Jewell (The Kings of Guardian Book 8)

by Kris Michaels

  People he didn't know started entering the conference room. Zane moved instinctively, placing his body slightly in front of Jewell. Sure, they were in Guardian headquarters, but unfamiliar people still made him itchy. The fact that they were currently sitting in the massive conference room housed on the executive level of the facility didn't matter in his mind. They were meeting here because Jason King needed to be updated on all the avenues of the investigation and according to the memo they received this morning, there were too many players to hold the meeting in his office.

  Five suits meandered in dropping into chairs toward the front of the conference room table. Zane leaned over to Jewell, "Do you know them?"

  She glanced up from her tablet. Gave them a dismissive once-over and replied, "Nope." She popped the 'p' in the word and grabbed her bottle of orange juice. Zane saw her struggle to open it and took it, popped the seal on the bottle and handed it back to her.

  "My, how domestic."

  Nicolas's voice brought Jewell's head around as she lifted the bottle of juice to her lips. She placed a hand on Zane's arm to still him from rising. Jewell stared at Nicolas as she took a drink. When she finished, she put the cap on the bottle and sat it on the table carefully. "Do you really want to do this here? I'm game if you are." The challenge in her voice was more than enough to bring a look of caution to Nicolas's expression. Zane didn't even try to hide his smirk. He'd have no regrets wiping the floor with his boss. The job be damned. Jewell's immediate hand on his arm stopped him short. He sure as hell admired the feistiness his woman pushed out into the world.

  Jason King entered, along with Tori and Jared, bringing all conversation to a halt. "Alright, this meeting is to put everyone on the same page. Nic, give me a run down on what your team has found."

  Nicolas stood and grabbed the remote to the monitors that were installed around the conference room. "Right. As we all know by now, the house is owned by a seventy-five-year-old woman who is currently alive and well and was found vacationing in Florida. She rented out the house to her grandnephew, Benjamin Lufkey. Using the information from C3, we hit the ground in California to try to gain a better understanding of the young man. Seems Ben was a programming language major at UC Berkley. He graduated three years ago."

  "Wait, wasn't he only twenty-three?" Tori asked.

  "Yep, graduated high school at fifteen, entered UC Berkley at sixteen, and graduated at twenty." Nicolas hit the button changing the slide. We dug through his college career and sent out a team from our west coast office to talk with anyone still remaining that he may have interacted with while he was there. From all data points, we gathered the kid was a loner. No friends that anyone remembers. His degree advisor said Benjamin spent his time on the computer, gaming or going to class. Graduated at the top of his class."

  One of the men Zane didn't recognize snorted, "So a nerd and a loner."

  "He has the education to be Vista." Jewell added, while disregarding the suits' comments, but Zane wasn't inclined to do so.

  "Hardly. Many extremely intelligent people find like-minded allies and communities online. Even if he didn't have physical support, he might have had a community online." Zane's mouth engaged before he gave his retort a second thought. He knew Jewell's team had been data mining for this guy's associates, but he was damn good at covering his trail. Benjamin could have been Vista. His gut rebelled at the idea. It was too fucking neat.

  Nicolas acknowledged Zane's outburst with a nod but continued his briefing, "We can't find any connection from his recent activity to Berkley, so we started to look at what he had been doing in DC since his arrival two years ago."

  "Wait, tell us what happened to the year between California and him showing up in D.C." Jared interrupted.

  Nicolas hit the remote again, and Zane read the information along with everyone else. "Actually, that is my primary point to this briefing. Once we found out he'd only been in the area for two years, we backtracked. His mother, his only source of support, was diagnosed with cancer. Her husband, Benjamin's stepfather, passed two years earlier. The insurance agency denied her benefits stating it was a pre-existing condition. The company was wrong in its exclusion of her from benefits, but they didn't acknowledge that until after she'd died. Benjamin received a hefty settlement check. Anyway, he spent that year as one of her primary caregivers."

  "One?" The question echoed around the table. Nicolas nodded and flipped the briefing slide again. A Massachusetts driver's license popped on the screen. "His step-brother, Carter Lufkey was the other."

  Zane searched the young man's face and glanced at the issue date. He mentally aged the kid ten years to account for the lapse of time. There was no glimmer of recognition. He hadn't seen this guy at the tournament.

  "Do you have a background on Carter?" Jason flipped over a page in his briefing file obviously looking for the information.

  "Sir, the report is almost finished. We just got back from Massachusetts where Carter grew up. Basically, Carter Lufkey was a boil on the ass of society. He was a below average student in high school, again a loner." Zane listened to the same man who'd called Benjamin a nerd. At least he didn't make the same mistake with this characterization. Zane categorized the guy as a judgmental prick but listened to his report carefully. "He didn't go to college, held a series of minimum wage jobs until he was fired. Usually for failure to show up to do his job. Three weeks ago he was arrested for breaking and entering, into his bio mom's home. A neighbor called it in when she saw someone go in the house when she knew nobody was supposed to be home. The only thing he took was some old computer equipment that he'd had stashed in the basement. Bio-mom dropped the charges and Carter vanished."

