by Jaclyn Hardy
Dani frowned. “Is that bad?”
“Normally no. But this time, yes.” Hunter pointed out the times posted on the computer. “Someone went through all of your records. I don’t know if anything was downloaded, but I could find out.”
“Please do.” Dani rubbed her forehead. “All I wanted to do was work in a nice little antique shop and have a quiet life.”
Hunter wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He tried to ignore the way she fit so perfectly in his arms. The way she sent sparks through him. “We’ll figure this out so that can happen. I see a white picket fence and a large white dog in your future.”
Dani laughed and pushed away. “Picket fence, maybe. Dog? No way.”
A customer came up holding some old book ends and candlesticks, so Hunter went back to the computer. Dani smiled at them and rang up their items. Hunter saved and closed the documents, then ran a few reports to make sure there were no viruses or spyware installed.
Dani’s phone rang. She answered, then handed it to him. “It’s for you.”
“Hello?”
“This is Ben. Did you leave the coding on your laptop?”
“Yes, it’s on there, but it’s locked. What’s up?” Hunter walked into the back room so he could talk in privacy. He turned to find the guard standing a few feet from Dani. Good.
“Dee just had a letter delivered to Dani’s apartment.”
Hunter dropped into a chair. “It’s in code?”
“Everything but her name and address. I know some of it, but there are a few words I’m stuck on.”
“I thought you and Carlie came up with it.” Hunter opened the door to make sure things were still okay in front. Dani stood at the register laughing with a customer.
“It’s not that. Some of the writing is indecipherable. Whoever wrote this was in a hurry.”
Hunter stood. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
He set the phone next to Dani and bent close to her ear. “I thought someone was supposed to be taking your place.”
“Anna was supposed to be here, but I haven’t seen her yet.” Dani frowned. “She’s never late.”
“Why don’t you go call her and I’ll take over here.” Hunter searched the store. Everything seemed normal, but he was still on edge.
Dani grabbed her phone and punched in a number as she walked away. The store was quiet for the moment, so Hunter saved and closed all of the programs. He added a few locks to the more important documents, then turned off the computer.
“She’s not answering.” Dani wiped her eyes. “What if something happened to her?”
“I’m sure she’s fine.” Hunter placed his hands on her shoulders. “Ben needs me at the apartment. I think at this point you need to close early and go home. That way you can figure out what happened to Anna and we can look into your computer being hacked.”
Dani bit her lip. “I don’t know. I’ve never closed this early before.”
Hunter took her by the shoulders and waited for her to meet his eyes. “You’ve also never been in a situation like this before. The store is pretty quiet right now, and your employee is missing. I think that’s a good enough reason to close.”
“Fine. Let me call my boss. Can you take the register?”
“Sure.” Hunter sent a quick text to Ben to let him know they were coming, then went back to helping customers.
Dani came back with a troubled look. “They said they’ve been trying to get ahold of Anna as well. They’re on their way right now, but they said we could close it until they get here.”
“Want to drive by Anna’s house?” Hunter had no idea where she lived, but if it helped Dani feel better, it was worth it.
“Sure. She’s on the way.” Dani turned off the open sign and made the announcement that customers needed to make their final purchase because they were closing.
The guard stood by the door and glared at everyone until they gave up and left. Whatever worked. Hunter grabbed the old computer and loaded it in the car while Dani locked up. The guard climbed into the backseat with the computer and Hunter took the steering wheel this time.
“You tell me where she lives. I copied down a few of the places that popped up in my search. Go through those and tell me if anything sticks out to you.”
“What am I looking for?” Dani asked.
Hunter pulled out. “Anything that doesn’t seem right.”
Dani scanned the paper. “I don’t see anything.”
“Okay. So which way?”
“Take a left up here. Her apartment is just a few blocks away.” Dani frowned. “Do you think Anna could have something to do with this?”
Hunter didn’t answer at first. “She has access to the computer, so it’s a possibility.”
“She doesn’t seem like someone who would do that, though.”
“Does Carlie?” Hunter asked, his eyebrows raised.
Dani shrugged. “She was obsessed with finding Cleopatra’s necklace from the time I met her, so it wasn’t that big of a stretch. But would she steal files? I don’t know.” Dani sat up. “There. That’s her apartment.”
Police cars with flashing lights surrounded the apartment. Neighbors lined the streets in groups, whispering to each other.
Dani didn’t wait for the car to come to a full stop before she jumped out and crossed the street. Hunter parked and sprinted after her with a rather angry guard right behind him. Dani stood talking to an officer and glanced back as Hunter caught up to her.
“Is everything okay?”
Dani wiped a tear. “A neighbor heard screaming and a gunshot a couple of hours ago. There’s no sign of her, though, so I really hope she’s okay.”
Hunter pulled her into a hug. “We’ll find her.”
“Let’s get you back to your apartment.” The guard took Dani by the arm. “We’re not safe out in the open.”
Dani let him guide her back to the car. Hunter shook his head. That right there was a good indication of how hard this hit her.
“Thank you.” Hunter pulled out his card. “If there’s anything else, can you let us know? Dani is Anna’s boss.”
