Web of Shadows

by Susan Sleeman

  “Ty,” Nina chastised. “Don’t blame Quinn for that.”

  “Why not? It’s his fault.” Ty glared at Quinn, then turned back to Nina. “I mean, look at you. You’re the best. A computer pro and hot, too. What more could a guy want?” A flush of red crept up his face. “If Quinn didn’t want to be a mini-dad, then he could have found another job and you’d still be together.”

  “You couldn’t be farther from the truth on who I want to be, bud,” Quinn growled, but now wasn’t the time to elaborate on his desire to be anything but their father. He focused on Nina. “Tell us what happens now.”

  “I file an official report, and an arrest warrant will likely be issued for Ty. It would be good if you both came back to the office with me and Ty surrenders without anyone having to hunt him down.”

  Quinn nodded. “We can do that.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Ty mumbled.

  Nina turned to Ty. “You’re a juvenile, Ty, and should be treated as such. This is your first offense, and you didn’t have malicious intent, other than to get back at Hamid. I’ll do everything I can to make the DA see you in a positive light and keep you out of juvie.”

  “Right,” Ty muttered.

  Nina’s explanation made everything suddenly more real. Made Ty’s future seem dire, and Quinn seriously thought he might lose it. Right there, right now. He’d faced risks most men wouldn’t stand up under. Yet thinking about his baby brother going to jail might take him under. Quinn couldn’t let that happen. Not without doing his best to stop it.

  Chapter Five

  QUINN STEPPED in front of Nina, blocking her access to her car. Getting her on board was now mission critical. He could do it. He’d never failed before. Never. But then, his mission had never included Nina. The woman who went by the book. Always. Controlled and precise. Step by step, logically following the rules. It was an approach she’d adopted long ago to deal with her mother, and he knew it was something he had little chance of overcoming. But he had to try. That meant not running roughshod over her, but asking for her help.

  “Please don’t turn Ty in,” he said. “Not yet. Give me twenty-four hours to see what I can find out about the computer.”

  She shook her head and dug out her keys. “If you’ll let me get into my car, I’ll—”

  “Wait, hear me out,” he interrupted. “I know you have to report Ty. That’s a given. But won’t they go easier on him if he has the computer in his possession and can prove no one else has access to the No-Fly List?”

  She didn’t even take time to consider his request. “I should have already reported it.”

  “Think of Ty here.” Quinn clamped his hands on Ty’s shoulders and pulled him into the conversation. “He has his whole life ahead of him. We have such high hopes for him. You did too, once upon a time. This will ruin him. Give me a chance to fix it. I can head right over to Hamid’s house. See if he has the computer. It might give Ty a better chance.”

  “I can’t, Quinn.” She glanced at Ty, and her resolve seemed to melt a fraction.

  “Yes, you can,” Quinn rushed on, taking advantage of the crack in her armor. “I’m only talking about a couple of hours at most.” He looked at his watch. “Hamid should be getting out of school soon. I’ll take Ty home where he’ll be under house arrest with Mom, then head straight to Hamid’s house.”

  “What makes you think he’ll give the computer to you?” Nina asked, sounding as if she was now actually considering his request.

  “I’ve learned to be quite persuasive on the job.” He winked at her.

  His wink seemed to irritate her, and she crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I can’t let you do this.”

  “Let him, please.” Ty grabbed her arm. “For me. Please, Nina, please. I learned my lesson. I’ll never hack anything again. I promise. Please.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know.”

  Ty stepped closer to her, a silent plea in his expression. “It’s only an hour or two. And you know if Ham has the computer, Q can make him give it up.”

  She flashed an uncertain look at Quinn. “If I agree to this, I have to insist on nothing physical with this kid. Don’t lay a hand on him. I mean it. Not even a pinkie.”

  “So you’re good with me talking to him, then?” Quinn held his breath, waiting for her answer.

