Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

The ride homewas almost silent, our little bubble of happy solitude well and truly burst.

Julius refused to give us any details over the phone, and more than anything, I thought that was what was bothering Felix. He nibbled on the side of his thumbnail, lost in thought, while I drove.

When I pulled up in front of the house, I expected him to jump out and go running to find my brother, but he didn't move.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, putting a hand on his thigh. He jumped, then looked around, realizing where we were.

"Sorry. I guess I zoned out there for a minute."

"It's okay." I gave his leg a squeeze. "You ready to go in, or do you need a second?"

He took a deep breath, then nodded. "I'm ready."

Julius was waiting for us in the kitchen, his black hair that was normally meticulously styled standing up in all directions like he'd been running his hands through it. "I was about two seconds away from coming out there to get you. This is time-sensitive." He spun on his heel and hustled down the hallway without waiting for us to catch up or giving us any indication of what we were walking into.

Back behind his computer, he pulled up several screens and started typing at breakneck speed. Felix took the seat that had more or less become his, and I stood behind them so I could read over their shoulders. Not that I thought I'd understand much.

"I was following the path you took when you started looking into Amanda Vanderkaamp just like we agreed, and I got locked out at the same point. The second I tried to hack into her financial records from before her arrest, I got bounced out. Which is strange because she used a bank I've hacked in the past. Someone is trying to keep something in her past from prying eyes. I'm running a few more things in the background, back doors I've been able to exploit before, to see if I can get around whatever is keeping us from getting to that information, but that's going to take time."

Felix nodded. "Makes sense, but none of this is new information."

"You're right. But this is." He tapped on his keyboard, and a new screen opened. "I set up alerts for any mention of Amanda Vanderkaamp on the dark web. So has someone else. Right after I got shut out, I got this. Apparently, someone else is looking for her too."

Felix leaned in to get a better look at the screen, and so did I. There was a message from someone with the username TheUpsideDown. "CaesarsRome. It seems like we have something in common. Do you have the file? Respond tonight. Willing to pay," Felix read out loud.

"File?" I asked. "What file is he talking about? I thought we were looking for some sort of list."

Julius shrugged. "I have no idea. Felix?"

My mate was rereading the message over and over, his lips moving without sound. He didn't acknowledge Julius's question.

"Felix?" I put a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he spun in his chair.

"Hmm?" He was looking at me, but I could tell his thoughts were spinning.

"Do you know what file this guy's talking about?" Julius pulled up a few other windows. "I ran some searches for Amanda's name and any mention of a list to see if I could connect it to a missing file, but I haven't gotten any hits."

"I don't know." He chewed his bottom lip. "Have you responded yet?"

My brother shook his head. "I was waiting for you."

"Let's see if we can get more information on what kind of file they're looking for."

Julius nodded and swiveled his chair around, his fingers hovering over the keys. "What do you want to say?"

"How about, ‘TheUpsideDown, don't know about a file. Willing to help you look. For a fee.'"

"Oh, I like the way you think. Never do something for nothing when you can get paid." Julius cracked his knuckles and typed out the message.

"Now what?" I asked. My body felt like it was on high alert. I wanted to do something, anything, but we still didn't know what we were up against, and now there was a new element in whatever this was. In the pit of my stomach, despite not knowing anything about hacking or the dark web, I had a feeling this file was going to be important.

"We wait," Julius and Felix said in unison.

"Got it. For how long?"

Felix shrugged. "As long as it takes them to get back to us." He twisted back and forth in his chair. "Julius, since you got kicked out of the bank records, have you gotten any other messages? When I got kicked out, I had the email with the picture of me within minutes."

"No, nothing." He shook his head. "My guess is they don't know who I am."

That sentence tugged at something in the back of my mind. "If they don't know who you are, how did they know who Felix was?"

Julius frowned. "That's actually a good question. I've seen your work. If I hadn't known you were in my system because you told me, I wouldn't have been able to find a trace of you. You're good. Really good. Good enough not to get caught."

Felix was chewing at his bottom lip again. "I wish I knew."

"Could it be someone who knows you or at least knows what you really do for the FBI?"

"Nero has a point. That makes sense. You mentioned you have a handler at the bureau, but who else knows what you do?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know who has access to that information. I work exclusively through the special agent in charge of the Seattle field office. Her name is Naomi Stone."

"Maybe we should dig into her and see if there are any red flags. Maybe she's saying there is a mole in her organization because she's trying to throw everyone off her scent."

My mate nodded. "At this point, it can't hurt."

"Where do you want to start?" Julius's fingers wiggled over his keyboard.

