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“So she knew she could get taken at any moment and never said anything to any of us except Ash,” Eve murmured.
“How did you get the recording?” Hawke asked. “Did Serena send it to you or something?”
“Eve, you want to take this?” Ash said.
“Sure,” Eve said. “But Belle will be here in a few minutes, and she can explain everything better than I can. The gist is Serena had a flash drive hidden on her desk. Apparently, she created a program where she’ll be able to communicate with us if they give her access to a computer.”
“That’s a big if, isn’t it?” Jazz said.
“Not really,” Ash said. “That’s how she let us know she’d been taken in the first place. So she had access at some point. Her value to them will be in her tech skills. Chances are good she’ll have more opportunities than that one time.”
“So who is this Belle?” Hawke asked.
“I don’t really know much about her,” Ash answered. “Serena hired her a few months ago and says she’s one of the brightest people she’s ever worked with. Apparently, she and Belle have been working on this program together.”
Jazz slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t she tell us?”
“She wouldn’t want you to worry,” Sean said. Even though they’d been separated for over a year, and he knew nothing about this program, he knew Serena. She cared about people more than she cared about herself.
“Does Belle know what’s happened?” Jazz asked.
“Yes,” Ash said. “If Serena trusted her enough to get her involved, then she needed to know all the parts.”
“What do we know about her?” Jazz asked. “Serena’s never mentioned her that I can recall.”
“She’s young. Still a teenager. And she’s part-time. But she’s a tech whiz.”
As if she’d been outside the door waiting for a signal, a young girl who looked barely old enough to drive opened the door and peeked into the conference room. Sean didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t someone who looked as though she should still be in junior high school and would jump sky-high at the slightest abrupt noise.
“Belle, thank you for coming,” Ash said. “Come on in and have a seat.”
A slight pinkish hue covering her elfin face, Belle stepped into the room and practically ran to sit beside Ash. Her shyness was immediately apparent.
“Belle, will you tell everyone what you and Serena developed together?” Ash said.
For a second, panic overtook her, and Sean thought she’d either burst into flames as her face went blood red, or she’d run from the room. Thankfully, she took a few breaths and said, “We created a mirror program. When she hacks into a computer, a mirror of the intel she gathers is sent to us here.”
A slight smile curved Sean’s mouth. That was his Serena, always ten steps ahead of everyone else.
“So if these people make her hack into various organizations, we’ll be able to see who she’s hacking and what she finds?” Hawke asked.
Belle nodded, and then, as if a light switch was flipped, confidence replaced the fear she’d been exuding. “She’s already hacked one company.”
There was a pregnant pause, and then multiple questions were thrown at Belle. Ash held up his hand. “Wait a second, guys.” He turned to Belle. “There’s another part of the program, isn’t there?”
A beatific smile brightened her face as she nodded. “Yes.” With each second, Belle’s confidence had increased. Now, her eyes sparkled, and a huge smile brightened her face. “She also devised a way to send a message to us, a backdoor. Each time she hacks into something, not only do we get her results, she adds extra code that I can decipher. She’s already sent a message.”
That got everyone’s attention. Sean held his breath. The nightmare of Serena being inside that hell house had been torturous. To know she’d be able to send messages with the intel was beyond amazing.
“What did she say?” Eve said.
“It was only one word. Esther.”
A relieved laugh burst from Sean’s lungs. That was definitely Serena.
“Who’s Esther?” Xavier asked. “Does she work with Serena and Belle?”
Ash gave a half smile and shook his head. “It’s obvious we’re going to need to beef up on our Bible reading.”
