“No time to talk about it.” He charged up the stairs to his bedroom, hoping Natalie didn’t follow him. Even if she did, the leg injury she’d sustained in the fire would slow her down, so he had time to change clothes.
In his closet, he shed his shirt for a military issue mock turtleneck, then shrugged into a warm fleece. He heard irregular footsteps approaching. He prepared for questions he didn’t have time to answer if he was to return to Dani’s house before the police officer departed.
Luke shed his shoes and grabbed a pair of warm socks and hiking boots before settling on his bed to put them on. Natalie stood at the end of his bed, carefully watching him. Having grown up in a military family, she knew he was dressing for a special event, and as much as he wanted to hide it from her, he didn’t have the time.
Her expression filled with worry. “You’re preparing for a mission.”
“Not really,” he said casually. “Just a thing I need to do for a friend.”
She arched an eyebrow and forced out a smile. “Just be careful, Luke. Okay?”
“I’m always careful.” Boots tied, he stood and pulled her close for a brief hug. “Don’t expect me back tonight.”
She leaned back and looked up at him, her eyes contemplative, just like their mother’s had been every time their father had deployed. “Can I call you to check in before I go to bed?”
“Of course you can, Button,” he said, using the family nickname for her.
She swatted at him as he hoped she would when he used her nickname, creating a diversion from the stress in the room. He returned to his closet and grabbed his E&E bag. A typical escape-and-evasion bag he’d carried in the military was smaller and designed for a shorter period of time than the bag he slung over his shoulder. Since he’d retired from military life, he’d bought a larger bag to take hiking and made sure he’d included enough supplies for three days.
Hoping Natalie would have gone downstairs, he stepped back into his room, but she still stood near his bed chewing on her lip. He wished he had more time to convince her that this was a low-risk mission for him, but Dani was exposed without him watching her house.
He tweaked Natalie’s cute little nose for which she was named. “Catch you later, sis. Be sure to lock up after me.”
She lifted a hand in a small wave, and he headed out the door. In his vehicle, he set the pack on the seat and dug out his handgun. He seated the ammo clip and tucked the gun next to his bag. Turning the key in the ignition, he revved the engine louder than necessary.
Felt good to let out his frustration with Dani. She didn’t want him around. Fine. He got the message. Loud and clear. But he wasn’t about to leave her in Kat’s care alone. If that meant he spent the night in his car outside her or Kat’s house, so be it.
He roared out of his driveway, his E&E bag rocking before plunging toward the floor. He planted a hand on the pack and hoped he wouldn’t need any of the gear, but as he and his SEAL team buds had said often enough, the only easy day was yesterday. He thought that saying far more apropos to tonight than it had been in his life for a very long time.
EIGHT
Concentrating the next morning was nearly impossible for Dani. She’d kept it together long enough to finish clearing Natalie of any connection to the sabotage, put out feelers for any gossip regarding Security-Watchdog and track the login from Echo yesterday to a local internet account. Now as she waited for Kat to call in favors to obtain a physical address for the user, she’d lost her focus.
It didn’t help that Luke kept burrowing his gaze into her back. Her fault, really. He was only reacting to the way she’d shifted her chair to face away from his desk. She didn’t want to make eye contact with him and encourage him to talk about last night. As it was, she thought he’d spent the night outside Kat’s home. He’d arrived at work wearing what looked like black ops clothing and appearing tired. Neither she nor Kat had actually seen him, but then, he was trained in the best evasive skills possible.
Dani’s phone rang. When she spotted Derrick’s name, her heart sped up. He was likely calling to report on Luke’s background investigation. Or maybe Kat had called the family after last night’s incident. Nah, if that had happened all of them would have charged over to Kat’s house last night, or at the very least camped on her doorstep this morning to block her exit.
“I’ll be right back, Luke.” She hurried out of the room.
“Derrick,” she answered as she passed through Tara’s office space and into the hallway. “You have any information on that thing I asked you to check on?”
“I take it from your cryptic question that you’re in the enemy’s camp?” He ended with a chuckle.
She glanced down the hall to see if anyone could overhear them. A pair of workers chatted at the end of the hallway, so she thought it best to keep up the subterfuge. “You tell me if it’s enemy territory or not.”
“Your guy is squeaky-clean so far.” Derrick sounded disappointed, as if he’d wanted to find something on Luke. She understood the feeling of wanting more excitement in the job. “Nothing in his financials. Stellar reputation. Solid guy. I still have a few details to follow up on, but it doesn’t look like I’ll find anything.”
Dani’s heart warmed, and she instantly fought off the feeling. Despite her caution, she surely hadn’t developed feelings for Luke, had she?
“Dani,” Derrick said.
She shook her head over how easily Luke could distract her. “Thanks for doing this for me.”
“So you’re still working on their software?”
“Yes,” she answered, purposefully remaining vague. “Let me know if you find anything else.”
After hanging up and stowing her phone, she retraced her steps to Luke’s office and found Tara getting up from her desk. Dani entered the office and Tara hovered in the doorway. Her worried expression said she didn’t have good news.
