Hacking Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 5) Page 3

  Carson flipped the leather wallet open, giving me a glimpse of the badge tucked inside. “You won’t mind if I check that.”

  “No, not at all,” the man said.

  “At least he’s smart enough to check the credentials,” Martin said.

  “If Lucy thought this guy was a threat, she’d shoot him.” Sloan smiled. “I’ve always understood her better than anyone else.”

  I ignored the voices and kept my gun pointed on him when Grant appeared at my back as if ready to yank me out of harm’s way if he didn’t like the answers Carson got from the phone call he was about to make.

  “If you are who you say you are, what do you want?” I asked.

  “I’m looking for one of your acquaintances. I was told by an informant that he’d be here tonight.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Who are you looking for?”

  “Sam Zachman.”

  My finger tightened on the trigger. “Why?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” Kent answered.

  “Then I’m not at liberty to tell you if he’s here or not, Mr. Kent,” I said with a raised brow.

  Carson rested his hand on my gun and lowered it to the ground. “Right, Noah. Yeah, I understand.”

  “Looks like my credentials were sufficient.” Kent smirked.

  “I still don’t like him,” Sloan said, circling Kent. “I don’t like him at all.”

  Sloan confirmed my personal assumption about this guy. There was just something about the Homeland Security agent that felt…off.

  “Your problem is with authority, just like Lucy’s. That’s why you two got along. Until you died,” Martin said. Floating through Carson, he came to stop right next to me.

  I kept my gaze trained on Kent and ignored my exes. Listening to them was a distraction I didn’t need. If I could ever figure out how to shut off that channel, they’d both be gone. I already had enough people in my head to deal with. I didn’t need these two screwing with my emotions.

  “What do you want with the kid?” I asked.

  “So, you do know him?” Kent deflected.

  “Answer my question or come back with a search warrant. The choice is yours.” I smiled back.

  “Get him, Red. He ruined your dinner party,” Sloan said.

  My eye twitched, but I wouldn’t look away.

  The smirk on Kent’s face fell into a frown. “We believe he was involved in hacking a government agency, and I need to take him in for questioning.”

  “What agency?” I asked.

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Okay, then. My hospitality ends here. Have a good night,” I said with a flick of my wrist, shutting the door in the man’s face.

  Kent’s hand flew out, blocking it from closing. “I’m afraid my orders are to bring him in regardless.”

  “The hell you say,” I answered, lifting my gun again.

  Ford rounded the corner and laid a gentle palm on my hand, forcing me to point my weapon at the floor. What was it with the men in my life lowering my gun?

  Ford gave me an inscrutable look, before focusing on Kent. “He’s not here.”

  “I had a tail on him that suggests otherwise.”

  “That’s one sure-fire way to piss her off.” Martin leaned around me to look at Sloan, who was on my other side.

  “She can handle him. Hell, she was the only woman to ever handle me,” Sloan added.

  The goosebumps rose quicker than my temper.

  Ford left his hand on my arm. “Let him in, Lucy, so he can see for himself.”

  “No,” I growled. “I will not.”

  “Yes, you will,” Grant, my brother-in-law, said, lifting me off my feet and carrying me out of the way.

  The elbow jab I delivered to his gut had me sliding down to my feet. My gaze flew into the dining room to find Sam had vanished.

  Carson showed Kent into my home. Anger stirred in my veins. These people didn’t live here. They were all getting the boot, starting with Homeland.

  “As you can see, he’s not here. He was earlier, but he left early before dinner was even served,” Carson said.

  “I don’t believe you,” Kent said as his gaze scanned the room as if looking for hiding places.

  “Then check for yourself and quit wasting our time. Their food is getting cold,” Gigi said with an eerily calmness to her voice from the dining room with her arms crossed. People thought I was the tough one. They hadn’t a clue until they crossed my sister.

  “If you helped him escape, I can charge you all with obstruction.”

  “You aren’t the first to threaten us,” I said, taking the wallet out of Carson’s hold. I flipped it open to the ID and memorized the address on his license. “You’re a long way from 214 Sycamore Street in Washington, D.C., Mr. Kent.”

  “We should haunt him,” Martin said.

  “We should do a lot more than that,” Sloan added.

  I wished they would. I wished they’d leave me alone. They were double as annoying as my sister. I couldn’t talk back to them, not with everyone else around.

  I tossed Kent back his wallet, and he realized his mistake. “My job and my cases take me to lots of places, Dr. Bray.”

  My lips twisted at the corner. “I see you’ve done your homework.”

  “Yes, well, Sam isn’t just a hacker. He’s a liaison with the FBI. It pays to know who I’m dealing with.”

  “I’m flattered, but if that were the case, then you’d already have your answer.” I smiled, genuinely. “You can’t believe that the FBI agents and liaisons in my group are just going to hand over the kid. He’s probably on his way out of the state if I had to guess.”

  Kent’s eye twitched as his gaze darted around the room. “Yes, well...”

  I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder. “Feel free to take a look.”

  Kent’s cell phone rang, and he answered, never dropping his gaze. A look of anger momentarily crossed his face before he covered it with his mask again. “Seems you may be right. There’s movement at Sam’s apartment. My guys are about to breach.”

