Angel on Fire

by Jacquie Johnson

  “I’ll just borrow some.” Angela scampered up the stairs. “You guys relax and enjoy yourselves. Don’t shoot my friends when they get here!”

  *****

  “Not exactly a hunting shanty, I’ll admit,” Sean replied, appearing a little more comfortable in the lavish setting than Chase.

  “When she said cottage, I really thought she meant a simple place on the lake with maybe two bedrooms. This place is huge,” Chase commented, sauntering into the kitchen and perusing the fridge. “Unfortunately, I don’t see much in the way of real food so I kinda hope Angela’s right about Maddie going grocery shopping.”

  Sean nodded as he glanced out the kitchen window, his hand on the gun at his side. As he wandered toward the back of the cottage, he paused upon hearing a faint scuffling noise. He placed one palm against the six panel pine door and he leaned his ear against the door. A faint meow answered his unasked question. He cracked the door open a fraction of an inch and a small white cat with a pale gray mark on its forehead peeked out. “Meow,” the cat greeted Sean before slithering toward him and rubbing against his leg. “Meow,” she repeated, scampering down the hall and up the stairs as Sean trailed slowly behind.

  “What was that?” Chase asked as a white ball of fur streaked by him.

  Upstairs, Angela squealed, “Blitz!” and the two men exchanged amused glances.

  “I guess that’s Blitz,” Sean answered in a deadpan voice, even as the corners of his mouth tilted up. Chase tossed him a sandwich, and Sean grimaced after the first bite. “Peanut butter,” he groaned.

  Chase nodded, “Yep. We’ve eaten worse though.”

  Sean agreed. “There were times peanut butter would have seemed like haute cuisine, but I can’t stand the stuff.”

  “Eat too much of it as a kid?” Chase speculated before biting into his own piece of wheat bread slathered with crunchy peanut butter.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Sean conceded. “Peanut butter and canned soup were cheap so my mom served both a lot. Now I refuse to eat either unless I’m forced to.”

  The purring of a high powered engine captured their attention, and both men set the sandwiches aside, extracting their weapons and positioning themselves at the two entrances.

  Chapter 34

  Chase peered out the window as three people exited the red sedan. The sound of feminine laughter floated through the air but Chase positioned himself to the side of the front door, his weapon ready. He let the light footsteps of the smaller figures pass but stepped behind the heavier figure, holding the gun to the back of the man’s head. The man raised his hands in surrender. The petite blonde woman turned, a look of terror crossing her face before she snapped, “Who are you? What do you want?”

  The statuesque redhead spun around at Maddie’s words. She lifted her hands but Sean grabbed her. The redhead swung her leg out and Sean grabbed it, dropping her to the floor.

  “Maddie? Cat?” Angela ran down the stairs toward her friends. Sean grasped her around the waist, keeping his body between hers and the others in the room.

  “Who are you?” Sean directed the question to the black haired man with a slight Asian appearance who stood frozen in place with Chase’s gun pointed at his head.

  “I’m Griffin. Griffin Ocampo.” The man’s eye twitched and he swallowed hard. “Umm, do you think you could put that away? Clearly, you’re more dangerous than I am.”

  “He’s okay,” Cat assured Angela who was peeking over Sean’s shoulder. “Your dad sent him to me.”

  Sean and Chase held a silent conversation before changing positions. Chase kept his weapon ready as he moved toward Angela who turned to Cat with wide eyes. “Do you have the software too? What did Dad tell you?”

  Cat stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Angela. “I’m so sorry about your dad, sweetie.”

  Angela gave her a sad smile. “I know.” She hugged Cat once before stepping back. “So? What did Dad tell you?”

  Cat shrugged. “Nothing. Griffin just showed up on my doorstep with a note from your dad. He asked me to let Griffin stay with me until other arrangements were made. I wasn’t sure what other arrangements he was referring to, but I put Griffin in the guest room for a few days. I thought about calling you or your dad, but figured if he sent Griffin to me he didn’t want people to know where he was. I assumed he was trying to hide Griffin.”

  “So you just let a stranger move into your house with you? Based solely on some note from Angela’s dad?” Chase couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  Cat rolled her eyes. “Despite what you think, I’m not stupid.” She placed her hands on her hips and tossed her red hair over her shoulder. “Mac sent him to me. That’s all I needed to know.” Sean and Chase exchanged astonished looks. These three women weren’t like any others they had ever met. They trusted each other implicitly and had extended that trust to Mac.

  Griffin shuffled over to the sofa and sat down while watching the by-play. Cat plopped next to him ignoring the weapon Sean still clutched in his hand. “Look, whoever you are, Griffin’s a good guy. Mac was protecting him from….” Her voice trailed off. “Who did you say he was protecting you from again?”

