Page 21 of Shielding Maya

Maya burst out laughing and he couldn't help it, he did too. It felt good to laugh. Freeing. When was the last time he truly laughed? Was it sad he couldn't remember?

Maya nodded. "You're right Marni. It's not polite." She laid her hand on Marni's shoulder. "Is it alright if I speak to Jasiah about what we talked about?"

Marni's eyes moved to his. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and it appeared her eyes glistened with soon to be tears. Slowly, the sweet little girl nodded.

Maya kept her hand on Marni's shoulder. "Jasiah, we need your promise you won't say anything to anyone about what we're about to tell you."

Jasiah swallowed hard. His brows bunched and he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.

"That seems to put me in a position. I need to know this won't harm anyone."

"It won't harm anyone. That I can promise you."

He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. You have my word."

Maya glanced once more at Marni, then looked into his eyes. "Marni saw the senator as he was shot. She also helped him get word to someone via a cell phone. I think that's likely how he was found up here. I need that cell phone so I can find the last number called and also run a diagnostics test on it for the tracking."

He cocked his head to the right. "What cell phone?"

Maya pulled Marni close to her and wrapped her arm around both of Marni's shoulders. "Her father's."

Jasiah closed his eyes. He took two deep breaths then opened them to see both Maya and Marni staring at him and waiting for his answer.

"That's not going to be easy Maya. There's bad blo...Adam Jacobs and I are not necessarily friendly."

"I know. He doesn't like you for some reason. But, I think I know how to make it seem innocent."

"How's that?"

"We'll need to visit each person who has a phone and ask to see the phones. We'll say there's a virus on the phones and I can help to remove it."

"How would you make them believe it?"

"I have a tracker unit in my Jeep. I can plug it into the phones and gather the information I need and it uploads to our server at the office. I'd like Adam Jacobs' phone first. But to make it seem legit, I'd go around to the other residents and do the same for their phones. We could actually have them all bring their phones to the common area later today."

"Are you sure you can make it seem like all the phones are infected?"

"I can make it seem as though we want to make sure they aren't infected. If we go to Marni's house right now, under guise of bringing her home and that I've just been informed of this issue, I can plug in to her phone and get what we need. Tonight, some of my team members can come with me and we'll rig up something to make it look legit."

"How did the senator get Adam's phone?"

Maya glanced down at Marni. Marni's sad eyes stared into his. "I wanted to help him. He said he needed a phone to make a call. He wanted to contact his family, and Dad always leaves his behind. He hates carrying it. So, I brought it to the senator and snuck it back home."

Jasiah knelt down and looked Marni in the eye. "Marni, honey...that was awful nice of you to want to help the senator, but I need to ask you not to do anything like that again. If anyone ever comes up here looking for help, I need you to promise me you'll come to me. Can you do that?"

Marni nodded slowly but said nothing. One lone tear slipped down her cheek and left a wet trail then dropped off her chin onto her dress.

Jasiah took her little hands in his and squeezed. "It's alright. I won't say anything to your parents. That's my promise to you. Okay?"

Marni nodded once more and Jasiah stood. He looked into Maya's eyes. "Okay. Let's get you what you need."

14

He was something special. The way he spoke to Marni warmed her heart.

They strode up the mountain road together. Maya asked questions about the mountain so Marni and Jasiah would feel less stress.

"What are those bushes?"

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