  Jewell grabbed of Zane's arm with an alarming strength in her grip. Eyes as big as silver dollars turned and gaped at him.

  "What?" He didn't give a shit about listening to the man who continued to drone on, not when Jewell was cutting the blood to his hand off.

  She leaned over and whispered, "That connects. This could be Vista. If he was going for his ghost drives, he could be in a rebuilding phase, especially if his primary assets were destroyed in the explosion."

  "Is there something we need to know?" Jason's voice cut across their whispered conversation.

  Zane nodded to Jewell. She let go of his arm and turned to face the head of the table. "Yeah, okay… well, when Zane first presented the idea that Vista hadn't died in the explosion, I asked myself why he wouldn't be at the house? I know the person I was tracing was Vista. You can tell by the unique repeats in the signature—"

  "Jewell, please." Jason's plea cut through Jewell's rambling.

  "What?" She looked blankly across the table at her older brother.

  Zane would bet his next paycheck she'd forgotten where she was going with her comments.

  He leaned over and whispered, "Why do you think he left?"

  "Oh. Right, see one of the several scenarios that ran through my mind was that our program, Godzilla, had damaged or corrupted his system to the point that he'd need to start over."

  "Like what? Buy a new computer?" One of the suits across from her asked.

  She shook her head and waved one hand in a dismissive flick before she took a pencil out of her hair and twizzled it in the air as she spoke. "No, see that is what someone who doesn't have even a rudimentary knowledge of computers or the need for a dynamic system may do. Five hundred dollars, new PC, boom you're fixed. But hackers have their own programs and operating systems that they build. Some of them are so complex they can take years to perfect. There are things people who create the programs would never want to lose, so they ghost their systems. That way they always have a baseline to go back to. Someplace to start again. This company ghosts our systems routinely so if we are ever hacked, as we were when Vista found a way in, we can reestablish a normal operating tempo much faster than starting from scrat
ch."

  "So he went back to get his ghost drive?" Jared asked.

  "It would make sense, especially since they said he broke in for old computer equipment. Did the police say what he was supposed to have stolen?" Jewell swiveled and asked the bank of suits across from her the question.

  One of them flipped through his tablet before he spoke. "Two Eastern Digital Green 1 T hard drives."

  "Shit. Well, they're old, like circa 2012, but that is two terabytes of storage. Those could be his baseline. He'd have to build another computer."

  "Why couldn't he just install those hard drives into a new, store-bought computer?" Jason's voice turned every head his direction.

  "Because the system he'd need to build would require upgraded circuit boards, memory, audio and video cards… everything. He wouldn't come after me without being one hundred percent ready. He couldn't afford to do that. He's already been spanked by us, so he's after blood. He'll hole up until he knows his systems are perfect."

  "That would line up with what my sources in the CIA are telling us," Tori interjected. "Most of the human intelligence we have been receiving has indicated that he is underground and waiting. They didn't know what he was waiting for, most assumed another client to take a chance on him. But all of them agree Vista is still a viable player. None have heard he is dead, and a few have said they have friends of friends who have seen him active on the Dark Net."

  "Do they know what he was doing?"

  "Yeah, we got a lead from a reliable source he was looking for specialists."

  "What kind of specialists?"

  Tori shook her head. "We don't know for sure. One source said hired muscle, the other said he was looking for a professional, but that source indicated Vista was looking for the professional to obtain something. Suffice to say we know he is active and up to something, but we don't know what."

  Zane ground his teeth and locked his jaw in a half-assed attempt to keep his mouth shut. It didn't work. "We need to find the son of a bitch before he can hire some bastard to do whatever it is he is working on."

  "We've just sent in a request to run the Angel program for the entire Northeast. If the guy so much as catches the periphery of any public camera we'll have him." Jared interjected.

  "As good as the face recognition program is, it isn't going to be enough this time. Cameras are easy to defeat, and this guy won't make another mistake." Jewell dropped the pencil she'd been playing with to the table. "Our only option is to pull him out before he is at one hundred percent and ready to face us."

  "How?" Jason's question rang across the suddenly quiet room.

  "Plan B."

  "No, I don't agree. There are too many variables we need answered, and I'm not sold on this guy being our primary. Carter doesn't strike me as someone who could be our hacker. He's lazy and a poor student." Jason countered with the information Jared's people had brought to the table.

  "Jace, I'm not so sure." Jewell directed her question to the suit with the attitude that did the initial in-brief. "Did you ask about his computer or gaming habits?"

  "Yeah, he was always on the computer. His mom said that was why she finally kicked him out. He was glued to it twenty-four seven. She was afraid he was selling drugs or doing something illegal to support his gaming habit. He had money but no job."

  "I'd bet he was a poor student because he was bored to tears. Been there, done that." Jewell said the words almost to herself before she pointed her eyes to her brother. "Jason, I need to see if my team can find a digital trail on Carter. If I can't, I'd say he is a person of interest."

