Chapter 16: Byte

BYTE

While Gabby went upstairs to call her sister, I grabbed a beer from the fridge and dropped onto the couch in the living room.

"Why do you think this girl is trying to sabotage Gabby?" Flint asked.

"I've been thinking about that, and I honestly don't know. Initially, I thought it might be because of jealousy, but that doesn't make sense. They don't work together. They aren't in classes together. I'm Gabby's boyfriend, so it's not a jealous ex thing," I explained.

"Wait. You two are together?"

"Yeah," I grinned. "I'm surprised word hasn't gotten around. It's not a secret."

"What about the guy who broke into Gabby's house? Could he be connected to this Lauren chick?"

"At this point, I think anything's possible," I said and went to the kitchen to grab my laptop. Then I sent a quick text to Gabby.

Byte: What's Lauren's last name?

Gabby: Wiener

I tried not to laugh. I really did. But I failed miserably.

"What's so funny?" Flint asked.

"I asked Gabby for Lauren's last name," I said and tried to compose myself. "It's Wiener."

"Wiener? Like a hot dog?" Flint chuckled.

"Yep," I laughed. "And normally, I wouldn't make fun of a person's name, but she deserves it. So, from this point on, I will only refer to her as Wiener. Maybe Weenie, on occasion."

"No judgment here. She fucked with a member of our family. The rules no longer apply to her," he said seriously.

"Well," I said and opened up my laptop. "Let's see what we can find."

Finding information on Wiener was much easier than finding information on Chad. Within seconds of typing her name and pressing enter, I knew her full name, age, date of birth, and address. A few clicks later, I had her phone number, email address, a list of previous addresses, and a list of potential relatives.

Flint joined me on the couch and watched my screen intently. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You can take notes for me," I said and handed him a notebook and pen.

We spent the next hour digging into the life of Lauren Wiener. And we uncovered quite a bit of pertinent information.

"What are you two doing?" Gabby asked when she came back downstairs.

"Checking into Wiener," I said, causing Flint to chuckle. "How did Keegan take the news?"

"Oh, she's pissed," Gabby said. "And I mean really pissed. She wanted to call Papa and tell him so he could ‘put his rifle to good use.' Thankfully, Jacob and I were able to convince her otherwise."

"Oh, hell. I didn't even think about how Ranger would react. You, Keegan, and Quincy are the only ones he'll listen to. Seriously, you may have to ask him to stand down."

"What about Phoenix?"

"Do you know how many times I've heard Ranger say he was around when Phoenix was in diapers? He respects the hell out of Phoenix, but no one is going to stop that man if he thinks he's doing the right thing for his family. Remember when I told you he almost shot an FBI agent? It wasn't Phoenix that stopped him. It was Keegan."

"That was when my father kidnapped her, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I don't think I ever told anyone how scared I was that day. I was a patched member, but I was still what I would consider new to the club. I'd been through a few situations with the club, but that one was different for me because Keegan and I were friends. I'm just glad it turned out the way it did."

"Yeah, me, too," she agreed.

"Um, could one of y'all give me the cliff notes version of this story?" Flint asked.

"My biological father was a wealthy senator in Kentucky. He and his business partner were pretending to sell horses when they were actually selling women. One woman escaped. Since she'd already been paid for, they needed to repay the money or replace the woman. They tried to arrange a marriage for Keegan to get access to her trust fund. When that didn't work, they kidnapped her. What they didn't know was that the buyer was an undercover FBI agent. Keegan was taken to a safe house, and they were arrested shortly after," Gabby explained.

Flint's jaw was practically on the floor by the time she finished. "Gabby, I had no idea. Where were you when all of this happened?"

"I was at boarding school. I wasn't there long before Gigi showed up," Gabby said and smiled wistfully. "She told me she was my long-lost fairy grandmother and was taking me to see my sister."

"Where's your father now?"

"He received a life sentence. So, if he's not dead, he's still in prison. I'm not sure which because I don't keep up with him."

"If you ever want to know, I can answer that question for you without any additional details," I offered.

"Thanks, but I truly don't care. Once I was with Keegan and Jacob, I never looked back."

"I hope I didn't upset you. I didn't know what I was asking," Flint said sincerely.

"Oh, no, you didn't," Gabby assured him. "It's really more Keegan's story than mine. I wasn't there for most of it, and I don't have many memories of what life was like before I moved in with Keegan and Jacob."

"Let me add one more shocking detail, and then I want to tell Gabby what we found on Wiener," I said to Flint.

