Nari rolled her eyes. “He’s been waiting for a profile from an expert at some college, and he wants me to look at it immediately. Geez.” Grumbling under her breath, she stood and strode gracefully through the narrow opening between desk and wall. “I’ll be right back.” She shut the door behind herself.

Brigid pushed unruly hair away from her face. Her father. The thought of him hurt somewhere deep in her chest. Closing her eyes, she remembered their last encounter.

They’d stood on the well-kept wooden front porch near the swing where she’d spent hours swinging while typing on her laptop through the years. The smell of grass, alfalfa, and hay wafted on the sweet breeze from the farm, and in the distance, a tractor droned methodically.

“You should not have hacked into that medical program’s computers. A federal grant is part of the package, so you broke federal laws,” her dad said, his green eyes dark and his hard jaw set. His Irish had come out in full force in a way it rarely did.

Her anger matched his. “Mom should’ve been part of that study. She might’ve lived.”

“No,” her dad said. “She wasn’t a good candidate, and she wanted to live her last days here, not being poisoned. It was her decision.” He looked toward the boy on the motorcycle waiting for Brigid. “Don’t leave with that idiot.”

The idiot was a fun guy, and she had to get away from the farm. Her father should’ve made her mom take part in the study. She’d still be alive—maybe. “I’m eighteen,” she said, needing to get out of there. Away from the quaint farmhouse surrounded by barns and fields. “I can go.” She’d gotten arrested for hacking just six months before, but her probation was up now, and she could leave town.

“This is a mistake. Stay on the farm and go to the community college,” her dad said, dirt on his overalls and his gloves hanging out of one pocket. Emotion was stamped hard on his square face. “It’s a good living. A safe one.”

Her chest ached, and her eyes pricked. She’d miss him. But he’d been on her since her arrest, and she needed freedom. People and places instead of land and cows and more land. She couldn’t go on with just the two of them and a bunch of old farmhands. They needed distance from each other, at least for a while. “There’s a world out there, Daddy. I want to see it,” she whispered. Why couldn’t he understand?

“Then find a way without a computer,” he growled. “You’ll just get into more trouble, and I can’t help you with that. Please.”

Life without a computer? She’d rather lose her arms. “I can’t.” Her skin chilled, and her eyes ached now. “Please understand.”