”

  Nicky hesitated then shook his head. “For some reason... no, I don’t think that. He claims the money and personal information is safe but he also claims there is someone out there who hates my father. He called this man the boogey man.”

  Kirill raised a brow at him. “What does this mean, boogey man?” His Russian accent sounded thick.

  Nicky shrugged. “A boogey man is someone who haunts your dreams turning them into nightmares.”

  “And do you believe this hacker?”

  “I guess we’ll find out.” Nicky stated as they walked out the back door of the casino-hotel his dad owned.

  “Nikoli will be happy when and if we find the people hell bent on destroying him,” Kirill stated as he got into a company car. “This will send a message to anyone crazy enough to come after him.”

  Nicky was slightly disturbed by the other man’s statements. He didn’t know what he would find but whatever it was if what the hacker told him was true then he didn’t deserve what Nikoli had in mind for him.

  He pulled out a tracking unit and gave Kirill directions. When they arrived, the neighborhood was shrouded in darkness. No one was hanging out on the streets and no one could be seen in the windows watching the streets.

  Krill looked uneasy. “Bylad...We should have brought more men.”

  When they stepped out of the vehicle Nicky thought he heard the echo of a door slamming somewhere in the distance but other than that, he heard nothing as they walked toward the building in front of them.

  The steps leading up to the main door was broken and ragged and they had to step carefully in order to navigate them. When they reached the front door, Kirill pulled out his weapon. He went first and Nicky followed his signal.

  Going up to the third floor, he came to a stop outside the last door at the end of the hall.

  Kirill gripped his weapon tighter and motioned for Nicky to stand back. Then he raised his foot and kicked in the door.

  Nicky heard a scream then he saw Kirill drop to the ground. When he didn’t get up again, Nicky moved toward the door. He saw something flying toward his head and he ducked as he charged into the room. He grabbed something coming at him and tossed it to one side. Then he reached beyond the item and grabbed the person behind the weapon and tossed him over his shoulder to the floor. He heard another scream then he heard something hit the floor hard.

  He searched the wall next to the door for a light switch and when he found it, he snapped it on. Looking down at Kirill, he saw the other man coming around. Nicky turned to the only other person in the apartment and frowned.

  The other figure was small, not much bigger than a child. What amazed him was that he/she had long white hair and that his/her hair covered his/her face. Nicky went over toward the figure and brushed the hair out of his/her face.

  Nicky then sat back on his heels at the sight of her face.

  The figure on the floor was most defiantly a woman. Her skin was so pale she looked unearthly. Glancing down at her figure, he noted she was definitely female but her clothing was too big for her. She looked so different from most women.... he didn’t know what to make of her.

  He hoped she wasn’t hurt too badly but he could see old bruises on her pale skin.

  When Kirill joined him, he peered down at the girl and growled, “What the hell did she hit me with?”

  Nicky looked around the bare apartment and noticed the baseball bat in the corner where it ended up after he threw it out of the way. “A bat.” Looking around, the apartment he noticed there wasn’t any other furniture there either. The only thing he could see was a laptop.

  Suddenly, he felt eyes on him and he looked down at her.

  Her eyes were now open and she looked frightened. “You found me,” she whispered.

  Kirill growled and grabbed her upper arm to haul her to her feet.

  She screamed and fought to get away from him until Nicky stopped him. “Let her go,” Nicky commanded.

  Kirill snapped his head around to glare at him. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not, let her go,” Nicky insisted. He stared at the other man until he let go of her. The girl moved closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “We need some answers from this woman,” Kirill reminded him.

  “I know, but first let’s get her out of here and somewhere safe,” Nicky insisted.

  The girl slipped out of his protective hold, went over to where her laptop was, and picked it up off the floor. Turning to face them, she smiled hesitantly. “Please can we go? We might not have too much time.”

  “Much time for what?” Kirill asked angrily.

  “Can we just go?” she begged. “I promise I’ll explain everything but just not here.”

  Nicky wrapped his arm around her waist to lead their way out of the apartment and down to the car. As soon as he reached the front door, he peeked around at the neighborhood before he moved down to the vehicle. He opened the back door and the girl slipped in staying lower than the seat. He got in behind her.

  Kirill got in the front seat then checked and rechecked the street before he took off. Driving back to the casino, he took the long way in case there was someone following them but Kirill didn’t see anyone behind them.

