Page 68 of After The Storm

He leaned forward and tapped Kate on the shoulder. “The governor has his re-election headquarters in New Orleans here?”

She shrugged. “Maybe all the prime real estate was taken? I don’t know. I’ve never been in this section of town before.”

Roman looked up at the street sign on a nearby pole. Clio Street. That didn’t help much.

The storefront looked like nothing special. Just a few empty windows with a single red, white, and blue poster propped up in the corner of one of them that saidRE-ELECT WILLIAMS FOR GOVERNOR. This was really where the governor of this state had his campaign headquarters in one of the biggest cities in Louisiana?

Unsure if trusting Jasper had been a good idea, he reached for Kate’s hand and pulled her back toward him. In her ear, he whispered, “Something’s not right here, Kate. This doesn’t look like where a campaign office for the governor would be. I’m getting a bad vibe.”

Smiling up at him, she sweetly patted him on the chest. “Trust me. If Jasper says this is the place, then this is the place. We’re in good hands.”

Just then, Jasper turned to face the two of them and pulled a silver key out of his shirt pocket. “Anyone interested in a little breaking and entering?”

Kate eagerly joined him as he opened the door, but Roman hung back a moment. He had a bad feeling about this guy. He was too clever, too funny for his taste.

Or maybe it was the jealousy. Kate hadn’t been wrong about that. Never one for feeling jealous, he’d been nothing short of consumed by the emotion since he heard her tell Jasper on the phone that she loved him.

The guy had gotten them into this place, though, and now that Roman looked inside after they’d turned on a light, he had to admit it had all the makings of a campaign office. As far as he could tell, it looked like where a candidate’s campaign could be run. It had chairs and metal desks, and the partitions made it look like any office he’d ever seen.

What he didn’t see was a computer, though.

“Roman, close the door and come in,” Kate said in a loud whisper from the back of the room.

He followed her voice in the dim light and found her and Jasper huddled over a laptop computer that looked like it had seen better days. Jasper’s fingers typed away on the old keyboard, making him look like he knew what he was doing.

Not caring if he heard, Roman asked Kate, “What? Is he a hacker too?”

Jasper stopped typing for a moment and looked up, flashing him a cocky smile. “No. I just know what to ask for when I fuck someone. I could only get my girl to give me the passwords to get into the computer. After that, I can’t help you. She did say, though, that the governor’s people keep everything on here. Let’s hope it’s something you need.”

Kate looked at him with a side glance he knew meant he’d said the wrong thing by questioning her friend, but Roman didn’t care. His gut still said something was off about this whole thing with Jasper. The sooner they got what they came for and got the hell out of there, the better.

With one final tap on the keys, Jasper stood up and announced, “Okay, girls and boys. I got you in, and now I’m out of here.”

While Kate thanked him profusely and gave him a hug, Roman wondered just how far he’d gotten them. Walking around the desk, he saw on the monitor screen a sign he might have been wrong about Jasper. Right there in front of him were listed all the files contained on that desktop.

“Hey, is this the only computer here?” Roman asked as Jasper began to head toward the door to leave.

Looking around the room, he answered, “As far as I can see. I didn’t ask my bedmate how many there would be. I just asked her how to get into the computers at the headquarters here. I’ve done that, so now I’m gone. Remember what you promised me. I’d suggest you two get out of here the minute you find what you’re looking for.”

Roman got to work as Jasper closed the front door behind him. With Kate standing by his side, he began to copy the files to the jump drive she’d taken from Jonas Flynn’s desk in their last midnight caper to someone’s office. As the files copied, he called Xavier.

“I’m sending you everything I can find that might help you figure out who’s behind this. It might be a longshot, but it’s worth a try.”

“Great! What are you sending me?” Xavier asked.

“Files from the governor’s campaign office,” Roman said flatly, struggling to keep his voice even as his heart beat wildly in his chest at the excitement of what Xavier might find in the files.

“Holy fuck! Seriously? I’m not even going to ask how you got those files, Roman. You can save that for the drink I’m buying you when you get your ass back here.”

The last of the files finished transferring to the jump drive, so Roman began sending them to Xavier. “If I get back. I have to go, but I hope to God you can figure out who is behind this from those files.”

“They’re starting to come in. Okay, stay safe down there. I’ll let Nick and Persephone know what’s up.”

Roman pressedENDand silently said a prayer that he would find something to help them in those damn files. Quickly, he turned off the laptop and slammed it shut, more than ready to get out of that office.

“Did he get them all?” Kate asked as Roman pushed her toward the door.

“Yeah. We have to go. Now.”

---