“Might as well work while we wait for the food to cook.”
“You’re all heart.” Zane’s eyes twinkled as he placed Brent’s new computer on the small kitchen table, then pulled out his own laptop and booted up his system.
Brent shook his head as he made his way to the grill. He’d planned to call Zane later and have him start on the Maxwell searches anyway or have one of his geeks do it. Had to admit, though, he much preferred Zane. While Brent only hired the best, no one was as good at a computer keyboard as his former SEAL teammate.
Once the potatoes were on the rack, he returned to see Zane working while over his shoulder Rowan watched the screen.
“That’s it,” she said. “Maxwell Imports. I don’t know what he imported, but he made good money. I think that’s why my sister stayed with him. She and Jay married the day she graduated from high school. He told her she had no marketable skills, that no one would hire her if she applied for a job. She also worried Jay would take Alexa from her if she left him. There was no proof Jay abused Heather.” She scowled. “I couldn’t testify to injuries since I never saw any.”
“Why did you suspect mistreatment?”
“The careful way she sometimes held herself. I’ve hurt myself enough times over the years to recognize the signs of injuries. I confronted Heather more than once. She refused to say anything against Jay.”
Zane’s expression grew more grim as Rowan spoke. “Did he hurt his daughter?”
“If he had, Heather would have left Jay despite his threats. At least I hope she’d come to me for help. If she had proof Jay hurt Alexa, no judge in the state would have granted him custody of her. I have to find my niece, Zane. She must be terrified. What if she thinks I abandoned her?”
“We’ll figure out who took Alexa and get her back. We’re good at what we do, Rowan.”
Her gaze locked with Brent’s. “I’m counting on that.”
He nodded, pulled out a chair for her beside him. “Z, anything I need to know about your new program?”
Zane walked him through the process of negotiating through the layers of security.
Nice. Multilayered, complicated on the design end, but simple for the authorized user. “And if Carstairs gets his mitts on this laptop and tries to break the encryption?”
“The hard drive is automatically wiped clean.”
“You could restore it.”
“True, but Carstairs isn’t me.”
“I’m impressed. This is top-notch work.”
A shrug. “I sent you a list of Maxwell’s employees and associates. I’ll dig for rivals and enemies.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Rowan asked. “I have my laptop.”
Brent and Zane exchanged glances. Why not? For her own protection, she should know the key players. If he kept something important from her, she might trust the wrong person and end up dead. His heart rejected that possibility. No, just no. No one would hurt Rowan on his watch. “Search the Internet for any references to Maxwell Imports,” Brent said. “Find out what he was importing and what kind of media coverage Jay’s company had.”
“Will this help or are you giving me busy work to shut me up?”
His eyebrows rose. “You don’t talk that much. Covering that angle frees Zane to search areas you and I can’t get into.”
Her mouth gaped. “Zane, you’re a hacker?”
He laughed. “A first rate one. You’re surprised?”
Rowan’s cheeks turned red. “Don’t you have to obey the law?”
“We stay within the boundaries of the law when we can. Sometimes, we have to bend the rules to protect a client or for national security. Look at it this way, Rowan. The bad guys don’t play by the rules. To stop them, we may work outside the law.”
“I don’t mean to sound critical. I know you save lives.”
“Sweetheart,” Brent said, waited until her gaze shifted to him. “Zane uses his hacking skills for work, nothing personal. You’re right about him saving lives. He finds information we need to keep our operatives and clients safe.”
Brent’s cell phone rang. He checked the screen and pushed the speaker button. “Adam, you’re on speaker with Rowan and Zane. What do you have for me?”
“I cracked one of the codes.”
“One?” Zane frowned.
“There are two lists in this file. I’m still working on the code for the second part of the list.” His voice sounded grim.
“I’m not going to like what you discovered, am I?” Brent asked.
“Not in a million years.” The sound of a door closing came through the speaker. “The half I’ve decoded is a list of names, boss.”
“Do you recognize them?”
“No, but I did some preliminary research on them before I called you. All six men are leaders of radical militia groups around the country.”
Brent scowled. “Homegrown terrorists.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rowan’s breath stalled. “Homegrown terrorists. Where would Heather get a list of terrorists?”
“A better question, how old is that list?” Brent scowled. “And why did she give Rowan the list for safe keeping?”
“She didn’t trust many people, especially in Jay’s world. In fact, Heather didn’t have contact with friends except me. Jay didn’t like her friends and barely tolerated me. I’m lucky he didn’t cut me out of their lives.” Knowing her creep of a brother-in-law, he’d tried. Thankfully, Heather must have stood strong against the pressure.
“Sounds like Jay was a control freak. My guess is your sister got the list from Jay without his knowledge.”
The risk her sister took to obtain the list, code it, then bring it to Rowan made her stomach twist. What was so important she would take such a risk? “Why did Jay have the list?”
“Adam, send me a copy of the list,” Zane said. “I’ll run checks on these guys to see where they are at the moment.”
“Copy that.”
“Everything under control at the shop?” Rowan asked.
“No more problems with Wright or anyone else. Lacey settled down after you and Brent left. Traffic’s been steady. It’s nice working here.”
“May I ask a favor, Adam?”
“Ask.”
“Will you make sure Lacey arrives home safely and Frank
