Breathless (Goose Creek Book 4)

by Lee Wardlow

  Sly rubbed his chin. “Interesting,” was all he said.

  Sly worked for hours on creating the protection that they needed before he hacked into the Capital building’s router. From there, Jamie would take over. They broke for lunch when Sly was done before tackling the hack.

  Sly and Jamie both stretched their aching muscles. Years of sitting in tight spaces had done a number on their bodies. They walked upstairs and met May sitting on the sofa.

  “Janae went to work but I can fix you lunch boys,” she told them.

  “I can wait on myself May if you don’t mind me raiding your fridge.”

  She made a face letting him know that she would take care of lunch for him and Jamie. Sly threw up his hands and backed up letting her shuffle by him. They went to the kitchen and sat on barstools at an island while May made their lunch.

  “So you are expecting a baby soon Jamie,” she told him.

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. He shouldn’t be. Halona had told them things like this for years. Always trying to shock them with her mystical knowledge of the future, their past or their present. He chuckled.

  “I am. In June.”

  “Move her to Goose Creek like you are thinking. She needs to be near her family. They are her rock.”

  “Is the baby okay? Nova okay?” He asked worriedly.

  She smiled at him, glancing over her shoulder. “Just fine,” she replied.

  “My best friend Kale has a grandmother like you who just passed away. My Uncle has gifts like yours as well.”

  She stopped what she was doing. Her spatula that she was using to stir a bunch of ingredients in a frying pan was suspended in mid-air. “Are you Mark Lake’s nephew?” She asked.

  “I am. You know him?”

  “I do actually. Halona O’Leary is who you are speaking of that just passed away.”

  “That’s right.”

  “A great loss,” May replied sadly.

  “She was.”

  May went back to stirring. “How is Mark?”

  “He’s doing well.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Who replaced Halona as the Clan Mother?” May asked Jamie.

  “My Aunt Mary, Mark’s wife.”

  She turned again and gazed at Jamie long and hard. “I know her well too. Tell her May Justice said hello.”

  “I will when I return to the reservation.”

  She sat plates before them with a mixture of potatoes, peppers, mushrooms and kielbasa. Both men dug into their food with gusto while she sat on a stool near them sipping tea from a big, red mug.

  “Aren’t you eating with us?” Sly asked.

  “I had something earlier,” she told them. “Don’t be surprised by what you find,” May told them. “It isn’t what you think.”

  Sly and Jamie stopped eating and looked at each other. Then they looked at her. She just chuckled. Then she gave them a wink. “I’ll let you boys eat now.”

  She went into the living room. The two men gazed at each other then started eating once again. “What do you think she meant by that?”

  “I don’t know. I try not to think too far ahead. I find it’s better that way,” Sly replied.

  When they were finished eating they rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Passing through the living room, they found May crocheting something. She glanced up at them. “Back to work?” She asked.

  “Yes,” Sly replied. He kept looking over his shoulder as he led the way back to the basement.

  Sly took the lead still. He had to hack into the router at the Capital building to setup the route for Jamie to start attacking the firewall that Zach had built. Jamie watched what he was doing. Jamie was good at what he did which is why people hired him. Sly was down right, damned amazing.

  He was quiet watching what his friend was doing. Taking it all in. Sly setup the route that would allow them to appear as if their traffic was coming from Washington D.C. Sly smiled at Jamie. “All done. You ready?”

  Jamie leaned forward on the desk. He had studied Zach’s code. Now he knew all the ins and the outs. The traps that would cause him to crash if he fell into them. He knew how to break the software code and bring down the firewall.

  He worked diligently for five hours following the path that Zach had laid out in the key to his software, hidden in the flower pot at his mother’s grave. While he worked Sly monitored their traffic. He was making sure that no one was tracking them.

  “Hey, somebody has picked up our pings. They are trying to see where we are really coming from,” Sly told him.

  Jamie looked at him. He was almost done. He just needed ten to fifteen more minutes. He typed faster. His fingers flying across the keyboard. Careful to not miss a keystroke.

  “It’s a government resource that is tracking us,” Sly informed him. “They have picked up on us. Jamie, you’ve gotta hurry.”

  “Can they break through our defenses?” Jamie asked.

  Sly was typing away on another keyboard. He did this for five minutes. “Nope,” he replied. “And they are pissed.”

  Jamie relaxed. He laughed under his breath. Served them right. Playing hardball with innocent people’s lives.

  “I only need about eight more minutes and the firewall will be down.” It was nearly seven o’clock. They were both tense from sitting at the computers all day. “Grab my secure phone. Would you?” He asked Sly. “It’s in my bag.”

  Sly rose from the seat and went to Jamie’s bag sitting on the table behind them. He took out the phone from within the black bag that Jamie had carried inside. He examined the phone before returning to the table.

  “Not bad,” he told him sitting by Jamie’s keyboard.

  “Thanks,” Jamie said shooting him a quick glance while his fingers continued to fly across the keyboard. He had memorized every keystroke of Zach’s plan to bring down the firewall should it ever become necessary.

  He stopped typing. Jamie glanced at Sly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He pressed the enter key. “Not a damn thing,” Jamie replied smugly. “Check out the firewall now.”

