"[So, you want me to steal a computer from Mr. Becker?]"

Understandably, Ana-Lucía was confused and wary. What we were asking of her was a lot.

I'd told her everything she needed to know, and she'd listened, eating the rest of her pastel and drinking half of her coffee. She'd listened attentively, and then had asked a few questions, to make sure she got it right. As we'd talked, I'd kept Lex in the loop, translating what was being exchanged so he could take part.

Luckily for us, the deli wasn't too busy. Four people had come in and out since we'd entered, and none of them had settled on the table next to ours. Having someone at ear's reach would have complicated an already tricky process.

"[The best thing would be to make a copy of its content, so Becker doesn't know the laptop has been compromised. Like I've said, we know it contains evidence of him abusing women. This man is a danger to society, and we want to take him down.]"

Although we hadn't mentioned any names, we'd told her about Lola's story and her experience with Becker. Ana-Lucía had been livid, shocked by the details of Becker's fucked up kinks, and while I had no way of being sure she believed us, something told me she wasn't entirely surprised by all of this. Working for the man himself, she must have heard some rumors.

"Tell her it'll be easier than it sounds," Lex suggested.

"[We'd make it as simple as possible for you,]" I explained to Ana-Lucía in Spanish. "[The last thing we want is to put you in danger. Becker has already hurt too many people as it is.]"

After a few seconds to think about it, she shook her head, adamant. "[I don't think I can help you. If it doesn't go well, they might take my green card away from me. It could be years until I can get a visa to come back.]"

"What is she saying?" Lex pressed.

"She's worried about her green card being taken away."

"That debunks the post Meera found, and he doesn't only hire illegal immigrants. Maybe Becker only focuses on his house employee's language skills, to make sure the walls don't have ears."

"Yes, that would make sense. Only employ people who don't speak English well enough to understand what's going on." I turned back to the woman, hoping I could make her change her mind. "[Ana-Lucía, I understand your worries. But we'd do everything we can to make sure nothing happens to you. You have our word.]"

"[You don't understand. It took us six years to come here. My husband is a U.S. citizen, but we met in Colombia and started our family there. When we decided to come to live here, he came back and then began the process to get us here one by one. Elena came first, and I stayed in Colombia with Santi. Then our son followed two years after that. I was the last one to arrive, not even a year ago. I can't take the risk of being sent back and losing my family.]"

With a sigh of defeat, I leaned back into my chair, then changed my mind when the metal bent in a way that didn't feel like it should. "She won't do it," I told Lex. "I don't think money will be an incentive good enough if the alternative is losing her family."

"Maybe she still has some information that could be of value. Ask her if she knows where Becker keeps that computer."

"Good idea." I took my phone out of my pocket and went to my recent images to do just that.

After learning about a secret computer we hadn't thought existed, we'd scrupulously examined all the footage we had from Becker's security system, to see if the device had ever been captured. There were only three instances of it, where Becker brought it upstairs for a few hours, and then back downstairs. We'd spent hours looking for the exact model, with only the poor quality images to help us. We were pretty sure we'd found it.

"[Do you know where he keeps this laptop?]" I asked her, showing her the picture on my phone. She studied the image for a moment, coming closer to the screen, and eventually shook her head.

"[No, I've never seen this one before. Are you sure the information you have is right?]" Well, I wasn't telling her we'd seen it with our own eyes thanks to our access to the video surveillance, but I nodded with assurance. "[Well, sorry. I'm not sure where this one could be.]"

A few minutes of silence followed as we reflected on things, slowly finishing our cooled-down beverages. So, after everything, this was a bust. Ana-Lucía wouldn't be our solution to get to the laptop, but I wasn't blaming her for it. Some things were more important than money, and I sympathized with her worries. There was indeed a risk of her getting caught, and I would feel terrible if she was sent back to Colombia, away from her family.

