Page 39 of Guarding Truth
Juliette moved close and kept her voice low. “I just checked. She’s asleep.”
They crept across the living room to the front door, each ancient floorboard creating a symphony of squeaks and groans.
Juliette peered out the window next to the door. “I heard some kind of crash. Alana is on duty, and I texted her to check it out.” They checked other windows and didn’t see anything suspicious.
“Well, I’m up now.” Caleb stretched, reassured by the knowledge that someone was checking on the source of the noise. But his gun wasn’t going to leave his side just yet.
Juliette headed to the kitchen and filled the empty coffee pot with water. “I guess we’re both up for the day,” she said. “We should probably sit and talk about a strategy before Ivy wakes up.”
Caleb sat and propped his elbows on the kitchen table, resting his head in his hands. “I hate to have Ivy out of my sight, but I want to see my office. Find out how bad the explosion was. They should be able to let me in if it’s structurally sound. Maybe Noelle or Alana can take Ivy to the safe house, and we can stop at the office. I get the feeling that at least one of the hackers could be someone that works for me. If so, I’d like to find some evidence before they destroy it completely.”
“Once it’s business hours, I can ask if the building has been cleared and if we can have access. I’m sure Matt can get us special permission.”
A knock sounded. Caleb jumped to his feet, and Juliette rushed to the door to check out the peephole. “It’s Alana. And she’s with someone.” She swung the door open, and in strode a black-haired woman with incredibly intense eyes. Between those and her all-black outfit, she was definitely a believable bodyguard—fierce. A man appeared in the doorframe, leaning on Alana for support. He looked rough, like he’d gone down in round one with Mike Tyson. His face sported multicolor bruises with a nice-sized gash across his forehead.
Caleb took a step backward the second recognition hit him. “Theo?”
The man stumbled into Juliette’s apartment. “Caleb?” The man’s eyes widened, and his voice rasped like a man who’d been stranded in the desert for ten days.
“It’s me. Here, have a seat. We’ll get you some water and call an ambulance. But what happened?”
Juliette handed Theo a bottle of water, which he drained in a few big gulps. She introduced Caleb to Alana Flores.
“Alana, where’d you find him?” Juliette whispered.
“Crumpled up by the mailboxes on the side of the road in front of the house,” Alana said. “I’ve already alerted the FBI. I was out back when I heard a car, but by the time I rushed to the street, it was gone. I heard a groan and spotted this guy. I cut the zip ties on his hands and feet and brought him in.”
“How are they tracking us?” Juliette voiced Caleb’s concern.
A knot tightened in his gut. He needed answers now, because these hackers were keeping one step ahead of them. “Theo, what do these hackers want?”
Theo put the bottle on the table, wincing from the movement. He looked Caleb in the eyes.
“They want you, Caleb. They’re coming for you.”
NINE
THURSDAY, 5:10 A.M.
What kind of strange plot twist was this?
The bad guys had dumped their captive off in the road in front of her house. What was their motivation for letting Theo go? To deliver a message to Caleb?
And how were the hackers tracking their every movement? The FBI had the laptop and phone. Juliette was over-the-top diligent in sweeping for bugs and trackers.
Caleb looked from Theo to Juliette and back to the bruised and battered man.
“What do they want with me?” Caleb asked at the exact moment Juliette said, “Do you remember anything about your kidnappers?” Their words tumbled over each other.
Theo held a shaky hand to his forehead. “In answer to your question”—he pointed at Juliette—“I don’t know what happened. They kept me drugged for the most part. I’m not even sure where I was.”
Another knock at the door, and Juliette let Agent McGregor and Matt Williams into her house, followed by the paramedics.
Juliette sat at the table across from Theo, resisting the urge to pepper the battered man with questions. But Caleb didn’t possess the same self-control. “Did they say what they wanted? Why did they take you?”
Theo shifted in the chair and winced as one of the paramedics dabbed something on the cut on his forehead. “Something about wanting a laptop they think you have. It didn’t make any sense to me.”
And it didn’t make sense as to why they’d let Theo go without the laptop. Unless they’d realized the laptop was in police custody. At least they’d let him live.