ReBoot (MAC Security Series Book 4)

by Abigail Davies

  “I don’t give a fuck! You promised me my money if I planted the drugs on her!”

  “And you’ll get it… all in due course.”

  The line goes dead; my nostrils flare and I stand up. White hot anger flows through me as I realize that this is my fault. I’m the reason that Lexi is back in that place.

  “He was in on it,” I fume.

  “What? Who?” This comes from Charlie as he steps forward, his gaze swinging from Ty to Kitty, trying to get a read on them.

  “I think it’s time you all left,” Ty says, his voice a low growl. “This is MAC business. If we need any help, we’ll be sure to contact you.”

  There’s another beat of silence in the warehouse before shuffling commences and everyone leaves apart from the team. We all stare at each other, knowing what this means.

  “He was behind this.”

  “We should have known. The same day of the job and Lexi gets arrested… it was too convenient,” Luke growls.

  Fuck! How hadn’t any of us put it together? I bang my fist down on the table in frustration. He achieved what he set out to—he has us distracted—more importantly, he had me distracted.

  Why? Why did he need me—

  “The code!”

  I slam my ass back into my chair, bringing up the code that I installed in the chip and running all of the sequences.

  The team talk around me, discussing best ways to get evidence on both her uncle and also Darrell—saying that we now have a confession—but I’m too busy searching to see what he’s done, and when I find it, I’m equal parts relieved and angry.

  “He’s accessing the facility where this is being made.”

  “What?” Kitty asks, coming to stand behind me. “What does that mean?”

  “He never wanted a code inside the software to spy on people when it’s released.” I look up at Ty. “He wanted it so that he could get ears inside of the place; he’s accessing everything there.”

  “Where is there?” Luke asks.

  “Center 109.” There’s a collective gasp. “He’s got access to it all: FBI, CIA, NSA, DEA, ATF, the military… there isn’t a system he can’t crack.”

  “Turn it off!” Ty thunders.

  My fingers go flying over the keys again, but it’s fruitless because I already tried, he overrode it and now I can’t manipulate a single part of the code, all I can do is watch and see what he accesses.

  “I can’t,” I say. “I can’t stop him, but…” I look up at Ty as he walks closer. “I can see what he’s looking at.”

  Ty comes to stand behind me, leaning down and watching the screen in the same way that I am. Someone clicks onto a file named “Derock #5629,” it opens up and several other files appear on the screen.

  The rest of the guys come closer, all watching in fascination as he searches through all of the information in the system. What looks like several dozen alias files are flicking on the screen, all with different back stories and names, most information blacked out, but not enough to know that whoever this person is, they’re dangerous. No one has this many aliases for no reason.

  We all lean forward when the frantic searching on the screen slows down and a picture is zoomed in on.

  “Who’s that?” Kitty asks leaning closer.

  I swipe my fingers on the trackpad, zooming in too.

  Shit.

  “It’s Daley.”

  We all seem to breathe at the same time, because this isn’t good. It’s bad, really fucking bad. He knew what he was looking for without a doubt.

  I shuffle along with the line of prisoners as we all make our way to the visiting rooms. Although this isn’t the first time for me. The last time I walked to the visiting room, I had no idea what waited for me, no idea what would unravel in the aftermath of the visit. Up until then I had only visited psychiatrists or the parole board in the prison.

  But this time when a sound blares before one of the officers opens a white gate with the paint peeling off it, I smile, because I know what waits for me on the other side—who waits for me. We all file through and to the next gate where she does the same process then we’re all searched and allowed into the main room where all of the visitors sit waiting.

  I come to a stop just like I did all those years ago, watching as the prisoners see their families before my gaze lands on a man. Not just any man, but my man. The one person who I know I can rely on more than anyone else.

  A slow steady smile lifts my lips as his eyes connect with mine and then that grin appears. The grin that has my heart simultaneously melting and pounding harder at the same time.

  I take a step toward him as he stands up, lifting to his full height and pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

  My eyes land on his t-shirt as I take the final couple of steps and I can’t help but throw my head back laughing.

  “What?” he asks, an innocent look in his eyes that is soon replaced with a hint of laughter.

  I shake my head as I read the slogan on his dark-blue t-shirt: “1+1=3 IF YOU DON’T USE A CONDOM.”

  “It’s very appropriate.” I smirk, pointing at it and shaking my head at him. How does he always know how to bring a smile to my face? How can he have me pealing out with laughter without even saying a word?

  “I thought it was very apt.” He shrugs his shoulders, giving me that boyish grin once again as he steps forward.

  “No touching,” a guard snaps. And just like that, I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders again. He may be here but I can’t touch him, I can’t speak to him in the way I would if it was only the two of us.

  My head drops and I sit down as Evan takes the seat opposite me, his hands twitching at his side. When I look up, I can see his eyes are focused on my stomach and my hand moves there.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks, leaning forward slightly.

  “Tired,” I whisper. “And hungry.”

  He smirks before his eyes land on a vending machine in the back and he stands up without a word.

