I didn’t know how long I sat out there before Ford was brave enough to step out. He offered me a drink. “How are you feeling? You aren’t going to faint or try to throw me over, are you?”
“I wouldn’t do that…without a reason.” My lips twisted at the corner, but I knew the smile didn’t reach my eyes.
“There was bound to be complications with all those people in your head. You should have expected it,” Ford poked.
I snapped my gaze to his. “You think I should have planned for it?”
Ford shrugged. “Well, you are all-knowing, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Your attempt to make me feel better isn’t working.”
“It might be a blessing that you couldn’t hear them, or just a quirk that will eventually work itself out. Maybe you should ask Sloan and Martin for insight.”
“Even if they knew, they wouldn’t tell me,” I answered.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“Because that was the first time that they’ve ever been quiet,” I answered. “Is Carson ready to go?”
“We’re leaving for the airport in an hour.”
Chapter 24
I walked into the watermill and was met with a blur of activity. Sam was perched behind his desk, and Noah was barking orders as security and guys with guns were moving around the room gearing up like a tactical police team about to go deliver warrants to someone staying in their momma’s basement.
“What’s going on?” I asked, leaving my suitcase by Sam’s desk.
He jumped as if I’d startled him. He glanced around the manic activity in the room. “I don’t know. They just started acting like they’re going to war about ten minutes ago and were tightening up security.”
I hopped up on the table behind Sam to sit cross-legged. He had to turn in his seat to look at me, stealing the precious time he had on the computer.
“Any luck figuring out who killed Raul?”
I shook my head. “Not really. The guy was wearing a ski mask and dressed in black. I hate not knowing why he died.”
Sam’s brows dipped. “You look disappointed.”
“I couldn’t hear what they were saying,” I confessed with a frown.
“I heard you were getting bad headaches. Maybe it’s a side effect of the increased number of people in your brain. Maybe your headspace is like the memory in a computer and starts to act up when it gets full. Maybe it will go back to normal when some are released.”
“If I knew how to release them without going to jail for murder, I would have done it by now.” I gestured to the computer screen, where the game was up on the screen. “He left you a message in the coin in his armory.”
“I found it,” Sam said with a sigh. “It wasn’t very helpful.”
“The other hacker, Janson, called to warn him the hack wasn’t on the up and up. Raul’s girlfriend overheard that the medical facility code in the Easter egg was deadly.”
Sam’s eyes widened, and he sat forward. “How?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know computer code could be deadly. I figured they just ran the internet.”
Sam’s lips twitched up. “That’s why I love you.”
“Join the club. I’m just loveable like that.” My gaze landed on my ghostly exes who hovered on the other side of the room and were whispering to each other.
I glanced at the hackers’ pictures on the whiteboard. “Figure out the rest yet?”
“Some of it. It looks like all my friends were leery that something wasn’t right.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Raul wasn’t the only one to leave Sam a message.” Noah said as he joined us. “We know most of the Easter eggs that they downloaded.”
“That’s news,” I said, dropping my legs over the side of the table. “Is that why we’re going to war?”
Noah’s jaw ticked as he glanced behind him, as if just realizing it might look like that. “Things turned interesting when we uncovered what name was hidden in the Easter egg of the school website.”
“It was a name?” I asked.
“Yeah, Margo Richards. The moment I started running it through the databases to see what the other agencies might have on her, the system flagged and my phone rang.”
“That sounds like more excitement than we had. Margo must have a record.”
“Quite the opposite. She didn’t exist up until five years ago.”
“Fake identity?” I asked.
“Witness protection.”
I scrunched my nose. “Why was she put in witsec? Are they talking?”
“I had to do some digging around to get my answers, and I would venture a guess that they’ll move her again in the next twenty-four hours.”
“What’s her story?” I asked.
“I believe she’s the daughter of a Tawny Reynolds, a whistleblower who worked for a lab. That’s all my sources could tell me.”
“That means we have a trail to follow. Someone who probably knows exactly what this code and deadly virus formula will be used for.”
“Problem is that Homeland is even more invested now. They want everything we have on the case, and they want Sam. I’ve been ordered to turn him over in forty-eight hours when they send an escort to pick him up.”
“No,” I tisked, rising to my feet. “They aren’t taking Sam.”
“Lucy, we don’t have a choice. This is over my head now.”
Not if I could help him. I’d take Sam and hide him away from the politics taking place. And I knew the guys on our team would help. All but Noah, of course. But my theory was it was easier to ask forgiveness after the deed was done.
“Yeah, well.” I rested my hand on Sam’s arm. “Not happening, but we can discuss that later. What else was included in the Easter eggs?”
“The name Margo Richards, aka Sunny Reynolds, was in one. The hack on Valley General was just a string of numbers, along with their internet access points. They’re in the process of trying to close the internet gap.”
“That sounds simple enough. Tell them to hit the restart.”
