“What the hell happened?” Kane demanded.
Jaimie swung around in her chair. “I’m looking at all the surveillance tapes both outside and inside. We’ve got cameras installed on most of the buildings along this street. The SUV was down the block for thirteen minutes. Javier spotted it while he was outside practicing his moves with his boys. He patrols the streets and gets the locals used to him hanging out. He spotted the SUV moving into position just outside your main front door and sent out the alarm.”
“We were lucky he was out there,” Mack said. “We’re going to have to set up regular patrols. We’re getting too complacent, using just one spotter on the roof. It’s too busy an area to just have only one pair of eyes.”
“How did they get into my house?” Kane asked.
“You do know you’re leaving a puddle of water in the middle of my office,” Jaimie pointed out.
Kane scowled at her. “Cough it up, Jaimie. They tried to take my son and Rose.”
“Definitely the physical therapist. He slipped something into the locking mechanism when you opened the door for them. I can’t quite figure out what it was, but it’s thin and fit right over the lock, so the door appeared to engage, but in reality, the lock wasn’t fully engaged.”
“Why didn’t the alarm sound? Shouldn’t it have?” Kane rubbed at his wet hair with the edge of the blanket.
“Yes.” Jaimie sounded affronted. “Whatever they used simulated the lock enough that the monitor accepted it as real. I’ve never seen anything like it. The way it should work is, if anything, even a thin piece of paper is slipped in, the electronics don’t engage and the alarm goes off. They have some tool that fools the electronics into believing the circuit has been engaged.”
“So they planned this carefully. They knew about the lock and how it worked,” Kane stated the obvious. “They were prepared.”
“How?” Mack asked. “We don’t have that many visitors. A few construction workers, but we checked them out thoroughly. Deliverymen.” He looked at Jaimie. “Who else?”
“We’ve had the cops here a few times,” she said. “Something about the surveillance tape really bothers me, but I can’t put my finger on it.” She swung back to study the footage. “Go up to our home, Kane, and take a warm shower. Mack’s jeans will be short, but you can fit into them. In fact, I think there are a couple of pairs of your jeans left from when you were staying with us while your house was being built. Look in the clothes closet. This is going to take a while to figure out.”
Marc stuck his head out of the tent, bloody glove-covered hands in the air. “Where the hell is Eric? He went to get another set of instruments. I need help in here. I can’t monitor him and do the operation.”
He disappeared back inside the tent.
Get down here, now, Paul. Mack sent the command instantly. “Get upstairs, Kane. Guard Rose and Sebastian. Don’t trust anyone.” He glanced at his watch. “Eric ran out of here a few minutes ago to get another surgery kit from his car. I thought it odd that he didn’t ask one of us to get it for him but just figured he could find it faster.”
Kane turned and ran up the stairs as Paul came running down.
“That’s what’s bothering me,” Jaimie said. “Look, Mack. Look at the tape. Eric goes through the door first, and the therapist follows him. Look at what Eric does.” She froze the tape. “Look at his eyes. He stops right there, and his gaze shifts down and toward the lock just as the therapist slips in his tool. Eric knew. Eric has to be working with Whitney.”
CHAPTER 16
“Son of a bitch.” Mack leaned down to study the tape. The entire time, they’d been watching the lock and the therapist, not really paying attention to the surgeon who had worked at one time or another on many of the GhostWalkers, even saving lives. How Jaimie had noticed the slight turn Eric made and the shift of his eyes as he glanced down at the lock, he couldn’t imagine. Especially in the midst of Brian having surgery just a few yards away.
“He knows, Mack,” Jaimie reiterated and pulled up the footage inside the second floor and then of the street.
They could see Eric rush out of the surgical tent, call out to Mack, and then run behind the tent out of their sight. He put a foot on the stairs leading up to where Paul watched over Rose and Sebastian, shook his head, and turned quickly to take the stairs leading down to the first story. Clearly he had considered making another try for the baby. He dashed down the stairs and out the door, never entering Kane’s home. The street cameras showed him leaping into his car, cell phone out, and talking fast as he sped away.
“Get the word out to the other teams,” Mack ordered Jaimie. “There’s no telling what damage he’s done to us. Everyone he’s come in contact with may be compromised. Advise sweeping for bugs and reworking security wherever he’s had access. Let Jack and Ken know their home probably has multiple problems. Has he had access to our computer equipment?”
Jaimie shook her head. “No one touches my computers other than Javier. And he’s worse than I am about security. Well ... okay ... maybe not.”
Mack swore under his breath as he paced back and forth. “We’ve had a snake among us from the very first.”
“What if he didn’t work for Whitney? What if he’s working for the faction that wants all of us dead?”
“I doubt he would have saved so many of us. The death toll would have been much higher. I’m certain he’s Whitney’s plant.” He looked carefully around the room. “Check everything, Jaimie. Thank God Rose was so paranoid about Sebastian. She never left Eric alone with him. They didn’t manage to get a sample of his blood. They weren’t able to microchip him either.”
“Kane did,” Jaimie said. “He said it was the only argument he and Rose have had over the baby. He insisted, for Sebastian’s safety.”
“Top!” Paul called out. “We need you.”
Mack reacted instantly. “Tell Kane, Jaimie. The two of you need to go through that house and be thorough about it.”
Jaimie watched him disappear into the surgical tent and then made her way up to the third story. As she leaned in for a retinal scan, she stopped suddenly, frowning. She made her way back down to the bottom of the staircase where Eric had hesitated. She pulled out a small penlight and meticulously began going over the railing and walls, paying particular attention to where Eric had stopped.
The staircase was interior, running just on the inside of the building so that there was an escape from the first story and one leading to the roof. The second story was completely enclosed with only a door leading to a fire escape. She ran her fingers along the door. Eric must have known they would be suspicious of him, and he’d run. He wouldn’t have considered going upstairs to confront a GhostWalker. He wasn’t armed. She knew that because each time he stepped inside the entrance, she had a full-body scanner making certain. No, he’d stopped on the stairs for another reason.
She stepped back and studied the door and then turned around in a circle, inspecting the stairway again. She knew she was right; she just couldn’t figure out what he’d done. Reluctantly, Jaimie gave up her quest and went up to the top story. She used a retinal scan to open the door to her home.
Rose lay on her couch, a blanket over her, holding her head and moaning softly. Kane obviously had rinsed off and was now crouching beside Rose, sweeping back her hair with one hand, murmuring soft reassurances to her. Jaimie looked around for the baby.
Kane saw her question and nodded toward the safety of the bedroom. “Paul put him down when he fell asleep. I’m hoping he stays that way until we know Rose can safely feed him. We don’t want whatever drug this is to get into his system.”
Kane straightened slowly, stretching out sore muscles. He’d managed to find a pair of jeans and had ripped off one of Mack’s tees. “I take it they’re having a problem with Brian?” He managed to keep his voice even, but every muscle had tightened up all over again. He’d just managed to reassure himself that Rose and Sebastian were going to be fine, and now he was worried all over again.