Charlotte had awakened early, Jake immediately occupying her thoughts. The words they’d spoken the night before seemed like a dream she hadn’t dared let form in her mind until now. And then she had received a text message from Ace, and the weight of her responsibilities with the guardians had pulled her down.
Two American doctors had been detained by the Chinese government this morning after being accused of espionage. Suddenly everything felt like a nightmare.
She hit speed dial for Ace, and he picked up on the first ring.
“You saw my message?” he said without a greeting.
“I did. Are they really our operatives?”
“Actually, these guys appear to be who they claim to be. They were part of a humanitarian effort to help vaccinate children and provide medical care in remote areas of China.”
“So it doesn’t have anything to do with us?”
“I didn’t say that.” Ace’s voice was somber. “It looks like Xi Cheng may be feeding information to the Chinese government. I don’t know if he’s guessing who foreign operatives might be to flush us out or if he’s trying to convince someone he’s gained access to our database.”
“How do we stop him?”
“We have to find him. So far the only thing we know is that he and Werthcamp are looking for you.”
Charlotte fell silent. “I have an idea that might work.”
“What?”
“Each section of the database has a secondary security system.”
“Yeah, but whoever is after this probably already knows that. They’ll have a hacker ready as soon as the system activates.”
“What if we make one system easier to breach? As soon as I unlock the system, we could replace the guardian data with bad information and see who follows it.”
“That’s risky.”
“It is, but if we plant the right information, we should be able to trap whoever is funding the whole thing. That’s a step in the right direction.”
“Or you can trace who’s funding these guys so we don’t have to activate the system until we’re sure it’s secure.”
“I’ll do what I can, but the search could take a lot longer than the time we have. With this situation in China, I imagine our funds are even more limited now.”
“Yeah. If the state department doesn’t step up on this one, it will wipe us out.”
“Which means we may need a plan B,” Charlotte said. “I’ll set up the parameters for the funding search and get that started, but I think we also need to be prepared for what we’re going to do if we have to activate the system. At this point, it looks like it’s going to happen whether we want it to or not.”
“All right. Do what you can,” Ace relented. “If we have to activate the database program, though, we’ll need you with us. I don’t want you to be left unprotected after we flip the switch.”
She refused to think about how long that eventuality might be. “I understand.”
After discussing the details of how to best prepare for the various possibilities, Charlotte hung up and debated where to set up her newly acquired computer. Her room would afford her the most privacy, but it would also make it difficult to know when Abigail needed her. The kitchen table would give her the best ability to keep an eye on Abigail, but it would also leave her vulnerable to Jake and others walking in and seeing what she was working on.
After a brief debate, she went downstairs to study the office. Though it was located just off the main entryway, the desk was situated facing the wide doorway. If she set up there, she could work without anyone looking over her shoulder while still being able to hear Abigail as she moved around the house.
The laptop Ace had given her looked like any other, but to perform the task he assigned to her, she would have to link it to a second piece of computer equipment set up with the Internet, firewalls, and the necessary interfaces to hack into various financial institutions and government databases.
Not hearing any movement in the house, Charlotte took the time to set up her gear and create complex passwords to make sure no one could use it but her. She doubted she would have to worry about Jake using anything but his own laptop, but she wanted to make sure she didn’t have to explain exactly what she was doing.
She probably wouldn’t see Abigail emerge from her room for another hour, and feeling the time pressure of when the guardians would run out of funding, she began hacking into various overseas banks and searching for funding transfers exceeding five million dollars coming out of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
While she waited for the search to filter through, she checked the e-mail account she had set up to communicate with Sheriff Hendricks. She was surprised to see another e-mail from him, this one confirming that Nick White really was Owen Werthcamp.
Footsteps sounded on the wood floor, and Charlotte quickly closed the laptop so the search could continue on the main computer without being visible on the monitor.
She went into the hallway to see Abigail heading for the kitchen. Knowing breakfast had to take priority for the moment, Charlotte hurried to head her off, hoping she could find a way to keep working while also making sure Abigail stayed out of trouble.
* * *
Jake followed the scent of eggs and bacon, his heart lifting the moment he saw Hannah next to the stove, his grandmother standing a short distance away making toast. He saw the little flush of color in Charlotte’s cheeks when she looked over and saw him.
