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“Monroe, I liked it better when you went to work and I stayed home.”
Monroe chuckled at his wife. “I’m beginning to see why. You are a pharmacist. Too much caffeine is a no-go and you know it.”
Mallory sighed. “Fine, but I’ll be glad when you go back to work.”
Monroe grabbed her mug as he laughed quietly. “Herbal tea it is.”
After lunch, Levi stood with Sharlee and Kaden as they maneuvered their way through the dark web looking for any connections or chatter related to the kidnapping. Becky was working on Jac’s mounting correspondence. He had gone into the agency office and taken Carter with him. They had been in constant communication with the house. Becky had begged to go with them to the office and had been shut down hard.
“Becky, you’re pregnant,” said Carter.
“But barely.”
Jac laughed, and Carter glared at him. “There is no such thing as being barely pregnant, baby. You are or you aren’t and since youare,it’s important to stay safe. You are not going into the office.”
“But you’ll be with me. You both will.” Becky gave them impressive puppy dog eyes.
Carter shook his head. “Sorry baby, there is no discussion.”
Finley knew this was how these guys were: direct, confident, protective. Levi was just that man when he dealt with the other women, and in his job. But with her, he hesitated. Cash had no trouble putting her in her place or scooping her up for a kiss. Was he just an easier lover? Maybe she was too tough or seemed too hard for Levi to be able to accept his protection, his leadership. She sat with that thought. She did still have thatouter shell of protection at times, but she’d thought Levi had seen through it and known it was a protection for herself. She let him and Cash in. She was learning to let all the guys in, slowly.
What would it be like if Levi came on super protective, not this guarded, protective side he had ramped up since the incident? She wasn’t sure she would like it. That was Cash. Levi was more of an equal opportunity boyfriend. And speaking of last night, Levi was never one of those people like Carter or Monroe, all cuddy and possessive with a bite if their women stepped out of the safety bounds they’d laid out for them. She’d always said she didn’t want that, but with Cash, yeah, it was hot. She’d though she didn’t like that kind of over-the-top macho business and she didn’t with Levi but when he was a little sparky, like last night, then she could get into it.
The day had stretched on and on. Finally, late afternoon began to bring people back into the fold with results. Or the lack thereof. Levi hadn’t come up with anything that made him suspicious. Most ex-employees had moved on, worked in other places and had done fine with the loss of their jobs.
Kaden lifted his head. “Hey, we need the security takes from the surrounding areas near the incident site reviewed again. Jac and Carter are reviewing the protocols and systems in place at the agency to ensure there are no vulnerabilities that could have been exploited by the kidnapper. I also could use someone to go back over today’s CCTV.”
Mark came in late in the afternoon and looked tired. “I came up with nothing that would suggest anything subversive. Hopefully, someone has found something we can sink our teeth into.”
Jac walked in with Carter, followed by Garrett, Callie and Monroe, who had exited the home office they had set up. Jac spoke to Sharlee. “Call the rest of them downstairs.”
Sharlee sent the message. Others appeared, including Jessie with baby and Shay, their nanny, in tow. Jessie gave Shay directions to the kitchen and left her to take a break. After everyone settled and most sat down, Jac rubbed his face.
“Anything guys?”
Callie spoke. “I wish I could say we found a suspect, but honestly, we haven’t. If we are still running on the personal angle, then we have to look into your background, Jac.”
“Charlotte has been doing that. Have you come up with anything, honey?”
“Nothing with a bullseye on it. But I have run across one name that cross-references on the employee list. Caleb Rodney is an ex-employee that took it pretty hard when he was fired. I don’t think it was the firing that made him mad, it was the closing of his lucrative business.”
“I should have thought of him. Who had him on their list?”
Garrett spoke up. “Callie and I did, but we couldn’t locate him. The last address we found took us to an apartment that wasn’t his.”
Mark asked, “How do you know?”
“Well, the big, burly man who answered the door behind his wife was a good clue.”
Jac nodded. “So, let’s find him.”
Kaden spoke. “I also found some chatter on the web. It was cryptic and before I could run my program through the whole thread, it disappeared. I don’t think I was detected personally, just that someone not included on the line was tapping on their door. I got out pretty quick with no tail. I had Sharlee make sure my trail was clean.”
Sharlee continued. “The intel was a recruiting site for those less than savory positions. This one was advertising for chatting with a woman and kid playing in the bluegrass. Kentucky obviously. Also got a couple of handles of people who threwtheir hat in for consideration. It is obvious that if whoever it was hired from this site, there would be no way to know who hired them. It is all handled virtually through aliases and middlemen on multiple servers.”
“Damn,” said Mark, “but at least it’s a place to start.”
“Especially with Caleb’s name thrown in. He would have contacts and know how to hire this way,” added Monroe. “Wonder if this Ace or Avenger would jingle any bells?”
