Hidden Miles: The Miles Family Book 4

by Kingsley, Claire

  A few flakes of snow fluttered down as I made my way silently through the trees. The air was cold, but I ignored the discomfort, my mind focused on my objective. If I was going to take this big a risk—if I got caught I was dead—I had to make sure it counted. I could hack a cell phone, if I could get my hands on one. That would track calls and GPS locations. Good, but maybe not good enough.

  The lifeblood of any organization—criminal or otherwise—was money. Tracking the money would tell you everything you needed to know.

  Which meant I needed to find Edward Mozcinski—specifically, his computer. Dad had said he was the money guy. Their so-called accountant. Hack his machine, and I’d have them all by the balls.

  The trees opened up and the old lumber mill came into view. I stopped well clear of the chain-link fence that surrounded the perimeter. Inside was a large weather-beaten building. It looked like a giant warehouse. Fresh tire tracks led in and out but there weren’t any cars parked where I could see.

  I pulled my hood over my head and drew my face mask up to my nose, then scanned the area, assessing their security. Cameras, likely with motion detectors. Two visible armed guards, and no doubt more that I couldn’t see from this vantage point. I wasn’t armed, and the phrase don’t bring a knife to gun fight came to mind. But I didn’t own a firearm.

  Even if I did, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against multiple armed guards. And I absolutely did not want to kill anyone—even these guys. If I got caught, I was dead. There wasn’t any way around that.

  The armed guards were a good sign, though. A regular lumber mill didn’t need to be protected by a tall fence and guys with guns. I was in the right place.

  Based on the camera angles, I didn’t think they had a good view out to the fence. But just in case, I chose a spot that would be hardest to see.

  I dug wire cutters out of my backpack and clipped a section of fence at the bottom—just enough for me to crawl through. Shoved my backpack through first, then army-crawled under, dragging my body through the freezing dirt.

  Keeping my eyes on the closest guard, I crawled until he turned his back on me. Got up and ran, still staying low.

  Once I got to the building, I had to move fast. The cameras panned back and forth. I eyed the two closest to me, waiting for my chance. Willing the guard to keep looking in the opposite direction.

  Now.

  I moved to the door. I had lock-picking tools in my pocket, but I tried the handle first. Unlocked.

  These were some cocky motherfuckers. I guessed they figured armed guards were enough.

  Not when Leo Miles wanted in.

  I slipped inside and dropped low, quickly scanning the surroundings. The cavernous interior was filled with heavy machinery and stacks of lumber. Wood chips and sawdust were everywhere, and it was eerily silent. It was early, but I couldn’t count on these people to keep normal business hours. I had no idea when, or if, more people would show up. I had to act fast.

  On the far end of the building, a staircase led to an upper section with what were probably offices. Cables ran up the bare walls. I followed the network cables. Most of them went to three of the offices. Those were my best bet.

  My footsteps seemed to echo, although it was mostly my heightened senses. Moving quickly, I padded up the stairs. The door to the first office was wide open. I ignored it. The second was locked, but had a flimsy wooden door, and didn’t have any network cabling leading to it. I checked the third office’s door. Closed, but unlocked. I moved on.

  The fourth had blackout curtains in the windows. I touched the door and tried the handle. It was a fireproof steel door with a heavy-duty lock.

  This was definitely it.

  I pulled out a lock-picking tool and inserted it. Felt for the right pressure and tension. It released with a click. I ducked inside, shutting and locking the door behind me.

  The desk was tidy—almost empty. A monitor, keyboard, and mouse. A few files in a neat stack. A leather cup with two expensive looking pens. There were file cabinets behind the desk—probably locked—but I ignored those.

  I dropped my backpack and changed my leather gloves for a pair of blue latex—easier for a delicate job. The PC was on the floor, so I sat, pulled a few tools out of my backpack, and got to work.

