by Remy Richard
“It shouldn’t take that long to get an answer,” he said as he placed his cell on the coffee table. “We’ll figure out our next step from there.”
“There’s something else we can decide in the meantime.” Sam moved from behind the desk to sit in a leather armchair. He sat, but didn’t rest fully back into the comfortable chair. Always ready to jump up at a moment’s notice. “What do you want to do about Lila? I can’t get in touch with her.”
Holden groaned. He never should have let her move out. She had left right about the time the first break-in attempt had occurred. Not because she was scared, she said, but because she objected to Sam’s constant badgering about where she was going and who with. She didn’t think the threat of danger applied to her and Holden had been inclined to agree. Yet another thing he was incorrect about.
He turned to Sam. “Where do you think the safest place is for her? Should we bring her here or send her away?”
“Definitely here. There’s no telling what she could get into if we sent her off on her own. She’s better off here where I can keep an eye on her.”
Holden raised a brow at Sam’s possessive phrasing but decided not to get into it with the other man. If he took Lila’s protection personally, so much the better. “Would you be willing to go get her?”
Sam looked like he had been sentenced to the gallows. “Why can’t you go?”
“I need to stay here with the prisoner, of course.” Holden allowed himself a small smile. “You’re the one who said we shouldn’t leave her unattended. Besides, I have guests.”
Sam looked at the other men with disdain. “These aren’t guests. As far as I can tell, they’re here every time a meal is served.”
“We’re growing boys,” Conner piped up while Dylan just grinned.
Sam rolled his eyes and stood up. “Let’s see if she’ll willingly come to us first. Try her cell again and tell her you need her to come home for a few days. Just don’t tell her what’s going on.”
“I’ve tried her a number a couple of times today, but I keep going to voicemail. I’ll try again though,” Holden said, pulling out his own cell. After dialing and being sent to voicemail again, he shook his head. “No dice.”
Sam sighed. “I’ll go to her apartment and collect her.”
“Be nice,” Holden warned, though it was less effective than he had intended around his chuckles.
Sam just grunted and left the room. Holden laughed and stood up as well, calmed now that Sam was dispatched to take care of his little sister.
“Do you guys want anything to drink?” He crossed the room to get himself a soda and brought another back for Dylan and a water for Conner. The three men sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“So if Plan B was to kidnap Lila, what was Plan A?” Dylan asked curiously.
Holden shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’ll ask her during the next round of twenty questions, I guess. She claims not to know anything about the kidnapping plan, but surely she knew the details of the plan that involved her.”
Conner nodded. “Hopefully she’ll tell you without you having to get the torture devices out.” He watched Holden’s face carefully. “Or maybe we’re hoping that she won’t.”
Holden rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink before answering. “I’ll probably let Sam do most of the heavy lifting as far as she’s concerned. One thing’s for certain, she’s not scared of me. That woman has a mouth on her like I’ve never heard.”
The other two men just stared in fascination as he chuckled. “You know she thinks we’re poisoning her?”
Conner smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a jailer talk about his prisoner quite so…fondly. You do remember that this woman is at best a con artist and at worst planning on hurting your sister?”
Holden straightened in his chair. “Absolutely. But we need to be prepared for the eventuality that even with anything she might tell us and our connections to law enforcement we could be flying blind into this.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“According to Sabrina they want the program and they want to steal it from me. The best thing to do is finish it and turn it over to Organotech. Then there’s nothing left to steal and no threat to any of us.” Holden sat back, satisfied.
Conner wasn’t so eager to let it go. “I don’t understand why they want to steal it though. The program is useless without the printer.”
“Sure, but the printer is impossible to use without a program to do the heavy math lifting for most people. The program is an end unto itself for a competing company. Why they would want to steal it from me rather than from Organotech I can only speculate. Sabrina mentioned that it’s easier to get into my house than it is a heavily guarded research facility.”
“Or at least they thought it would be,” Conner pointed out. “It seems like they would have tried to hack into your system and get it rather than risk coming here in person.”
Holden shrugged. “They may have already tried. If they did, they ran up against my encrypted security system. It can’t be accessed from anywhere but this desktop.” He pointed at his desk. “I had another work station at Organotech but it was getting to be a security hazard to carry the files back and forth with me on a flash drive. So I elected to work from home and hired Sam.”
“So how’s the algorithm coming?” Conner asked mildly.
“I’m close.” Holden ran his hand through his hair. “I feel like everything’s there, I’m just not fitting it together in the proper order. This whole thing is a distraction I don’t need. I should be focused on my project and instead I’m tracking down criminals and holding a woman hostage.”
He briefly closed his eyes to get away from his friends’ sympathetic glances.
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Blowing out a breath of frustration, he turned to Conner. “How are your classes going this semester?” Conner was a professor on the tenure track at Portland City University and he lived and breathed his job. They were all anxiously awaiting the day when their friend went up for tenure.
