The Last Protector(Clayton White #1)(39)

“Unless what, Noah?”

“Unless someone gained physical access to our servers in Palo Alto and wiped them. And who would want to do that anyway? Drain isn’t a threat to anyone—it’s a freaking archaeological application!”

Veronica’s mouth and throat suddenly turned into sandpaper. Her hands became clammy.

Noah didn’t notice she’d fallen silent. “I need to head to the office now to assess the damage. I can’t do that remotely.”

His words brought her back to reality. “No!” she shouted. “Don’t go.”

“Why the hell not? What’s going on, Vonnie?” There was a pause. “Do you know something about this? Does it have something to do with what happened to you tonight?”

“I . . . I don’t know, Noah,” she replied honestly. “But I don’t want you to take any unnecessary risks, okay? Just in case. Please.”

She heard him exhale. “I’ll need to call the others. They need to know what’s going on.”

“Of course. Please do,” she said, but Noah had already hung up.

She rubbed her moist hands on her jeans. Was it a coincidence that SkyCU had been the victim of a cyberattack the same day someone had tried to kill her? She had a feeling that both occurrences were linked. That meant that her father wasn’t behind the problems logging in to SkyCU.

Thinking her father would go that far to disrupt her work on the app had been a stupid idea from the start. No wonder Clay had been dismissive.

What’s wrong with me? she asked herself. The only thing her dad ever wanted was to keep her safe. Right?





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX


Palo Alto, California

White was the first to spot the rectangular white three-story building that housed the offices of SkyCU Technology. The start-up’s website specified that the business was located on the third floor. The main entrance was through a pair of double doors facing the street.

“It’s right there to our left,” White said.

Ashby, who was driving the unmarked sedan, slowed down.

“What are you looking for?” Folsom asked. “It’s quiet. All the lights are off.”

White was pleased to see nothing extraordinary going on around the building. At least it wasn’t on fire. Quiet was good.

“Do you mind dropping me off?” he asked. “I’ll do a quick walk-around; then we can all be on our way.”

Ashby turned the sedan around and parked next to the curb. “There you go,” he said, switching off the engine.

“I’ll just be a couple of minutes,” White said, opening the car door. “Thank you.”

White climbed out of the vehicle and stepped onto the palm tree–lined sidewalk. There were two exterior parking lots connected to the building. A large one was in front and to the left, while a smaller one was at the back of the building. Both were well lit and deserted, with the exception of a dark-colored SUV. No lights were visible in any of the windows. White walked leisurely around the perimeter of the building, looking for any signs of a break and enter. He didn’t find any.

He almost didn’t bother walking to the main entrance to try opening the double doors. Surely, they would be locked. He glanced toward Ashby and Folsom, who were both leaning against the hood of the sedan, smoking cigarettes. He motioned to them he was almost done. White branched off to his right and headed toward the entrance. Behind the double doors, a faint light emanated from the foyer. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place. There was a small note at the side of the door reminding the tenants to use their key fob after 6:00 p.m.

White nevertheless pulled the door handle and was stunned when the door swung open. He examined the locking mechanism. It was a standard commercial electronic lock. It didn’t look like it had been forced open. Inoperative power locks were usually caused by either a wiring or mechanical problem. He glanced behind him at the two CID agents, hoping to let them know he was going inside, but they weren’t looking in his direction.

White stepped inside the foyer and pressed the call button for the elevator. Since he was already inside the building, it wouldn’t take much of his time to check the third floor. Who knew? Maybe if he was lucky there would be a SkyCU employee working late who wouldn’t mind letting him in?

White rode the elevator to the third floor. He stepped off into a darkened corridor. In front of him was a small sign with plenty of space to name all the businesses that occupied that floor. For now, SkyCU Technology seemed to be the only tenant. White found its entrance door in no time. He was about to knock when he noticed that the deadlock had been tampered with, as if someone had used a lock-pick gun to break it.

White pulled his snub-nose .38 revolver from its ankle holster. Then, with his left hand, he turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. The interior was dark, with barely enough light for him to see. He slipped inside the instant there was enough space for him to go through. His right foot immediately hit something, and he almost fell forward. He looked down.

Shit! His feet had bumped into a dead man. White’s heart rate spiked, and he stepped to his left, getting away from the doorframe. His back scratched against something.

The light switch, he thought. He used his left hand to flip it. The light came on. Two more bodies were on the floor. There was no need to check for a pulse to know they were dead. Each of them had been shot in the head, although one of them had also been shot twice center mass.