Hacker Betrayed (White Hat Security Book 11), page 13
We both laid there, my heartbeat against her chest and our breathing in sync. I didn’t want to say anything to ruin the moment, but we would have to face the fact her sister tried to poison her, and her boss wanted answers.
CHAPTER 14
Mia
“Love, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
I stretched my neck and tried to release the tension. We were parked out front of my sister’s house. My grandparents lived in the large home at one time, and had left it to my sister. It made sense; Ashlyn was close with our grandma. They both had a passion for fashion. Wearing the latest look out of Paris was never something I enjoyed. There were a few designer heels in the back of my closet, but I would rather wear flip-flops, except it hurt like a bitch if you had to kick an assailant and you didn’t point your foot correctly. So, I tended to wear sneakers.
“You worry too much. Like we discussed on the way here, I barely got to talk with Ashlyn at the party, and I wanted to come to see her this morning. Maybe it was someone else who drugged me.”
My head still pounded from the sedative slipped into my drink. Paxton wasn’t happy I kept who gave me a drink to myself. He stood in the kitchen while I spoke to my boss and glared. After my boss left, he put me over the kitchen counter and spanked my ass. I don’t care though. I want to be the person to find out why she tried to kill me over the years.
“Lie,” Paxton growled as we walked up the cobbled driveway to her large stained-glass door. Paxton pulled me into his arms, and I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping my own around his waist.
“You didn’t have enough fun last night.” My sex ached, thinking about his tongue licking me.
“I crave you every second of the day. Last night I learned one of your tells. You see, my love, when you lie, your nostrils flare. To be utterly honest, I find your little twitch sexy as hell. If I had to guess. You know it was her over the years and you should have back up, and I don’t count,” Paxton said.
He was right. Paxton added an extra layer of danger to the mission. I had to keep my attention on my sister, but I would worry about him. That’s why I sent a text to Kat. My friend would understand confronting my sister was something I would never hand off to one of my teammates or my boss. She would also cover my ass and not tell my boss until I’d spoken with Ashlyn.
I pushed up on my toes and placed a quick kiss on Paxton’s soft lips. If I wasn’t careful, I would forget what I needed to do because the man was so intoxicating. Reluctantly I pulled back. “I’m a step ahead of you, Doc. Backup is on a rooftop. One of these days, I’ll have to have her teach me how she scales the building so easily,” I said.
Paxton's head whipped to the side as though he could actually find Kat’s location. I was glad the woman was on my side. During my time with the CIA, we never crossed paths, but I’d hear rumors about the Ice. Nobody believed half that shit to be true. So many of the stories were so crazy they sounded fictional. Like the time she trudged through the Congo, took out a militia with her bare hands, and freed seven American tourists. I once asked her about the story, and she laughed and told me she’d had a knife.
“Let’s hope we don’t need Kat. I’m all for getting to the bottom of what happened yesterday, but I’m not sure if I want her to kill my sister. Ashlyn and I used to be close. We need to sit down and talk and figure out why she would want me dead and who she hired to kill Tabitha. Ashlyn might be cold on the outside, but she would never kill a person.”
Ashlyn would plant flowers in the backyard every time we saw dad’s men drag a body out the back door. She would say a prayer and cry for their soul. A chat with her would be the only way to get to the core of what the hell was going on.
“She didn’t seem very friendly when I spoke to her at your family gathering.” Paxton pulled back but linked his fingers with mine. “Let’s get this over with. I’d rather spend Sunday in bed worshiping your body. This week I have a lot of surgeries scheduled. With no partner, I’ll have to take on the extra case load.”
I wanted nothing more than to be in bed with Paxton and not on my sister's front doorstep. But if I put off confronting my sister, she could have time to cover her tracks. The sooner I put all the pieces together and figured out why she wanted me dead, the sooner I could get my son back. The FaceTime calls weren’t enough. Lucas had told me how much fun he was having, but that he wanted to come home. I wasn’t sure what home looked like. In the heat of the moment, I told Paxton I would move in with him, but we needed to talk like adults.