  Sly handed Jamie his phone. He started typing on the keyboard in front of him. Omega’s website splashed across the screen in front of them. He could trace their IP address and service provider. “Hot damn man. You did it.”

  Sly kept working to penetrate their network. He was curious to know more. Jamie dialed the Senator’s number while Sly made it look like the government had brought down the firewall exposing Omega.

  “Senator,” Jamie said when he answered his phone line.

  “Jamie, what can I do for you?” He asked.

  “Omega is exposed.”

  That was all he said. Jamie disconnected the line. He didn’t wait for the Senator to respond. He didn’t want anything else to do with Dallas Danner.

  Jamie watched the screens in front of Sly as he slowly and methodically infiltrated the Omega network. It was small. Nothing elaborate which is why they needed Zach’s firewall for protection. There were four nodes that were connected by basic, home internet connections. High speeds that gave them enough to do what they needed.

  They began to dig through files on the network. Jamie didn’t think they realized they were being hacked yet. Sly was leaving the Capital Building’s footprint all over their network as he dug deeper into the radical groups’ files.

  “God damn,” Sly said. He sat back in his chair and looked at the screen. He had just opened a file on their network. “Is that what I think it is?” He asked.

  “Building plans for the Pentagon,” Jamie supplied the answer. Sly leaned forward and pressed enter. Another image popped up on the screen. “The Capital Building,” Jamie said. They went through the images on the hard drive of the computer where they were hacked into. “The White House? Jesus, what were they planning?”

  The two men looked at each other uncomfortably. Then they found the plan. The network infrastructure diagrams of several of the country’s largest b
anks were laid out before them.

  “What were they planning?”

  They found plans for bombs. The major, recognizable sites of the country. The White House. The Pentagon. The Capital. Places that would cripple the country. Were they going to use the bombs at these sites?

  Sly dug deeper into the network. He found emails between foreign countries that were not friendly with the U.S. Foreign countries that were willing to help Omega bring down America’s government.

  “Shit is this for real?”

  They searched for hours, leaving the government’s footprint all over Omega’s network. Then they backed out of Omega’s space. Sly was watching the traffic that was hitting Omega’s systems. The actual U.S. government was pinging Omega’s network trying to find their location. The CIA and the FBI.

  He almost felt sorry for the poor bastards. They were going down hard and fast. He and Jamie glanced at each other. It wouldn’t be long before they traced the actual locations of the group through their service providers.

  Sly backed out of the Capital building’s router. He watched the traffic on the Internet to see if he had been followed. He wasn’t so they shut down their computers leaving the firewall they had built in place around Janae’s internet connection for their own protection.

  Jamie ran his fingers through his hair tiredly.

  “Now what man?” Sly asked him.

  “We wait and see what they find now that the wall is down. We wait and see if this is over.”

  Chapter 18

  Sly’s Aunt Janae was still at work when they went upstairs to tell May goodnight. They walked out to Sly’s truck and slipped inside. They sat there for a second taking it all in.

  Then Sly started the truck. He pulled away from the curb and drove towards his father’s house. Neither of them said a word. It was only a ten-minute drive to Cage’s home from his sister Janae’s home.

  Sly turned into his father’s driveway and parked the truck. Seamus’s truck was gone now. Jamie wasn’t surprised. He would get antsy with so many people surrounding him and need to return home to the mountains the man loved.

  They walked through the garage door and Sly opened the steel door that lead inside. He called out to his family looking for them. His father returned his greeting. “In the living room. Watching television.”

  They both went to the living room and stood behind the sofa where Cage and Onnie sat side by side. Nova sat next to Onnie. She turned her face towards Jamie; he gripped her shoulder reassuring her.

  Then he turned his focus back to the television screen. The nightly news anchor was reporting on the arrest of four teenage boys living in Virginia as the masterminds of the group Omega.

  “Our local news correspondent Steve Maxwell is live at the home of one of the boys, Shane Smith. Steve can you tell us what is happening?”

  “We can Blaine. An hour ago, the FBI descended on the homes of Shane Smith, Alex Key, Tom Wilcox and Toby Bryant. All eighteen-year old graduates of the Homer Mason High School in the small town of Billings, Virginia.

  “Numerous pieces of evidence were carried out including servers, computers, laptops even their video game players and deposited into evidence vans. The boys themselves were handcuffed and lead away just moments earlier.”

  They replayed the tapes of each young man being led to a black SUV. One of them was sobbing.

  “These boys have hacked into the Pentagon, the FBI, Fort Knox bringing down the security systems there. They have threatened to release highly classified documents. There is rumor that there were plans to blow up major U.S. sites that would cripple America. Shane Smith’s father made a statement earlier against his lawyers’ wishes.”

  A man with dark hair and glasses appeared on the screen. He looked haggard already and this had only just begun for him and his family.

  “I’d like to say that my son is guilty of the charges of hacking into federal systems. He is guilty of hacking into some banking systems as well. He made threats against the U.S. government that were just that threats. The thrill of pushing the envelope made these boys go further than they ever imagined was possible. The thrill pushed out all sense of reason.