  “All right then, you have a nice night,” Grant said and led Kent out the front door. I raced to the window and inched the curtain to the side. Kent got into an SUV and drove off.

  “We’ve got to get to Sam and help him,” I said, grabbing my keys off the foyer table and heading toward my garage.

  Carson caught me around the waist. “Sam is fine.”

  “You don’t know that,” I barked, trying to claw out of Carson’s hold.

  “Actually, I do,” Carson said, releasing me. “Sam’s not at his apartment.”

  “But you just heard him,” I said, pointing to the door. “They’re about to arrest Sam.”

  “Lucy, he never left,” Carson said, guiding me into the kitchen. He opened my pantry door, where Sam was sitting on the floor, bathed in a blue light from his laptop as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Chapter 6

  “You guys were bluffing?” I gasped, trying hard not to yell at them.

  “Of course, we were. Noah said he’d create the diversion, and he did.”

  “I think I’m liking these guys more.” Martin hopped up on my kitchen countertop.

  Sloan didn’t look like he agreed but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

  My chest clenched as I stared down at my little IT-loving younger brother by another mother, who was staring up at me.

  “We need a minute,” I said, stepping into my pantry and closing the door behind me. I eased down onto the cold tile floor. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “I didn’t do what they said,” Sam said.

  He was lying. I knew it in my heart by the way his cheeks tinted even under the harsh blue computer light.

  “So you don’t know anything about a death threat or three dead computer geeks.”

  Sam narrowed his gaze at me. “I knew I should have logged out of my damn email.”

  “Should-a, would-a, could-a. Now,
are you ready to tell me the truth?” I asked.

  “You can’t help me, Lucy. You can’t even help yourself out of the self-imposed hell that has you running headfirst into danger.” Sam slammed his laptop shut and shoved to his feet.

  I followed, turning on the pantry light. “Sam, I know what I’ve been doing. I had a good reason, but if you’re in danger—”

  “What are you going to do, Lucy? You going to fix my problems by getting yourself killed? That’s what you’re trying to do, right? Well, I won’t let you use my problems as an excuse. So just butt out.”

  Sam shoved around me and out the pantry door. The guys were all standing in the kitchen waiting.

  I met Carson’s gaze and pointed to Sam’s back fast-retreating out of the kitchen. Carson moved without me saying a word. He followed Sam out into the living room, stopping him from reaching the door.

  “What is going on?” I asked Grant.

  Grant shrugged. “We’ve been trying to get him to talk for weeks.”

  I turned my gaze to Ford. “You didn’t notice there was anything wrong with him?”

  “How could I when my main focus has been on you?” Ford said, walking out of the room and into the living room. Grant followed.

  “He has a point, Red,” Sloan added.

  I shot daggers in his direction.

  “She didn’t like that.” Martin chuckled.

  I dropped my gaze to the floor, my hands on my hips. How was this my fault?

  “I noticed and I warned you,” Gigi said, uncapping a beer and handing it me.

  “This used to be so much easier when it was just you and me,” I said, lifting my gaze.

  “You don’t mean that,” Gigi said, resting her hip against the counter. “You save lives.”

  “And I take them,” I said.

  “To save them,” she corrected.

  “You know…” Gigi cleared her throat. “Sloan was a great guy. One of the best.”

  “I knew she was a good judge of character,” Sloan said with a monstrous-sized smile on his face.

  “He saw something special in you from the first time you met.”

  “How would you know?” I asked.

  “Grant told me when he filled me in on everything I missed.”

  I took a swig of my beer.

  “What would Sloan tell you to do right now, in this moment?”

  “To get out of my head and be the pain in the ass he always knew I was. Then he’d tell me to start living again because life’s too short. Then he’d make a joke. He always knew how to make me laugh.”

  “Damn right I would. Your friends need you, more than you need to be sad about me. So, stop it already,” Sloan said.

  “I think he knew you pretty well. So, what’s it going to take for you to get out of your head?” Gigi asked.

  “I think you just did that.” I clinked my beer against hers in passing. I set my beer down on the counter and pulled out a knife from the butcher block. “It’s time to remind them how much of a pain in the ass I can be.”

  I stepped into the living room to find Carson and Grant blocking the exits and Ford sitting on the couch. He’d changed the TV station to an antiques show.

  I gestured to the couches and chairs. “Everyone sit.”

  They didn’t move.

  I crossed the room to Sam and took his hand in mine. “You and I aren’t finished.”

  “Lucy, just go back to running from your ghosts.”

  If he only knew how close his statement came. I shoved the thought aside and focused on dealing with my problem. I opened Sam’s palm and sliced before slapping my hand against his, letting the blood absorb into my skin.

  Sam’s mouth parted. Words seemed to escape him as he tried to wrench his hand free.

  I held on tighter. “You’re now part of my blood. So, sit your little happy ass down and explain what is going on so I can help you.”

  “There’s that fire in her eyes I fell in love with,” Martin said.

