He stepped into the corridor of the fifteenth floor and walked to the end of the hall. The door opened before he could knock. A young woman stood there. He barely knew where to look: the exquisite heart shape of her face? The kitty cats on her tights? The softly curled hair that swung as she stepped back to let him in?

“Condor. What took you so long?” The sharpness of her tone belied the sweetness of her face.

“You’re Tr0lz?” He knew as soon as he uttered the words that he sounded like an idiot.

Her raised brow affirmed both his question and his stupidity. She said nothing—barely glanced at the wound on his forehead—merely pivoting on a black-clad foot to lead him into the living room. The apartment was as bland as the lobby, as anonymous as the building, as deliberately disingenuous as the woman who had fooled them all.

Why was he so surprised that Tr0lz was a woman—and a young woman at that? His mind raced through his interactions with her. They were entirely on the hacktivist forum. He realized, to his chagrin, that it was simply her style of speaking online that had led them all to assume that Tr0lz was a man. He felt even more of a fool. So much for priding himself for his lack of gender bias.

Sweat pricked along the back of his neck.

If Tr0lz had been able to fool them all on the Forum, what other deceptions had she practiced?

“Have a seat.” Tr0lz gestured to an executive chair in front of a workstation with a massive hi-res computer monitor.

He lowered himself into the chair. It was still warm from Tr0lz’s bottom.

Code filled the computer monitor. He studied it, his gaze narrowing. GPS coordinates broke the regularity of the characters on the screen. “So what’s this exploit?”

“It’s something I came up with to prove our street cred.”

“To whom?”

“Buyers online who are looking for the kind of service we can provide.”

“We?”

She gave him an appraising look. “I’m creating a new Silk Road, Condor. There’s a gap in the marketplace. Perfect for someone with your skills. Do you want to be a millionaire?”

His mind raced. Should he go along with her and learn as much as he can?

Or overpower her and call the police?

But he knew she wouldn’t say a word to the police if she were arrested. Tr0lz had proved herself to be a master at deception.

“Everyone wants to be a millionaire, Tr0lz,” he said, his tone casual. “I’m in. What’s the exploit?”

“I need you to hack this navigation system so we can control a container ship.”