“General Wilder’s at the front desk,” she said. “He wants to talk to you. I told him you were in a meeting with Ms. Justice.” Tara nodded at Dani. “He said, ‘good.’ He wants to talk to both of you.”
“You have any idea what this’s about?” Luke looked at Dani, and for the first time today, she met his gaze. She found a healthy dose of apprehension lurking in his eyes, knotting her stomach. She shook her head.
“Tell him to come on up, Tara,” Luke said.
Tara gave a solemn nod and departed. Luke crossed the room, looking darkly dangerous in his black tactical pants and mock turtleneck. She could easily imagine him on a mission, his focus not distracted by anything around him as hers was.
They waited in silence, time seeming to tick by slower than normal. Dani’s dread intensified, and she could only imagine how Luke must be feeling.
Heavy footsteps thumped outside, and the general soon entered the room. Dressed in his uniform, Wilder held his shoulders straight and a leather pouch under his arm. Dani knew instantly from Wilder’s tight expression that Luke was in big trouble. Luke had to realize it, too.
Still, he smiled warmly and held out his hand. “General.”
Wilder quickly shook hands, then withdrew a stack of papers from the pouch. “I received your email this morning, as did all the committee members.”
Luke met Dani’s questioning gaze, and she shrugged.
“I didn’t send an email to anyone,” he said as he gestured for Wilder to sit.
“I won’t be here that long.” Wilder handed the stapled packet to Luke.
Luke studied the first page and a flash of anger darkened his eyes. He hurriedly flipped through the packet, then tossed it down in disgust. “I didn’t send this.”
Dani didn’t wait for permission but grabbed the packet. She scanned the email message. In it, Luke threatened the committee members and their families if SatCom wasn’t awarded the software contr
act. The following pages held pictures of their children and spouses engaged in everyday activities.
“This is terrible,” Dani said, looking up. “Luke is a man of honor, and he would never threaten anyone and especially not families.”
“I concur,” Wilder replied, surprising Dani almost as much as her defense of Luke had.
“Then why are you here?” she asked.
“The other committee members don’t know Luke as well as I do. They want me to cut all ties with SatCom.”
“If you give me time, I can prove this—” Dani slapped the packet against her leg “—garbage didn’t come from Luke’s email account.”
“Time is one thing we don’t have.” Wilder faced Luke, and Dani held her breath in anticipation of what he’d say next. “After much convincing, the committee members will entertain Crypton once it’s repaired, but if anything—” he paused again and met Luke’s gaze “—I mean anything else happens, there won’t be another chance.”
Luke looked crestfallen, but he didn’t comment or argue, just stood there, rock-solid, and took his lumps. Dani knew he’d been trained to take bad news this way, but she wasn’t. She was taught to fight for what she believed in. And it was becoming clear to her that she believed in Luke. She wanted to take up his cause and argue that the committee was being unfair, but the firm set of Wilder’s jaw told her nothing she said would matter. Still, she would look into the email to clear Luke’s name of wrongdoing.
“Thank you for taking the time to tell me about this in person,” Luke said. “I’ll see you out.”
Wilder tipped his head at Dani as he exited in front of Luke. Her email dinged new messages, and she sat down to look at her computer. The first email was from a programmer at a local software company. He frequented chat rooms and remembered a former employee charging Security-Watchdog with copyright infringement. He claimed they’d stolen an idea he’d been working on in his own time.
Interesting. Stealing a guy’s work meant they might be more likely to participate in sabotage.
Dani fired off a quick reply asking her friend for additional details, then moved on to the next email from Kat. She’d located the information for their hacker. The transmission originated at a company called Computer Care, located at an address in Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland.
Dani quickly plugged the company’s name and zip code into a search engine. All results were for computer repair companies, but nothing for an actual company named Computer Care in Milwaukie, Oregon. Maybe the company was a shell for another company.
She opened a map program and zoomed in on the address. The street view displayed a cracker box of a house in disrepair. Not the sort of place she’d expect to find a computer business.
“Are you tracing the email?” Luke’s voice came from behind.
“No, but I do have the address of the company where the odd transmission came from yesterday.” She looked up at him. “The company’s name is Computer Care. Ring any bells?”
“No.”
“I couldn’t find any information on the internet, which is odd for a computer company. We need to pay them a visit.” She grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair. “And before you say something about wanting to call the police or calling my sister again, we need to act before the hacker changes location.”
“Then let’s go.”
She arched a brow. “What, no argument?”
“Would it do any good?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” He held out his hand and bowed. “After you.”
His theatrics made her grin, and as she settled into her car, her mood lifted. She expected him to comment on the fact that she chose to drive, but he simply took the passenger seat. As she made her way through town, he checked the mirrors and watched out the windows as if he expected her assailant from last night to attack them in broad daylight.
Dani doubted that would happen. Echo had proven himself to be a man who hid in the dark. Creeping through the shadows of the computer world and the physical shadows to kill his victims. Neither Grace nor Smash had likely seen him coming as she hadn’t, either.