The officer nodded and turned away. Hunter jogged back to the car. Dani was still in tears when he climbed in.
“Are you okay?” No, she wasn’t. Of course she wasn’t. Hunter sighed and pulled out onto the road.
“I’ll be fine. I still don’t get it, though. Why would anyone go after her?” Dani sniffed and rummaged through her purse.
Hunter shook his head. “None of this is making any sense.”
At least not in a way he wanted to think about. It was suspicious that Anna suddenly disappeared the day they found the breach on the computer, but it could be that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He pulled into the apartment parking lot where Xander and a few other guards stood waiting at the stairs. Hunter’s stomach dropped. They must have figured out something else. Hunter climbed out and hurried around to Dani’s side to help her out. She was instantly surrounded by other guards as they walked toward the building. Hunter kept his arm tight around her while she squeezed his other hand.
“It’s going to be okay.” Hunter knew his words were hollow but had to say it as much for himself as they were for Dani.
“Yeah, it really looks like everything is okay.” Dani squeezed his hand tighter.
Hunter refused to let go as they walked up the steps. He didn’t let go until they were in the apartment. He clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to get the blood to flow back into his hand. Dani had quite the grip.
Carlie, Braden, and Dee stood around the table where Ben sat working on his laptop. Oh, right, the tower. Hunter turned to get it, but the guard who’d come with them held it in his arms. He sat it next to Ben’s laptop.
Hunter pushed his way through the crowded room and crossed the hall to his own apartment to grab a monitor. The quiet welcomed him and he took a moment to breathe. All he’d wanted was to be a good friend t
o Dani and possibly date her. This whole spy thing was way outside of his league.
Someone knocked loudly at his door. Hunter sighed and continued to his spare room. They could wait long enough for him to get his monitor. He unhooked everything and turned to find a gun pointed at his head.
“Did you guys ever learn to wait for someone to answer before you enter?” Hunter pushed down the initial fear. He hadn’t done anything wrong, so there was no reason to shoot. He moved around the guard and went back through his apartment to leave. “Close the door and lock it on your way out. Thanks!”
Hunter shoved his way back through everyone in Dani’s apartment so he could hook up the monitor. After being jostled a few times, he stood and turned.
“I get why you’re all here, but you’re making it really hard to work. Carlie, can you please call your dogs off me?”
Carlie sighed. “Xander, listen to him. All of you need to leave before Dani’s neighbors get suspicious.”
Xander glared but finally nodded. “Call if you need anything. We’ll be watching the perimeter.”
“Okay, just . . . don’t let people see you.” Carlie rubbed her forehead. “I need a nap.”
Dee took her by the shoulders and pulled her over to the couch. “You’re about to pop. You shouldn’t have been traveling anyway.”
Hunter shook his head and finished hooking up the last of the cables. “Okay, while I run this, I can get the coding program started up. Where’s the letter?”
Ben picked it up and handed it to him. “It looks like it was written, erased, and then coded over the top of it.”
Hunter held it up to the light. “I think you’re right. The original writing is shaky and large. Whoever wrote it has trouble holding a pen or pencil.”
“Yes, we thought it might be an older person that we know.” Ben slid the laptop over. “Except that we can’t seem to match the code to anything.”
“Great.” Hunter scanned the letter looking for anything that would stand out. Down near the bottom, the code didn’t quite cover up some of the lettering. “Wait, I have something. Uh, maybe.”
Ben took it from him. “Where?”
“Down at the bottom. Mrs. Snu—something.”
Gasps sounded behind them.
“Mrs. Snuggles?” Dee and Carlie said in unison.
Hunter looked back at them. “That makes sense to you?”
Dee snatched it out of his hand and held it up to the light. “We’ve stared at this for the last hour and didn’t catch that.”
“You think she had something to do with this?” Ben asked, staring up at Dee.
“I don’t know, but we know the crown was somewhere in England. Makes more sense than anything else I could come up with.” Dee handed Hunter the page. “Thing is, though, I don't know why she would send things in code? She doesn’t seem like the type of person to get into something like this.”
Hunter took a picture of the letter and sent it to his laptop to plug into the program he built. While that ran, he set up the other monitor and computer from Dani’s work.
“What’s that for?" Ben gestured to the computer.
“It’s from Dani's work. Someone hacked into it and I want to figure out who it is.” Hunter turned it on. “And since no one will let me go to my own apartment, I set it up here.”
“I'm sorry you’re in the middle of this mess,” Dani said quietly.
Hunter reached over and squeezed her hand. “Hey, anything for you. You know that, right?”
Dani smiled weakly and sighed. “Yeah. I just wish it didn't include hacking computers and decoding messages.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows. “You mean like I do every single day for work?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Dani sighed and turned to Dee and Carlie. “While these guys do computery things, maybe we should go plan a wedding and baby shower.”
Carlie yawned. “Sure. We can do that until I fall asleep. This whole pregnancy thing has wiped me out.”
Hunter smiled as they left the room. Finally. A few less people in the room. It was a little too crowded for his liking.
“So, Dani, huh? You like her?” Ben asked.
