the song for this chapter is "Trouble's Coming," by Royal Blood :)
***********
If I could, you don't think I would pretend
Trouble's coming but I still don't know when
That's the voice that I can hear in my head
I hear it over and over again
[Chorus]
I hear trouble coming, I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming over and over again
I hear trouble coming, I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming over and over again
***********
Tate
I handed Harry his dad's journal which he quickly placed in his lap, looking back over at me.
I let out a deep breath. "Okay, I'll unlock mine, you unlock yours, and then we will open them together, okay?" I asked.
"Okay, baby," he smiled.
I shifted my attention back down to the old and worn down leather journal sitting in my lap. It was kind of funny, in a not so funny way, that one of the most significant things I had from my father, was the same thing that had completely flipped my life upside down.
Although I guess it wasn't all bad, considering the man sitting next to me in the car.
And besides, I had a feeling that this would always be my fate, and that maybe Harry was always a part of my fate as well.
I took the key and wiggled it into the bottom of the padlock, taking a deep breath, letting it out, and then finally, twisting the key, and watching the lock spring open.
I looked up at Harry with wide eyes, as the moment we had been waiting for was so close to coming to pass.
Reaching my hand over the console, I dropped the key into his palm.
He quickly flipped the lock open, and then placed the key back in the cupholder, looking over at me.
"Ready?" He asked, a faint grin on his face.
I gave him a hesitant smile as I answered. "As I'll ever be."
We both glanced back down to the journals, and in perfect sync, slowly pulled the cover open.
I stared at the journal with a puzzled expression on my face, and when I looked up at Harry, he was doing the same.
"The first page of mine has a letter taped onto it, but it's torn in half," I spoke, and I watched as he sighed in relief.
Without saying anything, he simply peeled off a similar half-page out of his dad's journal and handed it over to me.
I took it from him and lined it up to the page in my book, relieved as it was a perfect match.
"You read it," I instructed, placing the journal carefully on the console between us.
He picked up the book and leaned back further in his seat, and opened his mouth to speak.
"To whom it may concern,
If the person who is reading this is who we think it is, then welcome. I hope it took you quite a while to put the pieces together (literally).
If it is you, a man comparable only to the devil himself, then welcome, you worthless son of a bitch. Welcome to your own personal hell.
You are the lowest of the lows. When you sought out our help for this software, you lead us to believe it would be used for good, not evil. We trusted you, we cared about you.
Perhaps during the time that it took you to finally track the journals and the key down, you have become a better person, although that seems highly unlikely.
We would have paid big money to see the look on your face after we left, as you sat there, thinking that you had won, only to find that we had locked you out of the very thing you sought to create.
Did you think we were that ignorant? Did you really think that we would allow you to wreak such havoc on the world so that you could seek out your own personal gain?
Lucky for us, you were smart, but we were smarter.
I suppose you thought that once you found these journals, that everything else would simply fall into place, and you would have your victory.
Think again, you pitiful excuse of a man.
No technology as powerful as the one you tricked us into creating should come easily, as you should have learned by now.
You are not done.
The passwords aren't here.
The passwords are everywhere.
It's up to you and your pea-sized brain to figure out the rest, although hopefully, you will be six feet under before you get the chance.
Consider this our final parting gift, you always were a fan of playing games and tricks on other people, so we simply decided to return the favor.
But if by chance, this is not the man we think it is. If perhaps, you have no idea what we are talking about at all, then you are the one who needs to listen to us the most.
No amount of wealth is worth what this software is capable of.
Greed is the silent killer, and we can assure you, that it will sink its teeth into you just as it does with all of its other victims.
Please, do the right thing.
Keep this from the world.
We have done the best that can
Sincerely, or not so sincerely,
Desmond Styles and Christopher Bridges."
Harry and I looked up at each other, both of our jaws hanging open.
Harry was the first to break the silence.
"Well, shit. I never thought that these would be the first words I would read from my father," he laughed, and I couldn't help but join him.
"Yeah, pretty touching, wasn't it?" I replied sarcastically, placing my hand over my heart.
Harry scooted the journal over with his elbow so that he could prop his face up with his hand, leaning closer to me slightly and drumming his ring adorned fingers against his lips, seeming to be in deep thought.
"What's going through your head right now?" I laughed nervously, not being able to read his expression at the moment.
He paused his fingers on his lips, staying in that position, the only things moving were his eyes as they shifted over to mine.
Finally, he moved his fingers to the side of his face, continuing to rest his chin in his palm.
"Well, in case our dads didn't make it abundantly clear, this software should not be used. Not by whoever the hell this dick is that they are talking about in the letter, not by Quinton, not by Grayson, not by Whit, not even by us," he replied.
"I completely agree. If they were willing to put in these numerous and extensive measures to keep people out of it, we have to make sure it stays that way. But how? You guys and Grayson's team are running out of time, they're going to want answers, Harry. I know that you look at Whit like a father figure, but do you really think he'd be willing to just give all of this up?" I questioned.
Harry pressed his lips together and let out a breath through his nose. "You're right. I don't think he would give it up. While he has been like a father to me all these years, he never has been one to back down from an opportunity like this. But we can't just give this information to them, I mean, we don't even have all of the answers yet!" He laughed softly, although the frustration was evident in his tone.
But then, his expression lit up, and a mischievous smirk began to appear on his lips.
"We don't have all the answers yet, but they don't know that."
I furrowed my brows at him in confusion. "What are you getting at, Harry? What's with the whole 'evil mastermind' look you have going on there?" I asked, waving my hand around gesturing at his face.