“Good morning.” He crossed to her, slipped his arms around her waist, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Did you get any sleep?”
“A little.” She shifted the skillet of bacon off the burner before looking over her shoulder at him. “How about you?”
“Not much. I had a burst of inspiration last night and had to get it down on paper.”
“Is this another one of those days that I’m going to need to bring your meals to your room?”
Jake thought about it. “I’m not sure yet.”
She chuckled. “If I don’t see you at lunchtime, I’ll bring you something.”
Jake released her and shifted to lean on the counter where he could face her. “I got a call from my agent this morning.”
Her eyes immediately lifted to his, and he saw the wariness. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her. “He actually had good news.”
“What kind of good news?”
“He’s negotiating the sale of the movie rights for one of my books.”
“Seriously?” Her voice rose with excitement. “Which one?”
“Brothers.”
“That’s fantastic. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. It’s not a done deal yet. He wants me to fly up to New York for a meeting before we finalize the deal. I thought maybe I could convince you to come with me.”
“I don’t know if we can swing that.” She nodded toward his grandma.
Jake motioned to the skillet she had just moved off the burner. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yeah. Can you put the food on the table while I help Miss Abigail finish up?” Hannah moved to where Abigail was preparing to put two more pieces of bread in the toaster, even though she had already made six slices. Deftly, Hannah unplugged the toaster. “I think we have enough, Miss Abigail.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think so.” Hannah picked up the plate. “If we run out, we can always make more.”
“Okay.” Abigail let Hannah lead her to a seat, and Jake dished up some eggs for her. “Thank you, dear.”
“You’re welcome, Grandma.” Jake waited for Hannah and then sat down beside her. He looked pointedly at his grandmother and asked Hannah, “Are you going to be okay in here today with everything? I know you said you had some work to do for your friend.”
“I think I’ll be fine.” Hannah’s grip on her fork tightened briefly before she set it aside and busied herself with choosing a piece of toast. When she looked up at him, she seemed completely casual, and he wondered if he’d imagined the brief display of tension. “I set my computer up in your dad’s office. Maybe Miss Abigail would like to do some more genealogy while I work.”
“That’s a great idea.” Jake waved in the direction of the window. “It looks like we have another storm coming in, so you’ll probably be stuck inside for the better part of the day anyway.”
“Maybe we’ll spend a little time in the garden this morning, then, before the rain starts.”
“Just promise to save some time for me tonight.”
“Are you sure you won’t be on another one of your rolls?”
“No, but you’re worth taking a break for.”
Her eyes met his. “I’m glad you think so.”
* * *
“This is getting ridiculous,” Owen muttered under his breath. “Don’t any of the roads around here have street signs?”
“We can try using GPS again,” Cheng suggested.
“That’s what got us so lost yesterday.”
“At least we were able to find a hotel,” Cheng said.
“Yeah, forty-five minutes away.” Owen consulted the topographical map he had printed off, studying the long drives of the various farms that branched off the main road, such that it was. “Try that one up on the left.”
Cheng turned where Owen indicated, and a short distance later they found what they were looking for: another driveway, this one marked with a street sign that read “Jackson Hills.”
“Finally.”
“Now that we’ve found it, what are we going to do if Charlotte is here?”
“Just follow my lead.”
“Last time I did that, we left two bodies behind.”
“We need the girl alive, at least for now. As for anyone else we come across, we’ll see how it plays out.”
Cheng parked on the side of the drive leading to the house. The two men got out of the car and headed for the front door. The chairs on the front porch gave the house a homey look, even though the house itself was impressive in size. Owen pressed the doorbell and heard the chime ring through the interior of the house. When the door went unanswered, he walked farther onto the front porch and looked through the nearest window.
“See anything?” Cheng asked.
“Nothing.”
Cheng motioned toward the long building a short distance away that appeared to be the stables. “Maybe we should see if her horse is here. Since it’s micro chipped, we’ll be able to know for sure.”
“That’s a good idea. Do you have the scanner?”
“Yeah.” He handed him a cell phone and opened up an app that helped people scan lost animals to find their owners. “Just press this button to scan.”
Owen took it from him. “Stay here and keep an eye out. I’ll check it out.”
Cheng climbed back into the car and turned on the engine long enough to roll down the windows.
With a quick look around, Owen started down the path leading toward the stables.