We could try to reach out to another of the maids, but wouldn't their answer be the same? It was our understanding that nearly all of them had a family to take care of, so they would have the same reaction as Ana-Lucía. And regardless of that, we couldn't go to too many people with this. At some point, one of them might tell Becker about what we were trying to do, and from then, we'd lose.

Which reminded me we had to make sure Ana-Lucía wouldn't speak of this.

"[I'm sorry we bothered you for nothing,]" I apologized with a wince. "[Becker is being smart, and we are trying to take him down ourselves because the justice system won't. They don't care about a few abused women, but we do. I know you owe us nothing, but will you please not speak of this to him or anyone?]"

"[I have always had a bad feeling about that man,]" she confessed. "[When I started working there, eight months ago, there was this really stunning girl working there as well. She was from Colombia too, so we sympathized. She was much younger than me, barely older than my daughter, but we still became friends. One day, she told me she was uncomfortable with the way Mr. Becker looked at her – like he wanted something from her. And I started noticing it too, the way his eyes would linger on her. I even remember witnessing him touching her chest. I did nothing because I didn't want any problem, but she was growing more and more uncomfortable.]"

Ana-Lucía checked on her coffee to give herself composure, only to remember the cup was empty. "[And then one day, a month after I'd started, she stopped coming. I haven't heard from her since. Do you think he could have done something to her and sent her back to Colombia?]"

Unsure what to say at first, I remained silent, wondering just how many women could Becker have hurt in the course of his life? When Lex elbowed me slightly, I remember to translate what she'd just told me, so he could understand the gravity of it.

"[I'm not sure, Ana-Lucía... Maybe we'll have answers for you if we get our hands on the laptop. Maybe there will be something in it about your friend.]"

"[If I find where it is in the house, should I tell you?]"

"[Yes, definitely! We'll give you a number to call, and we can also take yours, in case we have more questions. If that's okay with you, of course.]"

I gave her the number from the prepaid phone we were using, and she gave me hers. Then, I reached for my wallet, only to find out it held a grand total of twelve dollars. Dammit, I needed to start carrying more money. With a sheepish look, I turned to Lex. He needed no explanation and took out his own. When he handed it to me, I opened it and looked for the bills compartment. Damn... Contrary to me, he carried a lot of cash around. Holy shit, there must have been a thousand dollars in there. What the hell?

I grabbed a bunch of bills, not bothering to count them, and extended them over the table to hand them to Ana-Lucía. "[Here, this should cover the costs of your family's dinner tonight,]" I explained, reminding her I'd offered to pay for their meal in exchange for her time. She took the bills, spread them in her hand, and frowned at me. Okay, there were at least four hundred dollars in there.

"[It's too much. We'll probably end up at Chick-Fil-A, per usual.]"

"[Keep it. As a sign of gratitude for your time.]"

"[I'm sorry I couldn't help you more. I get what you're trying to do, and I respect that. But I have too much to lose.]"

"[I understand, Ana-Lucia. Don't worry.]"

"[You can call me Ana.]"

We exchanged a smile, and she picked her bag from the hook on the wall next to her, and then carefully put her bills into the inside pocket. With her cup in hand and her used napkin tucked in it, she rose from her chair. After she'd given us both a contrite smile and a nod, she headed toward the door, throwing the cup in the trash on her way there.

Lex and I watched as Ana exited the store, walking in front of the window before disappearing. We didn't need words to express just how much of a letdown this was, so we said nothing. Mechanically, I reached for my pastry, which I hadn't touched yet, and took a bite out of it. Oh, this was good. Very good. Was that cheese?

I tore a piece from it and offered it to Lex, who seemed as preoccupied as I was. He still took it and chewed with an impassive face, his eyes still on the door.

"We could try to reach out to another maid," I suggested. "But she might have the same reaction."

"I know."

"And if we talk about this with too many people, Becker might hear from it at some point."

"I know."

"We need what's on this laptop, Lex," I insisted with a soft voice.

"I know all this as much as you do, Andrea."

