The Hacker

by Leslie Georgeson

  “I don’t think Collins was a recruit,” Luke said after a moment of silence. “Waters needed investors and probably lured Collins in with the promise of making millions with his super soldiers. Having a state senator on board gave them a lot of power. But you can still check the files, just in case.”

  I didn’t want my father to have been a recruit, because then I might be related to Noah. And that was just…wrong.

  Did my mother know about any of this? Was she aware of his involvement with The Company?

  Oh crap, Mom! I hadn’t called her back after the Flesh King had abducted me and Noah had saved me. She’d wanted to see me before she left for Miami. But now it was too late. She was already gone. Did she wonder where I was? Or if I was okay? With my mother, you could never tell. She was too into herself. But still, I should at least call her and let her know I was okay. Just in case she was worried.

  I felt Noah’s gaze on me, scrutinizing. “You okay, Shannon?”

  I nodded. “I was just thinking that I needed to call my mother and let her know I’m okay. I haven’t talked to her since the night I was abducted.”

  “I found your bag on the ground by your car that night,” he announced. “I took all your phones apart and removed the batteries and the GPS so you couldn’t be tracked.” He reached under the desk and pulled out my bag, handing it to me.

  He’d found my bag and picked it up for me? Stunned, I searched through it, noting that everything was still there. I removed the phone that my family and friends contacted me on.

  “The phone batteries are over here.” He moved some items around on the desktop, then set three batteries in front of me. I handed him my phone and he put it back together with the battery, using the micro tool kit, then handed it back to me.

  “Thanks.” I had several missed calls from my mother and a bunch of texts from friends that I didn’t have time to go through now. Mom hated texting, but I didn’t feel like talking to her right now and listening to her try to lay another guilt trip on me, so I sent her a quick text.

  Sorry I didn’t make it home the other night. I had a little mishap, but I’m fine now. See you when you get back in the country. Love you.

  I tossed the phone back in my bag. I would deal with the other texts and messages later. Mom knew I was safe, so I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty about not seeing her before she left.

  Noah caught my gaze. “You good now?”

  I puffed out a breath. “Yes.”

  He smiled. “I was thinking that when you search through the recruits for Hughes, you can also check to see if your father is in there. My gut tells me he’s not, but I would feel better if I knew for sure.”

  Me, too.

  “What about Hughes’ file?” Ryan asked. “We already saw it, and there was nothing in there that indicated he’d been a soldier for The Company.”

  “True,” Noah conceded. “But we have to remember the source of those files. Darcy. She could have left information out or even given us false information. I’ll feel better if we do a thorough search of the recruits to make sure he wasn’t one.”

  If Hughes was like Noah and his friends, then he might have a special talent or ability, too. And that freaked me out even more. He could easily be that fog man from the other night. “Do you think Hughes is out there right now? Watching this place?”

  “It’s possible. He might have set up some type of surveillance to monitor the house.”

  “You can hack into it,” Ryan said urgently. “You’ve done it before.”

  He could? My heart gave another excited thump. Noah was smart. He would stop Hughes. I knew he would.

  “I need to try to locate it first. This might take a while. He likely has a firewall to keep me out. But if there’s a system set up out there, I’ll find it.”

  “If you can hack into his security system, then he can hack into yours, too, right?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but the moment he does, I’ll know. I have a notification system set up for such an occurrence.”

  “What if he overrides your notification system?”

  Noah’s gaze narrowed on me. “Have a little faith in me, Shannon.”

  “Okay,” I murmured. “Do you have indoor surveillance, too? Cameras inside?”

  “No. Just outside.”

  “Can he get inside the house?” What if he was already inside somewhere? Lurking behind furniture or a corner?

  “He’d have to break in,” Noah informed me. “I would know if he did.”

  I swallowed nervously. “How will you know if he’s inside? He said he was stealthy, remember?”

  Ryan and Luke looked at each other, then at Noah. “She’s got a point, man,” Ryan said. “He could sneak in without you knowing, especially if he hacked into your surveillance system.”