  He went to the underground entrance before he stopped the vehicle and when they all exited the car, Nicky shielded the girl all the way to his rooms. Kirill didn’t seem like this, but Nicky could give a shit about what the man liked. Nicky opened the door to his rooms and motioned for her to go inside.

  Kirill followed him and stood guard.

  Nicky led her over to the sofa and motioned for her to sit down.

  She sat there holding her laptop against her chest. She looked around the apartmen
t and her eyes seemed strained. Looking over at Nicky she said, “What’s going to happen to me now?”

  “That depends on what you can tell us,” Nicky answered. “My name is Nicky Silvanic. You have been hacking into my father’s accounts and have taken some personal information that could hurt his business relationships with several vendors in the city.”

  She shook her head. “I took that stuff yes, I can’t deny it but the information and the money are completely safe.”

  “Who are you?” Kirill demanded. “And how do we know it wasn’t you who broke into Nikoli’s files? You are a hacker and very good at what you do.”

  She turned her head and stared at him. “My name is Serenity.”

  Kirill could barely look at her. He found her coloring strange and more than a little unsettling. With her pale white skin, hair and her light grey tinted eyes, she did indeed look strange.

  Serenity had seen this look in the eyes of other people for all of her life. It still hurt today as much as it had when she was growing up.

  She turned back to Nicky. Staring at a point somewhere mid-chest, she began to speak, “Yes, I hacked Nikoli Silvanic’s account but not because I wanted to. Someone else demanded that I do this.” She raised her eyes briefly to look at Nicky. Lowering her eyes again, she told them both, “I make a living online. That’s how I earn my living, but I never hacked into people’s personal accounts, or at least I never did until now.”

  “Why did you chose my father to hack?” Nicky asked.

  “I didn’t chose him, this man Z did.”

  “Z? Who is this man Z?’ Kirill asked.

  Serenity shrugged. “I don’t know him by name only the letter. He’s not a very nice man and I think he really hates the Nikoli guy.”

  “What makes you say that?” Nicky wanted to know.

  Serenity shuddered. “Because every time he speaks of him, he gets a certain look in his eyes. They grow cold and he looks down at his left hand. He’s missing two fingers on his left hand. His whole demeanor changes when he talks about this Nikoli.”

  “What else do you know about this guy?” Nicky asked.

  She raised her hand to touch her bruised face. “I know if I would have stayed with him, he would have killed me,” she whispered. “I saw him murder a man seven years ago. He shot him in the woods and then when he was still alive, he doused him in liquor and set the man on fire. Then he just stood there and watched him burn.” She shuddered. “I was horrible.”

  Nicky frowned. “You must have been little more than a child back then.”

  “I was fourteen at the time,” she told them quietly.

  “How did this man find you and convince you to help him?” Kirill asked.

  Serenity shrugged. “I have no idea. I had all my safety measures in place and didn’t notice any cracks in my firewalls. I hadn’t been outside in days when all of a sudden, he kicked in my door one night. He told me he wanted me to hunt someone down and if I refused his request, I would regret it. He looked at me and told me freaks like myself don’t deserve to live anyway and if I didn’t do what he said he would do the world a favor and take me out of it.”

  Nicky grew enraged at what she was telling them. If he wasn’t wrong, she suffered from a condition related to Albinism. She wasn’t a freak at all. All his life, he’d met different sorts of people, some good, some bad and all of them had their own story to tell. Raven had taught him how to tell the true stories from the sob stories of someone just looking for a hand out.

  He didn’t think Serenity was one just looking for a hand out. She could have hacked into anyone’s account she wanted to and got whatever they had and moved on, but that wasn’t what she did. She said she worked online to earn her bread and butter and for some reason that story rang true. “What else did this man have you do?”

  “He had me search for a man named Nikoli Gregor Silvanic. Then he had me research what the man was and what he was doing. He was very happy to discover he was in business right here in New York. He told me he wanted to destroy this man Nikoli. When I asked him why, he hit me and said he had his own reasons and he didn’t have to share with me the why. He had me begin hacking his accounts and moving the money around until it was lost. He didn’t want to know where it went, only that it wasn’t accessible to Nikoli. I did as he asked but I know where the money is and I can return it to him anytime.”

  “And his other accounts? His business accounts?” Kirill demanded. “All his personal information? Is that locked away somewhere or is it out there for everyone to see?”

  Serenity stared at the other man. “Its safe. Z didn’t even want to see it. He could tell Mr. Silvanic was concerned. I don’t know how but I heard him speaking to someone close to Nikoli and he was told Nikoli was worried.”