No matter how much I wanted to fall into Paxton’s bed, I needed to figure out what my next step was. I knew I would end up in his bed permanently, but I had to check with Lucas first about everything else.
I pushed the circular doorbell and waited. Once we stepped foot in the house, Kat would lose sight of us, but I felt sure she stole some tech from her husband or sister. She probably didn’t even need to steal the tech. Knowing her, she had a stash of everything a spy could need packed in her car for emergencies. For a mom of three, she sure did have a lot of emergencies not linked to her kids.
Ashlyn pulled open the door. Dark, puffy circles under my sister’s eyes drew my attention from the gun in her hand for a second.
“You going to shoot me on the front steps or wait for me to come inside? Just for the record, it’s a pain in the ass to get blood off the concrete. You’re better off putting down some tarps. I was sure you’d remember this from when we were kids.”
Paxton growled next to me, but I never glanced away from Ashlyn. I hesitated, and I never paused when it came to someone holding a gun. Ashlyn had changed, and I wasn’t sure if she would shoot Paxton or me. If I went for my gun, there was a seventy-five percent chance I could take her out before she could fire. The only problem was, I worried she would fire at Paxton.
There was a man behind my sister with his hand inside his jacket. “Bring them inside, Ash.”
“If this is a bad time, we can come back later. I’m sure Mia will call you before she shows up unannounced next time. My brothers and sister pop up at my house all the time. I can’t say I’ve ever held a gun to one of them. Well, I don’t keep a gun in the house… I guess with Mia at my place I have two guns in my house now—”
“Five,” I corrected.
“Okay, five. When we leave, I think we need to discuss that. I’m sure my cleaning lady will be surprised if she comes by one. What I was trying to say was, Mia and I are leaving,” Paxton finally finished rambling.
“Why are you here?” Ashlyn asked. Her voice didn’t have an edge like the prior day when I tried to ask how she was.
She wasn’t the weak sibling I remembered from our childhood. Her hand didn’t wobble, but the light in her eye had dimmed. I’d hoped Ashlyn would have the life I never did. When we were younger, I promised to get her out, make a little home somewhere and have her live with me. Then I was sold to a monster, and all I wanted was to escape my past and never look back. “Ashlyn, can I come in? Or do you really want to have this conversation on the front steps? I have a couple of questions, and you owe me, after all.”
“Owe you? Are you fucking crazy?” Ashlyn waved her hand through the air, pointing the gun in our direction, and stepped in front of Paxton.
“Yes. You were the one that drugged me last night. Paxton and his brother found me passed out. What was your plan, to drag me out and kill me?”
Ashlyn’s mouth fell open. “Wait, you’re at my house because you think I’m the one who tried to kill you?”
The man inside the house dropped his arm and pulled Ashlyn to the side. “Come in. Ashlyn thought you were here for a different reason. Sorry, we are both a little on edge, and I think we might need to talk.”
Paxton’s hand rested against the small of my back as we walked into the home I’d spent time at when I was a child. My grandmother wasn’t like my mom; she gave the best hugs. During the summer, I would spend at least a month every year at their house until they both died in a car accident. My parents never went into detail about the accident, but I always wondered if their death was tied to the family business. Grandfather was in his late eighties, but refused to step down from the head of the family and let my father take over.
There was tension between them during the last year of my grandparents’ lives. I was only ten at the time and didn’t understand when Mom told me I couldn’t spend the summer with Grandma, and a week later, their car was hit by a semi that ran a red light. They both died on impact, and the man who drove the truck died his second day in prison. Dad said it was vengeance for killing my parents. At times I wondered if it was because they worried the truth might come out.
I followed my sister into the sitting room to the right of the entryway. The walls weren’t covered in family photos anymore. The light pink couch was gone, along with the antique coffee table. In its place were two white loveseats facing each other with a glass coffee table in between.