"Think about it, Tate. Whit and Grayson have been pretty hands-off the whole time we have been gathering what we need to access the software. I mean, I haven't even told Will about my dad being as involved as he is yet! I told Abel about it the night after we found the first half of the key, and I told Niall the night before we broke into your uncle's house. I think that the only thing Will even knows about is the photograph of our dad's in your uncle's house. I've just been keeping them up to date on the bare minimum," he began to explain.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Go on."
"When I went to speak to Whit yesterday, I never told him that what we were going to get was my dad's journal. I just told him we were going to get the next, and hopefully, the last thing that we needed in order to get the software up and running. So, as far as he knows, this could be the last thing," he continued, a grin growing on his face as he spoke.
I widened my eyes as I slowly began to understand what he was hinting at. "Harry, I think I know what you're suggesting. It's dangerous, it could be way too risky," I warned.
Harry let out a sigh of frustration. "Tate, this whole thing has been risky, right from the start! Why should we start playing it safe now?"
I reached up and rubbed my temples to ease some of the tension that was gradually beginning to build as the conversation went on. "Okay, but how do you even suggest we do this?"
"Okay, so, the original plan was that we had two months to get this software up and running. Whit wanted us to test it out on a few smaller targets first, just to make sure it was working, and then, when Grayson went to go meet with Quinton to return the money that he stole from him, our team was going to implement the software into Quinton's organization," he began, checking to see if I was following, and I nodded for him to continue.
"But the thing is, no one knows what this software looks like when it's up and running, It's never been done before. And men like Whit and Grayson hardly look into the behind the scenes of their organizations. At the end of the day, all they care about is winning, and making money. So, in all technicality, we could have Abel configure another hacking software, he could change it up, add some new bells and whistles to it, make it look super high tech. He could do some small tests and show completion statuses, he could develop fake agnostics, and show them to Whit. Whit is about as gifted in the world of technology as a middle schooler in their first typing class. He won't know the difference," he explained, and I widened my eyes at his words.
Harry caught his breath for a second but quickly began speaking again.
"Whit isn't gonna want any of Grayson's tech guys near this shit. A while back, it turns out one of Grayson's top tech guys was a rat, so Whit doesn't trust any of them now. Which means the only person who has full control over the software is Abel."
A small grin appeared on my face at his words. "Meaning that the software is whatever Abel claims it is."
Harry smiled at me and nodded. "Exactly. We could have Abel configure a fake software, and no one will question him, because he's fucking Abel. We can work on it for the next week or so, and then present it to Whit. He will be so thrilled that we finished almost two weeks ahead of schedule, he will be too distracted to look at anything twice. We will go about the mission just as we planned to, implement the fake software, and then you and I can get the fuck out of here."
My smile faltered at his words. "Harry, once we do that, we are going to have some of the most powerful people on the planet coming after us. I mean, we don't even know where the fuck these journals are going to take us," I spoke quietly.
Harry reached across the console and grabbed one of my hands, bringing it to his lips to press a quick kiss to it, before beginning to run his thumb across my knuckles.
"I know baby, it will be just you and me. It won't be easy, I know. And if you don't want to, I understand. I just...I honestly think that giving anyone this information would cost even more than it would if we ran," he replied.
I let out a sigh. I knew he was right, I was just fucking terrified of what was going to happen.
"No, you're right. It's our best, and quite frankly our only option. Do you think Abel will agree to it though? And I don't want him to get hurt..." I trailed off, the new and horrifying possibility causing my stomach to twist around inside me.
"Yes, I think he will agree to it. Abel may be involved with the wrong guys, but he will always be the one to do the right thing. And I won't let that happen. I will set up some sort of insurance policy so that once everything goes to shit, the only person to direct the blame at will be me. I will make sure that it looks like Abel had absolutely nothing to do with it," he assured me, and I knew that he meant everything he said, which managed to calm my nerves a little bit.
"So, what do we do right now? And what are we going to do about the journals? About the software? Do we just act like it never happened and go about our lives?" I asked him, doing my best to push away the nagging thoughts in my mind so that I could fully surrender to the absolutely batshit crazy idea I had just given in to.
"I think that we should continue to follow the clues in the journals," he replied quickly, causing my jaw to drop open slightly.
"Why?" I asked, looking at him with wild eyes.
He continued to smooth his thumb over my knuckles as he talked. "I just, I don't know. I feel like maybe if we can actually get the software open, then maybe we can find a way to shut it down for good. I don't give a shit about how much money we could make off of this, I could care less. I just think that if anyone should crack this software, it should be us. Maybe we will know how to destroy it once we get access to it," he explained.
I let out a nervous chuckle. "I mean, we're already going to be running from some of the most powerful people on the planet, why stop now?" I grinned.
"Exactly, baby. I think my crazy is rubbing off on you," he teased.
"And you love it," I shot back.
Harry smirked and his eyes twinkled in amusement. "Yeah, I do," he laughed, "Now, I suppose I need to make a phone call," he sighed, using his free hand to pick up his phone, swiping across the screen until he found what he was looking for, bringing the phone up to his ear.
"Abel? Could you by any chance meet me at my place in a few hours? We need to talk."
AN: WOW. THEY FINALLY GOT THE JOURNALS OPEN! BUT DON'T WORRY, THERE ARE PLENTY MORE PLOT TWISTS, ACTION-PACKED CHAPTERS, MYSTERY, ROMANCE, ~STEAMY~ MOMENTS, AND MORE TO COME! AS I SAID, THESE UPCOMING CHAPTERS ARE ALL GOING TO BE SUPER IMPORTANT! I GOT PLENTY MORE CURVEBALLS TO THROW YOUR WAY ;) I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! ILY ALL SO MUCH! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU ALL TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY! xx