She was anxious for Ty and even for this man who’d hurt her so badly. “I wish things could have turned out differently here.”
“But you will still try to help Ty, right?”
She studied his pensive expression and debated how to answer. “Of course, I’ll try. But considering the way I handled this, it’s not likely Sulyard will let me get anywhere near the investigation now.”
“What?” He swung his head around to gape at her. “You won’t let that happen though, right?”
“I’ll do my best, but I warned you when we first met that my personal involvement was problematic here.”
He jerked his gaze away as if he was disgusted with her.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and waited for him to look at her again. “I’ll try to stay involved. To help Ty any way I can. You know that, right?”
He didn’t respond right away, but then glanced at her. “I know you’re a good person, Nina. You’ll do your best, or I wouldn’t have come to you in the first place.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in your voice.”
“But if you’re removed from the investigation, I won’t have any connection to it at all. I have no role in this now, and it’s eating me up. With you out of the picture . . .” He shrugged. “Can I at least sit in with Ty when he’s questioned?”
“I honestly don’t know,” she said, hating to give him more bad news. “Since your mother is his legal guardian, she’ll be allowed in the room. But it’ll be up to Sulyard to decide if you can join in.”
A shadow of pain fell across his face. “You’ll ask him for me.”
“That’s not a good idea. He’s bound to be upset with me. You’re better off asking him yourself or have your mom request it. She can be very persuasive.” Nina chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood. It didn’t help.
Quinn frowned. “I feel so helpless. I never feel helpless. I don’t know what to do about it.”
Remembering the day he’d chosen the team over her, she knew exactly how he was feeling right now. “I’ll do my best to keep you in the loop on anything I can share.”
“I know how you guys work. You won’t be able to tell me most of what’s going on.”
“True, but we don’t have a choice.” She forced a smile and made sure to keep all sarcasm from her tone. “Besides, I’m sure you need to get back to your team, don’t you?”
“I’m not going anywhere until this is resolved.”
“They’ll let you have time off? Just like that?”
He shrugged. “I’ll quit the team if I have to. Nothing’s more important than my family.”
Especially not me. The thought struck like a knife, but he seemed oblivious to how his comment might affect her. Discouraged, she wound down the last section of the trail and kept checking her cell until she had a clear signal. She dialed Sulyard.
“I have an urgent matter that I need to discuss with you,” she said. “I can be at the office in an hour or so.”
“Sorry. No can do. I have plans tonight. The wife’ll kill me if I don’t show up.”
“This involves our national security.” Sadness for Ty filled her already wounded heart. “Trust me when I say, you’ll want to wait for me on this one. Even if your wife doesn’t speak to you for a very long time.”
Chapter Eleven
QUINN TURNED THE corner to the street lined with older single-story homes. Having never lived in Oregon with his parents, he never really considered the place home. He honestly couldn’t believe his father had agreed to put down roots before his retirement. This had to have been his mom’s idea, for sure. She’d grown up in Troutdale, and despite the two more years General Sir had to serve in Texas, they’d purchased the house in time for Ty to start high school. They’d done it to give Ty a chance at a normal high school experience.
“Look how well that turned out,” Quinn mumbled as he pulled into the driveway of the neighbor’s unassuming ranch-style house where Ty was hanging out. The house was of the same style as his parents’ home, except it was painted blue instead of the neutral white his father had insisted on.
Nina faced him. “What turned out?”
“What?” Confused for a moment, he shoved the gearshift into park, then realized she’d heard him. “It’s nothing worth mentioning.”
She stiffened. “I see nothing has changed then.”
“What do you mean by that?” he asked, far more testily than he should have.
“I always had to drag everything out of you. Even then, I didn’t get much.” He opened his mouth to argue her point, but she held up a hand. “I get that you deal with a ton of classified information and you can’t share it. But I’m pretty sure this is about Ty and isn’t classified.”
She was right, of course. She had always been able to read him. When he’d clammed up, she was more than willing to call him on it. It had caused some of their biggest fights. But he was in no mood to have one now over something he could easily share.
“I was thinking about how I’d moved around all my life, yet I still turned out okay. Then my parents buy this house to create a stable life for Ty, and he screws up. Big time.”
“It’s ironic, I’ll give you that.”
Ironic and his fault for not being there for Ty. It was likely the reason the kid was in this position. Quinn jerked the keys from the ignition. “We should go in. I’ll break the news to Mom then let you fill in the details.”
He climbed out and started up the walkway. The downpour had subsided, and droplets shimmered in the landscape lighting. Under the small overhang, he paused with his finger near the doorbell and looked at Nina. “Mom’s bound to be upset. You’ve never seen her that way, and I hope you won’t take anything she might say personally. Just know that she really does like you. And I appreciate your offer to bring Ty in instead of having Becca do it.”
“I want to make this as easy on Ty as possible. If my being here does that, then I’m glad to help.”
“Well, thanks,” he said knowing he didn’t deserve anything after how he’d treated her. He shouldn’t even have come looking for a favor in the first place, but Ty deserved the very best chance to get out of this, and Nina was the very best at her job.