  A noise came from outside, muffled by the solid door. I turned my good ear toward the inner wall. People. It might be the same guards I’d already seen. Or more people might be arriving.

  Putting that out of my mind—I had a mission to complete—I opened the computer and carefully installed a PCI card. It wasn’t exactly legal, and I definitely wasn’t supposed to have it. But once it was in, I’d have access to everything on the PC. Not only that, but I’d programmed it with a keylogger. As soon as I turned the computer on, it would start recording every keystroke.

  Emails. Web searches. Bank accounts. Passwords. I’d have it all. And it operated on a cell signal, not on the computer’s network. Unless they opened up the box and found it, there was no way to know it was there.

  They might, of course. If they had any reason to believe someone had tampered with it. But by then, it would be too late.

  I attached the cover and moved the PC carefully back into place. Turned it on, then went to the window and moved the curtain aside just enough to see out.

  It wasn’t guards. Shit.

  Two men stood outside the first office, talking. One was dressed in business attire—button-down shirt and slacks. The other looked more like a construction foreman—plaid shirt, faded jeans, and boots. I couldn’t hear what they were saying from here.

  The computer had powered on, so I let the curtain drop and went back to the desk. The PCI card gave me admin access, so I bypassed the user account—and the need for a password—and logged in.

  I heard footsteps outside and my eyes darted to the doorknob. Nothing. Back to the screen. I copied the entire drive—everything on the computer—and started an upload to an encrypted cloud location.

  The door handle didn’t move. The footsteps passed. Staying calm and controlled, I clicked opened email. It was definitely Edward Mozcinski’s computer. Now all I had to do was make sure the copy finished uploading.

  That, and get my ass out of here.

  My heart thumped uncomfortably hard, but I ignored it. Put everything else out of my mind. Complete the mission. That was all.

  More footsteps and voices outside. I went to the window and risked a peek. Different men this time. Plus a woman. This place was filling up. Pressing my good ear to the door, I listened. My eye twitched at the sound of voices. Tools. Machinery. An engine, deep and throaty. A truck, maybe even a large delivery vehicle.

  Fuck.

  The files finished uploading and I blew out a relieved breath. That was done, at least. I powered off the PC—it had been off when I’d found it—then packed up my tools, changed back into my leather gloves, zipped my backpack, and sat with my back against the door.

  I took a few slow breaths, but I was calm. Almost numb to the fear I should have been feeling. I was stuck in here, and if Edward Mozcinski—or anyone else who had access—decided to come in, I was really and truly fucked. I had no weapons. No backup. Special Forces wasn’t on standby for an extraction. I had no way out.

  I’d faced death once before. Faced it and accepted its inevitability. This time hurt more. A lot more. I didn’t want to leave Hannah. I didn’t want to leave the baby that now I might never meet.

  But I had what I’d come for. This would be more than enough for the DEA to move in on this operation. Take them all down. A lot of people were going to prison because of what I’d just done.

  All that was left was making sure someone I trusted had access to those files. Leaning my head back against the door and closing my eyes against the sudden sting of tears, I pulled out my phone. Powered it back on. And called Hannah.

  Thirty-Eight

  Hannah

  It felt like I’d been in the car for twelve hours, not five. Luck had b
een on my side and traffic had been light, even with snow falling in the pass. But I was exhausted and hungry, and I couldn’t wait to get back to Salishan.

  After I’d logged off the game last night, I’d tried to sleep. But all I’d been able to do was toss and turn. Eventually, I’d given up. Packed my things and left. I’d been planning to leave in the morning anyway. This way, I’d get back early. As predicted, I was tired. But it was nothing a nap couldn’t cure.

  That and maybe a snack. Yep, a snack would be good.

  But when I pulled into Salishan, all thoughts of naps, and food, went right out the window.

  The front entrance to the Big House was blocked off with yellow tape, and the grounds looked deserted. What had happened?

