CHAPTER 9
Liam was pissed. He’d spent the entire night in his home office, upgrading the system Reagan’s school used before moving to the lair when the task grew to an all-nighter. He was a hacker, he didn’t need permission. Sure, there were security cameras everywhere, inside and out, that made it appear safe, but it wasn’t. What was the point of those camera’s if anyone could find their way into their computer system and check anything from student grades to teacher personnel files, not to mention where everyone lived?
His night was spent breaking in and upgrading the school’s system, building firewalls, and blocking sensitive files so only those who should have access could. From there, he looked at anyone who had remote access from home. It didn’t take long to get into any of those computers – more negligence. Just like the school, he installed additional security, protecting each of them from outside trouble.
Since they weren’t savvy enough to recognize their cyber weakness, they wouldn’t recognize the improved security either. Nobody would know he had been there, in their personnel spaces. Actually, there was one exception – one guy would know someone was in his computer when the police showed up at his door the next day. Liam found things on the teacher’s computer that no one should have, especially someone with access to children. Sick fucker.
While tracking remote logins, he found a long list of ghost IP addresses that showed someone who wasn’t supposed to be there – had been. Wells – or whoever was thought to be Wells. If anyone needed confirmation that the schools secure system was grossly flawed or that someone dangerous had been lurking, there it was. An untraceable cyber stalker.
Nobody would be able to tamper with the school after the upgrade he’d just given them. Brother’s Keeper Security’s fleet of vehicles was safe too. Modern day vehicles housed a highly intelligent system with endless capabilities like driverless mobility. It wasn’t the type of programing he was used to, but he appreciated a challenge and found a way to build a sophisticated, bulletproof wall around the technology. Everyone was safe on his watch.
Reagan would now be safe at school, and the O’Reillys could move around the city safely…for now. As the hours ticked by and exhaustion threatened, his mind wandered to places he feared. Losing his wife nearly destroyed him. Reagan was all he had left. Losing her or anyone on his short list of people who were closest to him would claim him for good. This was exactly why he didn’t have room in his heart for anyone else. The more people you let in, the greater the odds it could break. That was a pain he couldn’t face again.
“I may have found a clue,” Felicity said, pulling Liam from his thoughts. She walked into his home office with a laptop in hand and hopeful look on her face. “I have a couple IP addresses bouncing off multiple towers.”
Liam shook his head. “I saw those too. They were all over Reagan’s school system. Who else would hack a school over and over again?”
“Right, but did you notice the location patterns?” she questioned, earning a look of surprise from Liam.
“I…didn’t,” he replied, looking at the rolling list on her screen after she set it in front of him.
“What do you see?” she asked. “Just tell me when you see it.”
“Uh, I see the same couple of addresses going through.” When she didn’t reply, he knew he hadn’t found it. “A few randoms off the same towers…”
Felicity pulled up a chair and plopped down next to him, leaning in close enough for him to enjoy the light floral scent that was entirely her. She pulled up another screen so there were two side by side, and she began to type, her fingers moving so fast it looked as if she wasn’t even hitting the keys.
“Now look. Do you see it?” Frustration danced in her words. “Look at the tower locations.”
“They’re moving.” Liam sat straighter and looked closer at the pattern dancing on the screen in front of him. “It’s forming a pattern. He’s not using a private server. Those are real; he’s on the move.”
“Bingo!” she said, leaning into him. “He’s getting closer. He’s on his way here.”
“We needed a break. He made a mistake, and we need him to keep doing that.” Liam turned to her, so close he had a sudden urge to take her mouth. But he didn’t. “Nice work. That’s…great. We, uh, need to keep…”
“Keep watching, keep tracking,” she replied, her voice breathy. “We’ll find him, Liam.”
“I know we will. Remember, this could be part of the ruse. He could be in Bangladesh and making it look like he’s two states away and heading our way,” Liam reminded, unable to pull away from her hooded ocean blue eyes. “Or in our backyard and make it look like he’s in Europe, or something.”
“I know. I…know, but my gut says he’s coming here. He wants his money. He wants – me.” A crack in her voice and an ounce of fear fell off her final few words.
An odd silence stood between them, so much so that she could hear Liam swallow before he finally broke the trance they were each locked in. “He doesn’t get either, Felicity. Not the money and not you.”
Her breath caught when the meaning and sentiment behind his words settled in, leaving her with a soft smile. Her voice fell to a whisper. “This is the side of you everyone misses, Liam.”