He rang the bell and soon heard footsteps clipping across wood flooring. His mother jerked open the door and her gaze flew to his, seeking relief from her worry. Her expression reminded him a lot of Nina’s, when he’d deployed in the past. Relief wasn’t something he could give either of them, then or now.
“They’ll arrest him, won’t they?” His mom clutched the sides of her favorite black sweater and tugged it closed. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I did my best.”
She patted his arm. “I know you did, son. You always do.”
Her understanding made him feel worse.
Her expression a twisted mixture of sadness and anger, she turned her focus on Nina. “Will she wait to take him until morning?”
Nina flinched at his mother’s hostility, but she didn’t back away as many women might. His mother was simply acting like a mama bear protecting her cub, and he felt certain Nina understood that.
“Now, Mom.” Quinn rested a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t blame Nina for this. Ty is the one who hacked the database. He’s responsible for all of it. If anything, you should be thanking Nina. She risked her job to find the computer today. Plus, she could have let Becca take him in, but she’s here because it will help Ty accept things better.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Stone,” Nina said sincerely. “If he comes with me for questioning of his own free will, I won’t have to get a warrant for his arrest. You will, of course, want to come with him.”
She watched Nina carefully. “But he will be arrested?”
“It all depends on how the questioning goes.”
Her gaze shot back to Quinn. “You’ll be there, too, right?”
Quinn hated to answer, but he had to. “I’ll try, but since I’m not one of his legal guardians, I might not be allowed in the room.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and wrapped her arms around her waist.
As fear and defeat emanated from her body, Quinn gave her a hug. She was a strong woman. With the General Sir deployed a good bit of their marriage, she’d had to be. But this? This was too much to handle alone.
Quinn pulled back. “Maybe it’s time to ask Dad to come home.”
She blew out a breath, then quickly drew in another one, looking like she might hyperventilate. “If you want your dad here, then it’s worse than I thought.”
Yeah, it is. “I just don’t want you to go through this alone.”
“You’re here. Like you always are when I need you.” She pulled her shoulders back and looked at Nina. “So how do you want to handle this?”
“I’ll take a few minutes to tell Ty what to expect, then Quinn will drive us all to the FBI.”
“Let’s get started then. Ty’s in the family room with Becca.” His mom spun and headed toward the back of the house, her shoulders sagging and making Quinn’s gut churn.
Nina stepped up to him and gently squeezed his hand. “She’ll get through this.”
Quinn still watched his mom. She would get through this, but at what cost?
He couldn’t let her handle the interview without him. Wouldn’t let her handle it without him. He’d insist on sitting by his mother and brother’s side, no matter what he had to do to be included in the questioning. Even if it landed him in his own jail cell.
WILEY PLACED THE tracker under Brandt’s vehicle and crept down the road. Silently, stealthily, he settled behind a tree in the green space across the road from Hamid’s house.
Oh, yeah. He was the man. Moving around right under the FBI’s nose. Too bad he couldn’t let the world know about it. He’d like nothing better than to claim this hack and add it to his reputation. The notoriety would help make up for his former incarceration, but then Brandt would get off scot-free. That was so not happening.
He perched his arms on a branch and put the binoculars to his eyes again. He saw someone walk past the front window. Agent Knight. She was probably guarding Hamid and waiting for Brandt to return to question the kid about the missing computer.
Wiley had some questions of his own. Like, why did Hamid take Tyler’s computer in the first place? If he’d wanted it for the hack, he would have kept it instead of giving it away. Maybe he wanted the hack to be discovered to get Tyler in trouble. Or maybe Hamid didn’t even know about the hack.
Regardless, the Feds would want the computer. That meant they’d review the Hacktivist database and website stats to see who viewed the geocache listing. Surely, they couldn’t be doing that this fast, though. Victor Odell, the Hacktivist database administrator, wouldn’t just hand over the records. Vic was a lawyer and would demand a warrant. But eventually, it would happen.
Was that a trail Wiley needed to worry about? It wasn’t one that led directly to him. He’d used Kip’s login to view the post from Kip’s house. But Wiley was living with Kip, which left a trail. A weak one, but a trail nonetheless. Wiley could easily go in and delete the records, delete everything about Kip, but he was a backup administrator and that would raise questions.
The front door suddenly opened, grabbing his attention. Light spilled down the walkway. Knight stepped out, glanced around, then motioned inside. Hamid slunk out the door. An older woman wearing a head covering trailed him, her face pinched and severe, her expression similar to the ones worn by many of Wiley’s teachers when he’d failed yet another stupid class. She was likely Hamid’s mom.
Knight escorted the pair to her car, settling them both in the back seat. It was the same treatment Wiley had gotten the night of his arrest. Only he’d been cuffed by Brandt. The metal had bitten into his wrists as he’d tried to get comfortable. Each bump in the road had been excruciating.
Knight looked around again before climbing behind the wheel and setting off. Brandt wasn’t coming back, obviously. Not now, at least.
