Reckless (World of Danger Book 3) Page 3

  He swiped a hand over his head. “England is a hub to Europe so he and she could be anywhere.”

  She took another bite and nodded. “He’s untraceable right now, so our best bet is start figuring out who took him. Maybe that will help with the where.”

  “I take it you have a plan?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Lee’s hacked phone and our security breech,” she said. “JD had me run a diagnostic on our servers back then, but I didn’t find anything. Of course, that was before we knew it was an inside job. I’m going to question Lidah again see if I can swing a wider net.”

  He blinked. “His girlfriend?”

  “What?”

  “You said you were going to question Lidah.”

  “Yeah, his home computer network. It’s named Lidah.”

  “Oh,” Mason said. “That’s the name of his high school sweetheart.”

  “He named his computer after his long lost girlfriend?” She sighed. “That’s so romantic.”

  Mason raised an eyebrow. “Romantic? I just spent a weekend bailing them both out from being lost in the forest, being chased by some bad guy.”

  “Don’t you find that romantic?”

  He shook his head and stood. “I guess I’m more vanilla when it comes to my love life. I enjoy sleeping next to you in a very comfortable bed.”

  “Are you trying to make me swoon?” she teased.

  Mason winked at her. “I’ve got a meeting with a client. I’ll check back in later.”

  She saluted him with her cream soda, taking a moment to watch his fine ass walk away. They’d met at work, of course, and since both had been major introverts, it had taken a long time for them to actually make eye contact. Her social anxiety didn’t help, obviously, because she had zero experience when it came to talking to someone of the opposite sex.

  She’d caught JD’s attention back when computers were getting hacked left and right, and he’d brought her into the fold, fighting the cyber-crimes she once helped perpetrate. Since she dealt in very sensitive material, she had her own office where she hid every day behind a wall of monitors, not unlike the firewalls she bypassed on a daily basis. One day, Mason had come in, put down a sub sandwich and cream soda on the corner of her desk, and walked out. He didn’t say one word to her, but from that day on, he brought her lunch every day. Their courtship might have started oddly, but it was what she needed in order to get used to him.

  Now, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

  Going line by line of code, she traced back the steps she took when JD asked her about the strange text Lee Masterson had gotten about his girlfriend Lidah. It was a tedious job that took her to different parts of the world, impressed the perpetrator took the time to hide his or her tracks so well by jumping different IEP servers. Eventually, it ended back at Harlan Securities, further proof someone in the building had turned traitor.

  Night had fallen, and everyone else had gone home, except Mason. Even when their work schedules differed, they always stopped in to say good night. Her brain wasn’t ready to stop, but her eyes hurt and she knew from past experience it was best to give them a rest. She closed everything down, left her office, and locked it. Along with JD and Mason’s office, she held many secrets, ones that couldn’t be allowed to get out.

  Walking to his office, she knocked softly on the door and a moment later, it opened. He held out his hand, she took it, and he pulled her inside. His arms went around her as he bent to kiss her lips.

  “Mm,” she murmured as he pulled back. “What was that for?”

  “For being patient.”

  “I should be saying that to you. I haven’t found our hacker yet, but he or she is good. If they’re able to fly under my radar, then I have to give the person props. However, now that I’m on the trail, they are going to be toast.”

  He chuckled. “It’s almost ten. Want to eat something before heading home?”

  “Tacos,” she said. “And then sex. That’ll relax me.”

  “I aim to please.”

  Later that night, Mason always knew the right places to touch, to drive her wild. He trailed his fingertips down her body, the touch a little ticklish. Her stomach muscles rippled in protest until he brushed across the her slit. She parted her thighs, giving him access.

  “Oh, baby, you’re so fucking wet,” he murmured against her mouth.

  He touched every sensitive area, bringing her close to the edge. She moaned and her hips jerked up, seeking more

  “Please, Mason.”

  Taking his fingers away, he fell to his knees in front of her, grabbing her hips and bringing her up to his mouth, throwing her legs over his shoulders. Her body was open for him.

  “Ah, honey,” he murmured with awe in his voice. “You’re so beautiful.”

  Using two fingers, he spread her labia and then proceeded to fuck her with his tongue. At the same time, he managed to rub her clit causing her to go crazy under him.

  “Mason!” she moaned.

  He didn’t let up and her orgasm rose. She didn’t even try to hold it back, letting the waves of pleasure sweep over her. She cried out as she came, and still, he lapped up every drop. When she was spent, he let her go, let her legs back down and as he knelt over her, he jerked his cock until he came with a shout. His cum falling on her belly. Then he collapsed on her and held her close. She enfolded him in her arms, thankful he had taken the time to understand her hang-ups.

  ****

  The man watched the house from the darkness of his car, hatred burning through him. It had taken a long time to find what had happened to Lise Mason because he knew the fucker hadn’t killed himself before being sent to prison. The asshole needed to pay for his crimes. How dare he find love and happiness while his own had died years ago. Soon, he’d have his revenge. For now he was content knowing he’d cornered his prey, and the cat always liked to play with his food.

  Starting up the engine, the man smiled as he drove away.

