Page 58 of Critical Strike
If it wasn’t for the need to put in face time around the office, he would never have considered leaving her side, no matter how remote her location. It wasn’t like the cabin, in that the cabin hadn’t been deliberately rigged to keep it off the grid.
This safe house was. Luke and his brothers used the cabin’s generator and solar panels as inspiration to keep clients as protected as possible by making them as invisible as possible.
Even having set up the safe house himself wasn’t enough to make leaving any easier. But facts were facts, and Ballard wouldn’t be satisfied without confirmation of Luke being in the area and following his normal routine.
Which was why he drove to the office with his hands gripping the wheel tight enough that he could’ve sworn he heard the thing creak from the strain. It was why he stopped off for coffee and a bagel, making sure to take his time getting in and out of the car so anybody driving past could see him easily.
Brax was waiting at the office. “No bagel for me?”
“Here. You can have this one. I’m not hungry.” He handed the bag to his brother before heading to his desk. The absence of files was still a minor miracle and enough to make him smile for a second.
“You’ve got to take care of yourself if you plan to take care of her.” Brax leaned against the doorjamb, picking at the cinnamon raisin bagel but watching Luke all the while.
“I realize that. But I couldn’t swallow a bite right now if you paid me, not since we talked this morning.” He couldn’t shake the mental image of his mother realizing there was something wrong when her foot pressed down on the brake pedal and nothing happened. If she had been on the freeway—
He shook himself free of this. It was enough that she was safe. He’d drive himself insane if he kept asking “what if.”
“You think Claire will be able to find what we’re looking for without being noticed?”
That much he was sure of. “Absolutely. She knows what she’s doing. It’s one thing to not get around safeguards placed specifically to keep her out of Passage Digital’s network without raising a red flag, but Ballard’s people can’t put up blocks to other sites not under their control. So as long as she uses her tricks to mask who she is and where she’s accessing the information from, she’ll be fine.”
“You sound pretty confident.”
“I am. She’s the best. And it isn’t like she doesn’t understand the stakes.”
“I wasn’t trying to insult her. Don’t get your feathers ruffled.” Brax flashed one of his winning smiles, the same smile that he’d used to get out of trouble more times than Luke could count. “Just remind me once things calm down for good to make fun of you until I run out of breath for finally falling for a woman.”
“I’ll do that right after I remind you to grow up. How’s that sound?”
His burner phone rang. Brax grew serious as he perched on the edge of Luke’s desk to listen in. “Yes?” Luke answered, glancing at his brother.
“All’s well,” Weston assured him. “Your lady is working her fingers to the bone over here. I don’t think I’ve ever heard keys clicking so fast.”
Like that was what he wanted to hear about. “Has she found anything?”
“Oh, definitely. She hacked the security footage around the office building—not in Ballard’s offices, mind you, but the ones nearby. That way he won’t know somebody’s been looking around. She managed to pick up clear shots of a pair of big guys who tag along with him wherever he goes. You can plainly see them from a camera across the street getting in and out of his car. She ran a facial recognition scan, and their names are Nick Masters and David Brooks—both ex-CIA, both with filthy records.”
“A perfect resource for a man with no scruples.”
“Exactly.”
“What about those detectives? Anything there?”
“Claire is working on them as we speak. I’d guess they’ll be easier to get to than these two psycho meatheads. The odds of catching one of them without Ballard nearby is greater. They’re regular guys...detectives, probably with wives and kids.”
“So their pressure points will be closer to the surface. Easier to find and use against them.”
“Correct again. You’ll get the hang of this yet.”
“Everybody’s a comedian all of a sudden.”
There was noise in the background, making Luke’s heart clench. The sound of her voice did that to him, the longing he couldn’t shake. Wanting to have her there, with him, where he could see and touch her and know she was okay.
“She found something,” Weston murmured. “Let’s see.”
“What is it?” Luke exchanged another glance with Brax, whose eyebrows were lifted high enough to practically blend in with his hairline.
“Oh. Oh, this is good. This works in our favor.” Weston’s dark chuckle was punctuation at the end of that statement. “I’ll let the lady tell you what we’re looking at.”