  “I don’t know.” Griffin shook his head. “Like I said, I was working on a software project for the government. Mac was in charge of my security.”

  “Where’s the software, Griffin?” Chase demanded.

  Griffin shrugged. “I don’t know. Mac had it.”

  “What software?” Maddie wandered over to the couch and took a seat next to Angela.

  “Apparently, Griffin is some sort of computer genius and he developed some program that could jeopardize the economy. Dad was protecting it. Now everyone wants it.” Angela stared at the man her father had died to protect.

  Griffin stood and walked toward the bay window. As he looked out at the calm pool of water, he admitted, “I wrote a program which I thought would short stocks for me.” He looked almost sheepish as he mumbled, “I, umm, uploaded it to the stock exchange. I never intended to really profit from it. It was more of an exercise. I just wanted to see if it worked.”

  “What happened?” Angela wondered, sliding around Chase and leaning her back against his front. Chase immediately wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. He felt better when she was close.

  “I uploaded the program, and within minutes the market dropped over 600 points. Somehow, the code I uploaded generated a high volume of sales. The government investigated and traced the program back to me. I’m still not sure how. I’m damn good at what I do.” Griffin shrugged. “They wanted to use my program to control other country’s markets. Claimed it was an exercise, just like mine was intended to be but….” He grimaced. “It’s completely unfair. They threatened to put me in jail simply because I tried to test the security of the exchange. All I wanted to do was see if my program worked. Anyhow, once they found me, they demanded that I give my program to the government. Talk about a double standard. It’s okay for me to use the software on behalf of the government because it’s necessary for national security. But try using it for myself and they want to incarcerate me.” He shivered, a look of disgust crossing his face. “Anyway, I told them I would work for them. Who wouldn’t when threatened with life in prison? They locked me up in a lab instead, and I’ve been playing with the initial program, trying to find out what caused the flash crash as they’re referring to it.”

  “Wait a second!” Maddie interrupted as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “That can’t be right. Why would our government want to make the financial markets crash?”

  Chase shook his head. “It’s not about the crash. It’s about the ability to control the markets.”

  Griffin nodded. “He’s right. The government wants to be able to control market fluctuations, both up and down. Money is power and by controlling the markets, the government controls the economy and thus, the country as a whole.”

  The room stilled as each person contempl
ated the idea of a single government being able to manipulate the world economy.

  “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Sean quoted, his eyes meeting Chase’s, both clearly aware of the danger of absolute power. They had personally witnessed the devastation that such unconditional control permitted. Starvation, brutality, mass executions, torture, forced military service for children, and imprisonment for re-education were all tools commonly used to enforce government will.

  “So, where is the program?” Angela demanded, voicing the question they all wanted to ask. Every face turned to Griffin who lifted his shoulders apathetically.

  “No idea. Mac took it.”

  “Do you have any idea what Mac might have done with the software?” Chase watched Griffin’s face as he answered looking for any sign that he was lying. “Did he say if he planned to hide it? To give it to someone?”

  Griffin shook his head. “He didn’t tell me.”

  “What’s the program stored on? A flash drive? A CD?” Sean leaned against the wall, his arms at his sides as he eyed Griffin.

  “No,” Griffin replied with a tiny smile. “It’s on three very small chips.”

  “And Dad had all three chips when you last saw him?” Angela took over the questioning.

  “Yes,” Griffin acknowledged. “He put them in his pants pocket. I assume he had them on his person when he died.”

  Angela shook her head. “I don’t think so. Everyone’s looking for the program and for you.”

  “Fuck!” Griffin groaned. “I really don’t want to be involved in this. I don’t have the software, and I have no desire to recreate it.”

  “Could you?” Chase probed.

  Griffin leaned his head back against the sofa before conceding, “Probably.” He opened his eyes and blew out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sure I could, but I don’t want to. Look at the mess it got me into the first time. I’d just like all of this to go away so I can go back to my regular work.”

  “Hacking into secure systems and destroying people’s lives and companies?” Sean snarled.

  “If they were secure, I wouldn’t be able to get into them!” Griffin retorted his black eyes flashing.

  Chase watched Angela out of the corner of his eye as she wandered over toward Maddie and Cat. After exchanging hugs, the three women talked in soft whispers while Chase and Sean continued to question Griffin about everything that happened the day Mac died.

  *****

  “So are you going to tell us who the hot guys are and how you hooked up with them?” Cat cast Angela a devilish smile. “The one with the dark, wavy hair looks particularly delish.”

  “He’s mine.” Angela clapped her hands over her mouth, and her cheeks heated. Cat’s smile widened while Maddie chortled with glee. Angela’s whole face turned red when Chase sent her a wicked smile.