"I'm not sure I want to know," he said hesitantly.

"You'll want to know why I didn't tell you if you find out later."

"That's true. Let's hear it."

"You've heard the story of how Ember and your dad found each other, right?" At his nod, I continued. "The man who was going to buy her was Gabby's father."

Flint jumped to his feet and started pacing. "Well," he huffed. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that."

"I didn't know that either," Gabby said with a look of utter shock on her face.

I reached for her hand. "I'm sorry, Gab. I assumed you knew."

She shook her head as if she was trying to clear the thoughts from her mind. "No, it's okay. The connection is surprising; his actions are not." She released my hand and got to her feet. "I think I need a drink. Flint, you want a drink?"

"Uh," he hesitated and looked at me.

I waved my hand dismissively. "I don't care if you drink. I mean, you're staying here if you do, but have a drink if you want one."

"You're not old enough to drink?" Gabby asked.

"I'm twenty," Flint told her.

"What the hell? Might as well add contributing to the delinquency of a minor to the list of laws I'm breaking today. Where's your liquor, Byte?"

I pointed across the room. "In that fancy-ass thing your sister said I needed."

Gabby bent at the waist and started laughing. "Has Jacob seen that?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Because he's wanted one for years, and she's always said no. But she bought one for your house," she cackled.

"I'm not even remotely surprised," I chuckled. That sounded exactly like something Keegan would do.

"All right, let's keep it simple. How do Crown and Gingers sound?" Gabby asked.

"Works for me."

"Sounds good."

Once the drinks were made, Gabby sat down and took a large sip. "Okay, what'd you find out about Lauren?"

"Have a few more sips first," I suggested.

Gabby tipped up her glass and emptied the contents in one go. "Okay, I'm ready."

I shook my head and laughed. I hoped she was as ready as she thought she was. "So far, I've come across two things I think are significant. One is that she works at the doctor's office where you do your clinical hours for school."

"No, she doesn't," Gabby said confidently.

"Yes, she does. You've never seen her there because she only works on Mondays and Fridays," I explained.

"Okay, okay," Gabby said and nodded her head a few times. "I'm not going to ask why she didn't tell me. Even though she knew that's where I was assigned. And now that I'm thinking about it, she was the one who suggested I ask Dr. Gordon about doing my clinical hours with him. Nope, I'm not going to ask why. I'm just going to assume it's because the bitch is certifiable. Yep, that's what I'm going with. What else?"

"You okay?" I asked after her tirade.

"Not at all," she said and went back to the bar to make herself another drink.

"What else?" she asked again after she returned to her seat.

"I kind of wish I'd started with this one," I mumbled and inhaled deeply before I delivered what I knew would be a shocking revelation. "Lauren Wiener isn't in the nurse practitioner program at Cedar Valley University, or any other program."

"What?" Gabby gasped.

"She's not a student," I repeated.

"Was she ever?"

"No, she's never been enrolled at the university."

Gabby sucked in a sharp breath and clasped her hands together tightly. "You're telling me the girl I met at the library on campus, the girl with a stack of nursing books, the girl who asked for my help with a project, the girl I've been studying with for months isn't really a student?"

"Yes," I said carefully. "That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"Holy fucking shit," she breathed. "I thought we were friends, and she was stalking me the whole time. Who the hell is friends with their stalker? No, who the hell is friends with their stalkee? Is that even a word?" She picked up her glass and downed half the contents. "I think I'm having a panic attack. I feel like it's hard to breathe, and my chest kind of hurts. That's a panic attack, right? Because if it isn't, something else is really wrong. But that's how they work, right? You think you're dying when you're really just having a panic attack? Why do I keep saying panic attack? That's just making it worse. I've got to calm down. But I can't calm down. I don't like this at all," she rambled.

Shadow, who'd been quietly resting on the floor at her feet, jumped onto the couch and climbed into her lap before she could continue. She wrapped her arms around him and heaved in breath after breath.

"Flint, will you get a paper bag from the pantry in the kitchen?" I asked calmly.

He darted out of the room and returned seconds later with a bag in his outstretched hand.

"Breathe into this," I instructed. "You're hyperventilating. And yes, you're having a panic attack."

She took the bag from me and covered her mouth. After a few minutes of huffing and puffing, her breathing slowed to a manageable rate. I gently took the bag from her and smoothed my hand over her hair. I would have moved closer, but Shadow was in the way, and it was clear he was not moving. "Better?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said quietly, followed by a slight laugh. "Well, that sucked."