Like a flip of a switch, he turned off whatever it was he was revealing in that moment. Liam’s expression hardened, and his eyes tightened as they went cold, and his body stiffened. “I’m the same person I’ve always been.”
“What? Run when things get tough? Pretend you don’t feel…anything?” Felicity wasn’t giving up. One day he would break; he had to.
“I feel… I feel plenty,” he defended, a coolness in his voice that said she’d hit a nerve. He gripped her shoulders and spoke through gritted teeth. “I don’t run. I fight for what I love because – because I can’t lose anyone else. You hear me? Anyone.”
Releasing her quickly, he spun his chair away and held his head in his hands as his elbows rested on the desk in front of him. A deep sigh of frustration, and maybe a little sadness, escaped him. He was reeling, and Felicity could see it. He wanted to feel. He wanted to tell her what he felt. She could see it. They needed it. They all needed him to finally break through.
“Felicity, I-I…”
“Yes?” she asked, not letting him off the hook easily.
“I-I can’t do this right now.” Liam went back to pecking away at his keyboard, the moment lost. “Tell me when you find something.”
Before disappointment could settle in for either of them, several of the wall screens began to flash information, and an alarm sounded until all of them were flashing different error codes and images.
“Holy shit!” Liam said with excitement, his hands dancing over his keyboard. “There he is.”
Luke walked in with Dace and said, “We’re back from school. Rage had a bitchin’ day, and no bad guys.”
“What is it,” Dace asked, looking at Liam’s screaming screens. “What happened?”
Liam turned around and panicked. “Where the hell is Reagan?”
“Calm your tits, mini-me,” Luke said to his twin brother, “She’s across the street at Sweet Hooligans picking out a treat with Wylie. She’s safe, man.”
Relieved, Liam took a moment to compose himself before turning back to his computer. “Wells – or someone we think is Wells. Got eyes on him, not just his location.”
“What the hell?” Luke and Dace pulled up chairs behind their brother and Felicity who was typing away alongside Liam. They made a great team that way. “How do you see him? How do you know it’s him?”
“Because he’s on camera, buying shit with our credit cards,” Liam answered.
“You watch our accounts?” Luke wasn’t pleased with the idea that even his brother could see his comings and goings of the financial type.
“Hey, Rage is home. Ma’s with her, teaching her to sew or knit,” Wylie said as he came in, enjoying a fresh cruller donut. “I think I know what we’re all getting from Rage for the next several holidays.” He laughed, until he took in his brothers’ expressions. “Oooh, what did I miss?”
“Liam hacks our accounts and stalks our money,” Dace said, grabbing the bag of donuts from Wylie’s hand.
“No. I protect them, make it hard for anyone to do this,” Liam defended. “We’re always targets, even in this way. What’s the first thing an enemy will do? Disable you. How? By all means. Money is all means. You’re welcome, asshole.”
“Fine. So, where is he?” Luke questioned.
“Well,” Liam began, scanning his screen, pointing out what he was looking at, “it looks like these three purchases were online. A sex shop for Dace – clever. Luke ordered…a gun maybe? Can you buy that online?”
Luke grunted, something he did often.
Liam’s fingers were heavier on the keys the faster he went. He was clearly pleased with his findings – all clues. “And Wylie – ha! Wylie ordered a weekly meal subscription box, again, clever. This asshole has done his homework.”
“Is he sending the stuff here?” Wylie asked, to which they all eye rolled.
“No,” Liam chided. “I’m cancelling and reporting each transaction as I go through them. But…mine and Felicity’s might be…a little…more…difficult.” His words stalled as he got lost in his work and ignored the people around him.
Wylie was at the edge of his seat, completely intrigued. “C’mon, what did he buy?”
“He did the online order simultaneously with my purchase. He must have programmed it somehow to buy on a virtual timer of sorts. Makes sense.”
“If you say so,” Wylie hounded. “What were the other two purchases?
“Huh. I don’t get it.” Liam sat back in his chair for a minute pondering his findings before he went back to work. “He used my card at…Costco. Why Costco? Maybe he didn’t do his research that well, after all.”
Luke grunted again. “No, I’d say he did. You’re just that boring. Costco fits you. Let me guess, he bought khaki pants, button up shirts, and body wash…no, toothpaste?”
