“That’s a deal.” There was a moment’s hesitation before Percy said, “I’m sitting in the parking lot, and so I guess officially I’m not at work.” He paused. “Dalton, the reason I called is because I noticed something unusual. I just got this job, and I don’t want to be a snitch or anything but...”
Dalton sat up straight in his chair. “You noticed what?”
“A program on one of the computers that shouldn’t be there.”
How could there be a program on a Granger Aeronautics computer that shouldn’t be there? “You sure?” Dalton asked.
“Positive. Unless you are familiar with this type of stealth program, you wouldn’t be able to detect it.”
“But you can?”
“Yes. I might have just gotten my degree last year, but I’ve been messing around with computers for years. Besides that, I used to work for a company that did that sort of thing, legally, to monitor their employees. This one is more high-tech, and it’s not monitoring anyone. It’s taking information from somewhere in the building.”
“Have you mentioned this to anyone else, Percy?”
“No.”
“Good. Let’s meet tonight, away from the office, and talk more about this. What about meeting at that nightclub where you used to work?”
“That’s a good place. Percy Jr. has a football game after school, so would seven o’clock be okay with you?”
“Seven is fine. I’ll see you then.”
When he clicked off the phone, Dalton thought about getting security involved but then changed his mind. Security hadn’t detected the spy devices implanted in Shana’s office earlier in the year. Not to mention that someone had tried hacking into her computer around the same time, and it had been someone from within the building. That’s one of the reasons Jace had asked him to supervise security with the company and, as far as Dalton knew, everyone was doing their job and things were running well. But was there someone in the department who was compromising things? Someone with the ability to undermine his entire team of technical experts? He couldn’t help but remember that Vidal Duncan had been able to embezzle money from the company for years without being detected, so Dalton knew such a thing was possible. Besides that, he mustn’t forget that the person who’d tried hacking into Shana’s computer had never been identified. It was assumed it was one of the employees who had been arrested. What if it wasn’t, and what if the person was still working for Granger? The one benefit to working for the USN was knowing that anything was possible and that new technology, both good and bad, was being created every day.
He picked up the phone to call Jace and then put it down. Before taking the matter to Jace and Caden, he needed to first determine just what kind of program Percy had detected. He checked his watch and figured he had enough work to get through until his meeting at seven.
* * *
“Boy, did I need that,” Shep said, releasing Carson’s lips. He hadn’t known she was visiting him today, and when Ambrose had come to the library to get him, Shep had been anxious to get to the room where he knew she was waiting. As usual, Ambrose had left them alone for an attorney-client consultation, when the guard had known it would be more than that.
Shep knew Ambrose always allowed them more private time than was strictly permitted, thus giving them the opportunity to engage in conjugal visits if they so desired. But, so far, he hadn’t taken advantage of that. Carson deserved more than a quickie based on lust, and he intended to make sure she got what she deserved, even if it meant waiting until he was eligible for parole. She’d always told him she could wait because she loved him, and he knew with every bone in his body that he loved her. He’d admitted to his sons that he loved her the last time they had visited. They hadn’t seemed surprised, because he knew Carson was beautiful both inside and out, and they knew it, too.
“And why did you need that, Mr. Granger?” she asked in a teasing tone. “Bad day?”
“The worst. Milligan and Davis were at it again today. I swear they’re worse than Striker and Stonewall ever were.”
“But with your help they will come around,” she said encouragingly.
“I hope so.” He then led her over to the table.
“So what did you find out?”
“According to Striker and Quasar, Jace and Caden have eased into their roles as husbands quite nicely.”
Shep smiled, pleased and happy with the women his sons had married. “Nothing suspicious happening?”
“No. And, as you requested, Roland now has someone inconspicuously keeping an eye on their wives as they go about their daily routines, which isn’t hard to do with Shana still working at Granger and Shiloh running the wine shop. It was easy for one of Roland’s guys to become a frequent customer.”
Shep nodded. “What’s going on with Dalton?”
“I understand that Dalton went out of town last week and, of course, Stonewall followed.”
Shep didn’t say anything for a minute as he leaned back in his chair. “Now that they know about them, are my sons making things difficult for Striker, Quasar or Stonewall?”
“According to Roland, not at all, although Dalton and that little red high-performance toy of his make things challenging for Stonewall at times.”
Shep grinned. “I can just imagine. You said Dalton was out of town last week. Where did he go?”
“Miami. Specifically, South Beach. Seems he followed a woman there.”
Shep looked surprised. “Dalton? Following behind a woman? Must have been some woman.”
“Yes. It was Jules Bradford.”
“Jules Bradford? Shana’s sister?”
“The one and only.”
Shep looked confused. “But when I talked to Shana’s father a few weeks ago, he mentioned that the two of them didn’t get along, and that they practically hated each other’s guts.”