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll give you enough time to talk to Hamid. Don’t do anything but talk. If he has the computer, call me so I can get a warrant to take it into evidence. Don’t turn it on. If it is on, don’t turn if off. In fact, don’t touch it. Period. Once I have it in house, we can check the logs to see if anyone accessed it since Ty last did. If no one has, then we’ll keep Hamid out of this and maybe the DA will go easy on Ty.”

  “Thank you,” Quinn said. “I should get going. The sooner I get the computer away from Hamid, the better our odds that he hasn’t hacked the password.”

  Nina lifted her chin. “One final thing before you go. I’m already risking my job by letting you do this. I can’t further complicate things by allowing Ty to go home.”

  “What?” Ty squeaked. “Why not?”

  “Though we all know your mother will watch your every move, I have to be able to look my supervisor in the eye and tell him that once I learned of the hack, I didn’t give you the chance to destroy evidence. Going home or logging on to any computer would let you do that, if you wanted to.”

  “What do you propose?” Quinn asked.

  “Ty needs to stay in sight of an agent at all times. With my connection to your family, it can’t be me. I’m not considered impartial. I’ll arrange for someone on our team to watch him in a neutral location.”

  “Who?” Ty asked warily.

  “I’m hoping Becca will be free by now.”

  “She’s cool,” Ty said. “I wouldn’t mind spending time with her.”

  Nina looked at Quinn. “Is there a neighbor who would house Ty and Becca for a few hours?”

  “Sure. Mom’s made friends with most of the neighbors so someone will do it. And, of course, Mom will be joining them.” Quinn clapped his hands. “Let’s roll.”

  She focused on Ty. “I need to talk to Quinn alone for a minute.”

  “Fine.” Ty’s shoulders drooped as he schlepped toward Quinn’s car. His untied shoes slapped on the sidewalk. Quinn’s military training and upbringing made him want to tug up his brother’s pants and tie his shoes.

  “What is it that you need to tell me?” Quinn asked Nina.

  “If you don’t find the computer, my supervisor will insist on involving the FBI’s National Security Branch,” she replied. “You better prepare your family. They’ll assume Ty’s a terrorist first and a stupid teenager second. They’ll sweep down on him faster than flies on honey.”

  As a SEAL, Quinn was fully aware of the kind of sweep that would be forthcoming. “They’ll tear our house apart and detain all of us.”

  She nodded. “Then you’ll be faced with endless rounds of interrogations. Homeland Security could get involved, too. Then, there’s the press. They’re sure to get wind of the investigation. When they find out you’re a SEAL and your dad’s a general . . .”

  “Our family reputation will be toast. We might have to resign.”

  “I hope it doesn’t go that far and I’ll try to contain it.” She peered up at him. “I love that kid, you know? I’ll do my best for him. But I’ve never dealt with anything like this before, and I’m not sure I have enough clout at the Bureau to make a difference. But I will try. That’s all I can promise.”

  WILEY MADE SURE the area was clear before climbing from Kip’s car and hurrying to the back of Brandt’s house. He’d never actually broken into a place before, but his prison buddies had taught him how to do it. Thankfully, Brandt didn’t have a security system. After donning latex gloves, taki
ng off his shoes, and keeping his hoodie up so he wouldn’t leave behind any DNA evidence, he was inside in a few minutes.

  All the blinds were closed so he shone his flashlight into the family room. She had that whole rustic décor thing going on.

  She wanted rustic, huh? He’d give her rustic. A dark, dank cell. Like his had been while she’d lived it up in the lap of luxury.

  He sat in front of her computer, letting his gloved fingers trail over the keyboard. He could imagine her sitting there at her desk. Her freaky red hair in that bun she’d worn every day of his trial. Or maybe she’d let the curls go, as she had in the picture with the SEAL. Curls like Medusa’s snakes.

  Perfect comparison.

  She was just like Medusa. He could easily believe gazing at her could turn a person to stone.

