Page 38 of Harmless Secrets

She nodded and he walked out of the room.

Then he answered. “Stryker here.”

“I hear we have a situation,” Conner said.

“More than one, but this one seems to be controlled at the moment.”

“Maura’s been working on the threat assessment. She wanted to come over here because she felt she failed Alicia.”

Conner’s main office was in Miami, where his sister and his partner ran the main part of the business.

“There really is no need for that. In fact, that system is why Alicia and Bridget are still alive.”

“That’s good to hear, but we also helped Alicia with monitoring her security in the virtual world. We had no idea she had been spotted by someone.”

He thought back to that day he saw her and the way he found her.

“I wonder if they used security footage to zero in on her?”

There was a pause. “You know, with the right kind of programs and enough help, whoever is after her could have done that. That will make it impossible to figure out who did this.”

“How long have you known who she was?” Devon asked.

“From the beginning. She knew if we started to dig for her, that we would find the layered identity. Only Maura, Rory, and Zeke, plus me, know about her true identity. The three of them worked on her case exclusively, and we didn’t let anyone else know about it.”

That was interesting. Conner was always a little overzealous when it came to security. The fact he was so strict about Ali’s case told Devon he knew how serious the situation was.

“I think we’re fine right now, but how about a meeting in the morning? We can go over some of the assessments,” Devon said.

He heard some tapping against keys as he waited for Conner’s answer. “There’s one person I want to bring with me. Sean Kaheaku has been doing some consulting for us, and I think he would be very good to help.”

“Are you sure you can trust him?”

“Yeah. He can be an ass, but he’s one of the best in the security business. He’s related to Eli St. John in a round about way.”

St. John owned and operated a cattle ranch on the Big Island. His previous career had been in the Australian Army.

“I would rather he didn’t know too much before he got here.”

“No problem. Truth is, I would love to have him working for me full time, but he doesn’t like to settle.”

“Okay, how about nine tomorrow? I would start earlier, but we’re all pretty tired.”

“No problem. See you then.”

Conner hung up without saying goodbye. Devon smiled. Conner had always been a little different. FBI to his core, he had a long connection with Dee and for that Devon had put up with him. But, he also found the man to be a solid security expert.

He thought they needed some more food and decided to see if the girls needed anything. Devon stopped. Girls. It was a term that Micah had used on more than one occasion when talking about Dee and Alana. That proprietary air…his girls.

Dammit, now he wanted that. He wanted the right to call them his girls. He had known about Bridget less than four days, but he already felt a connection to her—and Ali…well, she still made his knees go weak.

He shook those thoughts away. He would deal with that as soon as they solved their main problem. Wanting to head out and get the food so they could get Bridget to bed, Devon hurried up the stairs.

“This house is really big,” Bridget said as she followed Alicia into the bathroom.

Alicia didn’t correct her daughter’s assumption. It was probably a mansion for Hawaii where land was scarce and expensive. For a girl who grew up on an estate in England, it wasn’t that big. Of course, it was bigger than the house they had in Seattle. She just hoped they could return soon.

Alicia shook those thoughts away and walked to the French doors. Opening them, she drew in a deep breath.