A smile curved Carson’s lips. “That might be true to some extent, and I have to agree with what he said based on the one time I was in their presence. However, I think they might have recently reached a compromise...or entered into a truce situation of some sort.”
Shep nodded slowly. “That should be interesting,” he said, standing from his seat to take Carson back into his arms.
Carson went willingly. “I happen to agree.”
Twenty-Two
Dalton walked into the nightclub and tried putting to the back of his mind what had transpired the last time he’d been here—the incident with Jules when she had deliberately given him her ass to kiss. Didn’t matter now. That was water under the bridge since he had actually kissed that same ass just last week. Kissed it, licked those luscious cheeks and made love to them in ways that he got hard just thinking about. Now was not the time for an erection. He had business to deal with. Granger business. Besides, Jules was no longer in his system.
Moving around the tables while ignoring interested looks from various women, he made it to the booth in the back where Percy sat waiting. Dalton slid into the seat across from him. “You’ve been waiting long?”
Percy smiled wryly. “No. Actually, I just got here. I was hoping you wouldn’t be early. My son’s game ran into overtime.”
Dalton nodded. “Who won?”
“We did,” Percy said, smiling proudly. “I think he’s going to be a good football player.”
“Just like his dad.”
“Thanks.”
The waiter came to take their drink orders, and it was only after the man left that their conversation resumed. “So tell me what you know, Percy.”
“Like I said, Dalton, I don’t like to think of myself as a snitch, but you were good enough to give me a job, and my devotion is to you and your brothers. I wouldn’t want anything to be going on with your family’s company that you don’t know about. Especially something that can affect
it negatively.”
Dalton nodded. “That’s not being a snitch, Percy. That’s called being loyal, and I know my brothers and I appreciate you for it.”
“Thanks. I’m a newbie in the department, pretty much still in training. I don’t think anyone, even Mr. Castor, knows of my past association with you. Nor do they know of my intensive background in technology. I deliberately didn’t mention either. The former is because I didn’t want anyone saying the only reason I got the job is because of my connection to you...although that’s true. And the latter is because I don’t want anyone thinking I’m coming into the company with the attitude of a know-it-all. So basically, I’m learning what they are teaching me and moving on from there.”
Dalton knew John Castor was head of the IT department where Percy worked. He seemed like a likable guy who’d been with the company a good twelve years. He’d met Castor at several department-head meetings, and he always seemed alert, up-to-date on modern technology and on-point in making sure Granger’s computers and software were high-tech and state-of-the-art.
The waiter delivered their drinks. After he left, Dalton said, “I think that playing it safe is a smart strategy. The technology field can be pretty competitive.”
“I know. Anyway, Mr. Castor assigned me to look at a computer that had been brought in for repairs. The secretary said the keys were sticking and that when she typed one letter, another appeared.”
Percy paused a moment to sip his drink. “I know I was only supposed to check out the keyboard, but I became fascinated by the model of the computer as I’d never worked on one like that before. It was pretty high-tech—especially for simple word processing—and I wondered why the keys would be sticking on that particular model. In fact, it should have been installed with a slider program. With a slider, all you need is a light stroke for the keys to operate. Also, the slider has a memory function that retains memory of certain keystrokes. Follow me so far?”
Dalton nodded. “So far, yes.”
“That made me even more curious, so I checked out the hard drive to see whether the slider program had been installed, and I came across another program that was removed from laptops back in the nineties, because it was obsolete after the Y2K scare. So I wondered why this computer, a very new model, had it. It took me less than an hour to figure out the program actually was a type of filtering program that can erase data. I mean, wipe it out altogether. It can also transfer data from one computer to another from a remote device.”
Percy paused, and Dalton knew he was giving him time to absorb all he’d told him so far. He’d been a kid, but he remembered the Y2K scare, and the belief, at the time, that with the changeover to the new millennium, computers worldwide would cease functioning. That didn’t happen, of course, but that didn’t stop corporations and financial institutions from buying into the scare. The only ones to benefit from the scare were the computer programmers, technicians and virtually anyone who knew anything about computers.
What really concerned Dalton was the last part of what Percy had said. He believed some type of filtering program had been installed on that particular computer that could erase data. Hadn’t Bruce Townsend claimed that’s what happened to Brandy’s computer? That somehow it had been wiped clean?
“And you say it can be wiped clean from a remote location?”
“Yes. Without anyone ever detecting it. Sometimes it’s all but impossible to trace.”
Dalton leaned back in his seat. “Where is this particular computer now?”
“Back on the floor.”
“In what department?”
“Accounting.”
A feeling of unease settled in Dalton’s stomach. Was that how Vidal had managed to steal money from the company without their knowing it? The man had been questioned and had refused to talk. And even with all the evidence stacked against him, his attorney had entered a not-guilty plea. Go figure.
