Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Joy Stiles rotated her neck. Spending so much time on her supercharged laptop was not healthy. She knew that but couldn’t seem to break away. She’d been in a non-stop battle with the mysterious hacker who had gained her grudging respect. It was time to call her mother because now this person was popping into her attempts to hack the NSA.

Absently tying back her long red hair, she reached for her phone and made a video call. “Hey, Mamma T, I think I might need your expertise to hack the NSA.”

Toni’s smiling face appeared on the screen. “Mmm, hon, the NSA is a tough nut to crack. So why do you want to whack that hornet’s nest?”

Her other mother slid into the chair next to Toni. “Is this a private genius-to-genius conversation, or can I get in on the fun? I never get to see you anymore,” Char lamented.

“You might get bored, but you’re always welcome to join us. Actually, I’m glad you jumped on the call. You probably need an update, anyway. So, in answer to your question, Mamma T, I was poking around on the dark web and picked up some disturbing chatter,” Joy answered.

“You sure that isn’t some nutty conspiracy theory crap?” Toni asked.

“That’s why I wanted to hack the NSA. Now I’m more convinced than ever that there’s at least some kernel of truth.” Joy leaned back in her chair before turning her head when Randi poked her head into her room.

“Hey, Joy. Alina, Maria, and I are going out to get some pizza and have a few beers. Do you want to join us? Oh, whoops, hi, Aunt Char and Aunt Toni. Um, root beer,” she amended.

Char and Toni laughed. “I’m pretty sure the entire world knows you’re not having root beer, Randi, including your moms. We aren’t that old to forget what college was like. Besides, I’d be disappointed if Joy hadn’t created fake IDs for you,” Toni said with a smile.

Char playfully nudged Toni’s shoulder. “Goddess, Toni, do you want the kids to turn into delinquents? I swear, knowing something and blatantly expressing your approval are two very different things.”

Toni held up her hands. “What? It’s a crime not to use the talents we’ve been given by the Goddess. And fortunately, Joy has many talents.”

Joy answered Randi, “I’ll meet you guys later. Pete’s Pizza?”

“Yeah, but you better not bail on us again. Shit, if you could have sex with your new laptop, you would,” Randi scolded. “How’s that neck of yours doing?”

Joy waved her hand. “Go. I want to talk with my moms. And don’t ever say something so gross like that again. I’ll be there.”

“Alina told me to tell you she saw your crush there the other day,” Randi teased.

Randi bounced out of Joy’s room, and Joy returned to her conversation. “Sorry about that.”

“Crush?” Char asked.

“Don’t get your hopes up. She doesn’t even know I exist despite spending the last year in the same graduate program.”

“Honey, you’re a beautiful, talented, brilliant, kind young woman. I’m sure she knows you exist. You got your mother’s beauty. There isn’t a man or woman alive who could resist those gorgeous green eyes. Maybe I should have taught you more than how to hack into any secure space. Catching someone’s eye is easier than avoiding detection when we enter those fortified sites.”

“Now you make that offer,” Joy grumbled, but she was more interested in solving her current dilemma, which had nothing to do with her non-existent love life. “Can we get back to the reason I called?”

“Of course, honey,” Toni said.

“There’s this other hacker who keeps popping into my computer, leaving irritating messages whenever I poke around in the dark web, especially when I entered this site with the concerning intel. Then, when I tried to crack the security code in the NSA, she stuck her nose into my business again,” Joy explained.

“Her? Interesting. How do you know it’s a woman?” Char asked.

“She sent me this animation of a beautiful dragon with long eyelashes.” Joy groaned. “See, who does that?” She continued her explanation. “I’m describing a dragon as beautiful. No wonder I can’t get a date. Mamma T is a cool nerd, and I’m just your run-of-the-mill geek, hiding behind my computer and letting my skin get pasty.”

“You’ll thank the universe for that when you turn fifty, and you’ve no wrinkles on your skin,” Toni joked.

“Not funny, Mamma T.”