Conner grinned. “Awesomely. I’ve got some great graduate students interested in the project and we’re making some good strides. Plus I just finished up a new article and it’s a shoo-in for a top journal. My tenure file should be airtight when I go up for review next year.”
Holden smiled and saluted him with his soft drink can. “Well, if you need any help, let me know.”
Conner laughed. “I think you’ve got your hands full here but thanks for the offer.”
Holden thought for a moment. “Actually, you could help me out a little. Lila is going to be pissed that she’s being called home. Do you think you could bring over some grading and let her help?”
Conner shrugged. “Sure. She’s pretty sharp about programming. It’d be nice to have another set of eyes on it.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Dylan finished his water and tossed the empty bottle into the trash can. “Three points!” He turned to Holden. “Listen, can we meet your hostage? I, for one, would like to see what a cat burglar looks like.”
“No, you may not.”
“I bet she’s hot. Why else would he want to keep us away from her?” Dylan nudged Conner with his elbow.
“You know it. After all, what woman would look at me and then still want either of you two clowns?” Conner responded sarcastically.
Holden rolled his eyes. “You are idiots. She’s a…material witness, not a freak show. You can’t go visit the cages right now.”
Dylan was about to respond when his cell phone started vibrating on the coffee table. He woke the screen up and saw that he had a new email. After reading for a few seconds, he whistled low. “Looks like your girl has been busy for quite some time.” He turned the screen around so that Holden could see the booking pictures of Sabrina. “She’s been booked under four other aliases that we know of. Never for anything serious though, just petty larceny and forgery charges. Looking at this
, I would call her a low level criminal.”
“Well, that jibes with what she’s told us so far,” Holden said as he crossed to his desk. “Can you send me a copy of those mug shots? Maybe when I let her know that we know who she is, she’ll be more forthcoming.”
“We don’t really know who she is,” Conner pointed out. “None of these may be her real name.”
“I don’t really care,” Holden said with relish. “I just want to get what I need out of her and then send her on her way.”
Dylan regarded him skeptically. “Well, keep in mind that just because she hasn’t done anything serious until now doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous. Keep an eye on her.”
Holden nodded distractedly, focused on his computer screen as he printed out the pictures.
Dylan and Conner exchanged a worried look. Conner tried to get his attention this time, “I mean it, Holden, don’t get buried in your work and forget that she’s here.”
Holden just waved a hand at them, already thinking of other things. Both men sighed and made their way to the foyer to let themselves out.
Chapter Four
Sabrina blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes and flipped her pillow over so that she was lying on the cool side again. Staring at the full water glass she had placed on the floor next to the door was giving her headache. Or maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t eaten for ten hours. Or maybe it was simply a stress headache. Lord knew she had enough stress in her life.
A soft knock on the door made her sit up straight. The code was punched into the electric lock and the door eased open to show Holden standing there holding another tray.
His gray eyes took a slow survey of her where she lay on the bed, from the tips of her bare feet to the top of her rumpled head. Sabrina just barely resisted the urge to straighten her clothes and hair. He was the one who had kept her locked away, who cared if he liked what he saw or not?
When she raised her brows at him imperiously, he cleared his throat and shook his head a little. “I brought you some dinner.” He held the tray a little higher and took a step into the room, knocking over the water glass.
He threw her a strange look but didn’t comment on the placement of her drinking glass. Instead he crossed the room and set the tray down on the small table. With one hand he grasped the back of the desk chair and pulled it over so that there were two chairs available. With a gallant flick of his wrist, he indicated that she should sit in the armchair across from him.
She briefly considered throwing some kind of fit or making a run for it, but decided against it when the door closed quietly behind them. She was too tired and too hungry for either. Plus, there was a large manila envelope on the tray as well as what smelled like delicious food. Some compliance could be in order.
She moved slowly to take her seat, drawing her legs up and curling them beneath her in the big chair. He smiled and took his own chair. “I think maybe we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here.”
“Oh?” she said mildly. “I guess I just assumed this is how you treat all the women you meet. Drag them off to your lair and lock them up.”
“Usually not until at least the third date.” Holden waited for an answering smile and sighed when he didn’t get one. “Sabrina…we can help each other if we can just manage to talk civilly for a while.” She remained silent and picked at a loose string in the upholstered fabric.
“Fine. I’ll go first. I’m Holden Reed.” He extended a hand to her. Sabrina stared at it while she considered. She hadn’t thought that he would be so big. When she had found out that he was 6’2”, she’d imagined him as a tall, skinny dork. She’d been surprised to see his picture during her background checks. He was well-built and filled out with the kind of strong bone structure that would have looked awkward on a young boy. He had certainly grown into his looks though.
Pushing away thoughts no doubt brought on by dehydration, Sabrina extended her own hand and shook his. Their skin slid together as he pumped her hand gently. Pinpricks of electricity made her jerk in his grasp until he tightened his fingers around her.