After that, I lost Felix to my brother as they strategized around the best way to start looking into Agent Stone. I stood over their shoulders for a while longer until I realized I wasn't needed, and then I made myself comfortable on the couch. I didn't want to be too far away from Felix, just in case he needed me.

"We got a response." Julius shook out his hands before resettling them over the keys.

"Read it." I could feel Felix's excitement through our bond. I knew he was hoping the same thing I was, that the list the other hacker had talked about would give us a new lead, a real lead.

"Caesar. Don't know what's in the file, only that there is one, and it's been missing from the FBI's classified server for a while. Willing to discuss payment terms. Proving harder to find than I thought. TUD.'"

"TUD. Could be willing to help for $500K. Will take half to start. The rest when I find what you're looking for. Caesar." Julius looked at Felix. "Good?"

"Yeah. Send it."

"If the file he's looking for is on a classified FBI server, you can access that, right?" I asked.

Felix shook his head. "My access isn't carte blanche. They open up the servers I need if and when I need them."

"But you told us you have hacked the FBI before," I pointed out, reminding him of the conversation we'd had with my brothers the morning after we decided to form ORCA.

"That's true, but it takes time. Plus, I had a lot of tools built out on my computer to make it easier. I have all the code on the drives I grabbed from my place, but it took me a long time to set it up, since the first time I hacked the FBI back in college. I'm not sure I can reestablish my backdoor access without alerting whoever is looking for me that I'm there."

I sighed. "What about asking Agent Stone for access?"

Felix laughed. "You remembered that I've hacked the FBI, but you forgot what I said about why. The red tape to get access, especially to a classified server, is ungodly. We'll be waiting for literal ever for approval just to find out I have twenty minutes to wade through the data before they kick me out and lock things down again."

"Besides, this guy—I'm assuming it's a guy—said the file is missing from the server, which means someone within the FBI who would normally be able to access the information can't find it." Julius rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This just got a lot more complicated. How do we find a stolen file if there's no trail?"

Felix shrugged. "I think we assume this file, whatever it is, is somewhere on the internet."

"But if you don't even know what the file contains, how will you know when you've found it?" Maybe I was missing something important, but this task suddenly felt impossible, and if we couldn't move the needle on finding out who was behind the threat to Felix's life soon, I worried it was going to become harder and harder to keep him safe.

Both Felix and Julius shrugged. "Next time TheUpsideDown responds, see if he can give us a file path where the missing information is supposed to be. That'll at least give us a starting point."

"Good call." My brother turned back to the computer and started typing.

While we waited for a response from the other hacker, Julius and Felix went back to setting up searches targeting Naomi Stone. It was already late, and I must have dozed off at some point because I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing on the coffee table. I bolted upright and grabbed it, but McMahon had already hung up. I swiped the screen to unlock it and call him back, hopeful he had news about whoever was after Felix, but he beat me to the punch, calling me again before I could pull up his contact.

"Nero," I answered, my voice thick with sleep.

"It's McMahon. I need you to come in."

"What? Why? Did you figure out who's after Felix?"

"No, not yet. I've got guys working on it, but our leads have run dry. They didn't find any usable evidence at his apartment, and our IT team came up with a whole lot of nothing when they searched for the source of the photo." He sighed. "This actually doesn't have anything to do with the kid."

"Then what do you want?" A yawn cracked my jaw.

"It's Valencia. He's pressing charges against you and the department for using unusual force. It's a goddamn mess. I need you to come in and give a statement. You're probably going to need to talk to my boss and maybe even the chief."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. I never laid a hand on that asshole."

"I know, but he's claiming the mental duress of being chased by a killer whale was outside the scope of what we should have allowed and that when you tapped his boat, he was injured."

"It was more than a tap, but that's bullshit."

Another heavy sigh, and I could almost see him rubbing his temples. "I know, but we have to take everyone's statements and see what happens. I don't think it's going to get far, seeing as how he skipped his court date and tried to run, but due process and all that crap."

"Fine. Let me grab Felix, and we'll head in."

"Don't bring Felix. It's going to be a long day."

That was exactly why I should bring him. Knowing he was safe and with me would make getting through the shitstorm that was no doubt waiting for me that much easier. "McMahon…"

"I'm serious. This is going to be a clusterfuck. He'll be safe with your brothers. I'll try to make this as quick as possible." But his tone said that was out of his hands.

I didn't like the idea of leaving Felix, but it didn't sound like I had a choice. "Fine. I'll be there when I can."

"Hurry. I've already got IA up my ass, asking questions about why you were there in the first place." He hung up before I could say anything else.