  "Pretend I'm not a computer genius for a moment. Explain why no digital trail would mean he's a POI?" Jason leaned back in his chair as he spoke.

  "Okay, so everyone who uses a computer of any type leaves a digital trail. Usernames, passwords, electronic banking, direct deposits, electronic payments, shopping or gaming online, cell phone's data usage, social media—it all leaves a trail showing a person's digital travels. Companies across the globe are buying and selling this information to reach the customers they want to target. Hackers use the information to find ways into systems, break passwords, manipulate records, steal, or even monitor a person without their knowledge. Regardless, if you live in this century, there will be some digital trail. If Carter Lufkey has a presence, we can track it. If not, he may well be our hacker. Not too many people know how to conceal their trail."

  "If he's so great why doesn't he erase it?"

  Tori laughed and settled her tablet into her lap. "Because nothing is ever really erased online. If you know where to look, forensic computer specialists can reanimate any deleted information."

  "Alright, gentlemen, please continue trying to track down Carter Lufkey in the physical world. Hopefully, this guy is just the bumbling buffoon you were led to believe. If you get any information at all, no matter how insignificant you feel it might be, contact your superiors immediately. Nicolas, I want priority reports on all information related to Lufkey or this case. Make sure your teams know."

  "You got it."

  "Jared, Tori, Zane and Jewell, I need to see you in my office. Give me an hour to clear my calendar. Tori get ahold of Jacob, he's not going to want to be left out."

  Zane remained seated as did Nicolas and Jewell. Jared gave his business partner a look before his eyes bounced to Zane and Jewell. He cleared his throat and motioned to Zane. "Can I see you outside?"

  "Do you need me to stay?" Zane asked Jewell before he acknowledged Jared's request.

  "Nope." Again the woman popped her 'p.' Zane recognized the verbal clue and the attitude that flew with it. If Nicolas got stupid, Jewell would make him live to regret it. He'd leave her with his boss, but he wasn't going far. Zane's stare locked and held on his boss. Nicolas gave a small nod acknowledging the implied threat. Zane stepped behind Jewell and walked toward Jared and the conversation he knew wasn't needed.

  Jewell watched Zane's broad shoulders walk out of the conference room before she turned her gaze toward Nicolas. She'd always liked him, until recently. For some reason, she wouldn't have pegged the man as a sore loser, and that was what he was acting like.

  "How long have you and Zane been dating?"

  Nicolas's question was direct. She liked that. She could deal with that better than trying to deduce some contextual clues that she had no idea how to decipher. "We haven't had a date. Well, maybe the tournament was a date because he paid, but I asked him when we were just working together, so I'm not sure. But it probably was. Although I'm not considering it a date, I like him."

  Nicolas looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language for a moment. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding her of Jason. "So, you aren't sleeping with him?"

  "Oh, no, we're sleeping together. How is that your business?"

  Nicolas's mouth opened and closed several times before he asked, "But you've never dated?"

  "I'm not sure I understand your reason for asking. Why would I need to date someone I've lived with for almost a year? He knows me better than anyone around here." Jewell popped the cap off the orange juice bottle and took a drink. Her stomach was sour this morning so drinking the orange juice wasn't probably the best idea she'd ever had, but Zane had given it to her. She recapped the juice and waited.

  "When I asked you out…"

  "—I told you that I wasn't interested in being one of your conquests."

  "…granted, but I was interested in telling you that I cared about you."

  Jewell blinked at his honest statement. "I'm sorry. I really don't know how to respond to that. I like you, but as a friend." Jewell picked up her destroyed pencil and flipped it around in her hand while she watched a myriad of emotions cross Nicolas's face.

  Finally, he gave a sad laugh. "Hell, I guess I deserved that after the multitude of women I've told the exact same thing."
r />   Jewell stopped twirling her pencil and cocked her head. She didn't understand the correlation. "You've told a lot of women you only like them as a friend?"

  "Yeah, after…" Nicolas blushed as he looked down at his tablet. "I should have told you much sooner how I felt about you."

  Jewell reached across the table and put a hand over his. "Nic, it wouldn't have mattered. I've had feelings for Zane for a long time. I just didn't recognize what I was feeling. He's good to me."

  "He's an assassin, Jewell, one that has been removed from the program for cause. He's dangerous." There was a pleading sound to Nicolas's voice although Jewell had no idea why the man would be pleading.

  "Yes, I believe you're correct. Zane is a dangerous man, and I don't doubt for a second that he would kill anyone who tried to hurt me. I also know that he loves me. He would never intentionally hurt me."

  "Do you love him?" Nicolas's gaze lifted from the table where it had dropped during her answer.

  "Again, I'm not sure any of this is your business."

  "I'd like it to be my business."

  "I'm sorry, Nic." Jewell stood and gathered her drink and computer tablet. "I'd like to remain friends if you think that is possible, if not…"

  "I'll take what you'll give me." Nicolas's words followed her as she walked to the door.

  Jewell opened the door to see Zane about three feet away, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. He lifted away and held out his hand toward her. She extended her hand and fell into stride beside him.