The Christmas Angel (The McBride Series Book 1)

by Tina Radcliffe

  His boss rubbed a spot between his shaggy brows and then cleared his throat. “May we continue?”

  The room became silent again, all eyes on Charlie.

  “Judd was unsuccessful in overriding the password.”

  Michael spoke up again. “So you don’t know what’s in that file?”

  “No.” Charlie answered.

  “I don’t suppose you considered the possibility that the file is Kevin’s?” Samantha said. “The computer used to be his.” Anger simmered in her tone as she moved next to the computer and with a deft hand, flipped the machinery on.

  Her gaze raked Judd.

  “All we need is a password? How difficult can that be?” she asked no one in particular.

  Judd coughed, unwilling to tell her he’d been trying to get into the file for three days.

  Charlie nodded. “Judd, will you do the honors?”

  The family crowded around the screen as Judd entered the computer password and moved to the files.

  “How did you know my computer password?” she asked him.

  “It’s my job.” He clicked on a file named “top secret,” and immediately, the “access denied” icon appeared, its bright yellow letters lighting up the screen.

  “Try McBride,” Samantha said. Her breath warmed his face as she leaned over his shoulder and peered at the monitor.

  A shudder ran through Judd. Was it only a few hours ago that her breath fanned his face as he kissed her?

  Some days it just wasn’t worth it to crawl out from under the bed.

  “Oh, that’s original, Sam,” Michael muttered when the screen remained unchanged. Judd struggled to control his frustration.

  Luke spoke up, his voice edgy. “Come on, let’s get serious here folks. If we don’t find the password and figure this out, Sam is in big trouble.”

  “Excuse me?” Samantha responded. Hands on hips, she looked around. “What happened to innocent until proven guilty, people? Let’s not forget that I didn’t do anything.”

  “Don’t you worry, Sammy. I’ll make you a cake with one of these in it.” Kathleen waived her metal file in the air as she spoke.

  Samantha sent her sister a lethal glare.

  “That’s not funny, Kathleen,” Mary Margaret said. Turning to Charlie, she asked, “What’s the next step?”

  “I can only tell you this,” Charlie said. “We have until nine a.m. Monday to find the hacker and close the hole. After that, the government will send either Homeland Security or the FBI’s to handle the situation. Right now, they aren’t even aware there is a situation. I prefer to keep it that way.”

  The room was silent.

  Charlie turned to face his niece. “You understand that this isn’t Judd’s fault? He was acting on my orders in an attempt to prove your innocence.”

  Judd stiffened. He didn’t need Charlie defending him.

  Samantha’s eyes flashed fire. “Really? So everything Judd did was under your orders? Is that correct?”

  Judd didn’t miss the pointed innuendo, and from his boss’s frown, he surmised Charlie hadn’t either.

  “Anyone else have a bright idea?” Kathleen asked.

  “Try ‘cyber man.’”

  “What did you say?” Judd turned completely around in the chair and pinned his gaze on Michael.

  “I didn’t say anything,” Michael said, palms up.

  “I said, ‘Try cyberman,’” a small voice repeated. “It’s one word. All lowercase.”

  Judd and everyone else focused their attention on Danny McBride, who was sprawled on the floor next to his father playing with a water globe.

  “Danny?” Samantha stooped down next to her nephew. “What is cyberman?”

  “I made it up.”

  “But why? You didn’t need a password to play those video games.” She turned her head to Michael, who lifted his hands in defense.

  “Don’t look at me. It’s your computer.”

  “If Danny’s been on the internet, then you showed him.”

  “I signed up for an online dating service. Once. Why is it I get blamed for everything around here?”

  “If the modem fits,” Kathleen said with a smirk.

  As they argued, Judd typed in the words “cyberman” and pressed the enter key. The screen changed, immediately opening up.

  “Bingo,” Michael shouted. “We did it.”

  Yeah, they’d done it all right, Judd concurred silently. The real question was did it prove Samantha’s innocence?

