Hacker Beloved, page 12
“It might be possible to do some enhancements. But the best solution might be to reach out to Aaron and see if one of his contacts in the film industry could take a look. It would probably be quicker too.” I countered.
“Send the video to Aaron,” Kat said as she got up. “I’ll call him and tell him what we need.”
Aaron was Asher and Antonio’s other brother. He’s an A-list actor, although he doesn’t do films anymore. When he had met his partners, Neal and Daisy, he walked away from his Hollywood career to be with them.
The doors xZayla was wheeled through opened, and Dr. Lynn walked out. She gave us a brief update, informing us that they had started running tests and planned to do an MRI. She promised to give us more information when she had it, but warned that it would take a while for the results to come in.
Asher asked if we could see her, and she responded that we would be able to soon.
When Dr. Lynn left Paolo brought up a good point about the events at the bank. “All the time I’ve known Vincenzo, not once did he back down from a challenge. Not one of his men or Liu’s men showed up to the bank today. Not even around the permitter watching to see if we showed.”
I glanced up from my laptop. “He might have hired an outside crew.”
“Yesterday, he sounded like he would burn down the world for the information Zayla retrieved. As much as I want to say fuck them, we need answers. Do you have anyone in the Russo family you can reach out to?” Antonio asked Paolo.
“I’ll make some calls,” he answered as he pulled the cigarette pack from his pocket and strode for the front doors.
I retraced the person’s steps through New York before entering the bank. All camera footage had the same issue. Not once did the individual appear like they had tried to hide their location. Three hours into the footage, the person disappeared into a side door of a building. I took note of the address. But it was like the place didn’t exist.
Paolo’s contact had stated that the Russo family and Silk Dragon family had five children disappear overnight. They were all on a manhunt for the kids. Kat reached out to Vincenzo, and he confirmed the information. She, Antonio, and Paolo went to help look since we all had a feeling that it was connected to the person who hurt Zayla.
“You need to take a break,” Asher said.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and grabbed the cup of coffee passed to me. “Did you ask for an update?”
“Yeah, but it’s been a while.”
The exit doors opened, and the Renolds brothers strode inside. Quinton’s head swiveled and turned toward us. He had on blue scrubs and probably came straight from the free clinic he ran. Kaeden wore jeans and a t-shirt, and Paxton, a designer suit.
Quinton held out his hand and pulled Asher into a hug before doing the same with me. All three of them belonged to Sanctorum, a club Asher frequented.
“What is her status?” he asked.
Asher crossed his arms. “We haven’t gotten any updates.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Quinton turned and headed to the counter.
Finally we might get some answers, relief washed over me. “Would they give him any issues since he doesn’t work here?”
A wide grin spread across Paxton’s face. “Right out of med school, Quinton and a woman he cared about started a small concierge clinic called Luxe. His partner, Dr. Lynn, had big dreams about building an empire, but Quinton wanted to keep taking all the profits and pumping them into free clinics. This tore their partnership apart, along with their relationship. Quinton became a silent partner, and all the funds he received went back into his clinic. Technically, he owns half of this hospital and all the other Luxe subsidiaries.”
“Holy shit,” Asher said.
Quinton waved us over, and the doors to the back area opened. “She’s in room one sixty-four.”
Asher and I followed, and Quinton turned to his brothers. “I got this.”
“I’m not here to help,” Kaeden grinned. “I’m here for the fireworks show about to go down. How long has it been?”
Quinton flipped him off. “Not long enough. This is the room. Give me a moment to make sure it’s okay to go in.”
He slipped into the room.
“She’s going to be okay,” Asher whispered. I wasn’t sure if he was reassuring himself or me.
“Looks like she is still asleep. Why don’t you come in and sit with her? I’ll read over the chart to see what was ordered.”
The steady sound of a beep greeted us as we entered the sterile room. Zayla’s small frame was lying in the center of the bed. Her chest rose and fell. All I wanted was for her to open her pretty eyes. Asher and I took a seat on either side of her bed. I grasped her hand; she was cold to the touch.
Quinton stood at the foot of the bed. He flipped through a few pages and then flipped back. His eyes shifted from the chart to the medical device behind me.
“They drew her blood,” Quinton explained, his voice clinical. “The report came back with traces of Propofol. That is why she’s still unconscious. From the level in her blood, I would expect her to wake up very soon.”
Before I could ask a question about Propofol, the door to the room swung open and banged against the wall. Dr. Lynn charged into the room. Paxton and Kaeden hovered right outside the door.
My gaze drifted to the doctor as she ripped Zayla’s chart from Quinton’s hands. “You don’t work here, Quinton,” she spat. “And Zayla is not your patient, so get the hell out of my center!”
Quinton’s lips twitched. “I’m shocked you work on the floor. I figured you spent your time swimming in the money you’ve sucked out of the rich over the years.”
“Sorry, I like to be paid for my work,” Dr. Lynn took a deep breath. “No amount of money you throw into those clinics will bring him back.”
Paxton stepped into the room and stood between the two. “Your guys’ past needs to stay the fuck in the past. I know it’s filled with land mines, but that is not a subject to discuss today.”
