CHAPTER SIX

"Mr. Houston? How are you, sir?" asked Antoine.

"I'm doin' fine. Just fine. Did you boys help my neighbor gal?"

"We're trying, sir. She's staying with our family for now. We believe someone entered her apartment without her authorization. One of my teammates is checking the cameras now. I don't suppose you heard anything?"

"I'm afraid my hearin' is about as good as my eyes. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. We'll find something. I'll come by and say goodbye when we leave her apartment." Mr. Houston nodded, taking a seat on his little covered patio. It must be ninety degrees outside, but he was more comfortable sitting outside in the heat than being stuck inside all by himself.

Entering Shelby's apartment, Antoine called out for the others.

"Anyone find anything?" he asked.

"Everything," frowned Raphael. "There are at least seven cameras in the apartment. Two in her bedroom, mon frére. Her home computer's camera is permanently on. They've done something to it that prevents us from turning it off, so we placed a piece of tape over the lens. Code found a program that was tracking all of her bill paying, credit card purchases, everything. That's how they got all of it."

"Fucking pieces of shit," mumbled Antoine. "What about the video cameras for the apartment complex?"

"I've got those now," said Code, turning his tablet toward the men. "Three different occasions, men in work uniforms entered her apartment during the day. Two were with the gas company, and one was with cable. We know that there were no reasons to enter, so it was definitely them. The problem is they knew we had video cameras. Their faces are covered with ball caps."

"Shit," muttered Antoine.

"Remember when we picked her up. She had been watching a television program she saved. Watch this," said Code. He hit play on the controller, and the three men watched the images of Shelby walking around her apartment, leaving, then returning with groceries. There were two phone calls to her employer indicating she would be out on sick leave for a few days, and then the third call was to Gray Wolf.

"Now, listen," said Code.

"Did you think we wouldn't know? You slutty little bitch. You wanted a date bad enough to join the site. It's not our fault you didn't know how to manage your profile. Drop everything with the investigation. Drop it, or you'll never escape what we can do to you."

"Am I wrong, or is that more than a little over the top for identity theft?" frowned Raphael. "Don't they usually run it, get what they want, and leave?"

"Exactly," said Code. "I think there's something else going on here. Almost half of all Americans have withstood some kind of identity theft. Most are able to get their shit straight after a few days. The banks and the credit card companies are the ones incurring most of the burdens. Usually, the offenders steal what they want then move on to the next victim.

"If Shelby didn't even meet anyone, no one ever showed for her dates, why is someone so intent on getting to her? Why are they threatening Shelby? That's basically what's happening here, and the longer we allow it to happen, the more danger she's in."

"She didn't even see them," said Antoine, frowning at the others. "Like you said, no one ever showed up for her dates, which is a crying fucking shame. I could see this happening if she could identify them, but she can't."

"So, what are they really after?" asked Rafe.

"That's what we need to find out," said Code. "Sounds like we have another victim. Angel and Bull went to interview him."

"A male?" frowned Antoine.

"A male, brother. Let's head back and see what they found out. I know we can't tell Shelby what to do, but I'd like to see her stay put with us for a while," said Code.

"I don't think that's going to be difficult. She was pretty fucking scared when she arrived last night. The girls were going to try and make her comfortable, getting her anything she needs. I'd like to speak with her coworker, the one that recommended the site to her," said Rafe.

"Same," nodded Code. "Why the fuck would you recommend a site that you haven't even used to a first-time online dater? It feels off to me."

The men tried to put everything back the way they'd found it, except for the removal of all the video cameras. Code grabbed her laptop to scan it for more viruses and then cleaned everything off of it. Once he was done, he put the laptop back where it was, as well as the cameras, but now the feeds were going three ways. Whoever was on the other end would see what they wanted to, but so would the men of Gray Wolf.

In fact, they wouldn't just see it. They would be able to trace it back to whoever was viewing her and hunt them down.

Stepping outside, they all gave a small moan at the heat and humidity enveloping the area. It wasn't even the dead of summer yet, but you could feel it coming. The heaviness of the late afternoon air was literally dripping off the trees onto their skin. Dark clouds were in the distance, threatening the usual showers.

It didn't seem to bother Mr. Houston, who rocked slowly in his chair, chatting with all his neighbors as they passed by. He couldn't see their faces. He had no clue how young or old they were, whether they were white or black, Hispanic or Asian. It didn't matter to him. He craved human contact and loved talking to them. The best part was they loved talking to him.

"Mr. Houston, we'll be heading out now," said Antoine. "If you need anything, just call us. Use the system we placed on your wall."

"I know, I know, young man," he said, nodding his head. Antoine wanted to laugh. He was anything but young, but he supposed he was young to Mr. Houston. "Everything gonna be okay with Shelby?"

"We're doing everything we can, sir. She's safe right now, and we'll keep her that way."

"Good, good," he said. "You boys best get home before the storm comes. I can feel it in my bones."

"It's only gonna be a light rain, Mr. Houston," smiled Rafe. He no sooner got the words out of his mouth when a vicious crack of lightning lit up the sky, thunder echoing with a loud boom.

"Told ‘ya," smirked the old man. "See you boys later."