  8

  Lists. The screen was full of lists.

  “Well, what do you know?” Charlie breathed, letting out a low whistle as he moved closer.

  Judd scrolled down several lines and turned to look at his boss. I still can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Judd said.

  “What is it?” Sam asked.

  Charlie took the mouse and began scrolling. “The file is titled Security System Validation Pathways. So I assume that’s what they are.”

  “Pathways?” Samantha questioned. “Pathways to what?”

  “You don’t want to know. More importantly, you don’t need to know,” Charlie said.

  “How did this get on my computer?” she cried.

  “Good question,” Judd muttered.

  Luke groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “My son is going to be the youngest person on the post office wall. We’re going to turn on the TV and see a seven-year old on America’s Most Wanted,” Luke ranted.

  “Luke, relax for a minute,” Michael said.

  “Relax? Relax?” Luke gestured wildly. “My son is a hacker. We’re talking terminal grounding here.”

  “Does that mean no more computers?” Danny asked.

  Judd stared, amazed at the bulging veins in Luke’s neck. The guy was going to burst a vessel at this rate.

  “Computer?” Luke snorted. “I don’t think they let you have computers in prison, do they Michael?”

  Michael jumped back. “How would I know?”

  Danny began to sniffle.

  Samantha reached over and slid the ball cap off Danny’s head and then pulled the boy into her arms. “Your dad is exaggerating.”

  “Stop it, Luke. You’re upsetting him,” Mary Margaret commanded, moving to her grandson.

  “Am I going to jail?” Danny whimpered.

  “No, sweetie,” Samantha reassured him, stroking his back. “But you have to help us figure this out. Did you break into all these companies?” she continued.

  “Only one. I wanted to see if I could do it.”

  “Could you show me how you did it?” Judd interrupted, his voice purposely soothing. His eyes connected with Samantha’s, and the grateful smile on her face left him immobile for several seconds.

  “Sure,” Danny’s voice rang out, exuberant with pride as he jumped up from the floor.

  Judd slipped out of the seat, bumping into Samantha as Danny moved into position behind the monitor. Judd forced himself to concentrate on the computer screen, not on the thoughts of Samantha that crashed through his mind.

  His ball cap on backwards, an eager Danny sat at the computer and began pecking the keys.

  “Danny, how did you know how to do this?” Luke’s voice was tight as he paced back and forth in front of his son.

  “I don’t know. I just did.”

  “But how?”

  Danny bit his lip as he concentrated. “Well, first I found a good URL, and then I figured out the ports with a port scanner that I downloaded. Then I looked to see if there was a CGI that I could attach to...”

  “Stop!” Charlie said. “No one in this room has the need to know except Judd and me. We’ll finish this discussion in a secure area.” He patted Danny on the head.

  “CGI?” Samantha said.

  “Common gateway interface,” replied Judd.

  “That was helpful,” she murmured.

  Luke scratched his head. “Right.” He’d run his hands through his hair so many times in the last few minutes that now it stood up
in spikes all over his head.

  “You know, Luke, I think we can use Danny.”

  “Uncle Charlie?” Luke prodded.

  Charlie stooped down next to Danny. “Danny, I have to be honest with you, young man. What you did was against the law.”

  “All I did was look around.” Danny was genuinely perplexed.

  “If you broke into a toy store but didn’t take anything, would you still be in trouble?”

  Danny nodded solemnly.

  Judd smiled at his boss’s technique.

  “If Danny cooperates, he won’t go to jail, right?” Luke asked.

  “I wasn’t planning to incarcerate him,” Charlie replied with a wry grin. “In fact, I’d like to fly Danny up to D.C. on Monday to help me work on the agency computers. He could stay a few days with me. That all right with you, Luke?”

  “Oh man, Uncle Charlie, I’m just thrilled he won’t be wearing striped pajamas for the rest of his life.”

  “Danny, I’m going to talk to your dad about your education and a potential job with me.”