“It’s not simple. It’s actually hard, especially for a hospital. It isn’t just hospital records that can be accessed, but there are life-saving machines and equipment that require and are controlled by the internet that can be compromised.”
My eyes widened. “You mean like gaining access to someone who might be on life support and turning off the machine without ever stepping foot in the room?”
“Exactly,” Sam said. “Although I’m sure those machines are on a closed-circuit, but with the breach…there’s no telling what chaos will ensue.”
“Shit,” I said, resting my hands-on top of my head. We had Margo, a breach in the hospital that, as of now, was just allowing access to their mainframes, along with a string of numbers in the Easter egg.
“I’m running the numbers to see what it might be, but as of now, it’s nothing since I don’t know where to look,” Sam said.
“Okay, so Margo and the hospital… Has Margo ever been a patient there?”
“Not that we can find,” Sam answered, turning back to the computer. “Most of Margo’s treatments are of the psychiatric kind.”
“My kind of girl,” I teased. “And what about Margo’s mother, the whistleblower?”
“Nothing,” Sam said, sitting back in his chair.
“We need a background on Margo’s mother, her father, and any medical ties they might have,” I said.
“Homeland Security is already looking into it,” Noah said.
“Of course, they are,” I answered, folding my arms over my chest. “So, what about your hack, Sam? What did you get from the CDC?”
Sam clicked a few buttons and pulled up an equation onto the computer screen. “That.”
My eyes crossed at the thought of having to figure it out. “What are we looking at?”
“Sorry,” he said, and with a few clicks on the keyboard a diagram formed on the screen. “What you’re looking at is
the make up a deadly chemical that is untraceable, and worse than that, it’s undetectable. Think cyanide. Only this is tasteless.”
“What the hell is the CDC doing with that?” I growled.
“More important is, what does it all mean?” Noah asked.
“I’m running diagnostics trying to cross-check information from all the facilities, including the new Easter egg information from Raul.”
“That sounds illegal,” I whispered.
Sam’s lips twisted at the corner. “No worse than what I’ve done so far.”
I moved to the whiteboard to stare at the information the hackers uncovered. The facilities were all medical based, and the CDC had a deadly formula that could take out God knew how many people. The only thing that didn’t necessarily fit was the girl. Figuring that out would help me figure out what the hell was going on.
I turned toward the others. “I need to go see the girl and her mother before they move her and she vanishes off the face of the earth.”
“There’s no blood for you to touch with her.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I need to see Margo Richards. She’s the odd man out of the equation. Tying her to the rest is going to be paramount to figuring out this mystery.”
Noah crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “Fine.”
“I’m taking Sam with me,” I said.
“No, you’re not. I have orders.”
“You have orders to turn him over in forty-eight hours. Not that he’s on house arrest. I’m taking Sam with me in the event I need computer help. I don’t care if you send every armed guard in this place to accompany us, but he’s going.”
“Lucy…”
I lifted a brow. “You wanted me back? This is what you get. He’s going. Make it happen.”
Chapter 25
I pulled my suitcase to the bedroom assigned to me. I dumped out my dirty clothes and replaced them with clean attire while Sam was packing his bag.
A knock sounded from the door, and I pulled it open to find Noah standing on the other side with a file in his hand and a box tucked beneath his arm.
“If you’ve come to talk me out of this, you can forget it.”
“I didn’t come to talk you out of it, just the opposite actually,” Noah said.
I opened the door wider and gestured for him to come in. “What’s on your mind?”
“Sam,” Noah answered and ran his hand over his head. “He’s potentially in a ton of trouble, and we need this solved.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” I answered.
“Lucy,” Noah said, pulling my gaze from my packing. “He can’t go to Homeland. I have an inside source that told me they’re going to hold him under lock and key and only pull him out when they need his help hacking into someplace.”
“Like a liaison?” I asked.
“Like a prisoner,” he corrected. “Homeland Security doesn’t have to have reasons if they think a threat is viable, and knowing what Sam’s Easter egg contained would fit into that category.”
The hairs on my arms stood up. “You think they know what Sam was after?”
“I think it’s convenient that they were following Sam. It wasn’t him that tipped me off to there being an issue.”
“What did?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“The flag I put on your file.”
“I don’t understand.”
Noah sighed. “I might have changed some things in your file to help keep your identity more secure.”
“Uh, okay. Like what?”
“Lucy, Homeland didn’t have your correct address. I’d listed it in your file as mine, so in the event it ever got hacked or reviewed, they wouldn’t know where to find you.”
“But they came to my house. They said they followed Sam,” I said as the hair on my arms rose.
“We pulled the street cams around your property. There was a car already on your street when Sam arrived. The plates came back as government issues.”
“You mean I was being watched?” I asked.
“Or they already knew Sam’s destination, which doesn’t bode well, considering your sister called him here at the compound to demand his presence at your dinner.”
My mouth parted. “You think we have a mole or a breach?”