Over the prior years, I had wanted to reach out to Ashlyn but never knew what to say. And I never wanted to jeopardize Lucas’s identity.
If my dad hadn’t sold me all those years ago, I was sure Ashlyn and I would still be close. But he had, and the woman across from me was not the sister I remembered.
“You’re in my house now. Tell me why you think I tried to kill you.” Ashlyn had taken the seat across from me but kept the gun in her hand. “I know you think the world revolves around you, and we should all make sure Dalia or whatever the hell you want to be called wants. The one thing I can tell you is I never tried to kill you. I have enough shit going on in my life. Lydia blackmailed me into attending your party.”
Ashlyn’s words swirled around my head. “Well, you hit me with ten issues at one time. Before I answer another question, who are you?” I asked the man with her. The expensive black suit screamed businessman or mob boss.
His lip curved up. “I’m Jordan Calhoun. And here I thought my stepmom died all those years ago. I can’t say we ever spent much time together. You were off in Mexico with my eldest brother.”
Jordan was from Cyrus's third marriage, or maybe his fourth marriage. I was the last of Cyrus's seven wives. The seventh time wasn’t his charm. Cyrus sent his children to boarding schools, and I barely met or saw them if they were under the age of eighteen. When they came of age, they worked for the family. There was no choice. I was happy the man never had a daughter. I leaned to the right of the couch and placed my hand closer to my hip. “The family get-together? No one ever mentioned it was for me. Nobody discussed who I was, but I assume Ashlyn told you. Are you coming after my son and me because of your dad?” I glanced over to Paxton. “Why don’t you step outside and let me handle this?” The layer of danger increased with the knowledge I was in the same room as one of Cyrus’s kids. I should have never let Paxton come, but whenever he smiled, all rational thought left my brain, and I was left with nothing.
“I’m not leaving. On the way here, I texted my sister to let her know we planned to visit Ashlyn. She will make sure these two never see the light of day if they kill us. So, no, I won’t be leaving. We’re all adults, and we can talk this out. Nobody else needs to die.”
The damn man saw too much good in the world. He’d read a dark motorcycle book over the weekend and picked apart all the good the gang did. “Goes to show getting a doctorate doesn’t make you the smartest person in the room.”
“Never said I was.” He nodded toward Jordan. “If they planned to kill us, they wouldn’t do it in a room with white couches. From the glance I had around when we walked in, this place is bare. Not a single thing on the walls, same with the main entrance, and from what I could see, the living room was empty. We can keep bickering about if I should leave, which I won’t, and the more time you waste, the more your punishment will rack up.”
“Punishment?” Jordan’s hand went to his gun, and his voice turned cold. “I can deal with a lot, but men hurting women is something I won’t let stand.”
Well, that’s different from his father. But his father also put up a different act in front of family and friends. I think Donovan was the only child of Cyrus’s who knew his father was truly a monster.
I wanted to get back to the house, but I needed to stop pretending with this man. There was never supposed to be a relationship, but I fell for him and never left. Everything felt muddled, and I wasn’t sure why I’d let my feelings get the best of me.
“It’s not what you think.” I placed my hand on Paxton’s thigh and squeezed. “When did you figure out Lucas is Donovan’s son? I find it strange you’re trying to kill me, and almost kill him, but Donovan hasn’t made an attempt…unless he lied to me.”
“Wait a second.” Jordan held up his hands. “I didn’t know you had a kid with my brother, neither my father nor Ashlyn mentioned it. She did mention last night you were at the party. I was shocked. My father was the scum of the earth, and if you did kill him, I owe you a thank you. Everyone in our family is better off with how Donovan runs things. He doesn’t make us join the business. He gives us choices. Don’t get me wrong, I think a couple of my siblings feel slighted, but none ever questioned Dad’s death or if you were alive.”
“Then it leads back to you, Ashlyn. Why the hell did you give me the drugged drink last night?” I asked.
Ashlyn’s face paled. “I hate you for what you did years ago, but I would never hurt you,” Ashlyn protested.