  “A job? He’s seven,” Luke said.

  “He’s a genius,” Charlie said.

  “What about Judd?” Danny asked. “Is he coming too?”

  “No. I owe Judd a vacation. This time he’s taking it. You can work with Judd later. In fact, he can come down here to work with you.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Charlie,” Luke said as he lifted his son onto his shoulders and headed for the door.

  Judd sent the pair a thumbs-up as all around him a McBride mass exodus began. From the corner of his eye, he caught his boss slipping into his overcoat. Where was he going? Things were far from finished here. Sure, they’d just saved mankind. But what about his future?”

  “Charlie!”

  “I’ve got to get things rolling, Judd. The deadline is still pressing. We’ll talk later.”Kathleen sidled up to Judd. “Well, I guess your job here is done. Going to get on your horse and ride off into the sunset, huh?”

  Judd glanced down at her in confusion. “Uh, yeah, something like that.” Where was Samantha?

  Kathleen moved closer. “You know, I think there’s something really attractive about a man in glasses.”

  He yanked off his wire-frames and stepped back.

  “Kathleen. We are leaving.” Mrs. McBride grabbed her daughter’s arm and pulled. “Judd, come by for dinner Sunday. It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re like family now.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be in town. But thank you.” He struggled with his response to her words. He was going to miss the McBrides.

  “Nice work, Judd.” Michael interrupted his thoughts. “Guess this means I have to find a new bookkeeper, right?”

  “You can easily handle things now that the program is up and running. I mean, I thought that was the plan anyhow. ”

  “Who told you that? I don’t have the smarts for that. I don’t have a computer degree like you.”

  Judd couldn’t figure out why the guy liked playing dumb. It was obvious he was very intelligent.

  “On the other hand,” Michael stroked his beard and grinned. “Women really go for you techie guys. Maybe I should get a pair of glasses as well.”

  “There you go. You can see all the women lining up to ask me out.” Judd looked around the empty apartment. Had Samantha slipped out too, purposely avoiding him?

  He found her in the kitchen staring at the sink.

  “Samantha, we have to talk.”

  “What about?” Her voice was flat.

  “What do you think? I’m left holding the bag here.”

  “I need some time to think about all of this.” She turned around and shook her head. “Did you really think I was some sort of a hacker?”

  “Yeah, for about thirty seconds. Why do you think I was so slow in getting to the bottom of things?”

  She continued to look at him, her hazel eyes round and wide. He rubbed the tight muscles at the back of his neck with both of his hands.

  “Look, I was just doing Charlie a favor. I was on my way to France when he pulled me into his office. I didn’t even want this assignment.”

  “France,” she murmured. “I imagine a month in this little town was stifling.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  She turned away and folded a dishtowel. “I have to go to work.”

  “I’ll walk with you.”

  “I need to think.”

  “That’s the last thing you need. The more you think, the more you’ll blow this out of proportion and make it worse than it is.”

  Turning, she stepped closer, the light back in her eyes. “Out of proportion? I’ve made a complete fool out of myself.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “You kissed me as part of your job.” She grimaced, her face reddening. “Oh my gosh, I hardly think it could get worse.”

  “Samantha, when this started, how could I even have dreamed my feelings for you would figure into it? How could I know I would fall in love with you?”

  Her head jerked back, eyes widening as shock registered. “In love? Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t have a clue what love is. You’ve barely completed Family 101.”

  He smiled. “Believe me, I know what love is. I buried it with my parents when I was about Danny’s age. I’ve spent the last twenty-five years wondering if I’d ever find someone who I would love the way they loved each other—the way they loved me.”

  She looked at him from beneath her lashes, giving him the courage to continue. “So, yeah, I can well recognize love when it runs me over.”

  “That’s flattering.”

  “Flattering? Here’s my reality. The moment I met you, I began to fall in love with you. With my usual lack of social skills, I just kept messing everything up.”

  “Please stop.” She shook her head, closing her eyelids tightly.

