White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(67)

“Can I tuck you back into bed?”

“Sadly, I don’t think I’m done. Karma is paying me back for that time I pretended to have morning sickness. She is such a bitch.”

He sat down next to her and stroked her head gently.

“When are you leaving for headquarters?” she asked.

“In a few minutes. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll probably still be right here on this floor when you get back.”



Ian stopped walking when he and Charlie reached the parking lot. He’d likely only been making small talk when he asked about Kate, but Ian didn’t want to share anything about her with Charlie, and his suspicions prevented him from telling him their happy news, even though he would have liked to.

“Someone hacked our security system.”

“You sure it was hacked?”

“Positive. I modified the existing system with additional safeguards when we moved into the house. Only a hacker would be able to penetrate it.” Ian let the words hang.

Realization dawned on Charlie’s face. “Hold on a minute. You think it was me?”

He kept his expression neutral. “I didn’t say that.”

Charlie’s face fell. “Yeah, you did.”

“She’s my wife.”

“I know. You say that a lot. I haven’t forgotten what it’s like to have one, you know.” After Charlie’s wife cheated on him, he hadn’t wanted to talk about it much—with Ian or anyone else.

Charlie walked toward his car without a backward glance. Ian could have gone after him. He could have apologized and assured Charlie he didn’t think it was him. But he stood his ground. He had to. He knew better than anyone that manipulation was all part of the game. If Charlie had to lie to reach his goal, he’d look Ian right in the eye while saying the words. Ian would do the same, and for that matter, so would Kate.

It didn’t stop him from feeling bad, and at that moment all he wanted was to get home and put his arms around his wife.





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ian’s phone buzzed on the nightstand, rousing him from sleep. At first he thought it might be Phillip or Charlie and that the hacktivists had been successful in attacking the power grid, but when he glanced at the screen he realized the call had come from Kyle, one of the guards working the overnight shift, and he shot out of bed.

“What?” he said by way of greeting, keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t wake Kate.

“You better come out here. The camera picked up someone on the grounds. Rich came up from the gate, and we apprehended the guy and called the police. They’re on their way.”

He threw on some clothes, and fifteen seconds later he flew through the door of the outbuilding. A man whose expression was somewhere between calculating and furious sat in a folding chair, making no attempt to get up. When Ian looked closer, he realized Kyle and Rich had zip-tied his wrists to the arms of the metal chair. The man had short brown hair, and Ian guessed his age as early thirties. He withdrew his phone and snapped several pictures of the intruder’s face.

“What’s his name?” Ian asked Kyle.

“He won’t say, and there’s no ID on him.”

“Who are you?” Ian asked. The man remained silent, and rage like Ian had never felt before burst forth from him. “Who are you!” He kicked the leg of the chair hard enough to move it several inches. Still the man said nothing, and it was clear he wouldn’t be changing his mind anytime soon.

Ian paced until the police arrived, gritting his teeth so hard it would take two days before his jaw stopped aching. Before they led the man away in handcuffs, Ian pulled the officer aside.

“I want to know who he is, and I want him charged with anything you can charge him with.”

The officer nodded. “Someone will be assigned to your case, and they’ll be in touch as soon as possible.”

But Ian knew it could be twenty-four hours or more before they had any information for him, and he had no intention of waiting that long. Ian stared at the metal arms of the folding chair after they left. “I don’t suppose you know how to lift fingerprints?” he said to Kyle.

“No. But I’ve got a friend who’s a retired detective. He owes me a favor. He can lift them for you, but he won’t be able to run anything through the database. He doesn’t have access anymore.”

“If you get me the print, I can take it from there.” The FBI maintained the database, so access wouldn’t be a problem. Once Ian had the man’s name, there were places he could go to find out all kinds of information.

“I want you and Rich to search the grounds in case there were two of them. Take turns patrolling the exterior of the house. Let me know when you have the print.”

Kyle pulled out his phone. “I’ll call him right now and see if I can get him out here first thing in the morning.”





CHAPTER THIRTY

Ian went back into the house. The pounding in his head had reached a fever pitch, so he stopped in the kitchen and rummaged in the drawer next to the sink for some Tylenol. He shook the pills into his hand and scooped up water from the faucet to wash them down. There was no denying a confrontation loomed on the horizon, perhaps in the not-so-distant future. In a way, he welcomed it because it meant taking a stand.