Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

SATURDAY, 5:30 A.M.

Please, God, let Caleb come through surgery.

Juliette paced the hospital waiting room. No way would she rest until she saw Caleb. He had to pull through. He'd torn several tendons in his shoulder while keeping her from being flung out of the back of a semi. She was here, alive, because of him.

And this time, she wasn't leaving. She'd be right here when he woke up.

Ivy sat in the vinyl chair like a statue, staring out the window, with Alana and Noelle flanking her on either side. Matt Williams walked over to Juliette and handed her a cup of coffee. She'd already had three. It didn't matter. She wouldn't sleep until Caleb came out of surgery.

Her heart pounded in time to the ticking second hand of the analog clock on the wall. Waiting was not one of Juliette's strong suits.

"He's going to pull through, Juliette," Matt said, as if reading her thoughts. Not that her emotions weren't written all over her face.

"I don't want to lose him." Her breath caught in her throat.

All she wanted was more time. She and Caleb had years of lost time to recover.

Agent McGregor arrived at the already crowded waiting room and walked over to them. "I thought you might like an update, since you, Caleb, and Ivy were instrumental in stopping this hacker group from attempting to take down the bank."

Juliette wanted to celebrate that the hacker group had been dismantled, but not until she saw Caleb.

"Did you capture all of the Savannah members of Rushmore?" She looked between Matt and Agent McGregor. "We still don't know who CyberLane is. Ivy would have recognized her neighbor in a heartbeat."

The FBI agent shook his head. "Not yet. Based on the coded communications we've uncovered between the members of the group, Theo was Rough Rider, Jeff was the Architect, and Abby was the Liberator. We still don't know the whereabouts of the General, the one that seemed to be calling the shots."

"It's the presidents." Juliette hadn't heard Ivy walk up next to her. "Their hacker names are all the faces of Mount Rushmore."

Agent McGregor let out a low chuckle. "Ivy, you need to apply for the FBI. I can't wait for you to work with us. With all our analysts, no one picked up on that fact."

She shrugged and wrapped her arms around Juliette's waist. Ivy had claimed such a special place in her heart.

But now that they'd started talking about the case, she wanted to know more. "Has the FBI cleared Blake Abernathy?" She scanned the waiting room and spotted Blake, sitting with his wife, waiting for news of Caleb's recovery.

McGregor shrugged. "So far, nothing indicates Caleb's partner was involved. I have a feeling someone else is still out there, though."

A chill raced through Juliette. "Exactly. What do we know about CyberLane?"

"Theo said they'd hired a young girl to pose as CyberLane. She apparently wasn't part of their group, just an actor from the local community college that they paid a couple of bucks to pretend. We're still searching for her, but assume she probably skipped town."

"And you believe him? He faked his own kidnapping. I think he'd do anything at this point to save himself."

Agent McGregor raised his palms face up and shrugged. "We have nothing to go on to find CyberLane. We did successfully stop their ransomware from taking over the bank accounts. Theo said that if the bank had paid, they would have released all accounts but the ones that the top executives owned. They intended to bleed them dry and take every penny these men and women possessed and deposit the money into other people's accounts, of course keeping a chunk of change for themselves."

"Hardly noble." Juliette shook her head. At least they wouldn't get away with it and justice would be served. "And again, I'm not sure I believe anything he says."

McGregor folded his arms. "These hackers went out of their way to deceive people. They thought they were justified in what they were doing. Jeff Kline had his house repossessed by the bank. Theo claims he lost his business when the bank stopped loaning him money. And Abby's case is sad, but it doesn't justify her actions as part of this group. They redistributed thousands of dollars in cash that we might never recover."

A doctor in scrubs entered the room and took off his mask. "Are you Caleb Styles's family?"

"Yes, we are." Juliette rushed to the doctor's side, Ivy right behind her. She wrapped her arm around Ivy and held tight.

"Caleb is going to be fine," the doctor said. "He's resting comfortably, and he'll be up for visitors once the anesthesia wears off. We repaired three torn tendons, and while he'll need some physical therapy, Caleb is a fighter and should bounce back with no problems."

