Blank Slate

Chapter 77 - Payton Taylor

I spent the rest of the night within the FBI's network trying to find any trace of Dr. Cross's hack but wasn't having any luck. I thought that if I could figure out how he hacked into the FBI's system that I could prevent the same thing from happening but in truth, there were hundreds of weak spots in the FBI's security. The fact that it had only taken me a couple of hours to get access to the system proved that it didn't take much to get in.

I took some comfort in the fact that the FBI files never mentioned my alias as Payton Taylor. The only reason that Dr. Cross was able to link Payton with Harper White was because I had admitted that Joey had been an FBI agent on my case. This breach was partly my fault too. 

Hopefully, no one else would link the Payton Taylor that helped the FBI find the girls in New York to the Harper White that testified against the mob. But I was unwilling to leave it up to hope. But I still had no idea how to secure the FBI files without deleting them or alerting anyone to my presence within the network.

When my eyes started to blur I looked up and saw that it was six am. If I left now, I could go for a run and meet Flynn at the café for the sunrise. But did I want to? I was not in the mood for small talk or flirtations, but I needed a good run to clear my mind. I decided to go for the run and maybe I would just skip the whole Flynn part. I changed into my running clothes and took a cleansing breath before leaving my hotel room and stopped in my tracks. Both Liam and Christopher were silently waiting in the hallway, dressed in their running clothes. 

I guess going for a run by myself was out of the question.

Instead of being annoyed at their intrusion into my private time, I was reassured that they cared enough to give up sleep to come on a run with me. They weren't perfect, but they were my team. I was going to have to do everything necessary to keep them safe from my past. Protectiveness was a two-way street.

I gave them a small smile before we turned and left for a run as a group. I pushed us to an insane pace that stained my tired system and demanded every inch of my focus. The world dropped away until the only thing that mattered was the beat of my shoes in the sand and the rhythm of my gasping breath. We ran a couple of miles past our usual turnaround point before I slowed my pace down to a walk. From the corner of my eye, I saw Christopher stop and lean on his knees while he tried to catch his breath.

"Jesus Payton," Christopher called in-between gasping breaths. "You run like the devil is chasing you." I wondered if Christopher realized how close to the truth he had come with that statement. Malcolm and the mob were the closest things I knew to the devil.

"You are acting like a little exercise is going to kill you," I teased in return and saw that he was pleased that I was responding to him. Christopher was like a dog. He needed attention to thrive.

"You call full out sprinting five miles after a sleepless night a little exercise?" That reminded me why I hadn't gotten any sleep last night and my attention snapped to Liam and I saw some deep emotion in his eyes. I was still unsure what part he played in all of this. As far as I knew, it was only Ethan's remark to Cole that had caused the whole Dr. Cross situation. Why did Liam look like he wanted to apologize to me? Why was he even in the office with Ethan last night? How had he betrayed me? 

These were answers that I wanted but now was not the time. I turned and started jogging back the way we had come, and within moments I heard Liam and Christopher start to follow.

We reached the café minutes after the sun had risen above the horizon and I saw Flynn was sitting at his normal table and that he had seen us coming. There was no way that I could just keep running without saying something to him. Not after the amazing date that we had the night before. And it wasn't Flynn's fault that I was in a rotten mood. I slowed my pace and walked up to the café with Christopher on one side and Liam on the other. By the time we reached Flynn's table, he was on his feet and looking at me with a concerned expression. He walked up to me, completely ignoring Liam and Christopher, and slowly rose one of his hands to touch the circles under my eyes.