Liam gave Luke an eat shit and die look and turned back to his computer. “Mother eff…” Liam stalled, staring ahead. “You were wrong – it was deodorant…and khaki pants and some…shirts.”
“Oh wow. He did…” Felicity snickered. “Never mind.”
“Good idea,” Liam snarked, “Looks like I got pictures coming up from Felicity’s purchase. Yes! Finally, let’s see the bastard.” Liam shook his head as he waited for them to populate on one of his screens. “You bought a car, Felicity.”
“He used her name to buy a fucking car? How would anyone believe he was a woman? Felicity doesn’t sound like a guy with balls,” Dace said with an awkward laugh.
“Uh…they didn’t think he was a she, err, vice versa.” Liam sat back in his chair as the pictures loaded on his screen.
“There were two of them?” Luke questioned. “No shit – two.”
Felicity let out a sharp gasp and looked closer. “Dunham and Lainey?”
Shock consumed her, and her face drained of all color when she flopped back in her chair, mouth gaping in surprise.
“You okay?” Liam asked softly.
“Uh, yeah? No?” She looked at Liam, her head shaking, unsure how to answer. “I-I don’t know what to…what to think.”
“And they are…” Dace left the question hanging, reeling his hand in front of himself, trying to get someone to fill in the blanks and explain Felicity’s reaction.
Felicity turned to each of them, grief finally taking over in a tearful manner. “My ex-fiancé and sister…my dead sister.”
“How is that possible?” Wylie questioned after finding out exactly who the two on video were.
“I don’t know? When Dunham disappeared and never came home, I assumed he ran with some money, or maybe he was one of the John Does in the warehouse explosion,” Felicity explained. “Lainey, though… If she’s alive, who did I bury? And why is she with Dunham?”
“Good question.” Liam had been there the day Felicity buried her sister. He’d never forget it because it was also the day he got the call from his wife that the cancer was back and not going away this time.
“Why do you think he took money? Was he hacking on the side?” Luke asked.
“No. There was money that we could never find. We were able to account for what Wells was blowing through, but there was a couple million that just went…missing,” Felicity recalled.
“That must be the money he thinks you have. Maybe it wasn’t the money Liam put back but that money?” Dace paced the office, piecing together what made the most sense, given the circumstance. “Maybe he did break back past Liam’s fire things…”
“Firewalls,” Liam corrected.
“Firewall…” Dace continued, “Maybe the guy did his own math and noticed the missing money.”
“I suppose there’s a small possibility he was able to get in, but why didn’t he try to take the money once he was in?” Liam questioned. A guy like that, so savvy he could possibly break through a nearly unbreakable security wall – why not take what he could once inside?
Luke nodded slowly as he stared off at nothing in particular, letting the clues fall into place. “Under the radar. He’s dead, remember? Why let the world know he’s back from the grave if he doesn’t have to?”
“Good point, but none of this is really relevant.” It was a story with a thousand endings, Felicity thought, and the only ending she cared about was the one where this guy was behind bars or back in the grave where he belonged. “Dunham and Lainey should be our focus, and it looks like they’re working for Wells.”
“Or…” Liam interrupted, standing from his chair, “they are Wells.” Liam looked down at her. “Is that possible, Felicity?”
“No…” Felicity shouted. “Not – not my sister. She was just a kid, a teenager, then. She was in college.”
“Okay, so rule her out for a minute,” Liam offered. “Could Dunham be Wells? I mean you both worked for him. What if Dunham wasn’t really working for anyone but himself and was there to keep an eye on you? You were his biggest producer, his strongest hacker.” The more Liam said out loud, the more it all made sense. “You were also the most likely to blow his cover, and you did.”
Luke needed more, needed Felicity to think harder and give them something she may not even realize she had, so he took a low blow. “You were engaged to the guy – how do you not know who he was or what side he was playing for, City?”
She whipped her head toward Luke with a hard glare focused on him. “Yeah, Luke, I was engaged to him and thought it was forever until he delivered my mom and sister to Wells and ran with money that Wells thinks I have.” With a surprised gasp, she quickly covered her mouth, shocked by her own admission. Was that what she really thought? Was that what really happened?
Luke leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “C’mon, City. Think, girl. What else? What else do you know. Put it together – what really happened?”
Felicity nodded her head, gaze locked on Luke’s while searching his eyes like the answers rested there. He had stirred something in her, uncovering memories she had long since buried in the deepest darkest parts of her psyche. It was coming back to her though. She needed to remember, wanted to remember.