Once in Milwaukie, she turned onto the correct street and searched for Computer Care’s address. Locating it, she pulled to the curb in front of the house that looked even more tired and worn than the internet picture had portrayed. She retrieved her gun from the safe, then dug out a backup she carried for emergencies and held it out for Luke. “I don’t ever give clients a weapon, but with your military background I know you can handle it.”
“I’m already prepared.” He opened his shirt to give her a look at his shoulder holster with a 9 mm snugly settled inside.
Her eyes flashed up to his. “You’re carrying?”
“What choice did I have? You won’t lie low, so I have to do everything I can to ensure your safety.”
She should want to yell at him for his ongoing assumption that she needed his protection, but her heart betrayed her and warmed. His world was falling apart around him, and he continued to think of her safety. She may be stubborn and independent, but a girl had to melt at least a little bit at that kind of consideration.
Still, she couldn’t have him overreacting to a supposed threat and ruining a potential lead. “Promise me you won’t draw your weapon unless absolutely necessary.”
“You’ve got my word on it. But know that I decide when it’s necessary.” His voice cut like a sharpened steel blade through the car.
Though the thought of him pulling her from Eggleston’s doorway flashed into her mind, she chose not to argue and climbed out of the car. She joined him on the sidewalk, where he studied the building. A strong winter wind cut down the street, sending dried leaves rustling over the crumbling sidewalk. The address in question held no signage or any indication that it was a business.
“Just as we suspected. This place looks nothing like a legit business.” Luke bounded up the steps and tugged on the door. “It’s locked.”
Dani pointed at an adjoining alley. “Let’s look around back.”
She started down the alley and heard Luke running to catch up. She slowed near the back of the building and held up her hand to stop him. “Let’s try to do this quietly in case someone’s inside.”
“Covert. Got it.” He smiled like a little boy playing cops-and-robbers.
She wondered if he missed his military life. He’d said he’d left the SEALs to take care of his sister, which isn’t the same thing as wanting to retire. And yet, he seemed content in his job and embraced his company’s mission with zeal.
She rounded the corner and all thoughts of Luke moved to the back of her mind as she surveyed the building. Nothing out of the ordinary. The windows were too high to peer in, and a single set of stairs led to a metal door. She hurried up the stairs and turned the knob. Locked.
“We need to get inside.” She searched the building for an idea.
The window to the side of the door was cracked open an inch, and an idea flashed into her head. She ran down the stairs and pointed at the window. “If you lift me, I might be able to pry the window open and climb in.”
He eyed the window, then her. “I’d rather you didn’t go inside alone.”
“I’ll unlock the door for you the minute I get inside.”
His eyes flashed his distrust.
“I promise,” she quickly added.
“Fine. But if you don’t unlock the door, I’ll get inside somehow, and you won’t want me to find you when I do.”
She took a step back at the power radiating from his voice and body, which seemed to quiver at the ready. He really was the finely tuned instrument she’d expect from a former SEAL. Fit. Trim. Ready to deploy at a moment’s notice for some of the most dangerous assignments in the military. And studying him intensely like this left her breathless.
He quirked an eyebrow. “You’ll need to quit staring at me if you want me to boost you up.” He met her gaze, his saying he could read her every thought.
Heat flooding up her neck, she marched to the window and waited.
He joined her and wove his fingers together. “Put your foot here.”
She rested one hand on his shoulder and slipped her heel into his hands so she’d face the window when he boosted her up. Planting his feet in the dirt, he lifted, his biceps straining under his shirt. Thankful for her daily fitness regimen that gave her core strength to balance, she let go of his shoulder. She peered through the dirty window at a tired-looking kitchen but found no one lurking inside. She forced the window open, then pulled herself up and over the sill. She landed on a worn linoleum floor below gouged cupboards. A musty smell permeated the air, and a thick layer of dust covered the scarred laminate counters.
Not exactly the kind of place she expected to find expensive computer equipment. Still, she heard a fan humming down the hall, and as she got to her feet and brushed off her clothes, she wondered if it was cooling computer equipment. She itched to go snooping, but her promise to Luke forced her feet toward the back of the house.
Two dead bolts instead of one secured the building, telling her there must be something of value in this run-down home. She pulled open the door and drew her gun, then silently signaled for Luke to tail her into the hallway. He followed so closely that she could hear his shallow breaths and feel the heat from his body. Together they eased past a small bathroom, a bedroom and a living room, all empty. One door remained at the end of the hall.
She crept toward it and glanced inside the room. Seeing no one, she cautiously entered. The space held a long desk, the fan she’d heard humming and a single computer. The white tower sat on the floor, connected to a flat-screen monitor.
“Looks like we found the right place.” Luke turned in a circle, checking out the room as he holstered his gun.
“I expected a room filled with computers.” She went to the desk and pointed at circular spots on the dusty desktop. “Looks like there were other monitors here, but they’ve been moved. Maybe he knows we’re on to him.”
Thread of Suspicion Page 10