Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

her. “How could your mom cook this from what we had in the kitchen? It looks amazing.”

“My mom can make almost anything from scratch. She took frugal to a new level when we were growing up.” Ari took another bite, letting the flavors of home take her back. Even while at home, her mom never had time to really cook. Not when working two jobs with two kids and a dead-beat husband.

Looking over to the kitchen, Ari saw her mom laugh as she talked to Sue over the large dishes of food. Ari couldn’t remember the last time she saw her mom so happy. It felt good to finally make a good decision.

“Ari, you never told me your mom could cook,” Harini said. “This is fabulous. Much different from the European food I’ve tried.”

“This is what heaven tastes like.” Marco scooped up some beans with his fork.

Patrick walked by and stopped behind Harini. “Marco, we’ll keep you in the guest room for now if that works. We have most of what you’ll need here, but if not, it’ll be another week before we do another supply run.”

“I appreciate the room.” The previous animosity in Marco’s voice had disappeared.

“It’s not much bigger than a water closet, but you’re welcome,” Patrick said. Blur called his name down the table, and Patrick strode off in that direction.

“How’s Tricky?” Harini asked.

“Good,” Ari said. “She has tracked down some of Maxim’s buyers and is determined to steal his money, destroy his company, and ruin him completely as a person.” Ari smiled as they often joked about Tricky’s bloodthirsty nature. Ari spoke loud enough that Tricky, who was approaching, would hear too.

“We all have personal goals.” She sat next to Harini. Tricky’s long blond hair hung in a straight ponytail from on top her head. Her piercing blue eyes were beautiful and hard.

Marco watched her a little too carefully. “Ari, you were pretty vague when you told mom what you guys do. She’ll need a new string of prayer beads.”

“It can’t be that much worse than what you were into back home,” she told her brother. “We’re going after an international arms dealer. I’m sure Mom would say a couple prayers on our behalf.”

“Not that I believe in that God stuff, but I’ll take anything that helps tip the scales in our favor.” Tricky took a bite, thought for a moment, then dug back in again.

“Mom already denied me second helpings, so I’ll head back to work with Blur.” He turned his attention to Tricky. “Are you as fast as your brother?”

“No one is as fast as my brother, but don’t worry, I make up for it in other ways.” She gave him a wicked smile, and that accent took it up to another level of sexy without even meaning it.

Ari wasn’t sure if she should be more worried for Tricky or her brother.

The week continued smoothly with Marco and her mom getting along with the others better than expected. Her mom worked mostly with Sue in running the day-to-day meals and cleaning. She enjoyed becoming a mother hen, and most people would make extra trips by the kitchen whenever she was in it to see if they could sneak some food. Her mom was a lot more lenient with “snacks” than Sue was.

On Friday, Tricky asked Ari to go on a hike with her. They were all expected to keep up their health since they were warpers, and most didn’t need reminding as their sanity was on the line. Tricky invited Ari not because they were close, but because their competitive natures pushed them both to go a little farther when they were together.

The scent of the thick trees surrounded them. The security around here was top notch, and somehow being out in nature brought Ari a peace that little else did. They kept a steady pace as they hiked the loop around their cabin.

“Let’s try up there.” Tricky pointed to the top of a large boulder. There were enough footholds to make it easy. It was a good thing Ari didn’t care much for her nails.

At the top, they both took a seat, panting heavily as they sucked on their hydro packs. They looked over the small valley in the distance, pristine with the partly cloudy weather.

“I want to go back online soon,” Tricky kept her gaze forward. “Are you up for it?”

Tricky asked because no one was forced to go on jobs in the VR realms. Sketchy was proof of what could happen. The mental illness usually came slowly, but if something pushed them hard enough or stressed their minds their sanity and memory could be cut short. There wasn’t a magic number of how many hours a person could withstand. Exercise and supplements helped, but they all knew there was a line they shouldn’t cross, and might not know where it was until they were standing right in front of it.

“Did we get new intel on where Maxim’s going to be?” Ari asked Tricky.

“Not really. I want to search for him in some of the government communities. There are rumors that he’s been in and out of VLEX and VRUN. We shouldn’t have to use our abilities, just watch. He’s up to something, I’m sure of it. The money transfers we’ve been tracking proves it, but without eyes on him we simply don’t know what he’s planning.” Tricky turned to face Ari. “I just can’t figure out what. More weapons? Sex trade? I know it’s dark. That bastard’s only been a bane of society since his existence.”

“I’m in. I’ll help.” Ari wanted to pitch in where she could here and using her abilities for a worthwhile purpose helped. Maybe she could even check up on VisionTech as well. “Hey, Tricky. How did Maxim first appear on your radar? Not that he isn’t a total piece of scum, but that is common in our world. Why Maxim?”

Tricky remained still for a moment, focusing on the horizon, and it told Ari this