Veil of Lies

by Nicky Charles

  “So you’ll stay here, even if he asks you to go with him.”

  “I… I’ve no idea.” She bit her lip, a shadow passing over her face.

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t have been so nosey. When the time comes, if it comes, you’ll make the decision that’s right for you, I’m sure of it.”

  “Yep, of course I will.” Lulu took a deep breath and nodded. Too bad her expression wasn’t as certain as her words.

  Armand paced the hall outside Lucy’s apartment, his cellphone pressed to his ear. “Ryne, I need a favour.”

  “I thought I was already doing you one by having the pack watch the bar while you’re gone.”

  “True, but the amount of alcohol your pack drinks while helping is payment in kind. However, it’s actually Daniel’s assistance I need.”

  “You want someone to serenade Lucy?” Ryne chuckled obviously amused by his own joke.

  “No. I need him to hack into a USB drive.” He filled Ryne in on the details, answering the man’s questions about the strange course of events and concluding with, “three criminal activities in one week can’t be a coincidence.”

  “I agree. And Daniel helping you is fine with me. In fact, the challenge will be good for him. His IT skills are pretty much wasted here.”

  “Merci. I’ll contact him now.” Armand ended the call and then dialled Daniel’s number. The young man was, indeed, interested in helping. “I’ll call you back in five minutes. I need to explain what’s happening to…um…” He stumbled over saying Lucy’s name. Had Ryne told the others Lucy wasn’t dead? It would seem discretion would be best. “To my friends.”

  Pocketing his phone, he pushed open the apartment door. “Roxi, I—” He paused immediately noticing Lucy seemed concerned about something. Reaction over recent events?

  “Did you find someone to do the job?” Roxi turned to look at him.

  He dragged his attention from Lucy and nodded.

  “Yes. He has a great deal of experience with computers.”

  “Awesome! Who is it?” Roxi looked intrigued.

  “His name is Daniel, an old friend of mine.”

  “Old? Oh!” Some of the light left Roxi’s eyes.

  Lucy laughed, her mood lightening. “Daniel is about your age and adorably sweet. All the women swoon over him.”

  Roxi cracked her gum and grinned. “He sounds just my type.”

  “He’s over a thousand miles away in Canada,” Lucy warned. “And you’d eat him for breakfast.”

  “Dang.” Roxi leaned back in her chair. “Oh well. What’s he going to do to get us into the memory thingy?”

  “I’m not sure.” Armand dialled Daniel’s number and set the phone on speaker. “We’re ready for you, Daniel.”

  “Great. Whose computer will I be accessing?” Daniel’s voice sounded over the phone.

  “Mine,” Roxi piped up. “Don’t mess up my porn files.”

  Daniel laughed. “I’ll be sure to leave them alone. From what Armand told me, there’s a USB stick you want opened, right? I’m going to take control of your computer and use it to view the files. That okay with you?”

  Roxi gave her permission, following his instructions until he made the connection. Then they watched as Daniel worked his magic, the pointer of the mouse seeming to move on its own over the screen as it opened files.

  “Damn.” Daniel muttered. “This particular model is pretty high tech.”

  “What do you mean?” Roxi leaned closer to the computer screen.

  “Well, small portable drives can be a real soft spot in a company’s security. As a result, high end ones can come with complex password protection and tamper-evident technology. Some can even be controlled remotely by management software so the company’s IT can track file activity, reset user passwords remotely or even disable drives entirely by locking them down in the event of loss or theft.”

  “Is that what we’re dealing with, Daniel?” Armand folded his arms.

  “I’m not sure. There’s a password… But, yeah, I think they’ve not gone beyond that. Sloppy of them but good for us.” There was a pause, the sound of keys tapping and then, “Okay, I’m sure I can crack the encryption. I’ll have to be careful though. There’s usually a set number of times you can enter the wrong password before it automatically re-formats and you lose whatever was on it. This could take a while. If you have something to do, go do it. I’ll contact you when I have something.”

  “Well, I’m hungry and I think my stomach is asking for takeout,” Roxi rose to her feet. “What about you guys?”

  Armand glanced away from the screen. “Anything you bring back will be fine, as long as it’s a large serving, please. I’ll wait here for Daniel to call.”

  “Okay, one large something for Armand.” Roxi grabbed her purse. “You coming, Lulu?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m going to go rest for awhile, if you don’t mind. It’s been a tiring day.”

  “Sure. Chinese food okay?” Roxi checked for nods of approval and then left.

  Armand followed Lucy down the hall to her room. She paused by the door and gestured towards the window. “It looks like the contractor Jimmy used did a good job.”

  “He did.” He barely glanced at the window. “Are you okay?”

  She shrugged. “It was odd hearing Daniel again after all this time. You didn’t tell him about me, did you?”

  “No. I was careful.”

  “Thank you.” She wandered to her dresser and began to idly rearrange the things on top of it.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Is that all that’s bothering you?”

  She shrugged and turned to look at him, her head cocked to the side. “It’s just that I’ve been thinking.”

  “About…?”

