Kat’s heart beat a staccato rhythm. She drew and released long, slow breaths to keep from hyperventilating. She paced back and forth in front of Farook’s office, her eyes nervously scanning the bullpen for the lower-level administrative staff as if someone might pop up from one of the unoccupied desks.
She had just turned to pace away from the office when she heard someone at the exterior door. “Someone’s coming,” she said.
“Stall them,” Dillon whispered.
The glow from the computer monitor went out, and Farook’s office returned to darkness. Kat raced to the door.
“What are you doing here?” demanded a familiar voice when it swung open.
“Charlie? This isn’t your shift. What are you doing here?”
His usually friendly expression morphed into one of suspicion. “I asked first.” He glanced toward Farook’s office and then swiveled to scan the rest of the area.
“I-I needed to get my favorite sweater from my locker and p-pick up your flowers,” she stammered.
His stern gaze swept back to her. “The lockers aren’t in this building.”
She shifted slightly so he would be looking away from the office where she hoped Dillon had found a place to hide. “I know that. I guess I might as well tell you.” She released an exaggerated sigh. “I was hoping to catch Farook still here so I checked his office even though the bullpen lights were off. I was just leaving when I heard someone at the door and thought it might be him coming back.”
“Farook gets off at five.”
“But you know he frequently stays way late.”
“Why didn’t you make an appointment so he’d be expecting you?” Charlie’s tone was far from friendly.
“I couldn’t. He…uh…hasn’t been taking my calls.”
“Why did you want to see him?”
She leaned closer as if sharing a secret. “Please don’t tell anyone, but he’s put reprimands in my personnel file without telling me. That’s not allowed. I wanted to confront him in person.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “That bastard.” His fingers curled around her arm. “Sorry you missed him, Kat, but you really shouldn’t be in here. Come on. I’ll walk you to your locker.”
She held back a whimper and forced herself to smile. “Thanks, Charlie. And thanks again for the flowers. I can’t wait to see them.” As he pushed the door open, she cocked her head. “You never said why you’re here so early, Charlie.”
* * *
Crouched under the desk, Dillon listened to the door slam shut. Fuck, that was close. But Kat had held it together with her excuse about the reprimands. He smiled. She’d always been quick on her feet. One of the many things he loved about her.
He waited another minute before crawling out of his hiding place and along the wall to the doorway. Listened. Nothing. Peeked around the corner. Nothing.
Then he had to stand and stretch to get the kinks out. Once he could move normally, he exhaled and moved back to the desk. Kneeling again, he turned on the monitor and got to work. Quickly, he found the information he needed to confirm what he feared. Seeing it up close and personal instead of through cyberspace gave him a lot more confidence in its authenticity, harder for it to have been tampered with. He—of all people—should know.
As he shut down the computer, he silently thanked Chaos for finding the list of everyone’s passwords in the IT department’s files. Having Farook’s password saved a ton of time getting into his machine. Someone needed to tell the IT folks that their security was shitty and their computer system wasn’t hack-proof. By a long shot. Maybe that could be his first assignment once he joined Counterterrorism.
Since he no longer had a company employee with him, he really couldn’t take a chance at being caught. A believable excuse for being alone in this building would be difficult to manufacture. So he didn’t chance being spotted through the windows and crawled to the exit. Opening the door a crack, he surveyed the area and spied no one. Then he popped outside and made a beeline to the parking lot.
Five minutes later, wearing her “favorite sweater” and carrying a vase of flowers, Kat hurried to the truck. She climbed inside and collapsed in the seat.
“Oh my God, Dillon. You almost got caught.”
“But I didn’t. Good work, babe. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
After they passed through the security gate, Kat breathed a sigh of relief. “Should you call Chaos and make sure he knows we’re out safely, mission accomplished?”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“For his protection, I can’t use my iPhone or the new burner phone I have with me. But I’m sure he saw us pass the gate and has already reactivated the cameras. I’m a little worried about Charlie though.”
“He didn’t seem suspicious after we left the administration building.”
“That’s good, but if he checks the camera feed for the time you were both standing by the door, he’s not going to see anyone there. He’ll know someone tampered with the cameras.”
“But he won’t know it was us, right?”
“He won’t know and he won’t be able to trace it to Chaos, but he’ll damn well be suspicious if he has any brains.”
Chapter 22
Kat wanted to throw up. God, she’d been so scared for Dillon. If he’d been caught on Farook’s computer, his FBI career would’ve been finished. But he’d taken that risk anyway…for her.
By the time they reached the storage facility, she was drained and headed straight for the futon. Dillon brought her a cold bottle of water and sat down beside her.
“What’s the next step, Shadow?”
“You just rest, Scotty.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Chaos and I will put together a dossier on everything we’ve uncovered. Then we’ll send it anonymously to the FBI.”
“You know how to do that?”
“It’s what TSK does.”
Did she want to know? Hell, yes. “And TSK is…?”
He leaned forward, clasped his hands between his knees, and bowed his head in resignation. “Before I met you and before I became an agent, I ran a hacking group called The Shadow Knows.”
