Reed (The Love Family Series Book 4) (5 page)

Chapter 8

After dinner, Avery stood on the back patio with a coffee cup in hand as she watched the moon dip below the horizon. She sipped her coffee, letting the warmth spread down her throat and into her system. She’d almost lost Reed, and knew damn well it was due to the danger she’d led him into.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Reed’s going to be fine,” Emily said, closing the door behind her. “He’s a tough guy, just like his brother.”

Avery shook her head. “He’s nothing like his brother. Landon is serious, whereas everything is a game to Reed.” Avery rested her head back and looked up at the blanket of stars covering the Texas sky. “I should have sent him home the minute he had arrived. He’s not cut out for this.”

Emily leaned against a post and lifted her mug to her lips. “Something tells me you couldn’t have stopped him if you had tried.”

“I could have tied him up.” Avery chuckled. “I could have told his sister. There were a hundred ways I could have made him stay.”

Emily walked over to her and patted her back. “You know, he wasn’t interested when I came on to him. You should have seen his face.” She chuckled. “He’s got it bad, and I think you do too.”

Avery shook her head at the thought. She liked Reed. She liked him a lot, but she’d never had it bad, and she wasn’t about to start. “I’m just his babysitter, and a lot of good I’m doing. He almost died on my watch.”

She turned to look at Emily and found Reed standing at the back door. A playful smile tugged at his lips. “Reed.”

Emily glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll just give you two some privacy.”

“You know, I’ve always had a thing for my babysitters.” He held Avery’s gaze and licked his lips. “Another fantasy you’ll have to fulfill right after the naughty maid and librarian.” He winked before turning to Emily. “Does your sister use social media?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you mind pulling it up? My computer is on the table.”

“Sure.” Emily walked back into the house, leaving Reed and Avery on the patio. The air between them was charged, and her heart clenched as she held her breath.

“You don’t honestly think she’ll post her location on social media, do you?” Avery grinned and glanced back up at the stars.

“She won’t need to.” Reed stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him. “All I need is to see her face and my ability kicks in.”

Reed moved up behind her and wrapped his good arm around her waist before placing a tender kiss on her neck. “I can find her sister.”

“What makes you so sure?” Avery asked, tilting her head to give him better access.

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret that no one else knows.”

“I already know you’re missing a few screws since you’re interested in me,” she teased.

“My computer ability extends beyond the actual computer.” He kissed the dip where her shoulder and neck met on the other side. “When I meet people, regardless of whether I’m around a computer, little boxes appear that only I can see.”

“That explains a lot. You’re delusional.”

He chuckled. “I can see their entire electronic fingerprint. Anything and everything they’ve stored online is at my mercy for inspection.”

Avery’s body stiffened. That wasn’t possible. Maybe he was really a little crazy in the head.

“Explain.”

“The boxes that pop up give me access to everything. Bank records, pictures, anything and everything they access electronically, I can get my hands on.”

“There’s only one flaw in your story.” She turned in his arms to watch his eyes to determine if he would tell her the truth. “When you found me at the hotel. I didn’t make those reservations electronically. I didn’t use a credit card or my personal bank account. How did you do that?”

Reed stared back at her, a slip of a smile on his lips. “I hacked the hotels and searched their registries for new reservations.”

“Then how did you know I’d be in Texas to even start looking there?”

“When Landon called, it was through an electronic device. I traced himthe way any FBI agent would. I hacked systems and triangulated his location. I had an idea where to start looking.”

Avery’s mouth parted. “The boxes? How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

He leaned in to whisper. His breath came out hot on her ear. “Your Nonnie’s secret ingredient in her spaghetti sauce is cinnamon.”

“How…”

“She only keeps recipes and family photos online.” He pressed a kiss to her ear before stepping back and shrugging. “They pop up whether I want them to or not. It’s a gift and a curse, and the only way I was able to break that code on the thumb drive that Landon sent.”

Avery crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. “And how, exactly, do you think you’re going to find Alice Page?”

“By looking at her face.” Reed grinned and turned to leave, only to be stopped by Avery catching his good arm.

“What do you think you’ll find?”

Reed shrugged. “I’ll track her cell to start and then move to her accounts. I’ll hack the hospital, her computer, hell, I’ll even hack her security system, if she has one. I’m not going to leave any stone unturned. I am going to help find that woman if it means bringing Landon home.”

Some might think Reed’s words were crazy or arrogant, but she wouldn’t use those words to describe him. Determination was a much better word. As Reed walked back into the house, she realized right then one thing with absolute certainty. Reed wasn’t the kind of guy to give up, on anything. Including the game for winning her heart.

“I’m so screwed.”  

****

Progress was slow as Reed made his way through the information in the boxes that popped up by staring into Alice’s face through her social media account. Even Reed himself was creeped out by his ability. He shouldn’t have been surprised by Avery’s avoidance since he’d shared his secret. His shoulder ached as he repositioned himself so he could use both hands to type instead of picking at the letters with one hand. A quick glance at the living room clock told him what his body already knew. He would be in a world of hurt tomorrow if he continued to work. The house was eerily quiet. Every occupant was sound asleep. Reed was the only one still awake.

Reed pinched the bridge of his nose and clenched his eyes closed. The glow of his laptop screen started to mess with his head. He pushed the complaints to the back of his mind and concentrated again on Alice Page.

