Code Conspiracy, page 17
Jerrica’s body stiffened beside him, and Gray draped an arm across her shoulders. “It looks like Olaf, Dreadworm’s founder, has had a change of heart. He’s been setting up his own staff, including Jerrica, to keep them from revealing the transmissions they uncovered.”
“Is he working with the terrorists? The government?” Denver clasped both of his hands on the back of his neck. “The terrorists and some members of government are one and the same, aren’t they?”
“M-my father was responsible for allowing Olaf back into the country. He already told me that Olaf was offered immunity and free passage back to the US in exchange for calling off Dreadworm, but Jerrica and I know he’s working with someone else to keep the transmissions under wraps. One of Jerrica’s coworkers at Dreadworm implied that whoever let him back in was the government mole.”
Denver tugged on the end of his long beard. “Jerrica’s coworker doesn’t know much about how government works. Senator Prescott may have given the final order, but he didn’t make that decision on his own. Hell, he probably wasn’t in favor of the decision. We’ll have to ask him what the official reason was for allowing Olaf back in without facing ramifications and who suggested it—that could be our mole.”
Denver circled the room once. “What’s the plan? You’re going to crash your parents’ big Memorial Day party with all the movers and shakers?”
“I’m going to be the bait.” Jerrica raised her hand. “We think at least one of the government plotters will be in attendance. We think he...or she...will make a move once he sees me and Gray here, figuring that we either turned over the communications or are planning to do so.”
“And if they don’t make a move? If they play it cool?” Denver swept his hair back from his face and tucked it behind one ear.
“Then we’ll make our move.” Gray clenched his teeth. “One way or the other, this ends this weekend.”
* * *
BACK AT THE main house in one of the many spare bedrooms, Gray stretched out on the bed. “I’m glad he’s back, safe.”
“He’s not safe yet. Do you think he’ll be okay hiding out here?”
“Nobody even knows whether Major Denver is dead or alive. I’m sure nobody suspects he’s stashed away at a US senator’s house. You heard him—my father even has extra security on the property, which won’t look odd considering he’s going to be hosting half of the government here in a few days.”
“Is it going to be the good half or the bad half?”
“We’ve made progress for you to admit there is a good half.” He patted the bed beside him. “You don’t need to pace around the room. We’re safe here.”
Jerrica sank down next to him, but kept her feet firmly on the floor. “If we turn over the transmissions to your father, what’s he going to do with them and will I get in trouble for having them?”
“My father wouldn’t take any action against you, but it might be out of his hands.”
“That’s what worries me.” She leaned back and rested her head on his stomach. “I need to crack the final piece that leads me to the computer generating the orders, and we need a date, time and location for this attack. I know it’s in the reams of data I have. Someone just needs to make sense of it.”
Gray massaged her temples. “We’re close. It’s going to be okay, Jerrica.”
“There’s still so much I don’t understand about Olaf’s involvement. He turned on Dreadworm to, what? Get back into the country and avoid prosecution? That doesn’t seem like enough of a payoff to me.”
“That’s why I think it’s more than that.” He flattened the line between Jerrica’s eyes with the pad of his thumb. “I think he’s involved in the plot. It’s his ultimate way of getting back at the government, the government he’s been at war with for years.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She rolled her head to the side to look into his eyes. “Maybe I can get to him. Maybe I can convince him to tell me who he’s working with. He can still get his immunity if he starts playing for the other side.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near him, Jerrica. We don’t know what his motives are and even though you had a close relationship with him...once, he seems to have forgotten about that.” He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek. “Come on. I’ll show you the rest of the house before the hordes descend for the party.”
“Hordes of politicians and government officials?” Jerrica rolled from the bed and flipped back her hair. “What could possibly go wrong?”
* * *
MEMORIAL DAY DAWNED with sunshine and promise. For the occasion, Jerrica shunned her customary black in favor of a colorful skirt and poppy-red top. A pair of sandals replaced the black boots, and she’d even had a pedicure the day before.
As she stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom, wiggling her red toes, she smoothed the skirt over her thighs. If she had to come out as a Dreadworm hacker and get taken into federal custody, at least she’d try to look innocent.
Gray appeared behind her, wearing a pair of board shorts with the American flag emblazoned across them and a blue T-shirt that matched his eyes. Those eyes met hers in the mirror.
“You look...pretty, but don’t think you have to change your style to fit in with these people.”
“That’s not it. First of all, it’s too warm to wrap up in black jeans and boots.” She stroked on some mascara and blinked her eyes. “Secondly, if I’m going down, I’m not going to look the outlaw part as they take me away in cuffs.”
Gray rubbed her arms. “Nobody is going to take you away in handcuffs.”
“Really?” She smacked the tube of mascara down on the vanity to her left. “Because it’s time, Gray. I can’t make any more progress on the code by myself. We have to turn it over to someone who can, to someone who can stop this terrorist attack, exonerate Major Denver and bring these rogue officials to justice. It’s time for me to place my trust in the process.”