“Seriously? You mean like Anonymous, the hackers whose symbol is the Guy Fawkes mask?”
“No,” he snapped. “Our computer skills were just as awesome, but all our work was to benefit law enforcement, to bring justice, to help people. We weren’t subversive.”
She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, sorry I asked.”
He shrugged. “I enjoyed the hell out of it, and I was proud of what we accomplished, but I couldn’t risk doing it anymore.”
“If it was for a good purpose, why not?”
He peered at her, long and hard. “Because of you, Kat. I couldn’t risk going to jail because of you. I wanted us to have a future.”
The pain in his eyes told her how much he’d given up for them. And she’d thrown it all away without even knowing his sacrifice. Just as he had no clue what she had sacrificed so he could have the future and adopted family he’d always wanted. Ironic really.
“I’m sorry, Dillon.” She clasped her hands tightly, as if holding herself back. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t know. I couldn’t take a chance you’d be considered an accomplice.” He shrugged again. “But it wouldn’t have made any difference. The no-babies thing ruined us anyway.”
She touched his cheek tenderly. “I wish there was a compromise, but you deserve to live your life the way you want. And I deserve the same.”
“Yeah.” He pulled away from her touch. “I should get to work.”
Without meeting her gaze, he trudged to the computer table. He plugged in his earbuds and made a call on the old burner phone. “Okay, Chaos, let’s pull this all together.”
To escape the guilt of hurting Dillon and the anxiety of what they’d done at Diablo Beach, Kat let sleep draw her into oblivion. When she woke up, she w
as disappointed to see it was already nine o’clock; she’d probably missed the chance to call and say good night to Skye.
Dillon was so preoccupied with the computers that he didn’t even seem to notice that she was awake. Silently, Kat found her phone in her purse and turned over so her back was to him. She texted her mother: Sorry I’m late. Skye still up?
She waited five minutes and then sent the same text to her dad’s cell. Ten more minutes passed without a response from either one. The thought of her parents happily reading a story to Skye and rocking her to sleep brought a pinch of envy. Kat’s schedule meant she’d missed many nights of putting her baby to bed. She closed her eyes and waited another ten minutes before sending texts to both parents again. Still no response.
Concern began to nibble at the edges of her mind, but she shook it off. Too much cloak-and-dagger stuff was overshadowing her common sense. Maybe they’d put Skye to bed and turned off their phones while they watched a movie. That makes sense.
She rolled over, sat up, and stuck her phone in her purse. “Dillon, I need to use the bathroom.”
He started like he’d forgotten she was there. “I can’t leave yet. Do you mind if I walk you to the restroom here?”
She clutched the purse to her chest. “I can find it myself.”
“I don’t want you out alone, Kat. C’mon. I need a break anyway.”
He checked outside for several minutes before he let her through the door.
Once she was locked in the bathroom, she yanked the phone from her purse. Still no responses to her texts. She dialed her mom’s cell and got voicemail. Same with her dad. She called their landline. It rang so long that the answering machine kicked on automatically. She left a message there also.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. Fear stared back at her.
Her parents would never ignore the landline. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Skye! Oh God, my baby!
* * *
Dillon paced outside the restroom door. Things had gone from bad to worse in the past couple hours. And he didn’t want to tell Kat.
When they’d returned from their trip to Diablo Beach, she’d been pale and shaky. Falling asleep had been the best thing for her. But even after her nap, she didn’t look well, worse maybe. How could he add more worry to her already strained state of mind?
He shoved his fingers through his hair and groaned. The night’s downhill spiral had begun when Charlie discovered Kat near Farook’s office. She’d done an admirable job of diverting his attention. Her ploy had allowed Dillon to confirm what he’d suspected: The computer in Farook’s office was not the one issued to him by the IT department. Someone else had that computer. Someone else wanted it to look like Asad Farook—who had the same last name as an infamous terrorist—was involved. And that someone else was letting outsiders use Farook’s computer to access the Diablo Beach system.
Where the outsiders were located was the second bombshell of the night. He’d already suspected that Pakistan wasn’t the origination point. Now he almost wished it were. As he and Chaos had been documenting their evidence, a flurry of activity in the program files had started. They’d used the significant activity to successfully trace the source to China.
Fucking China! Jesus Christ. Having the Communists troll for personal information in the US Office of Personnel Management files in 2015 was one thing; causing a nuclear meltdown was a whole different ballgame. This discovery also meant the Chinese were after Kat. And those bastards were lethal.
He had to decide—and decide damn quickly—whether providing the information anonymously to the FBI would get the immediate attention this situation warranted. If he picked up the phone and called his boss instead, he might prevent a nuclear catastrophe, but he’d likely end up in prison and would definitely lose his job.
Well, hell. He didn’t really have a choice. Lives were at stake, thousands of lives, hundreds of thousands even. As soon as he and Chaos finished the dossier of information, Dillon would call Rex with the terrifying news.
“Dillon,” Kat said as she opened the restroom door, “I need to borrow your truck.”
Her request came out of nowhere. But what worried him more than the request itself was how she looked. During five minutes in the bathroom, Kat had turned as white as the fingers of fog hanging overhead. Her eyes were wide, panicky, and filled with fear.