Felix and Julius were in the kitchen, sharing a pot of coffee. Both looked like they hadn't slept, and I could feel Felix's exhaustion faintly through our bond. When everything settled down, I was going to take my time claiming him and solidifying our bond so I'd be better able to read his emotions. All the more reason to get any shit with McMahon cleared up ASAP. I didn't want a trial to come between me and my mate.

"What's wrong?" he asked the second I walked through the doorway.

Answering his question with one of my own, I asked, "Did you sleep?"

He held up his forefinger and thumb with the tiniest space between while my brother shook his head.

"Liar." I pressed a kiss to his temple, taking an extra second to breathe in his scent.

"We can take a nap together later. After this latest dose of caffeine wears off."

I rubbed a hand over my face. "About that… I have to go see McMahon."

"What? Why? Does he know who's after me?"

"No, not yet. His leads are about as good as ours are right now."

"So he has absolutely nothing?" Julius blew out a breath.

"Exactly."

"Then what does he need you for?" A flash of worry crossed over Felix's face.

"I've gotta give a statement and talk to some people about a skip I brought in. It's not a big deal." I tried to keep my tone level, but my brother, knowing all my tells, glared at me.

"How much trouble are you in?" he asked.

"Dunno yet."

Julius pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say anything else.

"Let me change real quick, and I'll come with you." A huge yawn stretched Felix's jaw.

"Nah, McMahon said this might take a while, and you need to get some sleep." I looked at my brother. "Are you going into the office today?"

"Nope."

"Good."

"What's good?" Cal asked, striding into the room in only a pair of tiny boxers and a T-shirt so tight it looked like it had been painted on.

"For fuck's sake, Cal. Put some clothes on. We have a guest." Julius tossed a dish towel his way, and Cal swiped it out of the air. He held it up to his chest. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?" He balled it up and threw it back at Julius, then shuffled over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup.

"Felix isn't a guest. He's family." Cal smirked.

"Family who doesn't want to see your dick." Julius nodded toward Cal's lower half.

"Oops." He adjusted himself, then went back to prepping his coffee.

"What are you doing today?" Julius asked after Cal finished adding a metric ton of sugar and a healthy pour of cream to his cup.

"Nothing much. Might go to the range later. Why?"

"I have to go in to talk to McMahon. Think you could keep an eye on things here while Julius and Felix work on finding leads?"

"Sure. Easy peasy."

"I'm serious, Cal." I knew he was good at his job, and he'd done some personal protection gigs in the past, but he was also the idiot who had tried to use the roof as a skate park when we were kids. It was hard to see him as capable when I knew he could be a complete moron. See also sleeping with his boss and getting himself fired.

"I know, big brother. I'll keep your mate safe. You have my word."

It was the best I could do. I had to trust Julius and Cal to keep Felix safe for me. Hopefully, McMahon would make good on his promise to make things quick at SPD HQ.

"Fine. But if anything happens, I swear to God, Cal…"

He set his cup down and held up his hands in surrender. "I know, I know. How much trouble can two nerds—no offense, Felix—get into holed up in the basement all day?"

He had a point, and there was no point prolonging the inevitable.

"I'm going to change, then head downtown. I'll have my phone on me. Call if there's an emergency."

Cal gave me a mock salute I returned with a single finger.

Felix caught up with me as I hit the first step to go upstairs. "Is everything okay? Really?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure it will be."

"Okay." He followed me to our room and sat on the bed while I stripped and put on new clothes. His eyelids were drooping.

"Why don't you get some sleep. Just an hour or two, then you can go back to helping Julius. Have you heard anything else from that other hacker?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He accepted our offer, which must mean this job is worth a fuck ton of money. He's been sending us pieces of what he knows, but some of the things he's waded through are large files that need to be encrypted on his end, then decrypted on our end. It's slow."

"Anything on Agent Stone?"

He yawned and shook his head. "No. Nothing yet. We spent most of last night trying to see if any of the account numbers for the deposits made to Amanda's accounts match hers, but so far, we've come up with nothing. We have a plan to keep digging today, though."

"Good. My gut is telling me she isn't the mole, but some proof would be nice."

"Agreed." Felix yawned again.

Since neither of us had slept in our bed last night, it was still made, though haphazardly, and I pulled the corner of the comforter back. "Come on. Get in and grab a nap."

Felix stood, pulled off his pants, and climbed under the covers. I wished more than anything that I could climb in with him and hold him in my arms for the rest of the day, but that wasn't in the cards.

I pulled the blanket up around him and tucked him in. His eyes were already closing, and I pecked a quick kiss to his forehead. "Be careful today. Use Julius's phone if you need to reach me."

He nodded without opening his eyes again. "Will do."

"Sleep well."

Felix's only response was a soft snore.