Juliette felt the tension release from her hand as Ivy relaxed her grip with the good news.

Matt brought some sandwiches from the hospital café, and they ate while waiting for Caleb to wake up.

An hour later, the nurse announced that Caleb was ready for visitors. Juliette and Ivy jumped up from their chairs and followed her down the hall to Caleb's room.

Various monitors buzzed and blipped. Caleb's eyes were closed, and Juliette wanted to reach out and brush the wisps of brown hair away from his forehead. Her heart constricted at the sight of his pale face.

Oh, Caleb.

His eyes fluttered and opened. Ivy tenderly curled up next to him on the bed, on his good side. A sling graced his right arm. Juliette should have stopped her, but the peace that filled Caleb's face made it clear he was fine. He placed his hand on Ivy's head and stroked her hair. Ivy's tears wet Caleb's hospital gown, and Juliette fought her own desire to weep at the scene.

He looked at Juliette, and her face filled with warmth. She sat on the edge of his bed, opposite Ivy, the steady thrumming of the hospital equipment reminding her of what she could have lost.

After a few minutes, Ivy dozed off.

"Jules," Caleb whispered. She tried to tell him not to talk, but he shook his head, intent on speaking. "I thought I was going to lose you. When that trailer door opened, I?—"

She leaned across the bed and silenced him with her lips. A tender, slow kiss. One that communicated that this was just the beginning of many more kisses.

"I love you, Caleb. I always have."

He sighed, peace washing over his face. "I'd rather spend fifteen minutes with you, if that's all the time we have, than spend the rest of my life without you. You're worth the risk."

"I love you and Ivy. The three of us are a team." Juliette grabbed Caleb's hand. "I'm never letting go."

* * *

SUNDAY, 2:00 P.M.

Everything was right in his world. On Caleb's left, Ivy slept curled up by his side on the couch in the apartment.

On his right, the woman he loved had her hand wrapped around his.

No one was chasing them. The ransomware had been destroyed.

He let out a sigh of contentment. After being released from the hospital, Juliette and Ivy had enforced a twenty-four-hour vigil. Aside from Juliette going home to change, she and Ivy hadn't left him alone for a second. Ivy was supposed to compete in the second part of a two-day robotics competition that afternoon, but she refused to go. They'd quit trying to convince her she should.

"Are you sure you want to meet with Theo's wife today?" Juliette asked. "You just got out of the hospital. I'm sure she'd understand and maybe meet Blake at the office later in the week to pick up Theo's last paycheck." The office had closed for renovations. Caleb figured having Georgia stop by would be the quickest way to get the money to her.

Caleb shook his head and winced. His shoulder throbbed, but despite their ordeal, he felt like he'd gotten lucky with just a few torn tendons.

"I can't believe Theo betrayed Georgia and his son like he did. They deserve to have more than a last paycheck. I'm thinking about setting up a scholarship. Something just to make sure his son is taken care of in the future."

Juliette got up from the couch to get Caleb a drink. She monitored the times he needed to take his pain meds, and it was time. She grabbed a bottle of water, and he downed the pills. After Georgia stopped by, he'd take a long nap.

"Sadly, the hacker called the General is in the wind. And I wish they'd find the girl that posed as CyberLane," Juliette said. "I'd sleep a little better knowing that all the bad guys are behind bars."

Caleb nodded. "If she really was just a local college kid, I doubt the threat will continue. It sounds like it was just a ploy to gain Ivy's trust."

Ivy stirred under his arm at the mention of her name. She looked at Caleb and stretched. "I think I'm going to shower and change clothes." She hopped off the couch with all the energy of a twelve-year-old and headed to her bedroom.

Would she have permanent scars from this ordeal? Maybe not ones he could see, but the inside was his main concern. The girl was resilient, and he wanted her to have the best childhood possible. Between her intellect and losing her parents at such a young age, Ivy had been forced to grow up way too fast.

Juliette sat back down on the couch. "What are you going to do about her grandparents?"

He ran his good hand through his hair. "My attorney doesn't think their lawsuit has merit. But I'm going to take a trip to visit them with Ivy. Over Christmas. If we meet face-to-face, maybe they'll change their position. I'm not trying to keep them from her, but she belongs with me."