  “Yeah, Medusa.” He chuckled. He considered calling her that all the time as he rifled though the mounds of papers on her desktop,

  Man, what a slob. She didn’t file anything. He kept digging until he found her banking information. He didn’t want to share his haul with her, but framing her for the hack meant putting money in her account. He dug a little deeper, went into file drawers where papers stuck up at odd angles. She couldn’t even file neatly. What a loser.

  He soon found the list of passwords he sought. She’d disguised them, but he knew what he was looking at. He clicked a few keys. The computer screen flashed to life.

  “Bingo. Medusa is as dumb as most geeks I’ve met.” They secured their wireless routers, thus protecting themselves from unauthorized electronic access outside their house, but foolishly kept enough data lying around to let anyone who entered their home invade their privacy. He now possessed her banking, wireless router, and computer passwords. He dug out a prepaid cell phone from his pocket and registered it in Brandt’s name. Then he sat back to gloat for a moment. It was going to be easy to ruin Brandt’s life.

  HAMID’S HOUSE SAT on a quiet street in Troutdale, not far from Quinn’s parents. The typical suburban tree-lined street held cookie-cutter houses grouped close together with manicured lawns. Mailboxes lined the far side of the road. A green space filled with tall pines and large ferns ran along the other.

  It was exactly what Quinn had needed while casing Hamid’s house. As a SEAL sniper, he was trained to find dead space to put something between himself and the target. He’d arrived fifteen minutes ago and had selected a secluded spot to observe. He’d seen enough to know no one was home, providing him the opportunity to slip inside to locate the computer before Hamid got home.

  Nina wouldn’t approve, but what she didn’t know . . .

  He checked the street one last time, then crossed the road. He carried his father’s old briefcase and had dressed in his only suit that he’d found buried in the back of a closet at his parents’ house. He hoped he looked like a business professional. He chuckled. It wasn’t a look he’d ever needed in his many covert operations.

  He rang the doorbell. In the event anyone answered, he’d worked out a spiel about getting the wrong address. But no one did.

  After a quick look around, he put gloves on, then slipped lockpicks from his pocket and opened the door. He entered the two-story contemporary home, closing the door behind him and making a quick assessment. Stairwell ahead. Family room to the side. Kitchen adjoining. He tugged his necktie loose and listened to be sure no one was home. The refrigerator hum was the only sound. He eased through the foyer and quickly swept the lower level. A calico cat jumped from a ledge, startling him, but it soon wrapped around his ankles and purred.

  He scratched it behind the ears, then crossed to the stairwell. Once upstairs, he checked all the rooms, returning to the one with posters of crazy rock bands on walls painted a dark blue. The sheets were jumbled at the foot of the bed, and clothes were strewn on the floor. Quinn wanted to grab up all the mess and chuck it out the window. Much like he wanted to do in Ty’s room.

  Instead, he stepped through it and checked the laptop model. It wasn’t a match for Ty’s. Quinn started sifting through the mess, searching for the machine.

  Twenty minutes later, he’d left no location unsearched but hadn’t come up with the computer. He sat on the window ledge to think, when he heard the front door open.

  A young male’s voice drifted up the stairs. “I’m home. Gotta grab something to eat and my computer, then I’ll be over.”

  Quinn stepped behind the door and waited for Hamid to enter the room. Quinn had never interrogated a kid before, giving him a moment’s pause.

  So what if he was a kid? He was also a thief and possessed information that could clear Ty. Quinn’s brother. His flesh and blood. SEALs took care of their family. Of their own.

  The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me.

  He’d never leave a teammate in trouble without doing everything he could to fix the problem. Never. That went double for a blood relative.

  NINA SWUNG HER car into the employee entrance at work. As she waited for the state-of-the-art gate to open, her decision to let Quinn talk to Hamid plagued her. She hadn’t really thought it through, hadn’t done a cost-benefit analysis as she’d been taught. Instead, she’d just said yes because of the sorrowful eyes of a teenage boy she cared about.

  The gate slid open, and she pulled into the parking garage. She had such a soft spot for Ty. Though her brother had been gone for more than twenty years, she’d often wondered if she’d taken to Ty so quickly to try to fill the void left by Garrett’s death. It would explain her hasty decision with Quinn.