A thought that had crossed my mind in the past but that I'd ignored resurfaced. I'd dismissed it before, knowing Lex would refuse in a heartbeat. He still might, actually, but if it was our only shot at ever getting our hands on this laptop, he might see reason.

"There's another solution," I started.

"Don't even say it." His tone was harsh, imperious, and just like that, I knew he'd thought about it too.

"Lex, we need to consider it. We may not have another choice. If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself."

He met my eyes with a warning glance. "We're not doing this, Andrea."

"Let's at least talk about it. I look the part, I speak the part... Maybe Ana can help get me hired to Becker's penthouse along with her, and then I could—"

"I said no!" he snapped. "Forget about it. Rip this idea out of your head and let it go."

"Then what else can we do? You've seen the place. It's a fortress! We're not burglars, we're hackers. I have no idea where we would even start to break in there."

"If the alternative is you working for that sick bastard, we might as well give up now. I'd rather live half a life with you, hiding somewhere remote, than take that risk."

Although he was unrelenting and firm, I could perceive the anguish layering his tone. The idea of me getting hired as a maid for Becker was troubling him greatly, his mind probably conjuring gruesome scenarios.

But we'd discussed this in the past, agreeing that Becker's involvement ought to be minimal in this whole mess. The man was too clever and too cunning to handle his dirty work himself. He'd probably given the order to Zane Horvat, who had issued the bounty on Nammota's head, and was just waiting for it to work in his favor now. He most certainly wasn't looking into any of this in person, to avoid incriminating himself. The further he stayed from complications that could bring him in front of the law, the better it was for him.

"You've seen it just like me, Lex. He's got two dozen maids working there. I would just blend among them and he'd never even know I was here."

"And you've heard what Ana-Lucía just said about her Colombian friend. It isn't safe."

"Oh, come on. We're not even sure what happened to her friend yet. And the woman Ana was talking about was breathtaking."

"That's exactly my point." With frustrated gestures, he got up from his chair. My insistence had angered him, to the point where he even avoided looking at me.

"Lex, it could be the work of two days. I'd locate the computer, then I'd extract the data from it, and then I'm done."

He grabbed my arm and pulled on it to manhandle me for the second time today, something he rarely ever did. But because I sensed the turmoil in him, I kept my mouth shut, letting him drag me to the door. The two bodyguards were waiting for us right outside, and they followed suit as Lex went back on our steps, heading for the cars.

"Are we going back to the suite?" I asked, a little intimidated by his attitude.

"Yes. I'll lock you in there until we come up with an idea better than the insane one you just spewed out. Might even tie you to the bed if I need to." Although there was absolutely nothing seductive in his voice, my body didn't care, and an inopportune flash of arousal struck me.

"I'm not sure we'll come up with a better idea," I countered.

"It couldn't be worse."

During the entire drive home, I looked outside my window, turned away from him. I was so preoccupied, I wasn't even fazed by the streets passing by. I could sense how riled up he was, still, but I felt as though he owed me an apology. My idea wasn't that crazy. It could work, and I could pull it off. Becker knew what Lex looked like, that was certain. But chances that he knew my face well enough to recognize me were very slim. In the wake of the huge mayhem that had followed Lex's arrest, I'd been mentioned very few times and shown even less. An old picture of me had been on national news maybe once or twice, but not more.

I got that he was worried about me, and I was touched by it to some extent. But by being overprotective, he was discarding a very viable solution that could solve everything.

I'd rather live half a life with you, hiding somewhere remote, than take that risk...

But what of my feelings? Was I to just forget about my family altogether? Hadn't he realized yet that they wouldn't be safe unless we got rid of Becker? Burying our heads in the sand wasn't it. It hadn't worked in the past, and it wouldn't in the future.

We'd seen the surveillance footage, we'd seen how the maids never interacted with Becker, how they didn't stay in a room he entered, how he was barely home, regardless. Yes, I'd be the closest to him we'd ever been, but I was still convinced the risks would be minimal and the rewards maximal.

