Blackstone's Heart (Blackout Security Inc. Book 1)

by Michelle Kee

  Ethan was silent as Jimmy and Cain filled him and Grant in on the progress of their investigation. So far they had found nothing that pointed to who Krista's stalker was or even where he was. The two federal agents finished their report as the elevator car stopped on the floor of their offices. The four stepped off and Jimmy continued as they moved toward the end of a long hall.

  "The letters don't tell us much of anything. Our analysis guys say there is a ninety percent chance the writer is a man. Something about pressure point and letter characteristics." Jimmy continued.

  "The paper and envelopes are generic. Standard college ruled notebook paper and plain white envelopes that any jackass can buy at Wal-Mart. The ink from the pen used is again, generic. A simple Bic pen, maybe a Papermate. Nothing telling." Cain added, leading them into a conference room.

  On the table were two boxes. Looking in them Ethan saw one contained the letters and the other held the gifts. Nick had been right, this guy sent stuffed animals, jewelry, there were even boxes that had probably held chocolate. He and Grant began slowly pulling out the contents of the boxes one piece at a time.

  "This everything?" Grant questioned as he slipped on the forensic gloves and began removing the letters.

  "For the moment. There are two letters, the most recent, that are still in the lab. Ms. James's agent brought them in yesterday." Jimmy nodded.

  "She got two at the same time?" Ethan inquired as he began going through the gifts, noting that the two called Krista, Ms. James. That meant they didn't know who she really was. He would have to ask her why she hadn’t told them.

  "Only because two arrived together. Last week was a four-day holiday so there was a mail delay." Cain stated.

  Ethan fell silent as he and Grant continued to work. The first thing that struck him about the gifts were that they weren't expensive. Hell, the stuffed animals looked like the kind you would find at a carnival or one of those crane machines at most grocery store or arcade. The jewelry was the same way. If he had to guess he'd say one of those jewelry kiosks at a mall or something.

  "You're frowning boss." Grant pointed out, pausing to look up at him.

  "Huh?" Ethan lifted his head to face his weapons specialist.

  "You're frowning. What are you thinking?" Grant pushed, putting the letters down.

  "Well, these gifts for one. They're not expensive. They look, well, cheap." Ethan said, holding up one of the stuffed animals.

  Cain moved to Ethan's side. "Ms. James said the same thing. The stuffed animals look like a cheesy carnival prize. Our lab geeks say the same thing. The material and stuff is consistent with carnival or crane machine prizes. Course the manufacturers are mostly sweatshops overseas so good luck trying to trace where they came from."

  "What about the jewelry?" Grant questioned holding up a gold chain with a heart pendant.

  Jimmy rubbed his chin. “Lab says that it's real gold but not great quality. We think he bought it at somewhere like those mall stands or maybe even Wal-Mart or Target possibly.”

  ***

  While Grant and Ethan were at the Federal building, Krista sat in her living room with Jerry as Lance and Tony installed the new security system. Or rather Krista tried to work and Jerry ogled Ethan’s teammates.

  "Mmm Mmm mmmm.” Jerry sighed as Lance walked upstairs hauling a bundle of cable on his shoulder.

  “Jesus Jerry. Obvious much?” Krista giggled.

  “When a fine piece of manly specimen like those two hit my radar darlin', I sit up and pay attention.” Jerry grinned wiggling his eyebrows. Krista simply rolled her eyes and laughed. Jerry grinned as he pulled out his phone. "So, did I pass Blackout's background?"

  Krista sighed and sat her laptop aside. "Jer, I..."

  "Honey, I'm not worried. What are they going to find that you don't already know?"

  "The background check that Ethan will do is even more invasive than what the Feds did. I'm worried about you and..."

  Jerry laughed. "What? Them finding out that when I was seventeen I had an affair with my hot and equally married Biology teacher? That his ex-wife filed statutory rape charges? Or that my parents backed us both and got those charges dropped?" When she remained silent, Jerry stood from the armchair and dropped onto the sofa next to her.

  Draping his arm around her he pulled her close. "Krista, if it will ease your conscience we can tell hottie Ethan all about it when he comes by. I'm not ashamed about it. Do I feel bad about sleeping with a married man, yes, but I don't regret it? No. He and I had a fun time and a good time. Plus, thanks to Thomas, I learned a lot about myself."

  Krista laid her head on his shoulder. "What that you're a horn dog?"

  Jerry snorted. "No, I knew that before him." They both laughed. "He taught me to stay true to myself and to stand up for myself. He told me that until me he had hidden a part of himself. Thomas said I helped him find a part of him that he felt needed to be hidden."

  "What that he was gay?"

  "Right in one honey. I introduced him to his husband and was their witness at their wedding last year after all."

  Krista smiled at that. Jerry was constantly playing cupid with their friends both now and back in college. She had always admired his strength. Even in today's society being gay wasn't accepted by many. Krista had never cared one way or another and neither had her family. In fact, her cousin Shelly was gay and happily married to a sweet lady named Michelle.