“Don’t mention a word of what you’ve told me to anyone, Percy. Not even to John Castor. At this point, no one is to be trusted until we figure out who put the program on that computer and why. Hell, there might be more of them placed throughout the building.”
The thought of that really had Dalton’s stomach in knots now. He couldn’t wait to share this conversation with Jace and Caden. And it might be best if they had that meeting away from the office. Like he’d told Percy, at this point no one could be trusted.
Twenty-Three
Cuddled with Shana on the sofa while watching a movie on television, Jace glanced at his cell phone when he received a text message. Shana saw the way his brows bunched. “Something wrong, Jace?”
He glanced over at her, shaking his head. “Hell, I hope not. I just got a text from Dalton. He wants to meet with Caden and me at his place tomorrow morning at eight.”
Shana raised a brow. “Did he say why?”
“No, and he asked us not to call tonight and ask questions. He will fill us in on everything we need to know in the morning.”
When another text message came through, Jace glanced over at Shana. “Now he’s telling me to make sure I bring you.”
Shana smiled. “Now, don’t I feel special? I wonder what this is about.”
“We’ll find out in the morning. Whatever it is, he evidently doesn’t want to discuss it tonight.”
Shana’s smile faded, and undisguised concern showed in her eyes. “I hope it doesn’t involve Jules.”
“Why do you think it would?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “When it comes to Dalton and Jules, who knows? Did you ask him whether their paths crossed while he was in Miami?”
“Yes, I asked him, and he said no. But he was lying.”
“Really? What makes you so sure of that?”
“Because I know Dalton. He could look you right in your face and lie...but he can’t hide the way his jaw twitches when he’s doing it. I don’t think he’s even aware of it. That’s how I could catch him in a lie every time while growing up.”
He adjusted their positions on the sofa to place her legs across his. “What about Jules? Did she mention anything to you about seeing him in Miami?”
Shana shook her head. “No, but I have a feeling she did see him. I didn’t ask her anything about it when I talked to her on the phone today, and she didn’t volunteer any information. I get the feeling she’s being secretive about something, but I’m not sure it’s about Dalton. It has something to do with a case she’s working on.”
“I thought she decided not to take on any new cases until after the holidays.”
“Apparently, she changed her mind. Makes me wonder why. What about you and your brothers? Have you decided how you’re going to go about reopening your father’s case?”
“Yes, we’re meeting with Carson on Friday at the office to see what she recommends. Dad trusts her. Hell, he’s admitted to being in love with her, so I guess that says it all. I’m happy for him but also sad for him, as well. He deserves to be with her full-time. That’s why it’s important that we find my mother’s real killer.”
When Jace received another text message, he looked up at Shana and said, “Caden got the same text message from Dalton and wants to know if I know what’s going on.”
He texted his brother back and said, Your guess is as good as mine.
* * *
“So are you headed back to your place now?” Stonewall asked when Dalton walked out of the nightclub a couple hours after meeting with Percy.
Dalton met Stonewall’s gaze and shrugged. “Not sure. Why do you want to know? Are you getting tired of following me around?”
“No, just asking,” Stonewall said, grinning and falling into step beside Dalton. “And thanks for South Beach. I needed it.”
Dalton chuckled to keep from admitting that he had needed it, too. He glanced at his watch. By
his standards, it was still early, although most people would have gone to bed by now. After his conversation with Percy ended he had texted his brothers. Then he’d hung around, had a couple of beers and flirted with a few of the women. He hadn’t been tempted to take one to a hotel, although several had invited him over to their place. He’d turned them down. That didn’t necessarily mean he didn’t want sex tonight. It just meant he didn’t want it with them. He forced to the back of his mind the thought of the one woman he did want it from. She was supposed to be out of his system but, if that was the case, why were his thoughts consumed by her? And why hadn’t he been able to put last week behind him?
“You’re restless, Dalton.”
He glanced over at Stonewall. “Restless?”
“Yes.”
Dalton figured he would agree if being restless and being horny meant the same thing. What was so damned frustrating was that after a week of practically nonstop sex like he’d had in Miami, horniness was the last thing he should be suffering from. “You have a steady woman, Stonewall?”
If Stonewall was surprised by his question, he didn’t show it. “No. I don’t have a steady woman.”
Dalton nodded. “Ever had a woman get into your system?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Then count your blessings.”
They made it to Dalton’s car, and he looked across the top of it to see all the bright lights of the nearby businesses. Some were tall buildings. Symmetrical. Well proportioned. Ripe with curves. His jaw tightened. Was he analyzing those damned buildings or remembering Jules’s body? He thought his cravings for her were a thing of the past. Evidently not. It seemed that instead of working her out of his system, he’d embedded her deeper within it.
“Headed back to your place now?”
For a minute, he’d forgotten Stonewall was standing beside him. “I really don’t want to.”
Stonewall didn’t say anything for a minute. “You need her address.”
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