Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations (21 page)

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips…softly…with promise.

O
liver Sands, a
recruit in Atlanta, was proving to be more difficult to extricate out of his apartment than Robbie Carter had been. Bart, with Jude this time, grew frustrated.

“We’ve got to figure out how to draw the little shit out of there,” he growled.

Jude, new to breaking and entering for the Saints, had nonetheless worked in stealth when he had been a SEAL. Looking around, he said, “If we can’t get him out alone, then let’s empty the building.”

Bart smiled, looking up at the eleven-story apartment building near the campus. The two slipped from the alley into the maintenance area on the first floor. A quick recon told them there were no security cameras. Moving quietly, they made their way to one of the fire alarms. Bart said, “You go up and let me know when you are in place. Make sure he comes out; then you know what to do. I’ll be up as soon as I can.”

Following Bart’s lead, Jude jogged up the stairs to the fourth floor and alerted Bart. He pulled the alarm, then slipped into the stairwell nearest the alley.

As the alarm sounded, the rooms began to empty. It appeared most of the residents were in class, but Jude saw Oliver coming out, grumbling while locking his door behind him. As soon as Oliver disappeared down the front staircase, Jude quickly picked his door lock and entered.

Fuckin’ hell!
The room was filled with computer equipment. Absolutely filled. Not knowing how many minutes they would have, Jude immediately contacted Luke and began inserting the thumb drives into as many computers as he could find.

Bart entered the apartment, looked around, and shook his head. “Holy fuck!”

Jude barked, “I’ve got the ones on this table and along this wall.” He swung his arm, indicating the direction. Bart immediately began inserting the special thumb drives. Glancing at his watch, he said, “We should have about fifteen minutes before Oliver makes his way back up here.”

“Is there any way he can tell his machines were hacked?”

“Nah, Luke’s programs are better than this guy’s.” While the drives did their job, the two men did a quick search of the apartment. Dirty dishes and old pizza boxes piled on the kitchen counter. Bed covers thrown back, sheets in a tangle. And dirty.

“Jesus, the guy in St. Louis was a helluva lot neater than this dude. Fuck, he might as well do his dating online, ’cause no woman would want to be involved with him.”

The alarm stopped sounding and Jude groaned. “How close are you man?” he asked Luke, getting him on the phone.

“I need one more minute, then yank them out,” Luke replied.

Jude looked at Bart and said, “One more minute.”

“Fuck!” Bart ran out of the apartment and down the hall. He returned about twenty seconds later, explaining, I barred the stairwell door. Hopefully, he’ll think it’s a locked fire door.”

At the end of the minute, the two moved stealthily around the room, removing the drives, counting them as they went. Once they were all accounted for, they slipped out of the apartment, locking it behind them. Hearing someone pounding on the front stairwell door, they moved to the one at the back. Within another minute, the two moved out into the alley, undetected.

*

Cam and Blaise
flew to Dallas at the same time Jude and Bart were in Atlanta. Their mission was Lester Wyant, a new recruit. Cam got off the phone with Bart, hearing about their experience with Oliver’s apartment.

“Ours will be easier,” Cam commented, relating Bart and Jude’s story. “At least this person goes out.”

Their recon showed that Lester was not at home. Quickly entering, they noticed the bank of computers on an L-shaped desk, papers neatly stacked, and an apartment that was orderly. It seemed rather more like an office than an apartment.

The two men went to work, immediately contacting Luke and plugging in the drives. Cam’s suspicions were high and he stalked into the bedroom. In a moment he came back, glaring. “There’s no fucking clothes in the closet, nor anything personal in the bathroom.”

“Maybe he just rents this place for computer work,” Blaise surmised. Walking to the kitchen, he threw open the refrigerator door, finding it empty. “Fuck, get Luke on the phone. Find out how much time he needs.”

Cam made the call on their secure line, telling him what they were finding…or rather not finding. “You done?”

Disconnecting, he began to retrieve the drives, nodding to alert Blaise to do the same. They left the apartment as they found it, leaving the building and walking down the street to hail a cab.

Eyes followed them from another window in the building. The real owner of the equipment, Charlie, walked down the hall to the door, stepping into the apartment. Looking around carefully, noting everything. Moving over to the bank of computers, Charlie began to unplug everything.
Time to get out. That’s okay. Dallas was getting old.
Within an hour, Charlie had boxes loaded onto a cart and rolled it to the elevator after one last look around.

Getting to the outside door, hailing a cab, Charlie managed to pack all the boxes in. Giving the driver an address and cash, eyes watched the skyline fade away.

And a smile escaped.

*

Luke processed the
drives from Bart and Jude first. He viewed as line after line of code was searched, hoping somewhere his program would allow them to see where the contacts were located, what they wanted the recruits to do. The emails were encrypted, but Luke was confident his program would be able to ferret out the information.