“Fine, we can get back to the drink part in a second. What the hell do you think I did to you years ago. Dad sold me, and our family never attempted to help me. And when I finally was free, dad wanted to sell me a second time. At what point did I betray you? Because you never once tried to contact me.”
“You promised to take me with you. Staying with Dad and Mom was hell, and you left me,” Ashlyn admitted. “Then when I tried to call, you never answered, only texted saying you didn’t have time for me.”
“Cyrus made our parents look like angels. The man was pure evil. I’m sorry, Jordan. I wish I could bring your father back to life and slowly drain the blood from his body. As for the phone calls and texts, Cyrus’s men took my phone from me the second I stepped out of our parents’ home. Did I want to talk to you? Yes. Many nights I laid in my own blood, praying for death. I would never want you to be part of that once I got away and went to Mom and Dad’s. The only thing I cared about was my son. He was still in my stomach, helpless. I watched to make sure Dad never sold you, but when I saw you go off to college, I was proud of you. Hell, I even came to your graduation. Then three days after your graduation, the attempts on my life started. Did you see me?” I hadn’t even correlated the time frame until right then. Not once did I think Ashlyn wanted me dead. Was I wrong?
“God, no! None of this makes sense. Mom would show me pictures of you flying all over the world and rave about how happy you were. I was so jealous,” Ashlyn admitted. “I think that’s why I worked harder to start up my business on my own. I’ve never touched a dime in my trust fund. Yes, Grandma gave me this house, and all the bills pertaining to the house are paid out of an account she created. But not once have I touched the money Mom and Dad gave me.”
“I see celebrities wearing your clothes all the time,” I pointed out. “How can you possibly be struggling this much? Especially since you have a free house.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “You should know more than anyone how things always look different from the outside. Part of me knew my father killed my mother. How do you have seven wives who all die? Now, that’s some bad luck. Did I know he physically abused you? No.”
“How do you two know each other?” Paxton brought up a good question.
“We met during the summer when we were both in grade school. Unlike Ashlyn, I used the funds I inherited after Dad died. To open my VC company where I fund startups. Ashlyn came to me, and I gave her the capital.”
Ashlyn shifted and placed the gun from her hand on the end table. “Not sure why I was okay taking his dirty money and not using the money in my own account.”
“Because you wanted an excuse to see me.” Jordan winked at Ashlyn.
“If that’s what helps you sleep at night. I’m serious. I didn’t poison your drink. The drink wasn’t even meant for you. Lydia made me one, but I had to come home and pore over more numbers, so I didn’t want any alcohol. Then Jordan called to tell me that our plan to sniff out whoever was stealing failed.”
“After I replayed our conversation in my head. I remembered you sticking a vial in your purse when I walked into the room.”
Ashlyn grabbed her purse from beside the couch and pulled out the small vial. “This? The doctor subscribed me Sumatriptan because of my headaches.”
Now I had even more questions and no answers. “Let’s say Lydia wanted to poison you. Why? Are you two very close?”
Ashlyn shrugged her shoulders.
“We need to go to the house and see Lydia and talk with her.”
“Can’t. She left on vacation this morning. I think she’ll be back in a couple of weeks,” Ashlyn offered.
“Does she know you didn’t take the drink?” I asked, thinking we could play to Ashlyn’s intended death.
I could be wrong in assuming Lydia tried to drug my sister, but a couple of things slipped into place. Lydia had told me Ashlyn was depressed, and lately, she thought her company was failing and worried she might take her own life. “Why is your company failing? Lydia mentioned how you might shut down in a week.”
Ashlyn frowned. “The companies I use are holding my product hostage for more money. I had my computers hacked at work and a large amount of money taken, but I started to dig, and someone’s skimmed off the top for a while. Jordan thought my CFO fudged the books. We’d set him up only to find out someone was manipulating the data he received. She’s right; I’m close to shutting down. I can’t afford to get my product. But nobody knows except the people in this room.”