“I never really met Wells, not face to face anyway. It was always through emails and messages where his voice was disguised,” She recalled. “He could have been anyone. I mean when your ex and your sister rise from the dead, anything is possible, and this has Wells, or whoever, written all over it.”
“Good job, City,” Luke said, offering her encouragement. He’d interrogated plenty of victims over the years as well as hostile witnesses and terrorists. He was a strong subscriber to the idea that people tended to know more than they thought or knew they did. “Keep talkin’, darlin’.”
“I didn’t blow it by asking too many questions. Dunham…he knew I found out that Wells wasn’t legal,” Felicity added. “I told him everything. He knew because I told him. I handed him the smoking gun, and he used it to blackmail me and keep me working by kidnapping my mom and sister.” Felicity couldn’t believe what she was saying, what a fool she had been. “Dunham bailed when you guys showed up. That’s how he knew you were coming for Wells…he was Wells. Right?”
“Shit, City…” Dace dropped his head and shook it in disbelief. This really was the kind of stuff made for movies. “Okay, we have two theories and need to treat this like we have three unsubs’ until we know otherwise – Wells, Dunham, and Lainey.” He looked to Felicity certain referring to her sister as a criminal stung. “Until we know she’s innocent, we have to assume she’s in on this, City.”
“I understand,” she said quietly.
“Who’s Wells? Where is he? How does this Dunham fella fit into it? And where’s your sister been all of these years?” Wylie asked, bullet pointing what needed to be addressed in their investigation.
“And where’s my mom?” Felicity added to the ever-growing list of questions and concerns.
“We have current images now, so I can start facial recognition, try to pinpoint where they are, and go from there. I won’t look too broad or it will slow the search.” Liam was on a roll. They had a long list of questions, and it was time for answers. “If they get within one hundred miles of us, we’ll know they’re coming.”
“Can’t you tell where they are by the Costco location? Isn’t it pretty obvious?” Wylie asked.
“Sure, says he’s in Tallahassee.” Liam laughed. “And Seattle…Birmingham…Chicago…and Eugene, just two hours south of here. He’s fucking with us.” Liam paused, looking at his screens, each holding different bits of information. “There has to be a clue in all of this though. I just need to find it. I’ll write a program to look for patterns, dissect the pictures. Felicity, I’ll want your help with that. Much faster with both of us on it.”
“Sure thing.” She smiled. They were still worlds apart, but Liam’s request for help meant something. She didn’t know what yet, but she’d take it. He was about to be her knight in shining armor. She just hoped he was ready for that.
“So, this is a game of who can out technology the other now?” Dace asked with a chuckle.
“Exactly. He gave us a trail. We just need to find it in all of this,” Liam added, his fingers already tapping away. “There’s always a trail.’
“What ever happened to the bad guy just chasing us with a gun?” Luke asked, his tone laced in sarcasm but his question real.
“This is a new kind of manhunt, boys, like hunting someone who isn’t there,” Liam answered. “Technology can make you believe anything and everything then hide it all in an instant, like chasing a ghost. It’s now our greatest enemy while also our greatest tool. It’s how we are going to resolve this as much as it will threaten us.”
“So, get on that interweb thing of yours, Liam, and surf it or whatever. Find him – beat him. Case closed, brother.” Luke ended with a booming team Liam clap of his hands.
“I will, and it’s innerweb.” Liam smiled, focused on his wall of screens. “I just need to find the first needle in the fucking haystack that is layers and layers of coding and programming.”
“Ummm.” Felicity turned from her computer, interrupting the silence surrounding them. “I already may have found that needle you’re looking for. Well, found help anyway.”
Liam stopped what he was doing and listened. All they needed was a small break. “Okay? And?”
“He’s an old…friend. He’s actually how I got hooked up with Wells and ultimately met Dunham,” she explained. “I can’t reach him though. He’s off the grid. But I think I know where he is.”
Liam jumped to his feet and hung his cardigan sweater, swapping it for a jacket.
“Hold on, he needs to do his Mr. Rogers thing and hang the sweater. Are you going to change your shoes too?” Wylie teased. Liam was often the butt of many harassing jokes because he was the quieter brother with all of the fun quirks to pick at.
He flipped his brother off before turning to Felicity. “Let’s go.”