He turned her around to face him and lightly kissed her lipsticked mouth. “Can you trust me, too? You’re almost family. My father’s going to do everything in his power to protect you—and as you’ve pointed out many times before, my father has a lot of power.”
She snorted and then dabbed her nose with the tissue crumpled in her hand.
Gray swept her hair from her shoulder and pressed a kiss against her bare skin. “Let’s pay another visit to Denver before we wrestle with the snakes at the party.”
After a brisk walk, they arrived at the cottage. Denver opened the door before they could knock.
“I saw you coming.” He snapped the door closed behind them and locked it, even though private security roamed the grounds. “Any news?”
Jerrica nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m going to have Gray’s dad point me in the direction of the most sympathetic FBI or CIA officer, and I’m going to come clean.”
“I thought you’d come to that conclusion.” Denver tipped his head toward Gray. “Do you agree?”
“I think Jerrica will be safer in federal custody—if that’s the way it goes—than dodging terrorists and government insiders.”
“Seems that we’ll both have to put our faith in others, Jerrica.” Denver dragged his fingers through his long hair. “We’re both on the line here.”
“You haven’t actually done anything wrong, though.” She drove a thumb into her chest. “I have.”
“I went AWOL, off the grid. That’s not allowed for a soldier, no matter what the circumstances.” Denver held up a glass of water to the window and peered into it as if looking into a crystal ball.
“What do you see in there?” Gray pinged the glass with his finger.
“Help. Reinforcements.” Denver winked. “They’re on the way. I can feel it.”
“Well, you’ve been lucky so far.” Jerrica squeezed the major’s biceps. “I’m gonna stick with you and maybe some of it will rub off on me.”
Gray rolled his eyes. “You’re talking about Major Denver here. No luck involved. However he survived, however he got here, it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with training and skill...and maybe a little badassery, and you possess all of those qualities, hacker girl, especially that last one.”
“I got here because of you.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “Plain and simple.”
They all jumped at the knock on the door.
Gray peeked through the blinds. “It’s my father.”
“Then you’d better let him in. He does own the place.” Denver strode past them and threw open the door. “Join the party, Scotty.”
The senator’s gaze darted to each face. “It’s about time someone invited me to this party and told me what the hell is going on under my own roof.”
Jerrica squared her shoulders and stepped in front of Gray’s father. “I work for Dreadworm, and my coworker and I hacked into a clandestine database connected to the CIA’s. We uncovered a plot involving an attack using sarin gas and blaming Major Denver, all engineered by dark forces within the government. We need help deciphering the code to find out the who, the when and the where.”
Jerrica held her breath as Scotty took it all in with an unfathomable expression on his face. He finally blew out a breath and said, “It’s what we suspected.”
Denver and Gray erupted at the same time, talking over each other until Scotty held up one hand. “Not all of it, we didn’t know all of it. I didn’t know my son’s girlfriend worked for Dreadworm and I didn’t know about this database, but we’ve been receiving communiqués, threats from someone within the government to release certain prisoners, to take certain steps and approve certain agreements with countries that are all in our worst interests.”
“Threats?” Gray rested his hands on Jerrica’s hips.
He must’ve sensed she was about to keel over after her outburst.
Scotty dipped his chin to his chest. “Threatened as in, ‘do these things or else.’”
“Or else what?” Denver wedged his hip against a table, crossing his arms. “Or else they release the sarin gas?”
“You got it, although we didn’t know it was sarin. They threatened the leadership of the CIA, the FBI, the president himself.”
“Was Olaf part of that deal?” Gray pinched Jerrica’s waist.
“He was. The FBI has been working on several leads to track down who’s behind this plan, using information unearthed by your Delta Force team. I know they believed their efforts to clear Major Denver were going nowhere, but we’ve had to be as secretive as the other guys. We don’t know who to trust.” Scotty leveled a finger in Jerrica’s direction. “But we’ve never had computer exchanges between these people before.”
Jerrica put a hand to her throat. “I have everything on my laptop, and my laptop is here. I-I can turn it over right now, if you want. The sooner the better.”
“We’ll have to wait until after the party.” Scotty jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The guests have already started arriving, and we don’t want to alert anyone.”
“I have a feeling Jerrica’s presence is going to be an alert to someone. If anyone who’s part of the plot attends this shindig, he or she might already know who Jerrica is.”
“Let ’em try doing something in my house to my future daughter-in-law.” Scotty’s eyebrows formed a ferocious V over his nose, causing Jerrica to quake in her sandals and she wasn’t even the target.
In fact, Senator Grayson Prescott wanted to protect her—his future daughter-in-law.
“Now let’s get out there and play nice, or your mother’s going to have my head on one of those silver platters currently displaying hors d’oeuvres too pretty to eat.”
Scotty crooked his arm and motioned to Jerrica. She grasped his elbow, and Gray took her arm on the other side and brushed his lips against her ear. “I told you he liked you.”
Jerrica floated into the party between the two Graysons. Gray’s father hadn’t called for her head when she’d made her big announcement. Maybe he could keep her safe—like son, like father.
