Page 139 of Callen's Captive
Kate hit submit. There, the email was sent. If someone tried to take the site down, then the files would be sent to another site. Of all the redundancies she had built into her plan, the best one was standing behind her. She took the USB from the port, closed the pendant, and slipped the chain around Frank’s neck.
“Keep it safe for me.”
“You mean keep Callen safe.”
“Callen will be fine. He has his pack.”
“He’d rather have you.”
She pushed up on her toes and kissed Frank’s cheek. “Thank you for showing me the way to Riverview. I never would have made it out of those woods on my own.”
“Why here? This is where they caught you last.”
“It’s where I grew up. It’s home.”
“Your home is with us now, or at least Callen.”
“Callen can’t be a part of this. I need to do this, Frank. Even Damien agreed it’s the right choice. This will hide the packs from the WSSO, protect everyone including Callen.”
“I’ll stay until you’re done. Then you can return with me.”
It was hard saying ‘no’ to that austere face of his, the one that said he didn’t like leaving her here, the face that in some ways reminded her of Callen. Frank was tough on the outside, but beneath that gruff exterior, he cared.
“I need you to get that information out of here, just in case my media blitz gets shut down before it reaches the right people If I fail here, Damien will still have the information. He’ll find another way to get it into the right hands.”
“You’re not coming back, are you?”
“I will, if I can.”
There was no fooling Frank. He understood what she was saying. The reality of it was that once the WSSO detected her first hack, they’d trace it back to her location. She had a narrow window between the time it would take her to hack into the satellite program and the time it would take the WSSO response team to reach her.
“Callen loves you.”
God, she loved Callen, too. She wished he were here now, calling her ‘Princess’ and wrapping his arms around her. She’d do anything for him, anything except risk his life.
“That’s why he’ll need his friends around him.” She gently squeezed Frank’s hand. “Tell him.”No, not going to do this to Callen or to me.“Never mind.”
“Don’t leave me hanging,” Frank said. “Spit it out.”
“Tell him I trust him.” She smiled as she squeezed Frank’s arm, turned around, and slipped into the chair at the desk.
“Good luck, Kate.”
The door shut softly behind her. Frank was gone. Now it was just her and the rats.Time to protect my pack.
* * *
Two days after Frank left,Kate completed the program she would insert into the WSSO’s software. She packed up both computers and slipped out of the building mid-day when the streets were crowded with cars and people rushing about.
Her two shadows, Nate and Enrique, the shifters Frank had left to guard her but hadn’t told her about, didn’t know the area like she did. It took her only ten minutes to lose them. That was why she had picked an empty office building in the heart of downtown Riverview. They’d be easier to lose in the heart of the city. She wouldn’t be responsible for their deaths when the WSSO came—and they would come. Frank could have left ten shifters to guard her, but the WSSO would know and send more mercenaries, more guns. It needed to end, with her.
Kate returned to the house she had live in for nearly two years after Janie’s death, the same house where she had started to trust Callen. He had brought back cheese for her. It was such a simple thing, and yet she had been starving. Then he had been captured and tortured. He could have given her up to save himself; he should have, but he hadn’t.
Back in her former kitchen, Kate got to work. Hacking into the WSSO’s financial accounts took minutes. They still hadn’t upgraded their security, the fools. She leeched and covered up the transfer of a combined total of eight million dollars from ten different accounts without tripping any alarms.
She routed that tidy sum to Damien’s bank account through a series of shell corporations and offshore accounts. The WSSO would never be able to trace the funds. The next time Damien went to Devil’s Peak to conduct any banking business for the various properties he owned, he would receive notice of the money. She could just envision Callen’s frown. He didn’t approve of her taking such risks.
Kate took a deep breath and intentionally tripped an alarm on one of the untouched financial accounts. Then she started hacking into the WSSO’s servers. She found the satellite program and went to work. Her fingers flew across the keys. She glanced at the stopwatch running in the top right of her computer. Time was not on her side.
