The Billionaire's Secret Sister

Chapter 17- "Stalk"

Chapter 17- "Stalk"

"I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."

-Edward Snowden

EMILY VANDERVELT- THIRD PERSON

Emily, Adam, and Jason all sat in the car awkwardly as they drove to Ryder's place; the only sounds playing was the radio blasting a catchy generic pop song.

Emily wasn't sure what to do, she was currently surrounded by an awkward, yet cute boy who had a affinity for hacking, and her best friend's brother whose schedule probably revolves around his daily brooding.

She was trapped between making conversation or staying quiet; but staying quiet seemed to appeal to her most since both weren't talkative types, at least not to her. 

But, surprisingly, before she could choose, Jason was the one to speak up first. "What happened while you guys were at the apartment?" He asked.

"Oh, I wasn't there." Adam said first without thinking, and seemed to immediately regret talking. 

But with a quick glance towards Adam, Emily replied. "I don't know really what happened well, but everything was normal when you and Mark dropped us off; Lyndsy and I were watching TV while Ryder loudly argued with someone on the phone." She recounted, "He left and a few minutes after, I got hungry and went to buy snacks, but when I came back a while later there was a gun on Lyndsy and she yelled at me to run away with this USB drive. I did and got him, Adam, to hack it for me." She finished.

"What was on it?" Jason asked while his focus was intently on the road.

Emily was about to answer, but was interrupted by Adam who gave her a look. She knew what it meant and felt conflicted to trust Jason or not. They both knew the things on the USB could ruin empires and other careers, but in the end, Emily went with Adam. "I'd rather not say right now." She replied uncomfortably.

Jason looked annoyed, but didn't bother saying anything because he knew he would eventually find out sooner later.

In perfect timing, they arrived at Ryder's building. The valet scrambled to prepare themselves for Jason since they recognized his car pulling up. Everyone exited the car and Jason tossed the keys at an employee to park. The young boy did so without a word but seemed to be nervous and flustered.

Adam was amazed once they entered the lobby due to the fanciness of the place as well as how it reeked the smell of expensiveness. He wasn't used to these kind of places since he came from a generally poor family. 

"Woah." He said staring at the lobby and the amount of suits plus designer clothing on people.

"Come on." Emily said and grabbed his arm to drag him off the elevator once she saw he was distracted. Jason led the group as Emily dragged Adam with them. 

The trio went up the elevator and to Ryder's floor. They arrived to the correct door and Jason opened it with his extra key revealing the mess they once called Ryder's apartment. 

Everything was out of place. Things were strewn across the room and furniture was moved from one end to the other. Adam was the most surprised and shock at the mess, Emily wasn't as shocked due to the fact that she had been there earlier, and Jason had a poker face on, similar to the one Lyndsy would wear at school everyday.

"You said they were fighting?" Jason asked, breaking the silence that filled the room.

"Yup." Emily replied and started to look around to see if anything would give them a clue to what happened and/or where Lyndsy and Ryder were. She found nothing at first glance.

"I say we divide different areas to get more ground." Jason commanded. "Emily can take the kitchen, I'll get the living room and Adam will get the office." The bedroom and bathrooms were both untouched, so no one disagreed and they all split up to their respective areas.

"Um...what would you define as noteworthy?" Adam asked from the office after a moment, to which Emily replied.

"Anything that is not normal." She said, even though it didn't mean anything to Adam, since everything here was not normal. Everything seemed expensive and sophisticated, from the pillows to the paint on the walls, something that was alien to Adam. He wasn't used to this at all, so he just stared in wonder at the computer's more advanced technology. 

He debated hacking into Ryder's computer since the idea was so tempting, but decided to do it but only, after he investigated the room. 

Back at the main rooms, Jason and Emily worked to find any suspicious things or hints to where Lyndsy and Ryder had gone. Jason cleared his throat and pulled Emily close, startling her and getting her flustered at being at such a close proximity to him.

"Are you sure we could trust him?" He asked in a low whisper, so Adam couldn't hear.

"Who? Adam? Of course we can." She answered at the same volume. "I mean, you trust me, right?"

"Trust isn't the exact term, but you're different from him." He explained.

"In what way besides being female?" She raised her eyebrow.

"First off, you've been with Lyndsy for years and she trusts you-"

"I've known Adam since second grade!" Emily interrupted, earning a glare from Jason.

"Besides the point, his hacking skills are too professional and good to not be trained, he seems too nice and awkward, and I ran a background check on all of Lyndsy's friends and family, and no suspicious things turned up for you, except maybe a-"

"That is a total invasion of privacy and I'm pretty sure it's against the law!" She interrupted angrily in a whisper-yell, fuming.

"Your not going to press charges are you?" He sarcastically said, angering her further. She crossed her arms and sighed furiously while attempting to calm herself down.

"So let me get this straight, the only reason why you don't trust this seemingly great, nice guy, who volunteered to help us, is because you hadn't had the chance to stalk him yet?" She incredulously exclaimed with her volume rising with every word.

"I wouldn't say stalk, more like investigate." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"That is such a-" Before Emily could complete that statement and slap him, Adam popped his head into the room looking worried about what they were talking about.

"Umm, guys, if your done talking, more like arguing, about me can you come here. I think I found something." He said awkwardly. Emily and Jason's attention turned toward him immediately and they followed him into the study. Emily kept shooting glares in Jason's direction because of the discovered invasion of her privacy, but he ignored every single one, by simply shrugged it off.

A/N

Starting from now I will be trying to get 1000 word chapters and shorter waiting between the updates out, so you can enjoy! 

(Also, Lyndsy vs. Meredith with be in the next update, so stay tuned!)

(I know this is late, but.....)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

*severely unedited*