  Before Noah could respond, his computer pinged some kind of notification. He clicked the mouse, opening his email.

  “It’s from Hughes.”

  I dropped back into my chair and anxiously leaned forward to read the email with him, my heart pounding. Ryan and Luke stepped forward, reading over Noah’s shoulders.

  What’s the matter, Noah? Cat got your tongue? Don’t be a pussy. Give me a battle worth fighting! I know you can do better than this. Come on, let’s engage!

  I read the email, then glanced at Noah. “He’s trying to piss you off.”

  Noah scowled, then he typed back: You’re the pussy, Hughes. Why don’t you face me man-to-man instead of over the internet? What are you waiting for? Fucking coward. Come get me!

  Several minutes ticked past before Hughes responded.

  You stupid dreg! You think you know me, but you don’t know shit about what I can do. I am your worst fucking nightmare. You might think you’re keeping Shannon safe from me, but I could have stolen her from you yesterday if I’d wanted to. She looks so innocent sleeping in those teenager’s pajamas. Soon, all that sweet innocent beauty is going to be mine. I’m coming to take her away from you. And there’s not a fucking thing you can do to stop me.

  A chill crept down my spine. He’d been in the house? He’d watched me sleeping? How had he done that? I shivered.

  Noah paled, his gaze meeting mine. Then he glanced at Ryan and Luke. “Motherfucker,” he muttered under his breath. “How did he get in the house?”

  “This is not good,” Ryan murmured. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

  “No.” Noah shook his head. “That’s exactly what he expects us to do. Run scared. I’m not running from this prick. He wants a war? He’s going to get a fucking war. But on my terms. I’m calling the shots here.”

  Luke and Ryan exchanged an uneasy glance. “What are you thinking?” Luke wondered. “This isn’t the best place for a cat and mouse game. We need to lure him somewhere else. Where we have the advantage. And we don’t know for sure he got into the house. He could be just fucking with you.”

  I glanced at Noah while he contemplated that for a moment. “True. Let me think on this for a bit.” He turned back to the computer and typed a response to Hughes’ last email.

  Don’t let your ego or your own stupidity get in your way, Hughes. If you want her so bad, then come get her, motherfucker.

  I cringed at that, gaping at him. “Why are you egging him on? He already got into the house once. What’s stopping him from doing it again? How do you know he won’t sneak in and grab me?”

  “Because we are leaving,” Noah advised. “Just not how or when he expects.”

  Ryan and Luke exchanged another one of those secret glances that made me wonder if they could communicate telepathically.

  “So what do you want us to do?” Ryan asked. “Should we go scope the area? Check the perimeter? Go hunt him down?”

  Noah glanced at Ryan. “Yeah. See if you can find any trace of him or a surveillance system out there.”

  “What does he want most?” Luke wondered. “You or Shannon? What if he’s just using your weakness to draw you out so he can kill you?”

 
; Color crept into Noah’s face. He avoided my gaze as he responded. “He wants to show me he’s better than me, smarter than me. You’re right. He wants to best me. But he’s been stalking Shannon for a while now, long before I came into the picture. He’s obsessed with her. He’s trying to use me now to get to her. So, yeah, he wants to kill me, but what he wants most is Shannon.”

  Luke’s gaze hardened as he glanced over at me. “Then let’s give him Shannon.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Noah

  Shannon gasped, her gaze darting to mine.

  I nodded at Luke. “I think we can come up with something. In the meantime, see if you can find him.”

  Luke jerked his head in a nod. “We’re on it.” He and Ryan headed for the door.

  Shannon stared after them, then glanced back at me. “Are you going to use me as bait to try to catch him? Is that your plan?”

  “It might be the only way to catch him,” I pointed out gently. “He wants you, so he will follow you wherever you go. But you’ll be perfectly safe. I won’t let any harm come to you.”

  She swallowed hard, lifting her chin in determination. “Then let’s do it. I want to catch him as much as you do.”