After hours of working on the drives from Oliver, he moved to the drives from Lester Wyant’s apartment. His preliminary searches told him that Lester was a false name.
Okay, let’s see who you really are Lester…and what the hell the recruiter is asking you to do.

Nothing. Not one line of code appeared.
What the fuck?
Luke quickly began checking the drives. Nothing. He refused to panic—work the problem. Thirty minutes later, he threw up his hands in defeat. Something was wrong.

His incoming email sounded. Checking, he recognized it was from his mystery programmer.

Left my last residence. Too many visitors. Had 2 today.

Luke stared at the cryptic message. His mind, swirling with the problem of Lester Wyant’s computers searches, left little room for focusing on anything else.

I’m sorry, I don’t understand
, he answered.

In a few in minutes, another message came in.
I think they were friends of yours.

His breath caught in his throat as the realization of their words sunk in.
Fuckin’ hell…Lester Wyant is my mystery programmer. And Cam and Blaise were in his apartment?
Before he could respond, another message came.

But no matter where I live, I can keep up with you. If you want, that is.

Luke replied,
Absolutely. I know your name isn’t what it appears.

Yes, but that is still my secret. Danger lurks all around. Be careful.

Luke waited, but no more messages came. Leaning back in his chair, he pulled the useless drives out. He was sorry that he had not gone with Cam, just to have been in the apartment of such a computer genius. Getting up, he poured another cup of coffee, then looked back at the information coming in from Oliver Sands using the programming from his mystery helper.
I may not know what my friend is doing or where they live now…but at least they’re still helping.

As he thought about their warning, he was filled with the realization that this person was also in danger.
I hope you take your own advice and are careful.

Pushing them from his mind, he sat back down to work.

*

Dani waited nervously
outside the doctor’s office, alternating between checking her watch and the parking lot. Hearing a noise, she grinned as Chad’s old truck rumbled down the street. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, she smiled as he alighted from the vehicle and jogged to her. She watched his natural grace—despite his size. His dark hair brushed to the side, clean-shaven jaw, white teeth showing with his huge smile. Her head tilted back as he approached. Not stopping until he was directly in front of her, his arms wide as he enveloped her in his embrace. She rested her ear against his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat.

“You okay, little mama?” he asked, kissing the top of her head.

She nodded against his chest, so he lifted her chin with two fingers, wanting to look into her eyes. “Babe?”

“I’m fine. Really. I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”

“Not make it?” he said, with mock indignation. Hugging her tighter, he added, “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Now, are you ready to find out what we’re having?”

She heard him use the possessive word
we’re
and smiled. It seemed right. At first, when she found out she was pregnant and her husband was newly deceased, the idea of being a single mother was daunting.
It’s still unnerving, but now…
heaving a sigh…
it’s nice to share this with someone else.
Linking her fingers with his, they walked into the doctor’s office together.

Twenty minutes later, after the blood pressure check, weigh in, and physical exam, all proving her healthy, they waited impatiently as the sonographer rolled the probe over Dani’s stomach.

“Measurements are good. Everything looks great,” she reported, her eyes on the monitor. Glancing over at the couple she said, “Well, are you ready to find out what you’re having?”

Dani sought Chad’s eyes, catching his nervous expression. He nodded, squeezing her hand. She turned back and confirmed, “As ready as we’ll ever be.”

The sonographer continued to roll the probe around. “Ooh, the little one has their legs open and in a good position, so I’ve got a good shot.”

Dani felt her hand being squeezed harder—
or is that me squeezing?
Either way, she felt her heart pounding, wondering if it sounded out in the room instead of the baby’s heartbeat.

Clicking a few more buttons, the sonograph spit out a strand of pictures. Handing them to Dani, the sonographer smiled and exclaimed, “Okay, here’s some pictures of your little girl.”

Girl.
Girl? Oh, my God, girl? I’m having a little girl!
Gasping, she burst into tears as Chad bolted out of his seat.

He scooped her into his arms, picking her off the table, cradling her in his embrace. “A girl. We’re having a baby girl.” His chest was tight as he thought of what all Adam was missing. Continuing to rock Dani in his arms, celebrating the news with her, he silently vowed,
I’ll do you proud, man. I’ll do you proud.

Later, that evening, after a celebratory meal complete with non-alcoholic sparkling cider and dessert, they drove back to Chad’s house. Walking in, the elation of earlier still at an all-time high, Dani walked to the rocking chair in the living room and sat on it, rubbing her tummy.

Watching her, Chad followed, kneeling at her feet. “You look good there, little mama.”

She smiled, saying, “This chair is practically an antique. It’s been reupholstered twice. My grandmother rocked my mom here when she was a baby. Then I was rocked here.” She rubbed her hands along the material on the arms and said, “I can’t believe that I’ll be rocking my baby girl here also.”