Brody came up beside her. “What happened to the plan to stay away from him?”
“He approached me.”
“No kidding.” He glanced at her outfit. “And there’s a lineup forming after him.”
“I’m wearing Francie’s clothes. I can’t change back to me.”
“That was the best she had?”
“It was one of the things she had. There were worse things in that closet.”
“You’re all but wearing a neon sign that says ‘make a pass at me, because I’ll probably say yes.’”
“Now who’s being melodramatic?”
“You can’t be that oblivious to how men react to you.”
“And you can’t be that paranoid. This party’s full of people. I look flirty. I’m trying to look flirty. It’s part of the plan.”
She’d been wearing funky clothes for days now—she couldn’t understand why Brody was suddenly so worried about it.
“Look further into her closet. There has to be something better than this.”
“Focus, Brody. Have you seen Bert and Ernie?”
Brody let out an exaggerated sigh. “They’re beside the gazebo, checking out the woman in the pink net cover-up.”
Kate casually glanced in their direction. “And you say I’m dressed provocatively.”
“She’s trying harder, but it takes you less effort to have the same effect.”
“Is that a compliment?” She truly wasn’t sure.
“It’s a compliment. And it’s a warning. You have a lot of power. Use it wisely.”
She coughed out a laugh. “You’re losing it, Brody.”
The bar was next to Bert and Ernie, so she quickly downed her champagne and handed the glass to Brody.
“You sure that was a good idea?”
“I’m going to the bar for a fresh drink.”
“You could have dumped it in a plant.”
“Didn’t think of that.” She had to admit, it would probably have been a better idea.
Just then, the wind shifted. She caught a whiff of smoke and wondered if they were doing burgers and brats again tonight. It reminded her that she was hungry. She hadn’t wanted to eat much before prancing around in such a revealing outfit, but maybe she could snag one a little later on. In fact, she’d have two because—
Someone screamed.
“Not again,” Kate muttered. She truly wished they’d stop tossing people into the pool.
But then someone shouted the word “fire!”
Her heart all but stopped.
Before she could turn to look, Brody was running. While others fled the flames that were curling up the side of the house to the second floor, he was running toward them.
Annabelle. Fear overtook Kate.
She started to run, almost instantly tripping up due to the shoes and falling to the grass. She kicked them off and jumped to her feet, running barefoot into the house.
She sprinted through the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs. The smoke was coming in through the open windows, stinging her eyes. Though she was moving as fast as she could, she felt like she was running through wet concrete.
She finally made it to the nursery and wrenched open the door. Annabelle was still asleep. Faint bands of smoke hovered in the light from the window. She looked to be perfectly fine.
Kate scooped her up in her blanket, covering her head and face, then rushed out the door. The return trip seemed to go faster. And by the time she was outside, the flames were out.
Brody was standing over a charred lounger with a fire extinguisher in his hand. A burned wicker basket stood nearby. The wall was scorched at least twelve feet in the air.
Quentin clapped Brody on the back. “That was awesome.” His voice was slurred, and he stumbled a little, steadying himself on Brody’s shoulder.
Somebody let out a whoop.
“It’s all clear, folks,” Quentin yelled, turning to the crowd.
The music started up again, and everybody cheered.
Kate stared at Brody’s rigid posture as Annabelle squirmed in her arms. She told herself, if she hadn’t been there, Quentin would have remembered he had a baby. If the fire had gotten worse, surely he would have rescued Annabelle.
But then a shudder went through Kate’s body, because she wasn’t certain at all.
* * *
Even with the distraction of the fire, it was 3:00 a.m. before the party broke up. Brody was appalled by the behavior of the party guests. Even Quentin seemed to think it was funny that his house had nearly burned down.
Speculation was that someone had disposed of a cigarette butt in a towel hamper. The hamper had ignited, the fire spreading to the teak lounger beside it and up the wall of the house.
Once it was out, Kate had taken Annabelle back to the nursery. She hadn’t returned to the party. Brody didn’t blame her. Bert and Ernie would have to wait until tomorrow.
Brody was horrified to think about how badly it could have gone. He was sick of hanging out with Quentin and his friends. He didn’t want Kate near any of them, and Annabelle seemed to be in genuine danger.
He needed to get the evidence he required and turn this whole thing over to the police. It was late, and the mansion was finally quiet, though adrenaline was still pumping through his system.
He marched into Quentin’s office and sat down at his computer. He turned it on and dialed Will.
“Hello?” Will’s voice was groggy.
“I’m at his computer,” Brody said without preamble. “Tell me what I’m looking for.”
Will became alert. “You’re looking for a network connection.”
Brody went to the control panel. “I see three.”
“Read them to me.”
Raised voices sounded down the hallway.
“Hang on,” said Brody.
“What?”
Brody came to his feet, moving toward the door.
“We’ve already had this conversation,” Quentin shouted.