  Chapter Four

  “Mr. Lake!” Abercrombie called out. Mason came to a halt as the older man came to a halt beside him, panting from the exertion of catching up. “Did you ever find Mae?”

  In an effort to make sure the outside world didn’t know the turmoil that Harlan Securities was going through, Mason was doing his damnedest to hide the fact that JD was gone and Lee had quit, because that was his job. He was the fixer, the one who took care of the fires. But when he got JD back, he was going to demand a hefty bonus.

  “Yes, I did,” he replied, lying smoothly to Abercrombie. “Mr. Harlan saw her working late on Friday and recruited her for a highly secretive assignment in England.”

  Abercrombie blinked behind his large oval rims, looking a little like an owl. “She’s in England? What about my report?”

  “Just get another data entry typist to draft it up.”

  “Okay,” Abercrombie muttered, half turning away. “But what are the odds of two typists disappearing into thin air?”

  “Wait,” Mason said, halting him. “Who else is gone?”

  “Renee Hammond. Mae trained her. No one has heard from her in days.”

  Dread hit Mason in the gut. “God damn it.”

  He didn’t even bother saying another word to Abercrombie as he turned and marched back into the secured area, making a beeline once more for Carrie’s office.

  “I think I found our breech,” Carrie said.

  “Let me guess,” he said darkly. “Renee Hammond?”

  Her big blue eyes blinked. “How did you know?”

  “She oddly disappeared the day Mae and JD did as well. I take it you’re hunting her?”

  “Yes, but Renee Hammond doesn’t exist. At least, not on an in-depth background check. New name, new identity. She’s really good at covering her tracks, but I’m better. Give me some time and I’ll hand over her dossier in a bit.”

  He left her alone because he knew she worked better alone, enclosed in her space. Impotent helplessness clawed his insides, an
uncomfortable sensation he hadn’t felt in twenty years. That experience had left a bitter taste in his mouth that he’d tried desperately to erase, but it lingered like an insidious disease. Now it had flared back up, taunting him that no matter how organized and meticulous he was, there was no running from failure. Mason lashed out at the wall, banging it with his fist over the fact that he was fast losing control of the situation.

  They were one of the top security agencies in the world. How could they have had a double agent right under their noses? Had he become too complacent in his routine? Were he and his policies to blame for not investigating potential employees more? The office staff were kept separate from the development side, in what he had thought was another layer of protection. What was glaringly obvious now was that those policies had not been strong enough and allowed a snake to infiltrate.

  He sat at his desk and forced himself to concentrate on the deals the agency had made, acting on behalf of JD. The business couldn’t falter because there was too much at stake. Too many clients depended on them. He worked through the evening, letting Carrie do her thing even though he was a stickler for an equal balance of rest time verses work time. His careful rules had been shattered because the last thing he wanted to do was go home like nothing had happened.

  The breech happened on his watch.

  If something happened to JD, would he be able to forgive himself?

  He picked up the phone to call Lee, only to remember the man had quit. Resentment churned with anger, and he grabbed a couple of antacids to help stop the burning in his stomach. It was hard not to be miffed at the fact that he had to deal with this alone since one partner was MIA and the other in retirement. Mason ran a hand through his short hair as he slumped in his chair, for a moment unsure what to do. Everything relied on Carrie’s ability to dig through cyber quicksand and retract the information they needed.

  Needing to occupy his thoughts, he went back to work. The first priority lay in changing policies in the hiring process because this double-cross could never happen again. Some of the shit he wrote out he knew legal would have to approve, but from then on, Harlan Securities would never again be vulnerable from an inside attack.

  ****

  Carrie stayed focused on finding out who Renee Hammond was. The woman had been hired a year ago, working in data entry, day after day sitting under their noses. An insidious presence watching them, collecting data, all with the intent of harming JD.

  Why?

  What link did JD have to this woman?

  In all the years she worked for Harlan Securities, she had never breeched their personal history. Not even Mason’s. She knew something lurked in his past, knew Mason had once been his last name. Yet she would never betray his trust by circumventing his personnel file. She had her own shit that she wasn’t proud of, and if Mason asked, she’d tell him about how she’d been on the cusp of going to jail for hacking into one of the Pentagon’s servers. Carrie had a feeling something similar had happened to Mason, where he’d been given a lifeline like she’d been offered, so she wondered if that was the way of Lee as well as JD.

  Rising, she stretched and unlocked her door, noticing that no one else was in the office. She pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time, shocked when it revealed it was almost midnight.

  She knocked on Mason’s door.

  “Come in,” he called out.

  She walked in and assessed his haggard appearance. “You look tired.”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “I am. I don’t know how to do all this by myself. God damn, Lee. He quit just when I needed him most.”

  “Is there a job?”

  “No, thank fucking God. I couldn’t deal with taking care of that while trying to hold down other clients. Any luck on our false employee?”

  “Some, but…”

  She let the word trail off. He raised an eyebrow.

  “But?”

  “It would help to know a little about his background.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Anyone he’s pissed off? Any unhappy clients?”

  He leaned back in his chair, studying her. “You mean you’ve never hacked into his history?”