  “You.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “We’ve known each other for what? Seven or eight years? And yet, I don’t really know that much about you.”

  He felt his muscles tense. “There’s not that much to know. I like to be out in nature. I own a bar—”

  “And you like to paint, play pool and hate cities, but what about before? You never talk about your past. It’s like there’s a wall hiding your life before Stump River.”

  “What do you want to know?” He fought to stay outwardly calm wondering what she would ask and what he could truthfully tell her while not revealing too much.”

  “Well… Today you said you’d taken martial arts. Where did you learn that?”

  “That’s an easy one.” He relaxed. “I took lessons growing up. My father insisted his sons know how to defend themselves.” He didn’t add ‘in human form’; that would lead the conversation down a path he didn’t want to follow just yet.

  “You grew up in Quebec, didn’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “And your family is still there?”

  “My parents and elder brother, yes. We keep in touch.” He shrugged. “I don’t exactly fit in. I’m the rebel in the family.”

  “You? A rebel?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “They’re much more refined than me. No jeans, no wild hair.”

  “No wandering off into the forest?”

  “Well…” He phrased his words carefully. “We’re all very attached to nature. My parents own a large tract of untouched forest and they both work actively on conservation issues.”

  “But you chose to leave?”

  “I wanted to do something more than lobbying the government over environmental issues.”

  “I can’t picture you in a suit presenting a petition to Parliament.”

  “Neither can I. But,” he cocked his head. “Are you really just curious about my background?”

  “Yes. Well...

  “Is reaction setting in after our adventure this afternoon?”

  “Maybe.”

  He stepped up close behind her and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck before whispering in her ear. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  “You’ll try, I�
�m sure, but can you really?” She angled her head to look up at him.

  “You doubt me?” No one had ever questioned his abilities before.

  She shook her head. “Not you or at least…not exactly. I’m sure you can handle whatever life throws at you.”

  “Then…?”

  “It’s more myself that I doubt.” She stared down at where his hands were clasped in front of her. “I’ve been through this before. Did Ryne tell you about that crazy lawyer who was after Melody and attacked me? I don’t completely understand what that was all about; Ryne explained but I was drugged up in the hospital at the time.”

  “I…” He wasn’t sure what to say, having no idea what tale Ryne had told.

  She didn’t notice his hesitation. “I can’t go through that again. I don’t want to live my life jumping at every sound, always looking over my shoulder.”

  “It won’t be like that. We’ll find out who owns this device, determine what’s on it and then take the appropriate steps.” He turned her in his arms and hugged her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and then to her scar. “You have nothing to worry about. Remember your badge of courage. You’re strong enough to face this or any other challenge. And this time, I am here with you.”

  She rested her cheek against his chest and he barely held back a groan. He loved the feel of her so close, the warmth and softness, the scent that was uniquely her. Once this mystery was cleared up, he was taking her back to Stump River where he could always have her near.

  Somewhere in Chicago…

  “Grand theft auto? Then hit-and-run? What the hell were you thinking?”

  “It could have worked.”

  “But it didn’t.”

  “I know dammit, but what else can we do? We can’t have a bear shifter hanging around the apartment all weekend. He’s going to notice something.”

  “No, he’s not. We just have to be careful, take our time—”

  “Time? Ha! We don’t have time. We need that information! Every day, even every hour we delay narrows the window of opportunity. These are desperate times and that calls for desperate measures.”

  There was an intensity to those words, a passion that could lead to messy mistakes, the kind that got partners killed. A warning was delivered in firm tones.

  “And what if you’d been seen? What if someone had taken your picture? Your face could have been plastered all over social media. And if you were caught and questioned—”

  “Okay, okay. I get it. It wasn’t the best plan, but I don’t see you coming up with anything better.”

  “I’ll think of something. An opportunity will present itself.”

  “We don’t have time to wait for opportunities.”

  “Caution—”

  “Is for the weak.”

  Chapter 13

  Back in Stump River, Daniel leaned back in his chair, a half smile on his face, his feet propped on the edge of his desk. The hacking job had been trickier than he’d imagined, but he’d eventually cracked the security code and opened the files on the USB drive. The accomplishment gave him a rush and he savoured the sensation while idly studying the contents. There was no hint as to the owner but…

  He sat up, his feet dropping to the floor, the smile on his face fading as he realized what he was looking at.

  “Hey Ryne, I need you to see something right away.” He sent the text message and then waited, staring at the data and thoughtfully stroking his lower lip.

  A minute later there was the sound of pounding feet on the stairs and then Ryne appeared in the doorway.

  “What’s up?”

  “Do you know what this is?” He turned the screen so it could be viewed.

  One arm braced on the desk, Ryne leaned closer and scanned the files. “No. Not really.”

  “It’s from the USB drive Armand asked me to hack.”

  “Oh.” He started to straighten, then paused and pointed to one of the lines. “This looks familiar. It’s a security code, isn’t it? For accessing Lycan Link’s data base.”

  “Yep, you’ve probably encountered it when you’ve filed reports. And these others, they’re more of the same. Access codes to various files, security systems, maybe even passcodes for entering the facility.”