  "You really want to fill Ethan in?" She asked, studying her best friend’s face to gage his reaction.

  "Sure. That will save him and his hot guys some time and will make you feel better sweetie." He replied with a look that said he was fully on board with it.

  "Thanks. You always look out for me. Just like my brothers."

  "I always will. Plus, I'm way more fun than your brothers."

  Krista let out a long laugh as she recalled the last time she had got her brothers and Jerry together. It had been right Jax had joined the firm in Dallas. The five had gone to Miami for spring break and had painted the town red. Jerry had talked her and her brothers into going to a gay bar, and Krista had spent the entire time laughing as her brothers fought off men left and right.

  "I still don't think Jax has forgiven me for that Drag queen copping a feel." Jerry grinned mischievously.

  "No, I don't think he has either." Krista snickered.

  Both looked up as Lance and Tony came back downstairs with their gear. "Well, we're all done. Want to come check out your new toy?" Tony said, wiggling his eyebrows and rubbing his hands together.

  Krista couldn't stop the smile. Tony was funny and you couldn’t help but smile around him. She would guess he was the class clown of the group and probably the one that helped put nervous clients at ease. Lance on the other hand was the polar opposite. He seemed more serious. He didn't seem to smile or talk much and was quite intense. She and Jerry stood and followed them upstairs to her security room. Her eyes bugged as she took in the room.

  "Holy shit!"

  "Damn, looks like you're more secure than the freaking Pentagon." Jerry added.

  Lance nodded. "Just about. Alright, the system is set up with voice recognition and biometrics. Place your left hand here."

  Krista laid her left palm on the silver disk that lay on the desk. A few seconds later the machine beeped and flashed green. "That's cool."

  "Very. Now, for voice recognition. I want you to come up with a phrase that is unique to you. Like, your favorite line from a song or book. The system will read your voice patterns. Even if you have a sore throat, it will still pick up your vocal patterns. It will also recognize stress levels." Tony replied with a chuckle.

  "Stress levels?" Jerry questioned.

  "Yes. If someone broke in and tried to force Krista to disengage the system, an alarm is immediately sent to us and someone from Blackout would be here within minutes. It would also trigger a lockdown of the house. And for good measure notify Austin's boys in blue." Lance explained as he typed away on the key
board.

  "But what if I just finished a workout and tried to turn it off?" Krista inquired with a sassy lift of her brow.

  "Ethan's right you are a smart ass." Lance said without a smile as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

  "That kind of stress level is different. The system is designed to detect fear tremors in a person's voice. Even if you don't sound scared, your brain would still release the chemicals that reflect that and the system will pick up on it." Tony grinned.

  Krista nodded. She tapped a finger on her chin as she tried to think of a phrase. As a writer phrases were second nature to her. So after several minutes she finally found the perfect one. Nodding to Lance that she was ready, he hit the series of commands to record her voice.

  "You do what you have to, to come home to me."

  Again, the system beeped its acceptance. She caught Jerry's raised brow at her choice and merely shrugged at him. She turned back to watch Tony and Lance as they finished typing up a few commands.

  "And you're all set Krista." Tony stated.

  "Sweet. So, how do I work this thing?" Krista asked moving toward the chair.

  Lance helped her sit in the computer chair and brought up the main system screen. "Okay, this is the home for all commands for the whole system. Cameras, locks, alarms, audio, all of it. If you want to shut off say the cameras in a specific room or even the whole house for whatever reason you just open the file and select the command."

  Krista did as he said. She had been a bit worried that this system would be complicated and that she would inadvertently screw something up. Something she had actually done with her old system.

  "Looks like even you can't screw this up sister." Jerry teased.

  "Fuck you Jerry." Krista snarled, flipping him the bird without looking away from the screen.

  "Thought you were good at computers?" Tony said, hiding his grin.

  "Regular computers yes, but security computers like this? Not so much. Hell, I accidentally sent out a call to the fire department with the old system when I was trying to turn it off to replace a battery in one of the smoke detectors." She elaborated somewhat embarassingly.

  The men all laughed, except Lance who merely smirked, which made Krista glare at all of them. Lance spoke up first, clearing his throat. "Don't worry about that with this system. We’ve replaced your old smoke detectors with ours. They are solar powered and a backup battery with a lifespan of a year. You'll be fine."

  For another fifteen minutes, Lance and Tony showed Krista and Jerry how to use the system. Jerry was impressed and told the guys so. Krista smiled a little at her best friend and agent. Yes, he was a sweet guy with a fun side, but he was as protective of her as her brothers and despite his appearance, he was one hell of a martial artist.

  "So, since you've been working here for the last few hours and missed lunch, how about I whip up some chow for you." Krista offered when they came back downstairs.

  "We don't turn down free food." Tony grinned.

  "We don't want to inconvenience you." Lance added, elbowing Tony.

  "If it was an inconvenience Lance, I wouldn't have offered." Krista winked as she turned toward the kitchen.

  Once she was out of the room, Jerry faced Tony and Lance. "I want to thank you, all of you for helping."