“Wha—no, man. We're just friends.” But Hunter could hear the lie in his own voice and by the look on Ben’s face, he hadn’t convinced him either.
“Uh-huh.” Ben shook his head. “You really need to work on your lying if you're going to be in this business.”
Hunter’s eyebrows shot up. “This business? I don't know what you're talking about.”
Ben pointed to the laptop. “So you're just doing all this to help Dani?”
“Sure. She had some priceless crown show up on her doorstep, her computer was hacked, and one of her employees is missing. I just stepped in to—”
“Whoa, hold up. Who's missing?”
“Her name is Anna. She didn't come in this morning. When we went by her apartment on the way home, police were there, but no sign of Anna.”
Ben cursed. “This is getting worse by the second. And I hate to tell you, man, but you have two choices. Either walk away right now or resign yourself to the fact that you’re part of the team. You have about five minutes.”
Hunter blinked. “What team?”
“That’s not fair, Ben. He has no idea what’s going on.” Carlie leaned against the doorway.
“Well, he’s going to have to learn in a hurry.” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, is this decoder pretty self-explanatory?”
Hunter nodded. “It should go pretty fast. Then we can—”
“Not we. Me. You and Dani need to go have a little chat before you go any farther.” Ben glanced up at Carlie. “You may want to go with them.”
She nodded. “I’ll go get her.”
Ben turned to the guards in the room. “Time to make sure this apartment is secure. Well, more secure than it already is.”
Hunter stared at the computer in front of him. All he’d wanted to do was get to know Dani and help her out. Maybe date her at some point. Something told him that the moment he said hi to the cute girl across the hall, he’d signed himself up for a whole lot more.
D ani flopped back on the bed and groaned. “Why? Why do I have to say anything? Can’t you just, I don’t know, wipe his mind or something? So we can pretend none of this ever happened?”
Carlie lifted an eyebrow. “This isn’t a movie, Dani. We have no mind-wiping gadgets here. What happened has happened and you need to just deal with it.”
“Easy for you to say. You grew up going on adventures with your dad. My dad is a dentist and my mom is a teacher. Hardly the exciting life.”
Dee laughed and threw a pillow at her. “And then you got us.”
“Yes, yes I did.” Dani threw the pillow back, hitting Dee in the head. “What am I supposed to tell him?”
Carlie and Dee exchanged glances. Carlie sighed. “How well do you know him?”
“Pretty well, I guess. We hang out pretty much every day. We help each other out with homework or whatever.” Dani sighed. “Which is why I don’t want him to be a part of this.”
Carlie picked up the crown that lay next to her. She hadn’t let it out of her sight since Dani got back from work. She sighed and looked up at Dani. “Too late. I’m sorry. It’s going to be up to you to decide how much he needs to know. I’ll be there to help fill in holes, but you know how much you can trust him. If there are parts you need to leave out, do it. I’d rather be careful than share everything and regret it later.”
“I trust him with my life, but I think the less he knows the better for now.” Dani tapped the crown. “He can’t unsee this, so we’ll start there.”
“Fair enough.” Carlie stood and stretched. “Let’s get this over with. I need to get home so I can sleep for a few years.”
Dani groaned and followed her out into the living room. She stopped, eyes widening at the chaos happening in front of her. “What—what are you doing?”
Cushions had been overturned and cupb
oards had been emptied while guards milled about. They barked orders to each other about coordinates and channels. Dani put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. All movement stopped.
“What is going on?” She zeroed in on Xander. “I certainly hope you plan on putting everything back.”
He gestured toward the small contraption in his hand. “We’re making sure there are no bugs and installing our own devices to drown out whoever might be listening in.”
Dani put her hands on her hips. “You’re bugging me?”
“No, we’re doing the opposite of that. We have to make sure everything is secure.”
Hunter put a hand on her arm, sending electricity through her. He let go quickly. “They let me check out what they were installing. It’s okay.”
Dani sat next to him. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it could be worse.”
“Oh? How?” Dani cringed as a container of spaghetti noodles fell out of the cupboard and spilled everywhere.
He leaned closer. “This just means we get to hang out more. That’s not so bad, right?”
Dani dragged her eyes away from the cupboard and looked into his green eyes. “I . . . guess not.”
“Looks like everything is secure.” Xander handed Dani a small remote. “Keep this with you. If you’re in danger, push this button right here. And after you’re done talking, make sure you push this button to turn off the jammers, or you won’t be able to get cell signal or Wi-Fi.”
“Got it.” Dani set it next to the laptop on the table. “Can you all excuse us for a bit?”
Xander signaled to his men, and they left the apartment. Dani frowned at the mess they’d left, but Carlie looked like she was going to drop at any moment, and Dani wanted to get this talk over with.
“So, how much do you know about what Carlie does?” Dani asked.
Hunter glanced up at Carlie before shrugging. “I’ve seen her pieces in the museum, and I know whatever she does needs a lot of security. I know that you can’t talk about what they’re doing—and half the time they can’t either. The codes they use to decipher messages are very secure, which means whatever they’re doing is either very illegal, or something sanctioned by the government and if you tell me you’ll have to kill me.”