Dr. Lynn’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right, Pax. Quinton, you showing up here…it threw me, and I took my personal issues out on you.”
Zayla’s leg kicked and her eyes fluttered open. “The files,” she whispered.
“Zay...” I murmured.
Asher leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s concentrate on you. The doctors were about to fill us in.”
“How long was I out?”
Dr. Lynn stepped next to the bed. “We’ve run some tests on you and did an MRI. It looks like you were given Propofol, and you passed out.”
“Did someone stick a needle in you when you were in the basement?” Asher asked.
“No. I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, and then I got tired.”
Dr. Lynn stepped to the side of the bed. “Everyone out.”
“Asher and I will step out so the Dr. Lynn can take a look.”
Zayla grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And if you trust Dr. Renolds, he can stay as well.”
Paxton and Kaeden left the room. My fingers wrapped around the edge of her blanket and pulled it down. Zayla moved her nightgown so we could see her stomach. Quinton flipped the light switch, and the bright medical light shone down..
“I don’t think they are linked,” Dr. Lynn said. “You might have just had cramps.”
“Did anything show on the MRI? Any type of capsule in her body?” I asked.
Dr. Lynn shook her head. “Nothing showed on the scan.”
Quinton placed his hand on Dr. Lynn’s forearm. “I’m not trying to undermine you, but AA Security has some strange cases.”
She shrugged and pulled out her phone. After a couple of seconds, Zayla’s scan appeared on the screen.
“It’s a touchscreen,” she commented.
“You’re right. The scan doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary.” Quinton turned and faced Zayla. “How long have you had the IUD and what kind is that? The center section looks larger than normal.”
“For three years, I had an IUD. I think the brand was FemaProtecta. Then about four months ago, I got a message from my doctor saying I needed to get it replaced, because it was recalled. While I waited for my doctor, a tech came into the room to set it up, and she started talking about FertiliStop. Said it was some new state-of-the-art IUD that lasted longer and would slowly deliver hormones into my body,” Zayla explained.
Quinton ran a hand over his face. “FertiliStop is not FDA approved. I’m sure the product is banned in the United States. Your doctor inserted it in you?”
Zayla’s cheeks turned pink. “I never thought anything was out of the norm. It was close to thirty minutes. I sat in that room before the tech came back and said the doctor had an emergency. She went on to say that if I wanted, she could do the insertion. Did I allow the killer to insert the IUD in me?”
I squeezed Zayla’s hand. “Not necessarily. He could have paid the nurse to do it. From what we learned about your neighbor’s death; the person triggered the device with an RF signal. All I need is a couple of walkie-talkies, and I can build a signal jammer. We can place it in the room while Dr. Lynn and her team remove the IUD.”
Dr. Lynn’s brows furrowed. “I’m sorry. This sounds crazy. There is no way that an IUD is large enough to hold Propofol.”
“If you’d explained this same case to me a year ago, I would feel the same way. Except those two men…” Quinton waved in my direction. “Work cases you would never believe.”
“This is Zayla’s call,” Dr. Lynn said. “Do you want the IUD removed?”
“Yes,” Zayla didn’t hesitate.
“I’m going to go get the stuff I need. Dr. Renolds, please come with me.”
“You expect me to fall in line?” Quinton joked.
“Yes.” She turned and walked out with Quinton directly behind her.
Asher and I were alone with Zayla. “I’m going to go grab the stuff I need for the RF blocker.”
“I don’t want you to leave me.”
I placed a quick kiss on her lips. “The sooner we get this done, we can go back to the hotel and hold each other.”
Asher grabbed my hand before I could move. “Come here.”
I leaned forward over Zayla and kissed Asher before he released my hand. My mind raced as I headed to the nurses’ station. Kat and Antonio had taken the van with all my tech. I hoped security had what I needed to create the device. My stomach turned, thinking about the fact that if the device broke on its way-out, poison could also be inside.
15
ZAYLA
The hotel TV flickered from across the room. I sat on the center cushion of the couch with my feet tucked up underneath me and a bottle of water in my hand. CJ had his laptop propped open on his lap on the couch next to me. Asher paced outside on the balcony with his phone pressed to his ear. I tried to focus on television, but I couldn’t stop the dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach. Neither Asher nor CJ had touched me since we came home from the hospital. Two days passed. The first night, they tucked me into bed and said they had work to catch up on. They didn’t cuddle in bed with me like they promised at the hospital. I woke up and found them both asleep in the living room. CJ was on the couch, and Asher was on the floor. I hated how we’d gone from a night of passion to them feeling miles away.
I should have realized our relationship wouldn’t work. I rubbed my eyes to stop the tears that threatened to run down my cheeks. Dr. Lynn confirmed the IUD had two chambers. She was digging into what the second drug was. On the way home from the hospital, CJ explained how the person grabbed the stuff from the bank floor. Everything was gone.
The killer hadn’t sent me any more texts, and I wondered if one would come. Antonio had reported that they found the missing children locked away in a warehouse unharmed.
Asher slid the patio door open and stepped inside. “The Orange team is getting pulled for a mission. Antonio and Kat will need to head back to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow.”