  “Ow. Damn it, Lucy,” Sam said, finally finding his words. His determined look couldn’t undo the forever-cemented blood bond. He was screwed, and as if realizing what that meant, he pulled his hand free.

  “You’re stuck with me now until one of us dies,” I said.

  Gigi appeared with a rag and handed it to him to use on his hand.

  “She’s back,” Gigi said drawing out the last syllable as she sang the words. “My work here is done.” She kissed Grant’s cheek. “I’ll leave you to talk business and see you at home.”

  “You didn’t even eat,” I said, gesturing to the dining room table.

  “I made myself a to-go plate,” she said, heading back into the kitchen and returning with a bag in hand. “Now you guys play nice. I don’t want a call from Lucy later saying she needs help hiding a body, because I will,” Gigi said, pointing from her eyes to the others in the group.

  “Welcome back.” Carson nudged my arm. “I’ll go get the first aid kit. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

  Sam plopped down onto the couch next to Ford with his laptop and bag at his feet. I sat on the coffee table in front of him, not giving him any room to breathe. Homeland wasn’t an issue that was going to magically disappear.

  Grant took the recliner nearest the door, as if ready to move at a moment’s notice.

  “Now, you need to start explaining why three hackers are dead and you’re getting death threats via email,” I said, lifting my brow.

  Sam remained quiet while Carson returned and started to bandage the cut on Sam’s hand.

  Ford nudged him. “You might as well tell her. She’s not going to let it go.”

  “You’re right,” I said, looking at Ford. Something unspoken passed between us. A conversation we’d need to have. My heart raced as tingles shot down my spine. I ignored the sensations and turned my gaze back to Sam. “He’s right, so spill it.”

  Sam sighed in annoyance. Aggravation pulled at his frown. The blue tips of his hair not only matched his eyes but also matched his mood. “Sloan turned me on to a hacking job. Turns out, the job wasn’t on the up and up. It was only one small piece to a bigger equation.”

  “Well, hell,” Martin said, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his gaze to Sloan.

  “How the hell was I supposed to know?” Sloan asked.

  My brows rose even as my heart clenched. “Sloan got you into this mess?”

  Chapter 7

  “Yeah,” Sam said. “He trusted your opinion of me and after seeing what I could do. I needed the money, and he was trying to help.”

  “He put you in danger?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Sloan, who was now standing behind Sam.

  “Not on purpose, Lucy. You know I’d never hurt the kid. You would have killed me.”

  “She did.” Martin chuckled.

  “It was a remote job,” Sam said, pulling my attention back to him. “I was getting paid to hack what is supposed to be unhackable. I thought I was supposed to find the vulnerabilities in these systems, but it was more like a competition. We were supposed to hack into the designated companies as sort of a game in search of hidden files, like little Easter eggs, if you will. We each were given targets, and the first one to post their Easter egg won.”

  “What would you win?”

  “That’s not important,” he said, sitting closer. “What’s important is the companies we were tasked with breaching.”

  “Okay, so like hacking a government agency just to prove you could do it hack?”

  His lips twitched. “Yeah, something like that. In the end, it was to determine where they were vulnerable, but for us, it was more of a treasure hunt,” he continued. “Find all the treasure and win.”

  “If the companies knew they were going to be hacked in search of vulnerabilities, then why is Homeland Security looking for you?”

  “They cover cyber security,” Ford said as he rose to stand behind me. “What went wrong with your hack?”

  “There were f
our places that were out of the norm from the typical places we get tested on.”

  I already didn’t like where this was going. Four places, three dead bodies, and the remaining hacker sitting in front of me.

  “A medical company. A hospital. A highly secured school. And the CDC.”

  My mouth parted, and words evaded me.

  “I didn’t know all the targets,” Sloan said with a frown as his gaze landed on Ford’s hand which was resting on my shoulder.

  “They were mixed in with a bunch of other little random places,” Sam said.

  I rested my elbows on my knees. “Did all four of you hack those places?”

  He shook his head. “We were doing them as assignments.”

  “Which one did you get?” Please don’t say the CDC.

  “The CDC,” he said, his voice quiet.

  I rose and started to pace. “Have you lost your ever-lovin’ mind?”

  “It’s not like they had me take down a power grid or anything like that. I was to find an Easter egg, that was all. And I did.”

  “Okay,” I said, rubbing at my temples. “What exactly was the Easter egg?”

  “A random list of hidden numbers and letters. They mean nothing.”

  I stopped pacing. “And the three dead hackers… Had they completed their hacks already?”

  “Well, yeah. We weren’t supposed to know who the other people were that were involved, but we’re hackers. It’s kind of what we do. I knew the other guys from MIT, and let me tell you, they were good and fast.”

  “And dead,” I said, reminding him of the danger.

  “What were you supposed to do with the Easter egg when you found it?” Carson asked.

  “We were supposed to upload it onto a secure website that was established for the game.”

  “Did you enter it?” Grant asked.

  Sam shook his head. “I’d made a deal with my friends. We were going to do it simultaneously, so we each got a cut of the money for being the first to find ours. The day we were supposed to do the uploading, we were going to get into the chat room so we could time it perfectly. Only no one showed. It was just me.”