  “Well, then.” Maddie bounced up and down on the couch. “Now you have to spill all the details. After all, the rest of us deserve to live vicariously through you. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a man.”

  “Honey, it’s been years since you’ve been with a man,” Cat snorted. “That jackass you married didn’t qualify as a man. He was more like mold on the inside of a sneaker.”

  “And he smelled as bad,” Angela added as all three women exchanged affectionate smiles.

  Chase sauntered over to the sofa, leaving Sean standing next to Griffin near the bay window. “Babe.” He reached for Angela and pulled her into his arms as he cast the other two women a warm smile. He pulled her aside for a moment and he nuzzled her ear while whispering that he had a few calls to make. She nodded and he tucked a long curl behind her ear before guiding her back to the couch.

  “Sean’s here if you need him,” he reminded Angela as she plopped between her friends. With that, he swaggered from the room.

  *****

  Outside, Chase paced back and forth, trying to get a cell phone signal. He peeked through the window and checked on Angela. She, Maddie and Cat had moved into the kitchen and were putting the groceries away while laughing and chatting. He was glad to see Angela enjoying herself but feared that her happiness would be short-lived under the circumstances.

  He sighed, recognizing that Angela’s assessment had been correct. Reception was spotty or, in his case, unavailable.

  He heard the door open and placed the phone back in his pocket.

  “No luck?” Sean asked.

  Chase shook his head. “Looks like backup if going to have to wait.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “Can you keep an eye on Angela and Griffin? I’m going to scope out the area.” Part of Chase wanted to stay with Angela, but the other part needed to make sure she wasn’t in any danger.

  Sean nodded and shut the door. Chase stepped off the porch when he heard the lock slide home. Two hours later, he rapped on the door, tired and wet. A storm had started brewing while he was exploring. Sean let him in the cottage and quietly filled him in on what had happened in his absence. The girls had made dinner and were sitting in front of the fire, sipping glasses of wine. Angela waved Chase over, but he shook his head.

  “How much trouble are we in?” Sean asked, handing Chase a kitchen towel to dry off.

  “It’s a good location if no one knows where we are. If they do….” Chase let his voice trail off, knowing that Sean understood what he was saying.

  “Did you ever pick up a signal?”

  “Nope.”

  “So no cell service and two of us to defend three women and a geek?” Sean grinned and bumped Chase with his shoulder. “We’ve faced worse odds.”

  “Yeah,” he conceded, “but Angela wasn’t in the middle.” Angela glanced over her shoulder at the mention of her name and he smiled before returning to the security issues. “We’re open on all sides. The forest to the east is pretty dense and there’s an open area for staging about a mile away. There’s an empty cottage two miles in the opposite direction. Someone can also come in from the water like we did, especially in a smaller boat.”

  “So we defend the cottage,” Sean proclaimed and Chase sighed.

  “It’s pretty much our only option until backup arrives. If they get into the house, we’re screwed.”

  Chapter 35

  Angela glanced over her shoulder. Chase and Sean stood in the kitchen conversing quietly. The looks on their faces led her to believe the conversation wasn’t a good one. Just as she started to stand and go talk to them, Griffin interrupted. “So, Angela, any idea where your dad might have hidden the software?”

  “You said it was in three parts?” Angela recalled. “How was each part stored?”

  “When we left, each part was in a small chip about the size of your little fingernail. I gave them to your dad in the pen cap.”

  “Crap.” Angela leaned back, feeling frustrated. “That means it could be anywhere.”

  “So, we start at the beginning again and retrace Mac’s steps.” Chase wandered over and placed his hands on Angela’s shoulders.

  “Okay, so Mac finds out there is a problem, grabs Griffin and runs, right?” Sean joined the conversation, even as he leaned against the wall, staring out into the night.

  Griffin nodded. “We left the building and headed for the subway. We got off a few stops later, walked a bit and then got back on the train. We ended up at the bus station. He bought me a ticket and gave me Cat’s address. Then he left, saying he had to take care of a few things. He told me to get on the bus if he wasn’t back by eight that evening. When he didn’t show up, I followed his instructions.”

  “Did he call anyone or stop anywhere while you were with him?” Chase walked around the couch and sat next to Angela who leaned into his side. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her.

  “He used his phone a few times, but I don’t think he managed to get in touch with anyone. He seemed frustrated.” Griffin rubbed his forehead. “He dropped his cell phone in a garbage can at Park St. just before we got on the Red Line.”
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  “Did anyone check his cell phone records?” Sean asked Chase.

  “I’m pretty sure Zach did. What else did Mac do?” Chase dropped the arm around Angela and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

  “Nothing.” Griffin closed his eyes as if he were picturing each moment of that day. “We stopped at a cyber café, and I got a coffee. I gave him the pen with the chips then.”

  “Good job, Griffin. Anything else?”