With Hamid gone, the phone Wiley had hidden only hours ago was of no value in this location. It had to be hidden wherever Hamid was located for his plan to work. Once Knight’s car was out of sight, he raced across the road and grabbed the phone then returned to Kip’s car. Wiley ripped off his latex gloves and started the Civic so he could follow Knight. The engine sputtered a few times, then caught, sending a cloud of white smoke out the tailpipe. He stowed his thoughts of the possible connection to Kip on the Hacktivist sight for the moment. He didn’t need to worry about that yet. Plenty of others had viewed the cache. It would take the FBI time to work down the list to get to Kip.
If they reached his name before Wiley had completed the sale of the hack, Wiley could always silence Kip before he talked to Brandt. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to take such drastic action and likely wouldn’t be the last. And that included not only Brandt, but Tyler Stone and his SEAL of a big brother.
“I’LL IGNORE THE fact that the three of you conspired to keep this from me. For now.” Sulyard scowled at Nina for a moment, then jerked his gaze to Becca standing next to her, letting it linger before moving to Kait.
None of them displayed even a hint of indecision. Nina couldn’t be more proud of her friends. Strong women, both of them. They’d helped her out and took the repercussions like real troopers. Nina could always count on them. Always.
“The only thing saving you are the measures you put in place to isolate the teens,” Sulyard continued. “That and we don’t have an actual confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security on the breach. Who knows? The Stone kid might be yanking our chain. I’ll contact DHS after we conduct our interviews of the teens. If the breach is confirmed, you can each expect repercussions. Am I clear?” He focused on them, one at a time.
“It’s my fault,” Nina blurted. “Becca and Kait were just trying to help me out.”
“Save your breath, Brandt. If they don’t have the ability to say no, then they have no business being agents.” Sulyard paused, a deep scowl drawing down an already long face. “For now, I need to know about everyone’s level of personal involvement in this case.”
Nina nodded. “As I mentioned, I dated Tyler Stone’s brother. I got to know Tyler then.” She held back the fact that she was fond of the kid. “But my interaction with him ended when Quinn and I broke up.”
“An amiable breakup?”
Nina hated having this discussion with her supervisor. “Not really, but it won’t cloud my objectivity on this case.”
Sulyard snorted. “It might balance out your fondness for the kid, but even then, you’re such a bleeding heart, I have my doubts that a relationship gone awry will be able to keep that in check.”
Nina didn’t bother to argue. Everyone knew she believed people were basically good until proven otherwise, and Sulyard held the opposite view.
He turned to the others. “And you two? Any personal connection?”
“I only know Tyler from when he shadowed Nina,” Kait said, her emotions well hidden. “But we all know Quinn from when he helped bring Fenton in.”
“We’re all grateful for Stone’s help,” Sulyard said. “But we can’t let that color our judgment either.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Kait replied earnestly. “With the mess he made of his relationship with Nina, I can assure you I won’t be cutting him any slack.”
“Ditto,” Becca said.
Once again, her friends had her back. On the job and in her personal life. Nina didn’t know what she’d do without them.
Sulyard ran a hand over the smooth skin on his head. “I hate involving any of you in this investigation, but
it will obviously to be technology driven, and we’d waste valuable time getting another team assigned here. We’ll roll with things for now, but any hint of impropriety on any of your parts, and I’ll bench you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Nina said sincerely.
“Don’t be thanking me. You won’t have any meaningful role in this investigation, if any part at all, Brandt. Lange and Knight will carry the load. I’ll have my eye on you all, so don’t make me regret my decision.” He checked his watch, then tipped his head at the table. “You have five minutes to get the cache box logged in to evidence and clean yourself up, Brandt. Then we talk to the kid. And I better not have to remind you that I need you to remain impartial.”
Nina opened her mouth to tell him she could be impartial, but he spun and strode down the hall, nearly toppling an analyst with his cheek to his phone. Sulyard would run all over Ty, too, and there was nothing Nina could do to stop him.
Chapter Twelve
NINA HAD CHANGED in the last hour, but Quinn didn’t know why. Gone was the usual compassionate Nina to be replaced with the evil twin version of work Nina. She was not at all attractive, but a mini-me version of Mr. Tough Guy Sulyard who sat next to her. His suit was pricey, his shirt white and crisp even at the end of the day, and the knot of his tie was tight against his neck. So tight, in fact, that Quinn suspected it was cutting off blood flow and could be the reason for his scowl and general foul mood.
He’d shot questions at Ty like he was firing them from the MP-5 submachine gun Quinn favored. Then he sat back while Nina took over, treating Ty like a complete stranger. She’d promised to help him, yet there she was, being all buddy-buddy with Sulyard.
Quinn didn’t like it. Not one bit.
So what had happened in the time it had taken her to bring Sulyard back to the conference room where she’d settled them? More importantly, what did this sudden about-face mean for Ty?
Quinn didn’t know, and the more he watched her, the less he understood. She held her body rigid and kept her focus on the table or on Sulyard, never once looking at Quinn. Fine. She didn’t want him around. He got that, but she had to know how freaked out Ty was. She didn’t have to sit there with her shoulders in a hard line, her eyes dark with intensity. This Nina was downright scary, and after his time with the SEALs, there wasn’t much that scared him.
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