  I squeezed her hand, then turned back to the computer. The scanner hadn’t yet located any alien surveillance in the area. Either Hughes hadn’t set up surveillance, or his system was somehow undetectable. Which was unlikely. I suspected he didn’t have surveillance, that he was possibly out there himself, watching the house. The idea that he may have been inside the house, close to Shannon, without my knowledge, made a chill creep down my spine.

  My phone rang. I snatched it up, swiping the screen. It was Luke.

  “Yeah.”

  “Found a stalker lurking out back. It’s not Hughes.”

  “Did you interrogate him?”

  “Yeah. He’s just some street thug. Apparently, Hughes paid him to hang around and watch the place. And notify him if you left.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I tossed the phone back onto the desktop. Which meant there likely wasn’t a surveillance system. He’d paid someone to watch the place.

  Shannon glanced at me. “Who was that?”

  “Luke.” I relayed the information Luke had just told me.

  Shannon’s eyes went wide with obvious fear. “So where’s Hughes?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “And that’s the problem. Because he could be anywhere.”

  Where was that son-of-a-bitch?

  “So how do we lure him out?” She wondered.

  “I have an idea. Do you live at your parents’ estate in Atlanta?”

  “Yes. I live in the guesthouse out back.”

  I clicked on the Google Earth icon, pulling up the program. Shannon watched as it loaded, and I entered the address of her parents’ estate. Moments later, we were looking at an aerial view of the property.

  “Where’s your mother right now?” I asked her. “Can you distract her somehow, get us inside the house without her knowing?”

  “She’s actually in Miami. She left on Saturday. I don’t know when she’ll be back. She never tells me those things.”

  I didn’t know what kind of relationship Shannon had with her mother, but I sensed from Shannon’s words, and the way she grew a bit defensive that she wasn’t close to her mother. I didn’t know my own mother. In fact, I barely remembered her. Just brief memory spurts of a kind lady with pretty brown eyes and gentle hands. I got the sense that my mother had loved me, but I didn’t know the details of how I’d been recruited into The Company. I’d give anything to see her again. To know her. According to my file, my mother was in Arizona. And someday, after we’d taken care of all the shareholders, I planned to find her. To reunite with the woman who had given me life.

  “What about the staff?” I asked. “A housekeeper? Groundskeeper?”

  “They all went home for the holidays. They won’t be back until the first of the year.”

  “This is perfect, Shannon. I’m taking you home.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “But…you said it wasn’t safe.”

  “It’s not. That’s why I’m going with you.”

  Ryan and Luke returned, strolling up behind us. “Hughes isn’t out there,” Luke informed us. “There’s no sign of him.”

  Shannon eyed Luke warily, as if she feared he’d just toss her out to Hughes. Luke might be a hard ass, but he’d never intentionally endanger a woman.

  “Shannon has agreed to be the bait,” I told them. “But it won’t really be Shannon. I have a plan.”

  “Let’s hear it.” Luke’s eyes filled with interest.

  “I’m thinking we all move to Collins’ estate in Atlanta. One of you will switch vehicles with me, since he knows I drive a Jeep. Shannon and I will stop and pick up her car along the way. Then Shannon can drive her car to her place of employment and park it in the lot there. She can take her bag and all her stuff and leave it in the car, so if Hughes checks inside the car, he’ll see her things and it will appear that she really went to work. Shannon said it isn’t unusual for her to work late at night, so Hughes won’t be suspicious. Whoever drives my Jeep will hopefully catch Hughes’ attention and he’ll follow you instead of me and Shannon. But if he does spot Shannon’s car, he will likely think I turned her loose and she went to work. Eventually, he’ll figure out she’s not at work, but it should give us time to set up surveillance before Hughes figures out where she went.”

  Ryan cocked a brow. “And if we don’t fool him?”

  “He might be able to make himself invisible, but I doubt he can make his car invisible, too. So if we all stay alert and watch for a tail, we’ll know if he’s following us. And we can plan accordingly.”

