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Sierra shrugged. “Afraid you’re going to be disappointed this time. But by all means, do your worst.”
She turned and ran up the stairs, knowing there was nothing for Cody to find. Her parents were world class data-hiders. Anything Cody found would be inconsequential. Unimportant. And he’d have to work hard to find it. Hard enough to make him confident he’d found something important.
She smiled as she closed the door of her room behind her. She and Jack had learned from the masters. The only information Cody would find online was meaningless stuff. Nothing that would reveal all the truths she needed to hide.
* * *
Cody dug deep but wasn’t able to find anything besides Sierra’s high school and college records. He saw her yearbook pictures from a high school in Anacortes, Washington. She’d been attractive, with an open expression and a friendly smile. She’d been on the basketball and soccer teams. Had graduated near the top of her class. It was a small high school, with fewer that two hundred students in each class.
In northwest Washington state, less than forty miles from the Canadian border, Anacortes was a small shipping town on the Salish Sea. Anacortes was also a jumping off point for the San Juan Islands.
She’d gone to USC for college and Northwestern for law school, where she’d met her law partner Alex Conway. He was able to find information about Sierra from both schools, confirming she’d attended them. Graduated from them.
There was nothing online about her parents or any siblings. But she’d referred to ‘Mom and Dad’ when talking to someone named Jack, so it made sense that she had at least one sibling.
He’d found absolutely nothing about Sierra before high school.
Maybe she’d been home-schooled. Maybe she’d gone to a very small school with no online presence.
Or maybe someone had gone to a lot of trouble to hide that information.
Cody leaned back in his desk chair and stared out the window. Watched the chickens peck on the ground and smiled as Maurice the rooster, his sworn enemy, strutted around the coop.
Maybe Sierra and her family were in WitSec. Maybe that was why her past was so deeply buried. He sat upright in his chair. Definitely a possibility. Maybe Gideon Wolf, the Blackhawk security agent guarding Sierra’s partner Alex, could find out for him.
He shot off an email to Gideon, asking if he could check. He didn’t want details, he assured Wolf. Just a yes or no on WitSec.
Hitting send, he went back to Googling Sierra Baker. There was plenty of professional information about her since she and Alex Conway had opened their law practice, but very little private information. He couldn’t even find her address online. The only reason he knew it was because Mel Melbourne had sent it to him. And she’d probably gotten it from Alex Conway.
Whoever had erased Sierra Baker from the internet had done a damn good job. So why leave her high school and college information online?
Either it was a lie, or it didn’t matter.
His bet? It didn’t matter.
He was pretty certain that the yearbook picture was Sierra. It looked like a very young version of the woman upstairs, far more innocent and open than his house guest.
He searched for Bakers in Anacortes, but found only three families. Too young to be Sierra’s parents and too old to be her siblings unless her father had remarried and had a second family.
He kept digging until he realized it was close to dinner time. Frustrated about his lack of progress, he slammed his computer closed and shoved away from his desk. Headed into the kitchen to start cooking.
An hour and a half later, he stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Sierra?” he called. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Be right down,” she yelled.
She opened the door to her room and clattered down the stairs. “Smells wonderful,” she said, sniffing as she stepped into the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
“Set the table,” he said, his voice short. He didn’t like losing, and he’d definitely lost this round to Sierra. “Silverware’s in there.” He pointed at the large drawer beneath the counter. “Plates and bowls in the cupboard above it. Glasses in the cupboard to the left.”
“Got it,” she said, opening the drawer and removing two forks, knives and spoons.
As Sierra set the table, he dished out the pasta and the sauce. Set bowls on the table at two places, then put the Parmesan cheese on the table. Pulled two salads out of the refrigerator and slid them onto the table.
After taking a few bites, Sierra smiled at him. “Delicious,” she said. “Thank you for cooking.”
“Laila made the sauce,” he admitted. “I boiled the pasta and made the salads. Not exactly tough to do.”
“Regardless, it’s good,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