  “Are you saying you don’t feel anything for me?” He moved closer, his gut tightening. “Nothing? You’ll just let me walk away?”

  Her eyes opened. “Yes, of course I care. And the rational part of me understands you were doing your job, even if my female sensibilities question your motives. However, the bottom line is that your life isn’t here, Judd. No matter what I say or feel, you are going to leave. You have no intention of unpacking those boxes. Ever.”

  She cared.

  At least she’d admitted that much. He reached over and picked up a miniature water globe with the Eiffel Tower inside from her kitchen window ledge. “Charlie’s sending me to Strasbourg. It’s just a short train ride to Paris.” He took a deep breath, knowing he was putting it all on the line. “Come with me.”

  She smiled wistfully. “I can’t.”

  “I thought this was what you wanted.” He held the globe between them.

  “I do, someday. Right now, I can’t leave my family.”

  “Samantha, don’t tell me you can’t. Tell me why you won’t.”

  “Can’t, won’t. It’s all the same.”

  He fingered the smooth glass. “I thought you’d collected all these things to remind you of your dreams—of Kevin’s—and to remember how short life is. Now you have the chance to follow your dreams, and you won’t.”

  “You make it sound so simple. It’s not.”

  “So that’s it, huh?” He headed for the door. “We don’t even get a chance?”

  “Judd, please.” Her voice shook with emotion.

  “Samantha, what do you want?”

  “I want you to hold me. For just a little while.”

  Later he’d beat himself up for not taking her in his arms. For now he knew he had to stop making it easy for Samantha. She had choices to make.

  Besides, she’d never said she loved him.

  He reached for the doorknob. “I’m sorry your father died. I’m sorry Kevin died. And I’m sorry my parents died. But I was wrong to shut out the world.” He looked her in the eye. “And you’re wrong if you think giving up your life will somehow protect your family.”


  She swallowed hard, her eyes moist with unshed tears. He wanted to shake her. To tell her it was okay to let go for once, it was okay to need someone else. Hadn’t he learned that this month?

  “Samantha, you taught me to take a chance. Now I’m asking you to.”

  Her silence sliced through him—dousing the flickering light of his hope.

  “Sam?”

  “I can’t, Judd.”

  A tremor slammed through his body at her whispered words. He pulled open the door. “I’d unpack every single box if I could make you trust in us enough to love me.” Pausing, he smiled grimly. “Or maybe I mean, ‘love me enough to trust in us.’”

  Judd moved up the stairs to his apartment in a fog. The walls of his solitary boundary were crashing down, and he was finally free from his self-inflicted prison. What irony. Now he was more alone than ever before in his life. He hadn’t really known alone until now. Before it was his friend, now it stood as a silent accuser.

  Standing in his kitchen staring at the chrome espresso machine, he knew that for the first time his precious coffee beans wouldn’t solve a thing. Still, like a robot, he went through the motions and ground the beans, tamped the grind into the filter, and leaned against the counter to wait.

  Waiting? That’s all he could to do right now. Wait. He had a month’s vacation. Thirty days was a lot of waiting time.

  The water dripped through the grounds, and the wafts of the aroma had begun to filter into the kitchen when a scuffling began outside his door. Whispered voices. Finally there was a firm knock.

  Samantha? The thought ripped through him like an errant lightning bolt of hope. He pulled open the front door to find his neighbors crowding the threshold. Mrs. Cush, Garfield Chung, and Mrs. Peabody. They filed past him, inviting themselves into the room.

  “Not to worry,” said Cush. At least he thought it was Cush. Her head was covered with fat pink rollers, and her face was smeared with thick white cream.

  “Not to worry?” Judd repeated.

  “We have a plan!” added Mr. Chung. “Oh, and I brought enchiladas.” He shoved the casserole into Judd’s arms.

  “Did you tell him we have a plan?” Mrs. Peabody asked loudly, adjusting her hearing aid.

  Judd groaned as the door closed and his chance to escape disappeared.