CHAPTER NINE
ARE YOU EVEN listening to me?”
Isaac’s question jerked Kendall out of her reveries. She gave herself a mental shake, realizing she had no idea what her boss had said. She had no idea how long she’d zoned out. Hell, she barely remembered walking into the San Diego field office.
“Of course,” she lied. “Every word.”
Isaac frowned, like he thought she was full of crap. Kendall returned his gaze, telling herself there was no real way he could know what she was actually thinking. Because if he knew the only thing running through her mind at the moment was concern over Holden’s safety, Isaac’s head would probably explode.
Even now, her big, sexy SEAL could be in the middle of a combat zone in Syria, Yemen, Niger, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter getting shot at by psychos with AK-47s.
She couldn’t believe how much she wanted Holden to be okay.
Kendall was on the verge of hyperventilating when she realized Isaac was talking again. Crap. She sat up straighter in the chair in front of his desk and forced herself to calm down and pay attention this time.
“The NSA is losing their friggin' minds,” Isaac said. “While you’ve been working your cover with Lockwood, the person who stole the Key has been busy driving up interest in the sale by showing exactly what the device can do. And unfortunately, they know exactly how to generate a buzz.”
“What did they do?”
Isaac’s mouth tightened. “They used the Key to hack into the secure side of Lockheed Martin’s mainframe, then stole drawings and schematics on their newest 5th generation stealth fighter’s missile defense system, which they immediately posted to the Dark Web. The NSA is doing everything they can to get it off there, but in reality, the damage is already done. The DOD is saying it will likely cost millions to change the F-35’s defense systems at this point. And just to show they’re not playing favorites, whoever has the Key waltzed into the Kremlin’s computers and stole the performance characteristics for the Russian’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. That system is in Syria right now and what it can do was supposed to be the most closely guarded secret the Russians had. Putin is probably executing poor IT people in the Kremlin right now.”
Kendall sat there stunned. Everyone said the Key was a game changer, but this was unreal. The stuff they’d stolen for demonstration purposes was the kind of crap countries went to war over. It was one more thing that made her really question how Holden could have been involved in something like this. He was in the military, fighting and bleeding in places like Syria. Would he really betray his country like this? It didn’t seem to fit.
Isaac sat back in his chair. “I can’t help thinking Lockwood somehow knew we were onto him and arranged this deployment—or whatever it is—to get away from us.”
Kendall wondered how Isaac had gotten where he was in the Bureau. Maybe someone had screwed up and promoted him by mistake. He obviously wasn’t bright enough to have gotten to his pay grade on merit alone.
“I’m not sure a petty officer in the Navy—even if he’s a SEAL—has the power and authority to arrange his own deployment,” she said dryly. “Maybe we should chalk it up to bad luck on our part and the insane workload on the part of the Navy’s Special Operation Command.”
Isaac seemed to consider that for a moment, then shrugged. “I see your point. Regardless, it could be a major catastrophe. If he’s away too long, we’ll have no chance of finding the Key before the auction.”
Kendall silently agreed. She knew the rest of the Bureau was busting their butts trying to work their way backward through the Dark Web auction site hoping to find the seller, but truthfully, that was a long shot. Those kinds of places existed on the Dark Web so the identity of the seller could remain a mystery. Sure, if they had a while, they could certainly connect all the dots. But they didn’t have that kind of time.
“You said you searched his apartment. Are you sure you didn’t find anything of use? Maybe we should get a tech to look at his computer?”
Kendall shook her head. She’d already told Isaac she hadn’t found anything. “You don’t need a tech for his laptop. Like I said, I have the password.”
He regarded her thoughtfully, curiosity warring with suspicion in his gray eyes. “And how did you crack his password? I know you’re good with analytics, but I didn’t think computers were your thing.”
Did he actually just compliment her?
“Holden doesn’t believe in protecting his passwords,” she said. “They weren’t hard to find.”
That wasn’t exactly true, but it was close enough. If she told Isaac that Holden had given her the password, he’d probably insist there was some kind of subterfuge involved.
“He left his password out where anyone could find it?” Isaac frowned. “Maybe it’s fake?”
“It’s not fake.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I got into his laptop and read everything in it. And before you ask, there aren’t any encrypted files on there. In fact, there’s nothing of interest on there at all.”
That was a lie. The computer had been filled to bursting with folder after folder of photos and videos, and she’d spent hours looking at every one of them. There’d been lots of shots of stunning views from all around the world—deserts, mountains, jungles, desolate looking cities made of little more than mud and straw, and others built of stone and brick that looked a thousand-years-old. It was obvious Holden traveled extensively to parts of the globe Kendall could only dream about ever seeing.