  I didn’t see anyone as I drove back to Leo’s place. The blinds were closed, but that wasn’t unusual. I parked and got out, then stopped at the front door. A few days ago, I would have walked right in. I lived here. But did I, still?

  Feeling suddenly awkward, I knocked.

  No answer.

  He was probably still asleep after being up late gaming last night.

  I knocked again, harder this time. “Leo?”

  Still nothing.

  I punched in the code to unlock the door and went inside.

  “Hey, Leo? Are you home?”

  His monitors were dark, his chair turned around at an odd angle. I took slow steps into the house, a sense of alarm growing in my belly.

  “Leo?”

  The bathroom door was ajar, the light off. And the bedroom was empty.

  He wasn’t here.

  I pulled out my phone and sent him a text to let him know I was here and ask where he was. Something felt wrong. I waited a few minutes to see if he’d reply, but my text didn’t even show as read.

  Nausea swirled in my tummy as I ran back out to my car. This wasn’t right. Something bad had happened at the Big House—why else would there be yellow tape all over?—and Leo wasn’t home. He’d been fine just hours ago. What had I missed?

  I went to Shannon’s. Her car wasn’t outside, but I hoped to god someone was here. I dashed up the porch steps and knocked on the door.

  Chase answered, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. “Hey, Hannah.”

  Not only was Shannon home, the rest of Leo’s family was, too. But I didn’t see Leo.

  “Hey.” I hurried in, worry filling me. “What happened? Is everyone okay? Where’s Leo? Is he here?”

  They all looked at me in silence for a beat. Zoe, Brynn, and Shannon sat at the long dining table with mugs in hand. Roland stood nearby with Hudson in his arms. Amelia sat with Cooper on the couch, rubbing his earlobe. Ben stood with his back to a window, his arms crossed.

  “Isn’t he at home?” Zoe asked.

  “No, I was just there.”

  Shannon stared at me, her expression stricken, her face pale.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “There was a fire in the Big House last night,” Zoe said.

  “Oh no, is everyone okay?” I asked.

  Zoe nodded. “No one was there.”

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. But… you guys don’t know where Leo is? I talked to him last night and said I was coming back. He wasn’t expecting me this early, but… where else would he be?”

  The way they all looked at me, I could tell we were all thinking the same thing. That was an excellent question. Where else would Leo be?

  “Maybe he’s taking a walk in the vineyards,” Chase said.

  “He wouldn’t have gone to the Big House to look around, would he?” Brynn asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw all the yellow tape, but I didn’t stop to look.”

  “What are the chances he decided to go get everyone breakfast?” Zoe asked.

  “I’m calling him,” Cooper said, but put down his phone only a few seconds later. “Straight to voicemail.”

  The tension in the room made my heart race. I would have loved to believe that Leo was out picking up donuts or bringing espresso, but I knew the chances of that were very slim. And my instincts were screaming at me. Something was wrong.

  I checked my phone again. “I texted him when I got here, but he hasn’t replied.”

  “Why would he go somewhere and turn his phone off?” Zoe asked. “Especially if he knows you’re coming home.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “My car isn’t here, is it?” Shannon asked, her voice quiet. She stared at the wall, as if she were looking through it.

  “No, it isn’t,” I said.

  Roland went over to the front window. Hudson grabbed for the curtain as he looked outside. “It’s not there.”

  “With everything going on, it didn’t even register,” Shannon said. “We walked right by, but I didn’t think about it.”

  “Why would Leo take your car?” Brynn asked.

  “Was the fire arson?” I asked.

  Shannon met my eyes. “They don’t know for sure.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “But do you think it was arson?”

  She nodded.

  I touched my fingers to my lips. I knew where Leo had gone. Or at least, why. “Leo, what are you doing?”

  “So Leo thinks he’s a one-man army now?” Zoe asked. She glanced at Shannon, who had her hand covering her mouth. “I’m sorry, Shannon. But honestly, what the hell is he thinking?”