  “How do you know that?” Ryne slid a questioning look at him.

  “Another computer nerd I know, Brad Owen, works for Lycan Link. I help him now and then by testing the system.”

  “Is that legal? Or do I even want to know?” Ryne slowly straightened.

  “Don’t worry. It’s all on the up and up. He even pays me. How do you think I could afford that new sound system?”

  Ryne looked around the room seeming to just now notice that it was jam packed with computer gadgets, instruments and soundboards. “Hacking pays better than I thought.”

  “You’d be surprised. But back to this.” He tapped the edge of the screen. “These are highly classified codes. No one outside of Lycan Link should have access to them.”

  Ryne’s face clouded. “Then how the hell did it end up on a random thumb drive?”

  “Lots of possibilities. Somebody hacked Lycan Link’s system? Or someone was careless; they copied the files over and then lost the drive. An employee with a bone to pick or out to make a quick buck? This kind of stuff happens all the time. Companies have policies in place about the use of portable drives, but they aren’t properly enforced.” He shrugged. “The question is, what do we do about it? Tell Lycan Link, I assume?”

  “Yeah,” Ryne stared across the room, eyes narrowed. “They’ll need to replace all their codes as fast as possible, check for breaches that have already occurred. It could take them days, even weeks for all I know.” His gaze shifted back to the screen. “And in the meantime, how many copies of this are floating around?”

  “Not too many, I wouldn’t think.” Daniel flipped the screen to the web browser he’d been using. “I’ve done some looking online and no one is advertising anything remotely similar for sale.”

  “It’s hardly the thing you post on Craig’s List, is it?”

  He smirked. “If you know the right places to look, you’d be amazed at what you can find.”

  “And you know them, of course.”

  “Yep.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. Computers, they were his forte, his world, a place where his analytical mind gave him a natural advantage. “I get bored when I’m not working on my music or fixing computers for other people. The internet is…entertaining.”

  “Entertaining?” Ryne arched a brow.

  He returned the look with a steady gaze of his own. He wasn’t challenging his Alpha, at least not exactly. More like asserting his position.

  After a moment, Ryne gave a grunt.

  It wasn’t much but coming from Ryne it was like a damned stamp of approval. He held back a smile as he nodded towards the information on the computer screen again. “So, if it’s not for sale…”

  “Then perhaps whoever owned the thumb drive doesn’t know what it is, or they have an agenda that they haven’t acted on yet.” Ryne scowled. “Can you erase the files?”

  “I could but, what if I replace them with bogus data instead? Then Armand can use it as bait and maybe we track down who owns it. If they manage to snatch it back, all they’ll have is a bunch of gibberish.”

  “Okay, let me check with Damien; he can tell me who to contact at Lycan Link. If they agree, we’ll put the plan in motion.” Ryne shook his head. “I’m glad this kind of shit doesn’t happen in Stump River. Life’s nice and quiet around here.”

  “Well…”

  A wail sounded in the background and Ryne sighed. “Talk to you later.” Raising his voice, he called out as he left the room. “Daddy’s coming, Gracie!”

  “Yeah, nice and quiet here.” Daniel made a face and turned to the computer again, studied the screen for a moment and then his fingers began flying over the keys.

  Reno jammed his hands in his back pockets as
he stared out the window of his tiny apartment. Once again, something had come up that would likely keep him and Brandi apart, each working their own assignments. They kept saying they’d spend more time together, dial back on the amount of travel and yet things continued to pop up at Lycan Link that demanded their attention. He smiled then sighed as he thought of their most recent conversation…

  “I miss you, Reno.” Brandi’s voice drifted over the airwaves and he imagined her lying in bed, her red curls starkly contrasting with the white of her pillowcase.

  “Me, too.” He plopped down on the bed so he was leaning against the headboard, his ankles crossed. If he closed his eyes, he could almost detect her scent, feel the warmth of her body against his side. “I wish you were here.” His voice grew deeper.

  There was a rustling sound, covers being moved. “Me, too.”

  “You can’t get out of your meetings?”

  “No. The demands of the exiguous shifters haven’t been getting the attention they deserve and—”

  “The exiguous? You mean the weenies?”

  “Reno!”

  “The minis?

  “That’s not nice.”

  “Okay, the shifter-tots.”

  “The what?”

  “Shifter-tots. Sort of like tater-tots.”

  “Reno Smith! Now I know you’re just trying to rile me up!”

  “Yep.” He chuckled. “Your eyes are probably spitting fire and your cheeks are flushed. I’d love to trace that flush down your neck, undo your shirt and see if it goes all the way down to your—”

  She groaned. “Don’t get me riled up that way either, especially when you’re not around to do anything about it.”

  “Sorry. If it’s any consolation, it’s no fun on this end either.” He adjusted the fit of his pants and cleared his throat. “So, what’s this about the smaller shifters?”

  “Use exiguous, not smaller; it’s more politically correct.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He added an extra Texan drawl which earned him a growl. He laughed softly then settled down to listen to her explanation.