Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(55)

“Okay, well, if others are working on it, how does this involve me?”

“Simple. My dad doesn’t trust them. He trusts you. I trust you. Besides, with the people the Council chose to work on it, it will probably take months for them to figure out where the breach came from. We need someone who is efficient and can do this as quickly as possible. That is where you come in.”

“Who do they have working on it?”

“My father said it was Howie Becker and Andrea Goodwin.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Becker and Goodwin? Are you serious? Idiots. They could not figure their way out of a paper bag. At least your dad has more sense to ask me. I do have a question though. How do you expect me to do this? I don’t have full security clearance. Do you want me to hack into our own database?”

Declan smirked. “You will have full security access as of tomorrow.”

Caleb almost fell backwards in his seat. “Holy shit. Seriously?”

“Seriously. Obviously, as a result, you are going to be privy to a bunch of information that is classified, records I do not even have access to, and records that Goodwin and Becker will definitely not have access to. I don’t think I have to emphasize to you how important it is that you keep this information to yourself. Any findings that you think may be of any consequence are to be reported to myself and my father only.”

Caleb stood up, and paced around the room for a minute, thinking, strategizing. “You were not kidding when you implied this security breach must have been huge. It would not have been anything less for your father to agree to do this. Look, I’m not going to be able to trace who did this overnight. Whoever got access to those files must have known what they were doing and I guarantee they covered their tracks and covered them well.”

“Are you saying you don’t think you can do it?”

Caleb laughed. “Are you kidding me? I am freaking Caleb Turner. You of all people know I am a pompous ass. Of course I can do it. I am just saying it may take a few weeks. I need more information though.”

“I’ll have a full file for you tomorrow with all the information you need.”

Caleb let out a deep breath and rubbed his palms together. Declan saw a twinkle in his eye that was not there before. He knew that Caleb would be the right person for the job. “I’ll do it.”

“My father really wasn’t asking, Caleb.”

“Do you have to take the fun out of everything, Declan?”

“Just keeping it real.”

They made arrangements to meet for the file, before he met Caitlyn for training the following morning. Declan left then, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night gathering the information that Caleb was going to need. It was a tedious task to say the least, obtaining all the passwords and clearances that he would need.

The sun was beginning to crest over the horizon and Declan had not even closed his eyes yet. Declan groaned as he transported back to the training facilities, knowing that yet another long day awaited him. Caleb met him as promised, and Declan had been able to obtain all the information Caleb would need to begin his investigation.

Caitlyn walked up then, fresh from a good night’s sleep with two coffees in hand, as Caleb was beginning to walk away. “Morning Declan. Morning Caleb! What brings you out so early? I’ve never seen you before noon and you only get up at noon when Garrett finally bugs you enough to join him at the gym.”

Caleb huffed. “I do get up early, you know...” Caitlyn gave him a knowing look. “Well, sometimes. Anyways, I had some early morning appointments this morning I needed to attend and I ran into Declan.”

Declan was happy to note that Caitlyn appeared to take the answer at face value as she dropped the line of questioning to Caleb. “Well, anyways, it was nice to see you in the early morning daylight. Try to have a good morning.”

Caleb already appeared distracted fiddling with the flash drive Declan had given him muttering a simple, “You too.”

As he walked away, Caitlyn eyed Declan with a smirk on her face. She grabbed a cup of steaming coffee, handing it to him. “Black, no cream, two sugars just the way you like it. So what’s going on?”

Declan gratefully took the cup of coffee, taking a sip. “What are you talking about?”

Caitlyn jerked her head in Caleb’s direction and then back at him. “Please. Give me a little credit, will you? Between the two of you. He was meeting you this morning, was he not? Something happened last night. You have not even switched out of yesterday’s clothes.”