  Kirill glanced at Nicky and Nicky looked back worried. If this was true, then his father had a traitor in his midst. “You never heard a name of the one he was speaking to? The one who was close to Nikoli?” Kirill asked.

  Serenity shook her head. “No, I never heard a name. He kept me locked in a room the whole time I was there. I managed to escape the first time. I was gone for three days when he found me. He dragged me back.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she remembered the first time he brought her back.

  “What did he do to you?” Nicky barked out the question.

  Serenity came out of her fog to give him only part of the answer, “He kept me chained to the wall after that. He wasn’t very nice but I survived. He held me in that room for three months. When he took me out of that room, he gave me a small amount of freedom but I always had someone with me. It took another month and a half before he slipped up again. He had some crisis come up and he took the man watching me with him. He thought he locked the door but he forgot the back door was open. I took my computer and walked out. That was a week ago.” She lifted her eyes and looked away. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks and her lips trembled. “He found me two days later.”

  “He hurt you again, didn’t he?” Nicky lifted his hand to the bruises on her cheek.

  “We fought,” she whispered. “But I was ready for him this time. He got a few hits in but I’d found a bat some kids had left behind in the ball park. He usually brings someone to cover his back but that day he was alone. I got to the bat and I used it. I hit him four times before he went down. I didn’t even hesitate. I just grabbed my computer and ran for my life.” She paused and looked down at her hands. Lifting them off her lap she noted they were shaking. “There was so much blood on my skin I ran out the back way. I didn’t even put my shoes on. Shoes didn’t matter, not then, all that mattered was finding a place to be safe. I don’t know how bad I hurt him, all I knew was that my life was worth something. I am worth something. I’ve been running and hiding from people all my life. Most people treat me like I’m a freak but I’m not a freak.”

  Nicky’s apartment door opened suddenly and Nikoli walked in.

  Nicky took one look at his father and knew immediately the other man was beyond pissed. He got to his feet as Nikoli walked over to stand in front of Serenity. He looked down at the young girl sitting on the sofa and the most horrified look washed over his face.

  Nicky just stood there stunned.

  Nikoli finally looked away from what he considered an anomaly of nature.

  “Dad...”

  Nikoli held up his hand to stop his son. Then he looked over at Kirill. “Take her down to the security office and put her in cell. I want to question her about her illegal activities.”

  Kirill got to his feet and moved around Nicky to get to Serenity.

  “You will not touch her!” Nicky growled as he moved to stand in front of her, blocking Kirill and his father access to her.

  “You are my son first and foremost but in this you have no say,” Nikoli warned him. “This... whatever she is, is a freak and a thief. She will be dealt with how I say and when I say. We cannot let this situation go, if we do, then anyone can try what she has done. If we stop
now, the world will think the Bratva is weak. I cannot, will not set that precedent. ” He paused to look at his son. “Now move.”

  Nicky glared at his father. “I will not step aside and allow you to hurt her. She came to us for help and I, for one, am going to help her.”

  Nikoli stepped forward and got right up in Nicky face. “Do not defy me in this matter son. This is not between you and I, but between her and I. Learn your place.”

  Nicky stumbled back a step in shock. There was a certain coldness in his father’s eyes just then. A coldness he’d never seen before and one he never wanted to see again.

  Kirill stepped around him and grabbed Serenity by the arm hauling her up to her feet.

  She struggled and tried to get away but he wouldn’t let her go. She screamed and fought back but he dragged her out of the apartment anyway.

  Nicky started after her but Nikoli pushed him back. “You will have nothing more to do with this or with her, do you understand me?”

  “If you hurt her, we’re finished,” Nicky finally told him. His eyes reflected his father’s at that moment, and both were cold and uncaring.

  “It is better this way son. You will thank me in the long run.” Nikoli turned and walked out leaving his son staring at him in a fury he’d never felt before.

  Chapter Three

  Nicky was furious at his father. He’d be damned if he would just step aside and let this happen. Serenity came to them asking for help and his father was going to use her to send a message to the rest of the world? Not fucking likely. Not on his watch.

  Growing up the way he did, he had learned to accept just about anybody. Raven had taught him not everyone was the same and you shouldn’t judge what you don’t know. She’d also taught him to judge a person by their actions, not their appearance. A man, or a woman’s actions could tell you what was in their heart.

  Serenity was different from most people but she had a good heart. Her words about her treatment at this monster Z’s hands nearly broke his heart. He felt they had even more in common from what she told him about the way she was raised.