  She shook her head. “That’s a trust issue I won’t break. Unless I have to, of course. Everyone has a right to their privacy, Mason. Even you.”

  He stared at her for a moment. Not in a creepy or uncomfortable way, but she saw the conflict in his dark eyes and waited for him to come to a decision.

  “This used to be a black ops unit,” he said softly.

  She was confused. “What used to be a black ops unit?”

  “This place. Harlan Securities. Once upon a time, we were undeclared agents of the CIA.”

  Carrie wasn’t sure what to do or how to act, shocked to her core. She wasn’t even sure if she believed him. “Are you fucking with me?”

  “Would I joke about something like this?”

  “I just can’t … of all the things you could’ve said, that wasn’t even a blip on my radar. Tell me how this came to be. At least your part in it.”

  “JD’s dad, Harlan senior, ran this secretive division for the government, taking on jobs the US couldn’t officially handle,” he replied. “If it needed to be done, there was no hesitation. Our fathers had worked together, which is why he targeted us for recruitment. JD never had the chance because he was his son, and the asshole was the hardest on him. Then I came along and Lee was the last. Lee was … fucked up. His father was murdered right in front of him.”

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered, horrified. “I never knew.”

  “It was why he made an excellent sniper. Completely emotionless.”

  The word sniper left her cold, but Carrie didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to interrupt him.

  “Harlan senior recruited each one of us by exploiting a situation we couldn’t handle,” he continued. “Lee’s dad tried to get out, but he wound up dead. My own father was killed, I discovered, under Harlan’s directive. My life, JD’s life, Lee … we’re all fucked up, Carrie.”

  “Do you think this Renee Hammond was someone from JD’s past?”

  “She has to be.” He leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed with worry and strain. “But there’s a lot of shit this company has done. How do we figure which one person targeted us? It makes me think.”

  She cocked her head, trying to read his mind. “Makes you think … that you could be next?”

  “This Renee Hammond wormed her way in and gathered sensitive data, and I’m guessing, sold it off to the ghosts of our pasts.” He shook his head. “It’s hard not to think I’m next.”

  Carrie wanted to hug him, or hold his hand. Do something to affirm he wasn’t alone in this. She vowed to do everything in her power to help him through this.

  “Maybe we should strategize this to stay one step ahead.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Perhaps you should stay here in the office,” she suggested. “Stay out of harm’s way.”

  “You want me to hide?”

  “Only until we can narrow the suspects and form a plan.” He began to shake his head and she held up a hand. “Listen to me. Deprive the hunter his prey and he’ll get sloppy. Once we figure out who it is, then we can be the attackers.”

  He mulled it over for a moment. “Take the low road until we get the high ground.”

  “Exactly. It’s the smart thing to do. And JD’s office has its own suite so you’ll at least be able to be comfortable.”

  “If I’m staying here, so are you.”

  “All right.”

  A smile slowly crooked one side of his mouth. “You’re an amazing woman, you know that?”

  She lifted her chin. “Yep. I got your back, okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Good,” she continued, standing. “Now, with this new information, I’ll start looking into my crystal ball and see if something jumps out at me.”

  Chapter Five

  “Ok
ay,” Mason said as he pulled into their driveway. “Get in, pack quickly. Get out. Got it?”

  “Yes, drill sergeant, sir!” Carrie yelled, giving him a salute.

  Mason rolled his eyes. “You’ve been playing too many games.”

  “Yes, to the consternation of my mother, who my whole life was like, when you get older, like it was a phase I was going to pass through and suddenly poof into her.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Betty Fucking Crocker I’m not, but I can play a mean RPG while hacking your bank account.”

  “Is that why I’m short some money?”

  She winked at him before opening the car door and getting out. He followed after her, unlocking the door and stepping through first. The only sounds were faint background noises of neighbors and the passing traffic. Everything else seemed calm, although he didn’t know what he expected. The boogieman to come jumping out of nowhere?

  Moving into the bedroom, he grabbed his backpack and tossed Carrie hers. Without talking, they packed. His wardrobe consisted of the same black turtlenecks and black slacks. She mostly had jeans and t-shirts. He momentarily left her in the bedroom to pack up some toiletries from the bathroom and when he walked back, she lay naked on the bed. A come-hither smile beckoned him closer.

  “We’re supposed to get in and get out,” he reminded her.

  “Your lips say one thing,” she said, with a pointed nod toward his crotch. “But your dick says another.”

  “My dick is an asshole.”

  “Speaking of assholes,” she flipped over and looked at him over her shoulder, “you want to play with mine?”

  Even knowing they should get back to their controlled environment, her siren song was too much of a temptation to ignore. He quickly shed his clothes, fisting his cock as he marched over to the bed, kneeling on the mattress so he could crawl over her naked body. Along the way, he bent and briefly sucked on pressure points along her backside. When he reached her ass, he kissed one cheek and nipped at the fleshy globe, which left a red mark. Then he slapped it for good measure, and Carrie’s breathy moan caused his cock to harden even more. She loved ass-play, and he was always happy to oblige.