“Orange team?” I asked.
“Since the company keeps growing, we’ve divided our employees into teams. The Orange team deals with our missions in South America.” Asher explained as he joined us on the couch.
I turned my attention back to the screen, but my thoughts returned to the fact that my days with Asher and CJ felt numbered. CJ hadn’t said a word for the last few hours to me, even though he was a foot away. I blinked to stop a tear that tried to escape, but I was too late. It trickled down my cheek. When I reached to wipe it away, Asher caught my arm, and his thumb brushed down my cheek.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
CJ glanced up from his laptop for the first time, his eyebrow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Zayla’s crying,” Asher replied.
I tried to stand. But they both reached out and held me in place. My emotions were like a roller coaster at Six Flags. “Nothing.”
CJ winced. “Asher doesn’t like that word. It can lead to spankings, which leads to sex. So...”
Asher huffed, “Don’t listen to him. Is this about what happened to you? I know sometimes shock takes a few days to set in. We can have a therapist here within an hour. What happened to you is traumatizing.”
“I don’t need a therapist over the fact I was knocked out.”
Asher reached forward to grab my hand, but pulled back. I couldn’t stop the second tear that fell. He didn’t even want to touch me, and I didn’t understand what changed.
“You weren’t just knocked out. You were violated. That is something huge, and you need to talk about it,” Asher said. “
My eyes widened as I swallowed hard. “Is that why you guys are standoffish with me?”
CJ ran a hand over his face. “Finding out someone manipulated you to change your IUD and planted a device inside you is concerning especially for your mental health. Taking it a step further, that person also violated your private area. I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around you and hold you tight, but that is me being selfish.”
I reached out and grabbed each of their hands. “I thought after everything that happened yesterday…you didn’t want me anymore. As for a therapist, I have one, and I’ll reach out to her. I don’t think what that person did has set in yet. But I know you aren’t him or her.”
“Fuck,” Asher said. “Zayla, we can’t read your mind. CJ and I talked the last two nights about how amazing you’ve handled yourself. We are both falling for you, hard. But you also need to understand us. If you decide to stay with us. We tend to get tunnel vision when we are in the middle of a case. We both want this person locked up, so our focus has been on the case. I get lost in the coordination and work, and CJ can get lost in his cyber world. There are times I’ve left for work in the field and come back seven hours later, and he hasn’t moved or eaten. When you see us doing that, call our assess out because we might not realize it.”
“Hey, I only worked for a couple of hours today.” CJ retorted.
I squeezed his hand. “For the last six hours, you clicked away on the computer and haven’t said a word. Asher took call after call and went over to Kat’s room a few times.”
CJ grabbed his phone and his eyes widened. “Well, shit. Aaron got me in contact with a well-known video editor in California. We are close to cracking the video.”
“Let’s get out of this place and go have dinner. It might clear our heads,” I said.
Asher rubbed his thumb back and forth on my hand. “Are you sure you feel okay physically to go?”
“The drug only knocked me out,” I replied.
“No, I think he means because of the procedure done to you. The doctor used ten-inch forceps to pull out your IUD,” CJ said as he waved at my stomach.
I blinked a couple of times to see if he was serious. “Removal of an IUD doesn’t hurt. Now, if you want to have a conversation about getting one put in, that’s a different story.”
“Dr. Lynn said you might not feel good for a few days after,” Asher said, reminding me about the conversation. I’d thought he’d missed the part.
“My emotions for the next few days might be off kilter. That might explain why I over-analyzed your lack of attention to me for the last few days. Some women also get menstrual cramps when they have it taken out. I haven’t yet.”
“You’re right. We might need a break to clear our minds. Why don’t you two get ready? I’m going to make a few calls to find us a place to eat,” Asher said.
CJ stood and pulled me up. His arms wrapped around me, and his lips hovered over mine. “When something is bothering you, please come to us.” His lips came down on mine for the first time in two days.
A warm body pressed against my back, and a light kiss skimmed over the side of my neck. Asher worked higher until he was near my ear. His warm breath tickled against my skin. “Later, we might need to address the fact you didn’t come talk to us.” He nipped the shell of my ear before moving his mouth away. CJ pulled back from the kiss. They kept me wrapped in their arms as they leaned in and kissed each other. I watched as their tongues tangled together.
“I vote we stay in.”
Asher and CJ broke their kiss.
“Nope, we are getting out of here, and later if you are up to it, you will be our dessert. Just thinking of your sweet pussy is driving me crazy,” Asher said. “I’m going to get our dinner set up. And Zayla, wear a dress or skirt.”
Asher walked out onto the patio and held his phone to his ear. My eyes drifted back to his firm ass.
“He does have a nice butt, doesn’t he?” CJ asked.
“Yes.”
I changed into a black, strapless dress. I’d just slipped on my red heels when CJ walked out of the bathroom in black dress pants and a white button down dress shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up on each side to his elbows, and the sight of him made my mouth water. CJ took two large steps and was next to me. His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me against his body. “You look so sexy. I want to bend you over the bed and fuck you.”
