have gone off. They’ve already been here, then.”
“The bad guys?”
“Rose Briar.” He moved inside, dragging her withhim, and shut the door behind her. Only then did the shadows around her dissipate.
The home was empty, not a single piece of furniture remaining.
“Wow. They work fast.” The man had only died last night.
“They have to,” Sean said darkly. “I was just hoping we’d beat them to it.”
“Maybe Rowan can get—”
Sean was shaking his head. “Nope. He isn’t high enough up to confiscate Bill’s computers.”
“Let’s at least look around.” Wasted trips, how she hated them.
Sighing, she strolled through the house. The ceilings were vaulted, the floor comprised of polished wood. The walls were differing shades of beige, a few places scuffed where movers had hastily carted everything away.
There was a fireplace in the living room, the kind she’d always wanted for herself. So many times she’d imagined owning a place like this, curling in front of the crackling hearth with a blanket and a book, nothing to worry about as she sipped hot cocoa.
“So what do you want—” Gabby pressed her lips together as a low-watt vibe drifted through her mind, waking up nerve endings she usually hated. “There’s a computer somewhere in the house.”
“They wouldn’t have left something like that behind.”
Not purposefully, but there
was
a computer here. Determined, Gabby marched forward. The farther away she was from the living room, the less she felt the vibe. So she turned and marched the other way,out of the living room and down another hall. The vibe grew stronger.
Sean stayed close to her heels. When she attempted to enter a bedroom, he grabbed her by the waist and stopped her, then swept ahead of her to look things over.
“Clear,” he said, and she entered.
It was as empty as the rest of the house, but she closed her eyes, stream after stream of information pouring through her head. “It’s here,” she said, closing her eyes. “I’m linked.”
At first, absorbing files like this had hurt. Maybe because she’d resisted. Now it merely tickled. She knew to open her mind, to allow the documents, or whatever they were, to fill the chip (or whatever) that was inside her brain.
How much time passed as the information flowed inside her head she didn’t know. She only knew that when one hard drive emptied itself another demanded her attention. Then another. And when she finally opened her eyes, the sync complete, the bedroom was no longer as bright and the moon was high, muted golden rays seeping past the burgundy curtains over the windows.
She was panting, sweating, her limbs weak. Downloading hadn’t had this intense of an effect on her in a long time, but then these were the biggest files she’d ever downloaded.
Sean, she saw, was crouched at the far wall, facing the door and Gabby, his gun pointed straight ahead in case anyone tried to enter. He was covered by thick, white film. Clearly he’d beat at the plaster until he’d found a doorway.
“Thank God,” Sean muttered as he stood. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Sorry.”
“Bill had a secret office down there. Computers, notebooks, but nothing I found pertained to you or those like you. You?”
“I don’t know. I have to open the files and sort through them. Which I shouldn’t do until we have a few uninterrupted hours of safety.”
“How does that work? Never mind. Tell me, but not here.” He strode to her and wrapped his strong arm around her waist. Just then, he was her anchor and she couldn’t have turned away from him even upon threat of death. “I have a lot of questions for you, but first I want to get to a safe place.”
CHAPTER NINE
Sean stole yet another car, a minivan this time, and drove into the pulsing heart of the city. There he bought another prepaid phone, then placed a call to Rowan and set up a time to meet him. In case anyone had been listening, they’d used code.
“I have
“The bad guys?”
“Rose Briar.” He moved inside, dragging her withhim, and shut the door behind her. Only then did the shadows around her dissipate.
The home was empty, not a single piece of furniture remaining.
“Wow. They work fast.” The man had only died last night.
“They have to,” Sean said darkly. “I was just hoping we’d beat them to it.”
“Maybe Rowan can get—”
Sean was shaking his head. “Nope. He isn’t high enough up to confiscate Bill’s computers.”
“Let’s at least look around.” Wasted trips, how she hated them.
Sighing, she strolled through the house. The ceilings were vaulted, the floor comprised of polished wood. The walls were differing shades of beige, a few places scuffed where movers had hastily carted everything away.
There was a fireplace in the living room, the kind she’d always wanted for herself. So many times she’d imagined owning a place like this, curling in front of the crackling hearth with a blanket and a book, nothing to worry about as she sipped hot cocoa.
“So what do you want—” Gabby pressed her lips together as a low-watt vibe drifted through her mind, waking up nerve endings she usually hated. “There’s a computer somewhere in the house.”
“They wouldn’t have left something like that behind.”
Not purposefully, but there
was
a computer here. Determined, Gabby marched forward. The farther away she was from the living room, the less she felt the vibe. So she turned and marched the other way,out of the living room and down another hall. The vibe grew stronger.
Sean stayed close to her heels. When she attempted to enter a bedroom, he grabbed her by the waist and stopped her, then swept ahead of her to look things over.
“Clear,” he said, and she entered.
It was as empty as the rest of the house, but she closed her eyes, stream after stream of information pouring through her head. “It’s here,” she said, closing her eyes. “I’m linked.”
At first, absorbing files like this had hurt. Maybe because she’d resisted. Now it merely tickled. She knew to open her mind, to allow the documents, or whatever they were, to fill the chip (or whatever) that was inside her brain.
How much time passed as the information flowed inside her head she didn’t know. She only knew that when one hard drive emptied itself another demanded her attention. Then another. And when she finally opened her eyes, the sync complete, the bedroom was no longer as bright and the moon was high, muted golden rays seeping past the burgundy curtains over the windows.
She was panting, sweating, her limbs weak. Downloading hadn’t had this intense of an effect on her in a long time, but then these were the biggest files she’d ever downloaded.
Sean, she saw, was crouched at the far wall, facing the door and Gabby, his gun pointed straight ahead in case anyone tried to enter. He was covered by thick, white film. Clearly he’d beat at the plaster until he’d found a doorway.
“Thank God,” Sean muttered as he stood. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Sorry.”
“Bill had a secret office down there. Computers, notebooks, but nothing I found pertained to you or those like you. You?”
“I don’t know. I have to open the files and sort through them. Which I shouldn’t do until we have a few uninterrupted hours of safety.”
“How does that work? Never mind. Tell me, but not here.” He strode to her and wrapped his strong arm around her waist. Just then, he was her anchor and she couldn’t have turned away from him even upon threat of death. “I have a lot of questions for you, but first I want to get to a safe place.”
CHAPTER NINE
Sean stole yet another car, a minivan this time, and drove into the pulsing heart of the city. There he bought another prepaid phone, then placed a call to Rowan and set up a time to meet him. In case anyone had been listening, they’d used code.
“I have
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