But it wasn’t the vivid landscape and cityscape shots that had caught her attention the most. It was the photos of him and his Teammates, many of whom she’d met, and others she hadn’t. Holden was smiling in every one of those pictures, even the ones taken in some godawful places.
She’d been a little surprised that Holden didn’t have a single picture on his computer from his life before the Navy. She knew he’d grown up in a tough situation, but still, there wasn’t a picture of him as a kid or any of his family. But somewhere in the hours spent clicking from pic to pic, seeing his adult life played out through images of exotic locales, travel, friends, and war, Kendall realized she was seeing his life. Not the life and family he’d been born into, but the one he’d chosen for himself. The SEALs were his life. His teammates were his family.
“What about e-mails?” Isaac asked. “Anything there we might have missed? Any indications of covert accounts?”
“There’s nothing in his personal e-mail account but quick messages with his teammates about cook-outs, parties, and scheduled training,” she said. “There’s nothing to indicate he has other e-mail accounts under fake names, either. And before you ask, there’s nothing that makes me think there’s a cloud storage account somewhere we might have missed. A search of his web browser didn’t turn up anything, either.”
“Maybe he cleans out his browser history?”
She snorted. “Trust me, he doesn’t clean out his browser history. And no, while Holden Lockwood is a typical red-blooded male, he doesn’t seem to have any bizarre internet searches.”
Isaac scowled. “What about his apartment? Is there anything that ties him to the theft in San Francisco?”
“Nope. I searched, which didn’t take long. The man is a Navy SEAL. He’s spent his entire adult life living out of a ruck sack. He literally has nothing personal in his apartment,” she said, then added, “Which is a little sad actually.”
Isaac pinned her with a look, his eyes narrowing. “Holden Lockwood might be a decorated Navy SEAL, but he’s also a traitor to his country. And as soon as we catch him, he’s going to prison for life. Now, have you gotten anything out of Lockwood since moving in with him or should I talk to the SAIC about aborting this whole undercover plan?”
Overwhelmed with a sudden urge to be obtuse, Kendall almost suggested he do that. Let the FBI find someone else to do their dirty work. But she stopped herself. That would only make this situation worse. She was a federal law enforcement agent and needed to start thinking like it.
“There was one thing he said that might mean something,” she said slowly. Her stomach twisted at the bizarre feeling of betrayal that tore through her at the thought of revealing anything Holden had told her in confidence. But she had to. It was her job. “When I was talking to Holden yesterday about growing up in San Francisco, he mentioned someone who got him out of the gang he was in. I got the impression the guy was older because Holden talked about him almost like a father figure. While Holden didn’t say it, I’m pretty sure the guy was involved in organized crime.”
Isaac’s eyes widened. “There’s nothing like that in Lockwood’s files. You think this man might be the one he stole the Key for? A connection with organized crime would certainly make sense. Did you get the man’s name?”
Kendall shook her head, almost relieved she hadn’t. “No, and I couldn’t push for one, not without arousing suspicion.”
Isaac nodded. “Now that we know about this man, we can start working to figure out who he is. But the moment Lockwood gets back, your first priority will be to find out his name. Do whatever you have to do to get that info. Do you understand me?”
Kendall knew exactly what Isaac was saying. Before she could tell him that she wasn’t going to sleep with Holden to get information, her cell phone dinged, telling her she had a text.
“You didn’t put your phone on vibrate?” Isaac demanded. “Where is your head at?”
Ignoring the annoyed look he gave her, she reached into her purse and pulled it out. Truthfully, she had no idea where her head was right then. “This isn’t my phone. The field office here in San Diego issued it to me for the assignment. Nobody has the number except for you, the ops center, and Holden.”
“Is it him?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” she murmured, even though she already saw Holden’s name with the text notification.
Her pulse skipped a beat.
She tapped in her pin, taking extreme pleasure in making Isaac wait.
On the way back now. Holden had texted. Should be home in about two hours. You okay? Any problems with the asshole ex?
Kendall forced herself not to laugh. Not with the “asshole ex” right in front of her.
I’m good. She typed. No problems with the ex. Everything going okay?
She clicked her fingernails on the side of the phone as the dancing bubbles kept going and going. What the hell? Was he writing a book? Or was he too injured to type at a normal pace. The thought made it suddenly hard to breathe.
I’m good. Just tired and hungry.
She smiled at that. I’ll have some take-out from that place on the corner waiting for you. See you soon.
Kendall put her phone away before Isaac could ask to see the texts. Which was stupid now that she thought about it since he’d have no problem getting a printout of everything on the phone. But still…
“Holden’s on the way home,” she said. “I have to get going.”
Isaac smirked. “Sounds like you have him eating out of your hand. You remember what you need to do, right?”
She fixed him with a hard look as she stood up. “I remember.”