With effort, she was able to gather her wits enough to say, “I’m Sabrina Kelly.”
He smiled crookedly at her. “That’s not exactly true, is it?”
Sabrina pulled her hand free and tossed her hair over her shoulder in a show of nonchalance that she didn’t feel. “Today it is. Who knows who I’ll be tomorrow?”
The look of disappointment on his face made her feel guilty, an emotion that she firmly believed had no purpose. It was best to move the conversation along. “Besides I know all about you, Holden Reed. You’re an Oregon native, born and raised here in Portland. Your parents are both deceased. Your mother from cancer, your father from a car accident that is pretty well known to be alcohol related although that’s not how the official report came out. You’ve been best friends with Dylan Paulson and Conner Key for twenty-five years. You’ve always been top of your class but you really shine at math and science. Especially computer science.”
Holden crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “That’s pretty good. Of course, it’s nothing you couldn’t have learned in any one of a hundred articles that have been written about me and the software I design.”
She wagged a finger in front of her. “Ah-ah I’m not done yet. After graduation you did your undergraduate and PhD in Computational and Systems Biology at MIT and every startup in Silicon Valley tried to tempt you to work with them. But you went your own way and started a small operation; one man solving the coding problems of the world. You’re very rich and very dedicated to your work.”
Sabrina pulled her eyes away from his to study her nails and go in for the kill. “You know, I couldn’t find one mention of a significant other in all of my research? So either you’re gay and hiding it or you don’t like sex.”
For the first time in her recitation, Holden’s eyes showed emotion. “I’m not gay.”
“So you don’t like sex?”
“I’m discreet,” he said between clenched teeth.
“And infrequent.” Sabrina grinned at him, appreciating the opportunity to be one up on him for a change.
He made an impatient slash with his hand. “Still, none of this is that impressive. Amateur at best.”
“What about your arrest and conviction for computer intrusion and wire fraud? That’s not common knowledge. In fact, since you served your time as a juvenile your record was sealed.”
His mouth fell open in surprise.
Bull’s-eye. Sabrina gave herself a mental pat on the back. Her research hadn’t really stood her in good stead so far, at least she was able to use a little of it now.
Holden quickly brought himself under control. “That is impressive.”
“I like to be thorough when I’m researching my marks.” Immediately after she said it, Sabrina cursed herself. She wasn’t usually so loose lipped.
He raised his eyebrows in reaction to be called a mark, but let the remark pass. “I’ve done some digging myself and I think you’ll be pretty impressed with the results.”
Sabrina snorted. “Don’t kid yourself, honey. I haven’t been impressed by anything you’re bringing to the table yet.”
“I haven’t brought my ‘A’ game yet. Just wait.”
Her pulse sped up, and she prayed that he couldn’t see it pounding in her throat. She knew he hadn’t meant the comment sexually, but she couldn’t help responding to such a threat made in his deep voice. It was like a stroke from his skin to hers.
She forced herself to maintain a calm demeanor. “I’m sitting right here. Just waiting to be impressed.” She spread her hands wide and met his gaze squarely.
He didn’t blink as he picked up the manila envelope from the tray and slid it across the table to her. She steadied her hand and took it from him, concentrating on opening the metal prongs with way more focus than was necessary to keep from looking back at him. She was pretty sure she would need all of her concentration to keep from reacting to wha
tever it was that he had found about her.
There were three or four copier pages stuffed in the envelope. Sabrina removed them as a group and took a moment to page through them. They were her mug shots from over the years. Not all of them, but most. If she arranged them in chronological order, they’d almost look like a flip book of her as she aged. She, too, had been convicted as a juvenile but she didn’t have enough pull, or a competent enough public defender, to have her records sealed.
She turned the pages face down on the table and smirked at him. “So what?”
“So if you take a look at the third page all the way at the bottom, you’ll see that Cara Sutherland is still wanted for questioning. And a couple of your other selves are persons of interest. So I’m looking for a little quid pro quo here. You tell me what I need to know and I’ll let you go without adding another picture to your gallery and calling the cops.”
Sabrina shook her head. “Oh, so they don’t already know? Then how did you get these? Last time I checked the average Joe couldn’t just stroll into the local police station and have a background check run. This can’t be on the up and up.”
He just sat back in his chair and smiled at her. An arrogant smirk that her palm itched to slap off of his face as he asked, “Impressed yet?”
“Mildly.” Sabrina flipped the papers back over and stared at her nineteen-year-old face. Sullen and angry as always. The mug shot had been taken when she’d been arrested for forgery and theft. She remembered that one vividly. She had done three months in the local women’s prison for it. They had been forging some checks and making a little bit of money here and there. Mike had warned her not to get greedy but she hadn’t listened. When she looked across the table at Holden, she had to admit that it didn’t seem like she’d learned her lesson.
“You must have some pretty good connections. How’d you even get these? Fingerprints?”