“Gotta go,” Brody said to Will, ending the call.
Brody pocketed his phone and carefully cracked the office door, peering out. The hallway was dim, but he could make out three figures.
“I’m going to bed,” Quentin stated with determination.
He marched up the staircase and disappeared.
Bert said something to Ernie, and then Ernie answered back. The exchange became heated, and they moved down the hall, entering another room and shutting the door.
Brody knew he needed Kate right now. He hated to drag her out of bed after the evening she’d had, but he needed to know what those two were saying.
He left the office and took the stairs two at a time, letting himself into her bedroom. In the dim light, he quietly closed the connecting door to the nursery.
“Kate?” he whispered. He flicked on the bedside lamp.
“Kate?” he repeated. “It’s Brody.”
She blinked her eyes. For some reason, she didn’t seem surprised to see him. “What’s going on?”
“Can you come downstairs?”
She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “It’s after four.”
“Bert and Ernie are having a fight. I need to know what they’re arguing about.”
She gave herself a little shake. “Sure. Yeah. Okay.”
“You awake?” he asked.
She nodded. She flipped back the covers and rose from the bed. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and an old T-shirt. The outfit suited her, and her tousled hair and sleepy eyes were incredibly sexy.
He told himself to get a grip. “They’re downstairs.”
“Okay.” She padded silently beside him.
“If they come out,” Brody whispered to her as they descended t
he stairs. “If anyone sees us.”
“You can pretend it’s a tryst.”
“I think that’s best.”
“They’ll buy it. I have it on good authority that I looked provocative earlier tonight.”
He couldn’t believe she was making jokes. “We should be quiet.”
She stopped talking.
They came to the closed door at the end of the hallway. The men’s voices were muffled but audible.
“Something about a Mr. Kozak,” she whispered.
It was the same name that came up before. Will had looked into the name but found far too many Kozaks to know who they might be talking about.
“Whoever he is,” Kate said. “He’s coming to California tomorrow, and they need to pick him up at the airport.”
She listened a few minutes longer. “They’re back to Ceci again. If Quentin doesn’t agree to Ceci, they’re going to...” Kate went pale.
“What is it?” Brody asked.
Kate’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They’re going to threaten Annabelle. They want to use her to control Quentin.”
Kate swayed, and Brody grasped her shoulders to support her.
“Brody, what do we do?”
He’d heard enough. “Let’s go.”
She stumbled as she followed him. “What are we going to do?”
Turning into Quentin’s office, he pressed his speed dial for Will. “Whatever it is we need to find, we’re doing it now.”
He closed the door, locking them inside the office.
He sat down behind the computer.
“They’re threatening Annabelle,” he told Will. “And we’re running out of time.”
Will’s tone turned all business. “You’re at the computer?”
“Yes.”
“Read me the name of each of the network connections.”
Brody read, and Will asked more questions, becoming more technical the deeper they went.
Kate paced the floor.
“Okay,” Will finally said. “That’s it. That’s the proof.”
Brody could hardly believe it. “We found it?”
Kate looked sharply up.
“It’s time to call the police. I know exactly where to point them.”
“Good. That’s good.” Brody was afraid to hope it would all come together. “Tell them the guy named Kozak is coming into the country tomorrow. Whoever he is, he’s got to be connected somehow. Can you take another look for him?”
“Will do,” said Will.
“And something about someone named Ceci. They keep saying they want Quentin to do something with Ceci. He’s resisting, and that’s why they’re threatening Annabelle.”
Will was silent.
“You there?” Brody asked.
“You know for sure that Ceci’s a person?” asked Will.
Brody looked to Kate. “Ceci’s a person?”
“I believe so. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“That’s Kate’s best guess.”
“Did they ever actually say it wasn’t something else?” Will asked.
Brody relayed the question.
She shook her head. “Not explicitly.”
Brody went back to Will. “We thought maybe Kozak wanted Quentin to date or marry someone named Ceci. Maybe he has another illegitimate child out there?”
Will took another pause before responding. “Why would Bert and Ernie care about Quentin’s love life?”
“It was only a theory.”
“Got any other theories?”
“None. Do you?”
“Tell me exactly what they said about Ceci.”
“I’ll give you Kate.” Brody handed Kate the phone. “He wants to know exactly what they said about Ceci.”
She took the phone. “Hi, Will. This is Kate.” She paused, obviously listening. “At first I thought they said Quentin would have to embrace Ceci, but then I thought maybe it was more closely translated to accept Ceci.”
She paused. “Is this important? Because I’m not very good at translation. I don’t want to mislead you.”
Kate paused again. “No, they didn’t. Okay.”
She handed the phone back to Brody.
“Did that help?” he asked Will.
“Oh, man,” Will said.
“In a good way or a bad way?”
“Ceci.”
“You do realize that wasn’t an answer.”