“I don’t know if the two are connected, but I think you both need to watch your backs.”
“I can handle myself,” I reminded him. “Who else knew that Sam and I are friends besides the people under this roof and my sister?”
“It’s possible anyone you ran into on one of the old cases.”
There weren’t many, but just the thought had the butterflies in my stomach turning to lead. “We need to cross-reference any ties from those cases to Homeland Security. Noah, this isn’t good.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I’m having the compound swept for bugs. I trust our team, but the security personnel…we don’t really know them. They’ll be interrogated, and the phone lines will be checked. Our information is getting leaked. That’s why I’m going to let you and Sam go alone. Well, almost alone.”
“You are?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise from my face.
“Yep. There and back under the cover of night. Someone unrelated to our circumstances will pick you up at the airport and take you somewhere safe, where you’ll stay until your return flight the next day. I’ll set up the meeting at a secure location, and you’ll be picked up and taken to the location by one of the marshals. I’ll give you all the details the minute you leave. Only Sam, you, and I will know your destination and the details of your stay.”
“But I trust Ford and Carson. They wouldn’t say anything to anyone if it meant keeping us safe.”
“No, Lucy. Until I know how far this rabbit hole goes down, you’re doing this my way.”
“You know they’re going to ask where we’re going,” I said, resting my hand on my hip.
“Don’t worry about Ford and Carson. I’ll handle them. You just worry about you and Sam.”
I nodded.
Noah pulled the case holding my meds out of his pocket and handed it over. “You probably won’t have need for this, but you, Dr. Bray, always know how to find trouble.”
“And eradicate it too.” I chuckled and tossed the container on top of my clothes in the suitcase. “I’ll keep it on me.”
Noah opened the door and paused, glancing over his shoulder. “When you get back, we need to talk about those headaches. I’ve done some digging into your symptoms with doctors from the governmental experiment that you participated in, and we need to discuss it.”
I gave a curt nod and swallowed hard.
“Oh, one more thing,” he said, handing over the box he’d had beneath his arm.
An untraceable phone, which seemed ancient and probably didn’t work.
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, well, you’ll thank me when Homeland isn’t on your tail.”
“True,” I said, tossing the box into my bag as well. “Thanks.”
He pulled the door shut behind him, and I rubbed my temples. My gaze landed on my desk. A smile formed on my lips as I crossed the distance, picked up the cup of pens and pencils, and dumped all but one into my suitcase. I twisted my hair into a messy knot and used the last one to secure the knot in place. I wouldn’t be caught without some type of weapon. Not anymore.
Within the hour, Sam and I were whisked toward the back exit of the building by Noah.
I’d expected to have Ford and Carson object to our leaving, but they’d been nowhere to be seen.
“What did you do with my wardens?” I asked.
Noah’s lips twisted. “I sent them to your house to check security on it and run a sweep for bugs.”
“They aren’t happy about it either.” Sloan appeared by my side.
“You can say that again,” Martin teased.
“You sent them on an errand? And the guys didn’t see right through that?” I lifted a brow.
&nb
sp; Noah grinned.
“They’re going to be so pissed when they figure out why,” Sam said with a shake of his head.
Noah pulled a picture out of his suit jacket and handed it to me. “Once you reach your destination, you don’t leave with anyone but her.”
“Who is she?” Sam asked, snatching the picture and taking a look at the woman.
Noah hesitantly glanced around the area before gesturing to the picture. “Her name is on the back.”
“Got it,” I said, snatching the picture from Sam and flipping it over. The woman’s name was Donna. She was pretty in an elderly way. Her gray hair was cut at her shoulders. Her haunted eyes looked wise beyond their years. That smile…I’d seen it before.
“You have seen that smile before. Who does it remind you of?” Martin grinned before he and Sloan vanished again.
I handed the picture back to Noah. “You ready?”
“Yep.” He led us out of the watermill and into a car that was waiting. It wasn’t one of the typical SUVs we used. It was a muscle car with dark tinted windows.
“Whose wheels?” I asked as we approached. I could barely make out the outline of someone behind the wheel of the running car.
“A friend that’s going to make sure you arrive in one piece, untraceable, and, more importantly, without a tracker,” Noah said as he pulled the passenger door open for me and pulled the seat forward for Sam to climb into the back seat.
“You’re handing us off to a stranger.”
“Don’t worry. I trust this stranger, and you will, too, once you get in the car.”
“Okay.” I leaned in to find a familiar face staring back at me. The detective’s mocha hair complemented his dark eyes and tanned skin. He had a look in his eyes. A knowing look. The only cop I knew that didn’t want me arrested or thrown in jail. “Detective Rowen.”
“Asher,” he corrected and gestured to the seat. “Get in, Dr. Bray. I’m going to need time to ditch the tail that’s waiting out on the main road.”
“Impressive,” I said to Noah as I climbed inside.
“Remember, keep to yourself and watch out for Sam.”
Hacking Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 5) Page 10