  I watch him walk over, my gaze landing right on his ass and sighing. I miss him. I miss him so much and I’ve never missed anyone but Gran. I bite my lip as I watch his fingers key in codes and can’t help but squirm in my seat as images of his hands on my skin assault me.

  This is really not the place for this, I know that, but my hormones don’t, and that’s what I’m blaming, my stupid hormones.

  I lift my arm and rest it on the table, the sound of my cast vibrating around the room. My bruises and cuts are slowly healing, but I know it’s going to take a while. It helps now that I’m in a different prison. Not that it’s all that different, but the main one being that I don’t have anyone here that wants to hurt me.

  Several chocolate bars land on the table and a couple bags of chips and I dive forward, opening the chips and the chocolate at the same time as I take a bite of each. I haven’t eaten anything like this for what feels like years.

  “Shooo gwwwoood.” My eyes roll back and I savor the taste, destroying most of the food in record time before leaning back and taking a sip of the water that sits on the table.

  “Better?” he asks, raising a brow.

  “Uh huh.” My gaze tracks him, noting the dark circles under his eyes. “Evan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?”

  The sound of the five-minute warning alarm rings around us and I startle, not believing that our time is up already. It can’t be, it went too fast.

  “I’m good, baby, promise.” He leans forward. “We’re doing all we can to get you out of here. Fuck!” He runs his hand through his hair in distress as I see the brief flicker of an emotion before it’s gone. “I can’t stand you being in this place.”

  “That makes two of us,” I murmur.

  We’re both silent for several minutes, neither of us saying anything but our eyes telling a whole story. My throat starts to close up at the thought of not seeing him again for another week. Why did I spend most of the
time eating? Damn hormones!

  “I’ll be back next week,” he whispers as another final warning alarm goes off and all the visitors start walking out of a door. “I’m gonna get you out of here, it’s all in the works.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I warn, my stomach rolling when I see the determination in his eyes.

  “I’d never do that.” He grins, standing up and swaying toward me before he rights himself. “You’ll be out of here soon, Lex.” He stops for a beat before that grin makes an appearance again. “And back in my bed.”

  I gasp as my hand flies up to my throat before he winks and walks backward, not taking his eyes off mine as he walks into a wall and curses.

  I chuckle and shake my head as he lifts his hand in a wave and dips out of the door.

  I hand the team the new earpieces in the back of the van, explaining to them that they record everything and have trackers inside. They’re all different colors for each person: Kitty’s is pink, Kay’s purple, Ty’s is green, Luke’s blue, Dean’s yellow, and mine is orange.

  They all start to leave the van: Kay and Ty together, then Luke, and then Kitty and Dean together as they get into position.

  I lean back in my seat, watching all of the screens through the surveillance that is being broadcasted live.

  Being in the town that Lexi grew up in has a warm sensation running through my veins. I want to be able to go to all of the places that she used to go to. See the house she grew up in, see where she went to school. But most of all, I want it to be Lexi that shows me them.

  It’s been a week since I saw her in the prison, and although she looks a lot better than she did when she left the hospital, I still don’t feel like she’s safe.

  All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and tell her that it would all be okay, but instead I had to sit across from her and not touch her. It killed me to stare at her skin that I knew would be silky smooth and not run the pads of my fingers over it, knowing that goose bumps would rise from my touch.

  “In position,” Kitty says over the line. I look at the camera and see her and Dean sitting outside of a coffee shop.

  “In position,” Luke says, stretching out and jogging on the spot outside the steps of the courthouse that we’re parked by.

  “In position,” Ty says, his arms wrapped around Kay.

  They all look like normal people, nothing giving them away that they’re here to be part of a takedown to aid the police department.

  We didn’t know who was on Aaron’s payroll or under his thumb at first, but when we figured out that it was the majority of people apart from a couple of sergeants, we had to be part of the takedown so that he wouldn’t get wind of it. If he knew what was happening we knew he’d either shut it right down using his connections, or disappear.

  My heart hammers in my chest as I watch the camera that is directed at the door to the courthouse, waiting for him to come out.

  It didn’t take much to find all of the evidence against him, all of the payments that he received into offshore accounts for doing people “favors.” He left a trail that he should have covered, not that any normal person would have been able to find that trail. But I’m not a normal person, and I’d do anything for the people I love.

  That added with the phone calls that I have recorded gave us more than enough evidence to bring him down. My fists clench as I think about Darrell. He’s in the wind, disappeared just like he did all of those years ago, only now he’s going after Daley. Getting in touch with Daley wasn’t easy, he’s dark again but Kay got a message to her brother, Corey, who said he would pass it on.

  I only hope that whatever Darrell is doing won’t come back to bite us all on our asses.

  A woman walks past Luke, pushing a stroller and my stomach drops. I haven’t told the guys about Lexi being pregnant. There isn’t a big reason behind it, only that I want her to be there standing beside me when we tell everyone. Pop and Dad know, but they're the only people.

  I watch as the woman leans down and fusses over the baby; I can’t help the surge of adrenaline that zaps through me. That will be Lexi soon: she’ll be pushing a stroller and tending to our baby. Our baby.

  “Got eyes,” Luke says and my gaze flits back to the doors of the courthouse on the screen. I get ready to jump out of the van as I watch Kitty and Dean stand up.