“It’s not Ceci, it’s C E S I.” There was stark astonishment in Will’s voice.
“That made even less sense.” Brody wished he could reach through the phone line and shake Will’s brain back to life.
“CESI isn’t a woman, it’s an acronym. It stands for Cryptography Enabled Steganography Instances.”
“Was that English?”
“Steganography hides messages inside other objects. Cryptography encrypts those messages.”
“What kind of messages?”
“Any kind of message.” Will’s level of excitement was clearly growing. “Any kind of data.”
A lightbulb went off inside Brody’s brain. “Kozak wants to use ‘Blue Strata Combat’ to move secret data, hidden data.”
“That would be my guess,” Will said.
“To millions of computers worldwide?”
“Yes. Do you have any idea what this could be?”
An unnerving picture was forming in Brody’s mind. “Through millions of servers, into countless countries.”
“This is way above my pay grade.”
“Could it be financial data?” Brody’s astonishment and worry were both growing as the moments passed. This had to go far beyond stealing computer gaming code.
“It could be financial,” said Will. “Or something even more sinister. It could be trade secrets, or even military secrets.”
“Are we talking national security?” Brody asked.
“You need to get back here,” Will said. “We have to call FBI Cyber Crimes.”
“I’m not leaving Kate.”
Brody’s words caught her attention. Worry was etched in her face.
“You should get Kate and Annabelle out of the house as soon as you can.”
“Agreed,” Brody said. He wasn’t leaving them in danger any longer.
* * *
Kate tried to quell her nerves as she packed a diaper bag for Annabelle. It was barely five in the morning, so they’d be gone long before Quentin woke up. But she couldn’t quell her nervousness.
She wasn’t taking much. If they got caught leaving, she wanted her story of taking Annabelle for a drive to put her back to sleep to sound plausible. And she could buy anything they needed in the short term.
As soon as Quentin was arrested, she’d try for temporary custody of Annabelle. Once she had that, she was taking the baby to Seattle. Annabelle would be safe there. She’d be safe and she would be happy.
Kate zipped up the bag, afraid to believe it might be almost over.
She slung it over her shoulder and took Annabelle in her arms, stopping at the kitchen for a bottle. Brody was moving the car seat to his car and would meet them out front.
Annabelle whimpered as they made their way down the stairs.
“Shhh,” Kate whispered. “We’ll get you a bottle, honey. It’s coming right up.”
Kate removed a bottle from the fridge and warmed it in the microwave. While she waited, every sound seemed magnified. She imagined she could hear Brody’s car out front, and Annabelle’s soft cries seemed to echo in the room. The microwave’s beeps sounded piercing sharp.
“You’re not nearly so sexy with a baby weighing you down.”
Kate cringed at the tone of Rex’s voice.
<
br /> “I’m not trying to look sexy,” she said, trying to sound casual.
“Going somewhere?”
“For a drive. Annabelle’s fussy, and it quiets her down.”
Rex moved closer. “Doesn’t a bottle usually work?”
“Sometimes. But a drive works better.”
Kate tested the formula temperature on her wrist. Thankfully, it was just right. While she’d prayed Annabelle would stay quiet, she now wished the baby would make some noise. It would add credibility to her story about going for a drive.
“Thing is,” Rex said. “You don’t have a car.”
His words flustered her, and she hesitated. It was just for a moment, but she could tell it was enough to raise his suspicions.
“Brody offered to drive,” she said, collecting the baby, her supplies and moving for the door.
“What’s Brody doing here?”
“I... I...”
Rex’s eyes narrowed.
“I slept with him,” she blurted out. “I slept with Brody. That’s why he’s here in the morning.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
She tried a pout. “Why would I lie about that?”
Rex gave his head a slow shake. “I don’t know.”
She tried to intimidate him. “Who I sleep with is no concern of yours.”
“Maybe not,” he said, stepping fully into the center of the door, blocking her path. “But what goes on in this house is my business.”
“Sex doesn’t normally go on in this house?” She tried to be sarcastic.
“People don’t normally leave with Quentin’s daughter.”
Kate’s stomach lurched. What did Rex know? What did he suspect?
“I say we go talk to Quentin,” he said.
“Quentin’s asleep.” She could feel her courage deserting her. Her heart rate was spiking and her mouth had turned dry.
“We’ll wake him up,” suggested Rex.
“We shouldn’t do that.”
“Oh, I think we should.” Rex’s hand clamped onto her arm.
There was no way to fight him off, not with her holding Annabelle. She scrambled for the right action. Should she try to make a run for it, should she yell, or should she brazen it out and hope Quentin fell for the story?
He normally didn’t care what went on with Annabelle as long as it didn’t cause him any trouble. If she held off on the bottle a few more minutes, Annabelle would start crying. Quentin hated it when Annabelle cried. He’d agree to anything so long as Kate was taking her out of earshot.
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