"I'm sure they'd love that."

"Maybe you'd like to join us?"

She snuggled under his good shoulder. "There's no place I'd rather be for the holidays. Or right now."

A knock at the door ruined the moment. Juliette dashed to open it. She ushered Georgia into the living room.

This woman would be raising her son on her own while her husband served time behind bars. And she just looked so young. Why would Theo put her in that situation?

"Thanks for letting me pick up the check here." Georgia sat on a chair opposite the couch. "I'd rather get it now than wait until the office reopens. Blake is a hard man to track down."

Juliette busied herself cleaning up the kitchen. Caleb stood and handed Georgia the envelope. Blake and Caleb had agreed to give her a substantial severance—even though her husband had tried to ruin the company—and Caleb had insisted that she have the money right away. It was the right thing to do, take care of a family in need. Theo had left Georgia and his son in financial ruin. After his business had gone under, he'd spent all of their money on his plan for retribution.

Georgia took the envelope. "Thank you for this. I know what Theo did was terrible, but this money will help with childcare, because…I've got to find a job."

Ivy headed out into the living room and froze. Her eyes widened and her face paled. He noticed a tremor in her arms.

He watched Georgia, who had her back toward Ivy. He glanced into the kitchen to see if he could get Juliette's attention, but she had already keyed in to Ivy's reaction.

Something was off.

Georgia stood. "I'd better be going. I left my son with my sister." She turned and saw Ivy.

"Ivy, what are you doing here? I thought you were at the robotics competition."

How would Georgia know anything about that?

Ivy's expression turned from fear to anger in a flash. "You. You tried to kill my uncle. You said your name was Layna."

Before Caleb or Juliette could act, Georgia pulled a gun from her pocket and aimed it at Ivy.

"All I needed was this check and I'd have been in the clear. Theo made sure no one could point a finger at me."

Caleb caught Juliette's eye, and she responded with a nod. Who needed words when they were so in sync?

They sprang into action. Juliette inched toward the left, allowing her room to take Georgia down from the side. Ivy dove behind the couch. Juliette's swift kick sent the gun flying from Georgia's hand while Caleb launched himself forward. He knocked Georgia back with his good shoulder. Juliette caught the woman and had Georgia's hands zip-tied behind her back before the woman could blink.

Georgia. The General. Layna. The mastermind behind Rushmore sat on the floor of Caleb's living room, face beet red.

"You ruined everything." Georgia squirmed and fell onto her side, wrestling with the cuffs.

Caleb gave Juliette an exaggerated high five and she smiled. "Teamwork."

Georgia groaned.

"You just happened to have zip ties in your pocket?" he asked as he helped Ivy up off the floor.

"What? I'm still a bodyguard, even if you don't need me to protect you."

"I always need you, Jules."

Heat crept up her cheeks like a beautiful sunrise.

Officer Matt Williams was at Caleb's doorstep in record time, thanks in part to living in the building and always keeping his police radio handy. Caleb opened the door. Matt and another officer carted Georgia away. Now Georgia's son would be raised by her sister because of their greed.

Ivy raced to Caleb's side once Georgia was escorted from the apartment. He wrapped his good arm around Ivy and Juliette in an embrace.

"Now it's seriously over," he whispered to both of his girls. "No one's going to hurt us again."

Ivy wriggled out from under his arm and rolled her eyes at him. "Just kiss her already. What are you waiting for?"

Caleb laughed and caught Juliette blushing. "I'm not waiting anymore." He pulled Juliette close and dipped her with his uninjured arm like they were in a movie scene. She twined her arms around his neck, and his lips met hers. A fire ignited between them like an exothermic chemical reaction. If someone lit a match, the place would explode.

"I take it back," Ivy chimed in. "I'd rather not see that." She grinned and ran off to her room. Caleb pulled Juliette to her feet but didn't let her go.

"I think we should gross her out like that more often," Caleb whispered in her ear.

Juliette smiled. "And to think, this is just the beginning." She pulled him in for another spine-tingling kiss.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Hazard Pay. Not even for a second."