DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(147)

I dropped into my chair and stared at my own laptop. There had to be something I was missing. The whole thing just seemed suddenly off. Emails from his own computer. An attempt to steal a device that was days away from getting a patent. Was my dad right? Was there more to this than what we were seeing? If so, what?

I was missing something, and I had to figure out what it was before it was too late.





Chapter 15


Lucien

I was on the couch running code on my laptop when Jacob walked into the house, pulling his suitcase behind him.

“Long drive?”

He didn’t say anything, just walked past me and went to his bedroom. I followed, pausing in the doorway to watch him flip on his computer and check for emails.

“Were the parental units annoyed that we all fled early?”

“Not really. I think they wanted some time alone with Rachel to try to figure out what she’s going to do next.”

“Adrienne suggested they make her go to work in fast food.”

Jacob snickered. “Could you see that?”

“I had the same reaction. But Adrienne had a point when she said that it would probably scare her into going back to college.”

“It might.” Jacob glanced at me. “Where is Adrienne?”

“She went home.”

“Really? I didn’t think the two of you were at that point yet.”

“What point?”

“Where you’re okay being apart.”

“I’m okay with her going home as long as she comes back.”

Jacob just shook his head as he turned back to his computer. I was about to leave when he said, “Hey. What’s this?”

I walked over to stand behind him and looked down at his screen. It was an email sent from my email address. But it wasn’t from me.

You should warn your brother not to mess with fire. He’ll take you all down with him.

“What does this mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s from your email address.”

“I didn’t send it.”

“Lucien…”

“I didn’t send it, Jacob.”

I backed away, tugging my cellphone from my pocket.

“Who are you calling?”

“Adrienne.”

“Why? What the hell is she going to do? What’s going on?”

I ignored him, walking out into the hallway so I could hear. The phone rang half a dozen times before going to voicemail.

“It’s me. Jacob just got an odd email from my account. Call me.”

“Lucien,” Jacob said again, standing in the doorway watching me. “Tell me what the f*ck is going on.”

What choice did I have? I dragged my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out where to start. At the beginning? What was the beginning?

My phone vibrated.

“Adrienne?”

“What did it say?” she asked, her voice full of a wariness that sent warning bells screaming in my head.

“That he should tell me not to mess with fire.”

“Fire? And it was sent from your account?”

“Yeah. How did they—”

“I’m coming to you. Stay there and wait.”

She hung up before I could say anything else.

“Lucien, why are you telling your girlfriend about this?”

“Because she’s not my girlfriend. Not really.”

Jacob’s face darkened, storm clouds moving across his eyes.

“We might as well get comfortable.”




Adrienne arrived not a minute after I finished explaining the whole thing to Jacob. He was sitting on the couch, his hands clutched between his legs, his eyes on the floor. I went to the door and let Adrienne in.

“I had to tell Jacob everything.”

She nodded, not really looking me in the eye.

“Hey,” I said, touching her arm, “are we okay?”

She looked up at me. “I have some hard questions I need to ask. Maybe it would be better if we do this and decide where we stand after.”

She brushed past me and went into the living room. She didn’t sit, but paced in front of the fireplace, her hands clutched behind her back. I watched, growing more and more uneasy the longer she simply paced and remained silent.

“You’re a private investigator?” Jacob asked.

Adrienne stopped, focusing on him. “I am.”

“And all that, that night at the bar, was just an act.”

She looked at me a second, then sort of shrugged. “I think that’s a little irrelevant right now. What we should be focusing on is whoever is sending these emails threatening Lucien.”

“Threats? He said they were just little warnings, like the one on my computer.”

“They’re threats. And we need to figure out who’s sending them.”

“Can’t you do some sort of computer thing and figure that out?”

Again her eyes moved to mine before she took a seat on the couch across from Jacob and leaned forward, looking him in the eye.

“We believe the emails originated from Lucien’s computer at the office.”

“My computer?” I said. “You’re joking, right?”