  Decision, right. She’d just committed career suicide. Or not. It all depended on how Quinn handled the visit to Hamid and the outcome. Right. Like she even needed to question what he’d do. He’d barrel into the house. Scare the kid and threaten him. Then what? Hamid would go running to his mom and dad, and she’d be called up to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roland Sulyard’s office, where he’d scream at her. Put her on probation. Maybe fire her.

  She swung into a parking space and turned off the ignition, her mind running over her options. As if her thoughts had called up Sulyard, he strode across the lot and swiped his keycard. Six feet, one-eighty, and bald, he carried himself with as much confidence as Quinn. She visualized the two of them meeting. Quinn defending Ty. Sulyard and Quinn sparring. Eyes flashing, tempers rising. She’d never won an argument with her supervisor, but she could imagine Quinn coming out on top.

  He’d often mentioned that passing Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training wasn’t about physical strength like everyone thought, but about perseverance. He’d passed BUD/S with flying colors and would easily hold his own against Sulyard.

  Of course, that would make Sulyard even angrier, and he’d take her aside to chastise her for letting her heart rule her brain again. Chastise her for letting go. For easing up on the self-discipline she tried to maintain in her life.

  She groaned. Why had she agreed to this crazy plan anyway? What had she been thinking?

  Nothing, just that she had to help Ty. Maybe help Quinn. Which was unacceptable. If she had been thinking and doing her job, she’d at least have accompanied him to Hamid’s house. Now she had to get out of there and do some damage control. Her career depended on it.

  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Wiley had managed to hack Hamid’s wireless router, register the second cell phone to Hamid and use it to set up a bank account in Hamid’s name, then bagged the phone and hidden in the yard. All carried out, no thanks to the SEAL showing up.

  Wiley had heard the car arrive from his location in Hamid Ahmadi’s side yard. He’d peeked between fence slats and spotted the SEAL step from his SUV. He’d hightailed it back behind the air conditioner where only a moment ago he’d hidden the cell phone.

  Thankfully, Wiley had parked Kip’s car a few blocks away and the SEAL had gone straight into the house without searching o
utside. So Wiley sat for a while. Waiting for the dude to leave. He didn’t, and Wiley was growing impatient. He went to the gate, cracked it open, and glanced down the street, the idyllic suburban setting grating at him

  Where had he gone wrong? Penniless and homeless, at his age. Even a kid whose parents emigrated from the Middle East had it better than he did. So unfair. It had been that way all his life. But that would end now. He deserved so much more than this kid. It made it all the easier to hide the phone and set the kid up.

  Wiley checked the other direction. The SEAL’s silver SUV sat a few doors down. It hadn’t moved, and there was no other movement on the street, except for the wind rustling leaves. Not even kids playing outside. Not surprising. Their parents were too busy running the rat race in the city, making money and ignoring their kids. Like his parents. Too busy to care. Treating Wiley worse than the dog. Making his life hell. Always punishing him. Blaming him. They’d been out to get him from day one.

  Then again, look where that had gotten them. He smiled. Yeah, look what he’d done to them. They got what they’d deserved. Just this week. At least Hamid would be saved from that.

  He stepped out and resisted whistling as he eased along the side of the house. A quick peek around the corner and he jerked back. He’d taken too long and Hamid was home. Wiley checked again. There was no mistaking the dark hair or the typical sloppy dress. The kid wore baggy jeans, a green T-shirt, and headphones as he set down a backpack then shuffled to the mailbox. His focus was on his feet.

  Oblivious. Like most teens. No clue Wiley was there.

  Good. He couldn’t get caught now.

  Wiley soon heard the front door opening. He counted to thirty, then risked another glance around the corner. A big black Chevy Tahoe pulled to the curb behind the silver SUV. The door opened and a woman slid down, planting her feet firmly on the ground while she surveyed the area.

  What the . . . ? Brandt. No freaking way.

  Wiley snapped back.