  “They aren’t a threat to national security as Senator Dallas Danner has accused. They never would have released any confidential information to any foreign national except the few things they did release about the Senators earlier in the week.

  “They are all sorry for what they did and will fully cooperate with the government. It was just a game to them.” He hesitated. He didn’t know what else to say. “A game that got out of control. Thank you. That is all for now.”

  Nova covered Jamie’s hand. “Is it over?” She asked.

  He nodded then realized that she couldn’t see him. “It is,” he said.

  “Nobody will get hurt?”

  “No,” he replied. “No one will get hurt.” But four families whose lives will never be the same because of their sons’ actions.

  “Thank god,” she said and started to cry. Onnie laid her hand on Nova’s thigh and patted it comforting her. Jamie squeezed her shoulder.

  Onnie looked behind her at Jamie. “Will you stay tonight?”

  “We will. I don’t want to make the trip back to Goose Creek tonight. It’s too late.”

  “You’re welcome here as long as you want.”

  “Thanks Onnie. Cage. For helping us out.”

  “That’s what we do Jamie. We take care of our own,” Cage informed him.

  He nodded.

  Jamie disappeared for a while. He needed to make phone calls. He hadn’t talked to his Uncle Mark since he left town. He wanted to know how the kids were.

  “Mark,” Jamie said to him when his uncle answered. “How is everything?”

  “Well you solved everything didn’t you?”

  “Are you talking about Omega?”

  “Yes.” His uncle was proud of him. He could hear it in his voice.

  “Yeah I did.”

  “Why don’t you sound happy?”

  “Because Dallas Danner is painting a picture of these kids that they are evil and a threat to national security. I highly doubt that they are. I think what the father said is true. They got caught up in the thrill of the game and forgot it wasn’t a game after all. There are major consequences to what they were doing.” He hesitated knowing what those consequences were to just the boys but the families would suffer the backlash as well. Something those young men had not thought of. Jamie had seen it first-hand with the Daughtry family.

  Nova lost her job. Colton was asked to take a leave of absence until the furor died down. The high school had stationed private security at the entrances so no one could get close to Beau or Jorga but they were still affected. Beau Senior was hardly leaving the house. They were all devastated by Zach’s incarceration.

  “Their lives are over Mark. They will do anywhere from ten to twenty-five years. They are eighteen years old.”

  “Jamie, it isn’t your fault.”

  “I know. I just wish these kids understood what they were doing and the effect it will have on their lives.”

  “Maybe that is something that you and Zach can take care of when he gets out. He could be a good example of what not to do.”

  “Maybe. How’s the kids?”

  “Still here. No sign of your mother. I went out looking for her this morning to be sure she was still alive.” His uncle sounded disgusted.

  “Where was she?”

  “Holed up with Bradley’s dad in his trailer on the outskirts of town. She had a message for you.”

  “What was that?” He asked uncomfortable with what was to come.

  “The kids are yours. She’s tired of being a mother.”

  He made a sound of disgust in his throat. “Thanks Mark. I’ll get the lawyer started on getting me custody of them.”

  “I’m sorry Jamie.”

  “I’m not. Nova and I will take care of them. She has already told me she will be by my side no matter how i
t turns out.”

  “Thanks kiddo. You’re a good man and I’m so glad you found Nova. Your father would be proud.”

  He wiped his hand across his brow. “Thanks Mark. I’ll be in Goose Creek tomorrow. I want to take Nova to her doctor’s appointment then I’ll be home to get the kids.”

  “No problem. We’re doing fine. Mary and I get lonely with all the kids grown now. We have enjoyed them.”

  “Does she want the house? Or should I sell it?” He had paid off her house for her.

  “I’ll check with her.”

  “Thanks Mark. I don’t care if I never see her again.”

  He hung up the phone and held it in his hands just staring at it. He hadn’t heard Nova come in. She crawled across the bed to him and put her arms around his neck resting her chin on his shoulder.

  “So we’re going to parents to a bunch of kids not just the one we’re having together huh?”

  “I think you’ll like Kaylee,” he told her, his words soft and filled with sadness. He still hadn’t looked at her.

  She laughed softly. “If she’s anything like her brother I will love her.”

  Jamie glanced over his shoulder at her. “She’s better than me.”

  “I love you Jamie Stone and your siblings without even knowing them. We’ll get through this together.”

  He sighed heavily. “Promise?”

  “I do.”

  “How did I get so lucky?” Jamie patted her hand lovingly.

  “I don’t know. I will keep reminding you how lucky you are though.”

  He laughed softly then he told her, “I need to call the attorney to get the custody arranged.”

  “You do that. Onnie is almost done with dinner. She sent me to get you.”

  “I’ll be right down.”

  They had dinner with Sly, Cage and Onnie Lee. Sly told his parents that night he would most likely move wherever Jamie was so that they could work together. Cage wasn’t really surprised. He knew that Sly wasn’t happy doing what he was doing.

  The night they had rescued Sierra from another Russian family who wanted to hurt Nikolai; Sly was in his element tracking her whereabouts. He knew his son loved this stuff. He had some pretty good men trained, one of them or one of Pace’s boys could take over the security at the casino.