He frowned. “What?”
“I need to—”
“I heard that part. I should’ve said why.”
“I-I can’t tell you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry, but I need to…run an errand…alone.”
“Under the circumstances, that’s a damn bad idea.”
“Please, Dillon, trust me on this.”
“Look, it’s not that I don’t trust you.” He sighed. “While you were sleeping, Chaos and I figured out that this Diablo Beach problem is bigger than any of us imagined.”
Her eyes widened even more. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s get back inside where you can’t be seen, and I’ll explain.”
Neither said another word while they hurried back to his unit.
As soon as he locked the door, she demanded, “Okay, tell me. But make it quick. I need to go.”
He couldn’t let her run an errand alone. He had to shock her into cooperating. “The people who’ve been attacking you are covert foreign operatives. People who will stop at nothing to get what they want. They work for the Chinese government.” He paused for effect. “China is planning to sabotage Diablo Beach and cause a nuclear meltdown.”
* * *
Kat felt the blood drain from her face. Black danced at the edge of her vision. Her legs were suddenly no longer solid.
Dillon caught her before she hit the concrete floor. He carried her to the futon and then ran to wet a paper towel with cold water from the fridge. While he was gone, Kat gave herself a pull-yourself-together pep talk. No time for fainting. No time for weakness. Skye and her parents needed her. They were in danger because of her.
“China? Oh God, Dillon,” she said, pushing his hands away and sitting up. “I-I have t-to go. Now!”
“No, Kat, for two reasons. It’s not safe, and you can’t drive. I’ll take you. Just tell me where.”
He helped her to her feet. She wobbled and latched on to his arm. Damn, he was right. She shouldn’t drive. But if Dillon went with her, he’d see…A vise clamped around her heart. Screw it. Skye’s safety is more important.
“T-to my parents’ house.”
His eyes narrowed. “Your parents? In San Jose?”
“No. Oceanside.”
He blinked. “Maybe you should lie down, Kat.”
“They live in Oceanside now, Dillon. And they’re not answering the phone. Something’s wrong, terribly wrong.”
“Shit! Wait here.” Gently, he pushed her down on the futon again. After he stomped over to the computer table, he picked up the cheap cell and poked a button. “I’ll call you back, Chaos. Stay available.” He stuffed it and his iPhone into his pants pocket. He grabbed the shoulder holster hanging on the chair and slung it on. The second gun, he stuck in his back waistband.
The whole time she watched him, images of Skye and her parents played on her mental video screen. Skye. Oh God, my baby.
“Ready?” Dillon asked, helping her to her feet again.
She nodded and clutched her purse to her chest.
In less than a minute, they sped out of the storage facility. Her mind was so filled with fear for her daughter that she struggled to stay focused on providing directions to her parents’ house.
Finally, he swung to the curb in front of the modest residence. Half a block away, the headlights on a parked car flashed on. The large, dark sedan made a fast U-turn with squealing tires and raced away.
“Oh God,” she gasped and pointed at the car. “That…that car’s been here before.”
Dillon leaned forward and peer
ed after the disappearing vehicle. “When?”
She sorted her jumbled thoughts as she scrambled from the truck. “Monday. Last Monday morning. It’s a black Mercedes with really dark tinted windows.”
“Fuck. That’s what chased me from the tire shop today.”
An epiphany slammed into her. “It-it’s also the car from my accident,” she called, leaving the truck door hanging open. Fear and panic gripped her as she stumbled across the lawn. What was she going to find inside?
Chapter 23
“Kat, wait!” Dillon hollered from behind her.
She couldn’t wait. Her baby was in danger. But he didn’t know.
Farook. Pakistan. Terrorists. China.
Large sedan. Unidentified intruder. Black Hummer. Black Mercedes.
It didn’t matter who or how or why. She couldn’t let anyone hurt her child.
Her keys were in her hand, although she couldn’t remember getting them out of her purse, but when she turned the doorknob, the door opened.
“Kat, wait!” Dillon yelled again. “Stop! Don’t—”
She barreled into the house.
“Skye! Mom! Dad!” she screamed.
No response.
She sprinted to the kitchen. Empty. The vacant highchair taunted her.
She rounded the corner into the hallway. All the doors were open except one: Skye’s room.
She heard Dillon storm into the house. “Kat?”
“Here!” she answered and slammed the bedroom door open.
She froze. Her brain floundered to accept the reality before her eyes. Her mother gagged and bound to a chair with duct tape. Her father trussed similarly, lying on the floor and bleeding. An empty crib, no sign of Skye. Oh God! Where’s Skye?
Dillon grabbed her from behind and pushed her aside, breaking the spell. Gun aimed with both hands, arms and head swiveling in unison, he stalked into the room. Kat surged past him and dropped to her knees beside her father. Her fingers tore at the tape on his mouth. Dillon stabbed his gun into the holster and went to work on Aileen’s gag.
“Dad. Dad, can you hear me? Are you okay? Where’s Skye?” she pleaded.
Wanted (FBI Heat Book 3) Page 15