  This is it. This is the start of getting Lexi out of that place and back into my arms.

  Aaron is looking down at his cell, his brow furrowing before he looks up, pushing his shoulders back and walking down the steps of the courthouse. I wait until he’s halfway down and then push out of the back of the van, drawing up to my full height.

  Jogging across the road, I head right for him.

  “Hey, asshole,” I growl.

  He startles for a second but quickly covers up his shock and smirks.

  “If it isn’t the slut’s boyfriend.” My nostrils flare at his words but I tell myself to keep cool. It won’t serve anyone if I knock him out. He looks around, seeing no one else, thinking that he’s safe. If only he knew. “What do you want, huh? You’re in my territory, I can get you arrested for harassment and put in a hole just like your little girlfriend.”

  Hole. I push past his choice of words, not willing to let him see how much that affected me. Though he wouldn’t know why.

  I tilt my head to the side, mocking him as a grin works its way over my lips. “You can try.” I shrug. “But you won’t succeed.” I step forward, seeing Luke and Ty out of the corner of my eye on opposite ends. “I, however, will succeed, because it’ll be your ass in prison rotting away.”

  He laughs condescendingly before shaking his head and storming past me. “Good luck with that.”

  “Darrell won’t get you out of this one,” I say, my voice teasing. “He’s dropped you now that you’ve served your purpose. He’s done what he does best… disappeared.”

  He freezes, his head turning as he faces me once more. He tries to cover the fear in his eyes but I can see it: he’s scared. Good. He should be.

  “I’m guessing you’ve tried to contact him but have been unsuccessful?”

  “I don’t know what—”

  I take two steps toward him, only a few feet of space between us. “You think it’s acceptable to put a fifteen-year-old girl behind bars? For trying her as an adult when you know you shouldn’t have? She was your family. You should have helped, not made it worse.” I drag my gaze over him. “You’re a slimy piece of shit who used her situation to get your hands on money to keep up your habit.”

  “What are—”

  “I know every single thing there is to know about you, Aaron Derek Deacon.” I pause. “Every. Single. Thing.” He pales, his hand wandering to his pocket. “Now, now,” I tut. “You don’t want to be getting rid of that coke that’s sitting in your pocket.” I shake my head. “That’s an added bonus for when you get arrested.”

  He stares at me for a beat before his eyes scan the courthouse, not seeing a single officer in sight. When he notices, he stands up straighter. “You don’t have shit on me.” He twirls around. “Tell Alexis I said hi.”

  That motherfucker!

  I let him get three steps away before I nod my head and watch as Luke steps forward, grabbing his arm forcefully and whispering something in his ear before slapping the cuffs on him and walking him down to an SUV that has been sitting at the curb for the last five minutes, waiting for us to hand him over.

  I don’t move from the steps for several minutes, watching as he gets inside and knowing that it’s only a matter of time now before we can get Lexi out. Everything is in motion and I’ll soon have her in my arms again where I can keep her and our baby safe.

  The guys all come to stand beside me, a united front as the SUV pulls out into traffic, but then the woman with the stroller catches my attention again.

  Time. Time has become relative, because when you find that one person who means everything, you’ll wait a thousand years for just
one touch.

  My bare arms itch from the roughness of the scratchy blanket that I’m lying on. The brown color no doubt hiding a multitude of sins. I heave a sigh, looking up at the yellowing ceiling of the block that I’m staying in. This one is low security, something that I’ve never been in before and it’s completely different to my whole time spent in prison.

  For years I was in maximum security with some of the worst people there could be, but this place is a breeze compared to that.

  My hand rubs against my stomach, the small bump sending flutters through my abdomen. I had a scan last week and seeing the baby’s head and little arms and legs made it all the more real. The baby is perfect, but the situation wasn’t because there was one person missing in that room.

  I haven’t seen Evan since he came to visit three weeks ago and bought me all of that chocolate and chips. At first I didn’t understand when I went to the visiting room and saw Mal and Cal sitting there instead of Evan. But once they explained that he’s working on getting me out of here, I understood. I miss him, more than anything. The last few days when I’ve tried to call he hasn’t answered, and I can’t help but wonder if I’ve done something. But I bat that thought away as soon as it comes because he promised me to always be there: to never leave.

  I swallow as I feel the telltale sign of tears pricking the back of my eyes, covering my face in my hands and taking deep breaths.

  “Deacon, you’re up.”

  I startle at the deep voice, pulling my hands away from my face. My eyes take in the guard, his fierce face covered in a scowl.

  “What?” I whisper, sitting up and placing my feet on the floor.

  “You’re up, gather your stuff.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re out, get a move on. I haven't got all day.”

  Wait, what? I’m out?

  I sit here for several seconds, trying to process what he’s saying before scrambling up off the bed and collecting all of my things in a mad rush and following him out.

  I tamper down the hopes that start to spring free as he leads me through all of the hallways and to the main section where he then opens a gate, tilting his head at me. I scramble forward, into a room where he tells me to put my things down and then proceeds to hand me a plastic bag before placing the clothes that I was brought in in front of me.