  My mind raced, searching for a way to find him. Tracking his phone wasn’t likely. My text hadn’t been read, and Cooper’s call had gone directly to voicemail. That probably meant it was turned off. Even if it had been on, it wasn’t easy to track a phone if you didn’t already have the right app installed.

  I might be able to hack into traffic cameras. I’d never done it before, but if you knew where to look, you could learn how to do anything on the Internet. But those were largely in urban areas, and I didn’t know where to even start.

  “I’m going to see if I can find him, but I can’t do anything from here,” I said, already halfway to the door.

  “I’ll go with her,” Zoe said. “You okay with the baby?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got him,” Roland said.

  Zoe followed me out, along with Cooper, Amelia, Brynn, and Chase. My heart raced as we walked to Leo’s house. There had to be a way for me to find him. He needed help. I felt it deep in my bones. His dad had been entangled with an organized crime family and I was terrified of what Leo might have gotten himself into.

  When we got to the house, I spun Leo’s chair around and moved it in front of my workstation. I had my own chair, but sitting in his felt better, somehow. I fired up my machine and wracked my brain for a way to help him.

  His family stayed quiet behind me while I searched for ideas. After getting in trouble in high school for hacking, I’d mostly stopped—emphasis on mostly. I certainly wasn’t an active hacker, but I still had some skills. But getting into someone’s firewall when I was already connected to their network—like I’d done when I traced Leo here—was nothing compared to this.

  I scanned posts and articles about finding people via their cell phones, but none of it helped if Leo had turned his off. Frustration and fear knotted my belly, although the silent presence of his family behind me kept me steady.

  My phone’s ring tone blared in the quiet, startling me. I grabbed it, desperately hoping…

  “It’s him.” I swiped to answer. “Leo?”

  “Hi baby,” he whispered. “Where are you? On your way?”

  I lowered my voice. “No, I’m here. I’m home.”

  “Good. Perfect,” he said. “Hannah, listen. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Okay, but where—”

  “Log in to my computer. My main machine.”

  I scooted over to his side of the desk. He gave me the credentials and I logged in. “Okay. I’m in.”

  “Now go to my cloud drive. It’s password protected. The password is…” He paused. “It’s Hannah Miles two five seven, no spaces, no capitals, n
umbers in digits.”

  Oh, Leo. “Got it.”

  “There’s a folder there—it’s encrypted, but I want you to download it. It should say drive copy.”

  “Yeah, I see it.”

  “Are you downloading it?” he asked, still whispering.

  “Yes, but please tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me.”

  “The encryption key is in another file. Listen to me carefully, baby. You control that. Understand? Make sure Rawlins understands what he’s getting before you give that to him. It’s leverage for anything you or my family needs.”

  “Leverage?” I asked. “What are you—”

  “Baby, it’s okay. It’s everything on the Paine family. Bank accounts, emails, passwords. There’s a keylogger that will update in real time to that same directory.”

  “Oh my god, Leo,” I said, my voice shaking. “What did you do?”

  “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I drove you away. And I’m sorry I can’t be there now. Hannah, I love you. I love you more than anything.”

  “Where are you?”

  “The Paine’s base of operations. It’s an old lumber mill, about an hour north of you.”

  “Well, get the fuck out of there,” I said.

  He was silent for a few heartbeats. “I can’t.”

  I squeezed my eyes closed. No one else said a word. They didn’t need to. I could feel their shock and pain, saturating the room.

  “What do you mean, you can’t?”

  “I got in, but I don’t think I’m getting out,” he said. “But it’s okay. You’ll be safe now. You both will.”

  “Leo, what did you do?”

  “I broke in and put a PCI card in their money guy’s computer. I got all their data. Everything, Hannah. You give this to the DEA, and these guys are all going down.”

  “Good, awesome. Then get the hell out.”

  “There’s people everywhere,” he said. “Only one way out. I’m stuck.”