Page 16 of Hacker Revelation

“We infiltrated his bunker. He’s been dead for at least twenty-four hours. I bet Sanchez was waiting for him when he returned. The place had been turned upside down. Someone was looking for something, but we’re not sure they found what they were looking for.”

Asher leaned forward to point at the man in the photo. “Whoever killed him, besides turning the place upside down, cleaned out the weapon room of the bunker. From the cases that were left, we’re guessing they took heavy-grade military weapons. We need to let the FBI know.”

If we did, the FBI would want to take over the case. There were parts of the case that weren’t top secret. Director Charles Westblack had been a longtime friend of our family. He would be angry with me when he found out I left him in the dark. But he would want to take over the case. If it were any other case, I would call it in. This one was ours to solve and Juan ours to take down.

Before I could voice my thoughts, Zane said, “We can alert Charles once Sanchez is dead. I don’t want any Feds butting their noses into this case. If we find something for the FBI, I will send Charles a report when we are done.” Zane had as much at stake as I did—probably a little more because of his brother.

I glanced down at the file. Things weren’t adding up. “Why kill the bomb guy before you know you have completed a mission? Or was he watching from the bunker and took him out because he was angry the mission failed? Doomsday people like that have cameras everywhere. Did you find any video footage?” I asked.

Asher flipped to a picture of the bunker’s command area. “Someone took a hammer to the camera’s DVR server. CJ is working on recovering data from the disc. He’s pretty sure he will have it by the end of the day.”

“Call me as soon as the video footage comes in. I’m having lunch with Kat. Zane, can you look at the Limburger case?”

Mr. Limburger’s daughter had been missing for close to a year, and the trail the police had found went dry. Mr. Limburger was a friend of my father’s and asked if AA Security could take a look at the case.

Zane nodded before he stood up from the chair. Before he exited the door to my office, he turned to tell me one last thing. “Make sure your wife doesn’t murder anyone.”

“Fuck off.”

Once Zane and Asher exited my office, I went back to reading the file about Lily. Jacob reported that she had multiple bruises. Her husband had tried to come after her while they were exiting the testing center the previous day. Jacob apprehend him and called the police. Kat couldn’t kill him if he was in jail. One less item on my plate.

* * *

“Goddammit.”

I wanted to have a quick lunch with my wife. Instead, when I came to the parking lot at the Women’s Center, I found Kat’s SUV with “Bitch” painted across the side. I needed to figure out if Juan did it or if Greg had gotten out of jail.

I reached into my pocket to grab my phone and selected Kat from the favorites. “Kat, I’m going to have to cancel our lunch.”

If I told her about the car, she would want to come out and see what was going on. I needed her to stay inside until I figured out who we were dealing with. I took a couple more steps toward the SUV and noticed the front tire was slashed.

“Okay. I’ll run to the deli and grab something.” Kat’s words tore my attention away from the SUV.

“No!” I yelled.

“Oh, when have I ever listened to you? I’m hungry. It will only take a second.” Kat didn’t wait for my answer. She clicked off the phone.

I didn’t have time to call her back. My phone rang again immediately, and Neal’s name flashed across the screen. Neal was the CEO of Black Hat Security. He was an excellent hacker, and when our caseload got too large, he helped us out. CJ’s plate was full with the Juan case and the video he needed to retrieve. I needed someone to retrieve the video footage from around the Women’s Center.

I swiped across the phone to answer. “Hey, Neal. I was about to call you.”

“I was calling to see if you were joining us for poker night tomorrow?”

“Sure. What time?”

“Club Sanctorum at nine. Now, what can I help you with?”

Once a month, Brock closed Club Sanctorum for poker night. Club Sanctorum wasn’t the only thing in the building. Blackwood Security was on the second floor, and the top floor held three apartments. The place also had top-of-the-line security. I felt safe taking Kat there. She could meet up with the girls while we played poker.

“Could you pull up the security cameras near Ross Women’s Outreach Center?”

“Give me a second.” I could hear his fingers fly across the keyboard. “I can see you. What do you want me to look for?” Neal was as good as CJ, probably even better, but I wouldn’t tell my brother-in-law that. I would end up electronically dead or on the no-fly list.

“I’m standing next to Kat’s car, and it’s been vandalized. Could you look through the video from this morning and see if you can find out who did it? I’m going to call the police and file a report.”

“No problem. I will call when I have something.”

“Thanks. I owe you one. We’re short-staffed right now. Everyone is working on Juan’s case, and I’m hesitant to bring in more people from White Hat.”

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