The woman was incredibly smart, working her way through med school by herself, never relying on anyone else. She was the brightest student and top of her class. As Reed continued searching her school records, he froze. Staring at him on the screen were two words he knew well. Computer Engineer. “I’ll be damned.”

Alice Page had a minor in computer engineering. His lips twitched, and his fingers moved faster over the keyboard with nothing more than a hunch. Ten minutes later, he ran his hands through his hair, ready to pull it out. He was so sure he’d find something to indicate she was the one responsible for the thumb drive heating system and codes. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?” a female voice answered back.

Reed glanced over his shoulder to find Emily standing on the threshold in nothing more than a nightshirt that hit her knees. She was a beautiful woman in her own right as she stood in the glow of the hall light, but Reed had eyes for only Avery.

“Does your sister like computers?”

“Yeah.” Emily smiled as she approached and joined Reed on the couch. “She’s a computer nerd. Growing up, she loved to tinker and create new things. We all thought that she’d go into that field one day.”

“Why didn’t she?” Reed asked and clicked back to Alice’s social media page, looking at her picture in a new light.

Emily slid her legs beneath her bottom and rested sideways against the couch cushion. “She was in a car accident at the age of fifteen
.
”

Reed’s brows dipped, as he tried to piece the puzzle together. He came up short.

“It should have killed her. We still don’t understand how she walked away. She had internal injuries, and that’s when she found out she’d never be able to conceive. Never have a baby of her own.” Emily took a deep breath. “She changed after that. She became more determined than anyone I know.” Emily smiled. “She decided if she couldn’t have one of her own, then she’d help other woman bring them into this world.” Emily held Reed’s gaze. “I think it was her way of dealing with a part of herself she’d lost. She’s a fighter. That’s what gives me hope that she’s still alive.”

“I’m so sorry.” Reed’s heart clenched at the thought of that right being stripped away from any woman. He couldn’t imagine the damage that could do to a woman’s psyche. “Is that why she quit toying with computers?”

“Oh, she still toyed. The last time we spoke she was talking about a new invention that involved a thumb drive. Her whole voice vibrated with excitement as she spoke. I hadn’t heard her that happy since before the accident.”

“A thumb drive?” Avery asked, walking into the room, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“Something about how she’d created a thumb drive, similar to the nervous system.” Emily bit her lip as if trying to remember. “Yeah, if they didn’t have the right algorithm, there was a virus that would attack the mainframe, causing it to overheat.”

“Son of a bitch.” Reed stood and immediately regretted the hours he’d spent sitting on the couch. He paced the room to work the kinks out of his body. “Did she say how to stop the overheating without the password?”

Emily tilted her head. “She was talking over my head when she was explaining, but yeah, I think she said it was another one of her creations.”

“What creation?” Reed asked, sitting back down. “Think, Emily, it’s important. What did she create to combat the overheating?”

“A compression sleeve, like a patient would wear. It goes over the thumb drive. She said it acted like acupuncture, pushing all the right spots to block the signal that the code sends to the computer to start the overheating process.”

Emily stood and walked into the open adjoining kitchen to start a pot of coffee. “She said she was on the verge of getting a patent for both items, but I don’t think she ever did before she disappeared.”

“Something like that could be worth millions.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost a dozen of those little things in my life. What good is the information on it if you can’t find it?”

“There’s a tracking chip inside accessible by the user’s platform,” Emily called out as she stuck her mug where the coffee pot should be. “That was my suggestion.”

“It still doesn’t explain where she went or why. With all the used bloody towels we found lying around her house, I have to assume that it wasn’t because of her computer toys, but more because she was a doctor, even if she only delivered babies. Stuart wouldn’t have been interested in babies or electronics. He’s only interested in two things, money and making more of it.

Reed met Avery’s gaze, and they both spoke at the same time. “The ledger.”

“What ledger?” Emily asked pulling out her mug and replacing the coffee pot underneath the nozzle.

Avery was about to hurry from the room, but Reed stopped her. “We need to find that sleeve and take a short trip.”

“What ledger?” Emily asked again, and they ignored her.

“We have it here.” Avery’s words were directed at Reed. “We crack the ledger, and we’ll know what the hell she got into.”

Reed cringed. “I was only able to decrypt half the drive. There was a portion I couldn’t get to.” He gave her an apologetic look; his secret would cost them precious time. “Another screen that required access was taking too long. It was heating up my computer, and the boxes weren’t fast enough.”

“You didn’t tell me. I asked you exactly what happened, and you left that part out?” Her voice rose in anger, and her eyes narrowed to slits.

“What boxes? What ledger?” Emily asked. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

Reed turned to Emily. “I think your sister hid information on one of her thumb drives, and I believe if we figure out that information, we’ll find her.”

Emily’s mouth parted.

Reed grabbed Avery’s hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was using it as my bargaining chip. But we need to find the sleeve and go back to the Island so I can crack the rest.”

“No.” She slipped her hand free. “We need to meet Landon tomorrow.”

Reed dropped his gaze to his feet. Landon was the reason he was here, but he couldn’t leave Alice running, not when he was so close to figuring out the secret keeping her away.

He lifted his head. “How about this? We go to her house tonight to look for the sleeve, and then we still make the plane to meet Landon.”

“Or…how about this…I’ll go look for the sleeve; you get some sleep, and we’ll still meet at the plane.”

“Avery, I’ve slept for two days straight. I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to.” He took her hand again. “I know what I’m looking for.” He lifted his shoulder and then regretted it. “You can stand as my lookout, and we’ll make it quick.”