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Ryan’s easy-going attitude morphed into something far darker, and he scowled at Rachel. “We’re talking about emotion, Rach. We don’t need you for that. You need to be capable of experiencing some to have an opinion.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed, and Callum held up his hands to stop them. “What is wrong with the two of you?”
“So many things,” Elle called from behind them. “Now get in here. I have stuff to tell all of you.”
“I’m coming too.” Jack came up from the basement. “You can’t make me stay down there. They’re talking about PMS. I don’t think it’s good for my development to listen to that.”
“Women.” Ryan fist-bumped Jack.
“You can stay,” Callum told Jack. “But the same rules apply. No talking. No telling.”
“Basically, keep your mouth shut,” Jack said. “Yeah, I heard you. Do you have any snacks up here?” He made a beeline for the pantry, Ryan in tow.
Wondering yet again how he’d managed to get from the professionalism of the SAS to this motley crew, Callum headed into the kitchen. The dining table had been claimed by Elle and was covered in computer equipment. Megan sat on the kitchen counter sipping from a mug of coffee. Dimitri stood beside her, leaning against the counter, but ensuring most of his body touched his wife’s. For some reason, seeing them so cosy irritated Callum more than it usually did. And this time it wasn’t purely because their behaviour wasn’t professional. It took a few seconds for him to realise what he was feeling—it was envy. Ashamed and angry with himself, he turned to Elle. “What you got?” he barked.
Elle didn’t seem bothered by his attitude. “I sent photos of the dead guy through to our contact in the government who has access to the face-recognition database that uses Harry’s software.” Harry was the fourth, and now silent, partner in Benson Security. He’d made a fortune developing security software for the government, then married his childhood sweetheart and was now setting up literacy centres in Africa. “It came up blank.”
“Okay,” Callum said. It was to be expected; the database wasn’t exactly extensive. “Is that it?”
She gave him a look of utter disappointment and tapped away at her keyboard then turned the screen towards him. “The search on his fingerprints came up blank too.”
Callum felt a tingle creep up his spine. The atmosphere in the room changed as each of them realised what Elle was saying.
“Did you try the Irish and European databases too?” Ryan said around a mouthful of peanuts.
Jack nodded. “We’re a hub. Easy access to the Atlantic, Ireland and Europe. I don’t know why we don’t have more people here. Apart from the smugglers. Smugglers like to come here.”
Callum shot him a look. “What’d I tell you?”
Jack slapped a hand over his mouth and gave Callum a thumbs-up with the other hand. Ryan handed him the peanuts. “Keep your mouth full. It helps.”
Barely containing a groan, Callum turned back to Elle. “Did you try the other databases?”
“Do I look like an amateur?” Elle said. “Of course I did. He doesn’t exist anywhere.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Ryan said. “He had prison and gang tats. If he has a record, his fingerprints are on file.”
“Exactly, yet there’s no mention of him anywhere,” Elle said.
“What about DNA?” Rachel helped herself to some coffee. “I shouldn’t be drinking this. It will keep me up all night.”
“Cruella, you’re a creature of the night. You don’t need sleep,” Ryan said.
Jack stifled a laugh that turned into a coughing fit when he almost choked on a peanut.
“Cut it out,” Callum snapped at Rachel and Ryan. “Your bickering is getting on my nerves. Whatever is going on with you two, sort it out like adults and keep it out of the business.”
Rachel and Ryan shared a look before both nodded. An u
neasy truce. It was a better result than Callum had expected.
“DNA is going to take a couple of weeks. This isn’t CSI,” Elle said. “We can’t get the results by the end of the show. But, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll get a hit there, either. I think someone has hacked the system and erased this guy.”
“Who could do that?” Rachel asked.
“Governments do it,” Elle said. “I think they did it to that guy David I’ve been trying to track down since we met him in Peru. But, to be honest, a very skilled and connected hacker could do it. Someone like Harry would have access to most databases, and the knowledge to hack into the ones he didn’t.”
“We need to eliminate the government possibility,” Callum said. “I’ll call Lake. See if I can get him to tap into the same network that produced David for us. Maybe someone there will have information on this guy.”