 

†

 

Toni wondered if, in her excitement to show her daughter the joys of all things tech, she missed the boat by not teaching her other life lessons. She’d felt so bad when Joy confessed to how miserable she was two years ago before Alina, Maria, and Randi moved in during Joy’s final year in her undergraduate program. Pepper, Joy’s other close friend, had finally filled Char and her in on the fact that Joy hadn’t spent her time enjoying the life of a typical college student. The reality was that Joy had spent nearly every weekend at Pepper’s place. Char had tried to talk to Toni about letting up on the “lab time,” wanting Joy to have a more normal childhood. Toni had passed that off, insisting Joy would grow out of her shyness once she gathered more confidence. And what better way to gain self-assuredness than by mastering technology? By the time Joy hit college, she could hack almost any site, and Toni couldn’t have been prouder.

Deciding to stroll into the lane she was more comfortable with, Toni ignored her daughter’s confession about being unable to get a date and moved on to why Joy called in the first place.

“Okay, honey, I’m going to take control of your screen. Let’s see if we can get a peek at the NSA. It’s been years since I poked around. The key is to only stay for brief periods. Ten minutes or less,” Toni advised.

Toni’s fingers flew over her keypad as she typed in commands and created a string of code. Her first two efforts failed miserably, but Toni was nothing if not persistent.

“Yeah, I tried that,” Joy said.

“Hang on. This might be a little unconventional, but it could work. Fucking paranoid government,” Toni grumbled.

Char laughed. “For good reason, with you two geniuses constantly outplaying them. I’m glad you’re on our team.”

“Ha! I got it!” Toni exclaimed.

“Frickin’ brilliant, Mamma T. I’m taking a screenshot of the code. Shit—”

A shimmering, definitely female dragon appeared on the screen, waving a scaly claw that looked almost manicured, with bright red nails. Toni would have laughed if it hadn’t been so frustrating to be thwarted by the very hacker Joy had lamented about.

The dragon’s message was simple. “Naughty, naughty.” The hacker promptly kicked Toni and Joy out of the NSA, and Toni lost control of Joy’s screen.

“I’m not really into threesomes, newbie,” the dragon’s sultry voice declared.

“Oh no, you did not just do that. You fire-breathing glorified lizard.” The hacker incensed Toni.

“See, this is what I’ve been dealing with. I got this, Mamma T,” Joy growled. “A dragon isn’t really a lizard, though,” she added. “Maybe more of an evolved dinosaur with special abilities.”

An Amazon warrior appeared on the screen wielding a dangerous-looking sword. “Not looking for a third, so fly away, little dragon, before I skewer you and roast you over your own fire. I’m mighty hungry right now, and you look delicious.”

The dragon laughed. “I knew you were a woman, but that doesn’t make it any less inappropriate for you to poke your nose where it doesn’t belong. Even if your nose is lovely.”

Toni laughed. “I think your hacker is flirting with you. It’s time for your old mother to bow out of this challenge. I’ll send you more code similar to what we tried before. You might need to tweak it a bit. There has to be a way to go in undetected. Whoever this is, she’s good, but after thoroughly dissecting the code accompanying her dragon, I’m confident we’ll find her weak spot, giving you time to sneak in. Have fun!” Toni teased. She ended her call with Joy.

Char kissed Toni’s cheek. “Good call, hon. I know you’ve been worried about Joy, but there is a lid for every pot. Joy doesn’t need to change a thing about herself. She just needs to find the right pot or lid.”

Toni leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Yeah, we started out as foes, and look how that turned out. Although, I think I had a little more game than our daughter.”

Char chuckled. “More hubris, too. But we were never actually foes. You just thought we were.”

“True. And maybe the fire-breathing lizard isn’t an enemy either. But she’s definitely a good match for Joy. So at the risk of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, I feel compelled to track the lizard down and discover her identity.”

“Hmmm, do you really think that’s the best idea? And stop calling her ‘the lizard,’ especially if she ends up being someone Joy starts to date,” Char chastised.

“She started it,” Toni defended.

“Oh, for shit’s sake. You’re in your fifties. Time to act like it.”

“Why? It’s all part of my charm. I’m never growing old. I simply refuse to do it,” Toni insisted.