  Luke grunted his agreement and motioned to the monitor. “Is that the estate?”

  “Yeah.” I zoomed in on the guesthouse. “Shannon lives here in this guesthouse. All the staff have off until the first of the year and Shannon’s mother is in Miami, so no one else will be there.”

  Ryan motioned to a large area of vegetation on the screen. “What is that? It looks like a maze.”

  “It is,” Shannon confirmed. “A hedge maze. I used to get lost in it when I was a teenager, but now I know my way around it by heart.”

  Ryan and Luke exchanged a glance. “We like mazes,” Ryan murmured with a glint in his eye. Yes, we did. We’d grown up in a maze at the facility. Then lived in one in the woods near Eatonton. Mazes were our specialty.

  Shannon glanced at Ryan, then at Luke.

  “I like all the trees,” Luke said. “Lots of cover for hiding.” He glanced at Shannon. “Is there a security system?”

  “Yes. We normally have security guards too, but with everyone gone for the holidays…” she trailed off.

  “It will be easy for Hughes to access the property,” Luke finished for her. He glanced at me. “This is perfect. But how do we get Hughes to take the bait? Why would he think to look for her there if her car’s at her work?”

  “If he hasn’t found out where she is by the time we’re ready for him, then I’m going to send him an email and invite him,” I announced.

  Ryan and Luke exchanged another glance. “I like it,” Ryan murmured.

  I glanced at Shannon. “What do you think?”

  She was silent a moment, contemplating. “Yes,” she said slowly, looking me in the eye. “Let’s do this. Let’s catch this creep.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Shannon

  For the next half hour, Noah, Ryan, and Luke strategized, going over the layout of my parents’ estate, familiarizing themselves with all of the outbuildings and the vegetation and the maze, and discussing how they might deal with Hughes.

  Then we all left Augusta.

  Noah and I drove in Luke’s car and headed to Eatonton where I’d left my car. We traveled the first hour in silence. I stared out my window, my heart racing with dread, my mind full of turmoil, while Noah drove, his thoughts his own.

  No
ah’s partner Logan had called as we’d reached the main highway leading to Eatonton. He’d told Noah he was on his way here, that he’d felt Noah’s turmoil and determined we needed his help, so instead of continuing to Idaho, he and his girlfriend, Nishi, had decided to head this way. Apparently, they were only a day away now. They would meet us at my parents’ estate later tomorrow. Noah had sounded relieved as he disconnected the call.

  I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m excited to meet your dreg partner. And his girlfriend. They sound really cool.”

  Noah nodded. “You’ll like them. I think you and Nishi will get along great.”

  I smiled. I was curious to meet Logan and Nishi. I was eager to learn as much as I could about Noah, and meeting his dreg partner was probably the best way to do that.

  “What did he mean when he said he felt your turmoil?” I asked.

  Noah glanced at me, then turned back to the road. “I never told you about the dreg bond. Dregs share a bond with their partner that goes beyond mere human friendship. Our connection is spiritual, emotional, and physical. I can feel his emotions, his physical pain, and he can feel mine, no matter the distance between us. When he said he felt my turmoil, he meant it literally.”

  Wow. The dregs truly were unique. Fascinating. I would love to tell the story of their strength and courage one day. How they had persevered against all odds. But I now understood Noah’s desire to keep their secrets. The world was not ready for the truth yet.

  Noah’s phone rang again, and he answered. “Yeah.” He listened for a moment. “He told you what was going on? Yeah, sorry. I should have told you guys, but I didn’t want to bother you. I figured Ryan, Luke, and I could handle it on our own.”

  He listened for a few moments, then said, “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. We don’t know what Hughes is capable of, or even what we’re dealing with, so yeah, the more dregs, the better.”

  He disconnected and glanced at me.

  “Who was that?”

  “That was Tracker. All the other dregs are coming to help. I will feel better if all my dreg brothers were here. Hughes might bring an army with him, so it’s best to be prepared.”