The past had proven that Lex and I could both be stubborn. This might show us which one was the most tenacious.

• • •

As I'd suspected, neither of us managed to come up with better options. Three days had passed since we'd met with Ana-Lucía, and we had nothing better than my 'insane' plan.

Breaking in was out of the question. We'd suck at it anyway, and it would give Becker the opportunity to shoot us dead for trespassing. Even though we had a vague idea of where he kept his dirty stash of troubling homemade porn, the penthouse was way too big. It could take us two whole days to find where the laptop was hidden. Aside from being in there disguised as a maid tasked to clean the place, I hardly saw how we would pull that off.

Out of diplomacy, I didn't bring up my idea again, though. I didn't need to, since it lingered in the air between us, anyway. I'd been right, there wasn't anything better out there, and we both knew it.

With each day that passed without a solution, Lex grew more restless to find one. Some part of him must have known we needed to go with my plan, but he wasn't ready to admit it yet. Knowing him, he'd rather spend a full month trying to find something else rather than face the truth.

Despite the ambient tension, we both tried to separate the Becker issue from our romantic life. It worked to some extent, but not gonna lie, things weren't perfect. At least, we were still intimate, still had our meals together, and still spent time snuggling on the couch together when we weren't working.

One evening, we'd been lying in our bed together, staring at the ceiling and recuperating from some intense naked cardio session. Although it wasn't aimed at me, Lex was fucking his frustration away, and since I harbored some of my own, I was more than okay with the steam-blowing slex.

"Is it weird that you've just railed me in a bed your ex-wife graciously loaned us?"

A humorless chuckle rolled past his lips, and he turned his head to the side to meet my eyes. "For how long have you been thinking about this?"

"Since the first time we had sex in it. I find it... weird. But also reassuring, I guess. Your relationship with Eva is really atypical."

"Hadn't you noticed?"

"I had, but this really confirms it."

The next day resembled the three previous ones, meaning that we busied ourselves as we could, while Lex stayed in his denial and I patiently waited for him to see reason. Honestly, unless God came down in person to hand us the computer, there was no way other than with my plan that we'd get our hands on it. The sooner Lex realized that, the better.

The only thing that made the day different was the phone call my mother gave me late in the evening. Since Lex was working in the living room, I headed outside on the terrasse to pick up, closing the sliding door behind me. I was still not over the splendid view. The sun was setting among the skyline, offering a splendid spectacle I could never get used to.

"¡Hola mamá!"

"Andrea, I just saw him!" she instantly replied, her tone fearful and hurried. My original enthusiasm faded at once, and worry gained me.

"What? Who are you talking about?"

"The man with the snake on his face." Concern turned into panic, and I clung to the phone hard, my heart dropping low in my chest.

"Where?"

"I was working late, grading tests for the summer program, and when I came out to go to my car, he was right there in the empty parking lot! He had this snake on his face that started under his jaw, then in front of his ear, over the cheekbone, on his skull, and the head was on his temple."

Fuck... This tattoo had haunted me for weeks; I could still see it clearly in my mind. And this was its exact description. The snake guy had gone to my mother.

"Did he do anything to you?" I worriedly asked.

"No, he just stared at me. Hija, I've never been this scared in my life. I ran to the car, got inside, locked the door, and started the engine. I was about to back up when he slammed his hand on the window next to me and bent to look at me with his threatening eyes. He scared me so much, I thought I'd have a heart attack. I didn't even think twice and hit the gas so I could escape him. There was a pole behind me and I hit it, but I'm okay, my neck is just a little sore. In the rearview mirror, I could see him watching me the whole time I was taking off. I just got home, and I haven't even told your dad or mamá."

My heart was in my throat as I listened to her story. What the fuck was this about? If he'd wanted her dead or injured, she would be. But that didn't help make me feel better. Was it a warning? Was it his