Connie cut a path through her guests, who were already imbibing mimosas and Bloody Marys and selecting appetizers from the trays artfully deployed across the lawn, making a beeline for their little group, her fine features alight with fire.
She started speaking before she even reached them, her arms flung out to her sides. “I can’t believe he had the nerve.”
“Uh-oh.” Scotty squeezed Jerrica’s arm. “Someone must’ve brought a lady other than his wife or decided to wear white shoes.”
“Can’t be that. Memorial Day is when you’re finally allowed to wear white shoes—if you really want to.” Gray grabbed one of his mother’s restless hands but she twisted away.
“You’re both so funny.” She shook a finger at her husband. “But you’re not going to be laughing when I tell you what happened.”
A murmur swept through the guests, rising and then falling to a whisper, the sound causing the hair on the back of Jerrica’s neck to stand on end.
Scotty pinned his gaze to where the crowd parted and then spluttered. “Is the man out of his mind?”
Jerrica stood on her tiptoes to see the commotion. Her blood, racing through veins, turned ice cold as her eyes met the light blue ones of Olaf.
Chapter Sixteen
Jerrica grabbed Gray’s sleeve. “What’s he doing here?”
“That’s what I want to know.” Scotty took a menacing step forward, but Connie placed a restraining hand on his arm. “You can’t toss him out on his ear in front of everyone. Assistant Director Collins brought him, along with the press clamoring at our front gate. You can tell him in no uncertain terms that Olaf is not welcome in my home, and I don’t appreciate unapproved guests.”
Gray made a sharp move and a half turn toward his father. “Collins, the assistant director of the CIA?”
“One and the same.” Scotty’s eyebrows formed a single line above his nose. “What do you think?”
“What do you think he wants us to think?”
Like a bird’s, Connie’s head swiveled back and forth, following the conversation between her husband and her son. “I don’t know what you two are talking about, but Patrick Collins just brought the most notorious political figure of the day to my Memorial Day party...and I’m not happy.”
“Plaster a smile on your face, Connie, and welcome your new guest.” Scotty laced his fingers with hers and gave her a tug. “I’ll explain everything later.”
Jerrica licked her lips as she watched Gray’s parents approach Olaf. “What should I do, Gray? Should I pretend I don’t know he’s behind the disruption at Dreadworm? Should I accuse him? Call him out? Denounce him publicly?”
“Let’s play this by ear. Maybe Collins just outed himself as the mole, or maybe he doesn’t realize we know about the plan.”
“If Olaf told Collins, his good friend and savior, he knows.” She tapped a passing waiter on the arm and snagged a mimosa. She downed half the drink and then snatched a couple of crab puffs from another tray and stuffed them into her mouth.
Did Olaf know she’d be at this party? He must’ve known. By the tilt of his smile when he spotted her, he had something planned—and it wasn’t going to be pleasant. She had to find out about it before Gray did.
She patted her lips with a napkin. “Okay, let’s hang back and watch what happens.”
So many dignitaries crowded the lawn and the pool deck, half of them wanting to shake Gray’s hand and discuss his political future with him, that it didn’t take Jerrica long to escape Gray’s realm and shimmy up next to Olaf.
She lowered her voice and rasped, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s my coming-out party. I’m here legally, and everything is above board. I’m free.”
“What price did you pay? Or did someone else pay the price for you? Kiera? Her son? Major Denver?”
Olaf clicked his tongue, as a breathless woman headed their way. “I have so many fans wanting to speak with me, I can’t talk right now. Meet me by the front gate in ten minutes. I have a proposition for you—you alone. Don’t bring anyone with you, or...well, you know what could happen.”
Jerrica’s heart slammed against her chest, rattling her ribcage. She knew it. Olaf wasn’t done with her yet.
She glanced over her shoulder at two men, their heads together with Gray’s. They must be salivating over his potential as a political candidate—young, good-looking, connected, military. They obviously didn’t know about the Dreadworm girlfriend who would totally and completely torpedo any chances he had at a career in politics—if he was still with her when he decided to throw his hat in the ring.
She ducked her head and scurried to the kitchen where controlled chaos reigned as the caterers moved in and out in a dance choreographed by Connie’s chef.
Jerrica dug her elbows into the center island and buried her chin in her hands to wait out the ten minutes. Her mind raced as fast as the waiters whisking food out to the guests. She had an idea of what Olaf would propose, and her answer would be the one that would keep Gray safe.
Connie’s chef gave her a nudge. “You’re in the way—go socialize.”
Jerrica gave the woman a half smile and slid out the door of the kitchen into the dining room. A few of Connie’s guests bunched together, holding conversations in low voices. Gatherings like this must have a lot of hush-hush social interactions—like the one she was about to have.
She traipsed across the great room and out the front door, looking left and right. The Prescotts had created a path from the drop-off point outside the main gate to the side gate leading to the backyard. Most of the guests had already arrived and the parking valets lounged against the cars, smoking cigarettes and checking their phones.
Her sandals crunched the gravel as she made her way outside the gate to the guard shack in front of the property.