  "It's our job." Tony nodded.

  Jerry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know, but...hell. Look, Krista can take care of herself, I know that and so does her family. Between her dad, brothers, me and her mom, I'd pit her against anyone and not worry about her coming out on top."

  "Then what are you and her family worried about here?" Lance inquired.

  "The fact that this asshole is anonymous. He, or she, could be anyone and be anywhere. That makes him just a bit more dangerous. Krista loves her fans, loves interacting with them. Especially at book signings and conferences. Yes, she can get a sense if a situation is off, but if this guy blends in as well as her dad and I think he does, she may not sense it till it's too late." Jerry elaborated.

  Tony placed his hand on Jerry's shoulder. "That's why we're here. To help prevent that from happening."

  Lance frowned, let out a breath then spoke again. "You know we're running a check on you right?"

  Jerry smirked. "Yep. In fact, Krista and I were discussing that. She knows every little dark dirty secret in my life. There is one instance that will undoubtedly show up. I told her we could tell Ethan and the rest of you so you know and will save you guys some trouble."

  At that moment Ethan walked in with Grant and Gage. Jerry openly stared at the three men. "Soup's on." Krista called stepping out of the kitchen. She stopped short seeing Ethan. "Oh, hey."

  "Hey." Ethan said. "This is Gage and Grant." He added.

  "Food?" Grant spoke up, offering her his hand.

  "Yeah, Krista offered to pay Hawk and I with food." Tony nodded as Gage also shook Krista's hand.

  "There's plenty for all of you." Krista smiled, then saw Jerry. "Oh for fuck's sake Jer, stop staring at these jarheads like you're a starving man."

  The Blackout guys coughed and looked a bit uncomfortable, but Jerry just shrugged. "You can't blame a guy. There's something about hot Marines that does it every time. For women and men."

  "Jesus, get in here and eat. Jackass." She mumbled shaking her head and returning to the kitchen.

  Ethan followed her into the open kitchen. The large round table was full of food. Sandwiches, potato salad, two bowls of chips, fruit and a pitcher of cold sweet tea. He moved to Krista's side to help her with the plates. "Let me help you with those."

  "Thanks." Krista smiled.

  As she handed him the plates, their fingers brushed. Ethan swore he heard her gasp and felt her tremble. She quickly turned away not meeting his eyes, to get the glasses. Smirking a little at her reaction, he moved over to the table. As he sat the plates down he felt eyes on him. When he looked up he found Jerry studying him thoughtfully.

  "What?" Ethan demanded.

  Jerry just winked and turned to Krista. Feeling ruffled Ethan, moved to sit down next to Gage. Yet, his eyes followed Krista as she played hostess filling glasses and handing out plates. She was just like her mother Debbie. The perfect hostess, yet you piss her off and she's drop you in less than ten seconds.

  "Oh wow." Tony moaned leaning back in his chair. "I think I'm in love. This potato salad is divine."

  "It's my mama's recipe." Krista smiled brightly. "Dad said he married her just for that alone."

  "Oh I'd believe it. This is delicious. It might be better than my mom's." Gage sighed, then sobered and looked at his teammates. "That does NOT leave this table!"

  Everyone laughed except again for Lance who just gave another of his smirks. "His ma would kick his ass if she heard that." Grant whispered to Krista making her giggle.

  After a few minutes Jerry looked at Krista and nodded. She sighed but returned the nod. "Okay, I have something to tell you. Now, Krista knows this and you will see it on my background, but I figured I'd tell you now and save you some trouble."

  Ethan sat up straighter. "Is it criminal?"

  Jerry got a thoughtful look on his face. "Kind of. You see, when I was seventeen I had an affair with my married biology teacher, Thomas. Thomas was gay and his wife had no idea. For months we snuck around. Then a week after I graduated his bitch of an ex found out. She pressed charges on statutory rape.

  "My parents immediately went to the courts and even bailed Thomas out. The judge listened to our story. All charges were dropped and his record expunged. Luckily, we kept the school board from firing him. He's still teaching there."

  "Are you two still involved?" Ethan asked.

  "Not romantically. I introduced him to his husband and was their witness at their wedding last year. Thomas and I are friends and he's a fan of Krista, but not a stalker type. His husband Mac, loves Krista's stuff so because they're my friends every year on Mac's birthday he gets what we call a swag pack. Bookmarks, sometimes a signed book, and
other stuff we give our fans at functions." Ethan answered.

  "Whenever I'm in New York, where they live, me and Jerry try to have dinner with Mac and Thomas. Jerry felt you guys should know. Especially since Thomas has invited us to dinner at their apartment while in New York." Krista added.

  "Appreciate the honesty Jerry." Ethan nodded. "Any other skeletons we need to know about?"

  Jerry laughed. "Oh I have skeletons hottie Ethan but not the kind you're thinking."

  Krista let out a deep belly laugh at the looks on the five Marine's faces. If Marines blushed she'd bet, they would all be tomato red by now. Yet she had to admit that Ethan looked sexy with a slight blush on his cheeks.