Chapter 28
Sleep alluded her. By all accounts, she should be exhausted between lack of sleep and lovemaking, but her brain refused to quiet. Alex slept peacefully beside her. His arm wrapped around her side as if he were afraid she would try to escape again. She had no intention of leaving him. She was content to lie here, though it felt strange lying with Alex in her childhood bed.
An image of her father stomping into the room and scolding the two of them almost made her chuckle even as it sent a pang to her heart.
Feeling like the room was too hot and she couldn’t breathe, Payton sat up. Alex stirred. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice heavy with sleep.
“Nothing, I’m going to get a drink of water. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry,” he mumbled before rolling over.
Payton chuckled as she slipped on her jeans and shirt before heading down to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and took several gulps of the cool liquid then just stood in the kitchen looking around her.
Family photos hung in the living room next to the kitchen. Payton set down her water and walked over to the built in shelf and picked up one. It was one of her mom and dad and her.
Payton took the photo and sat down in a chair as she thought back on the memory. It was from a camping trip. Dad had wanted the whole experience of sleeping on the ground and in a tent. Mom wasn’t an outdoorsy kind of gal but had agreed for them. It was one of the few times they had camped, but they had taken day trips up there from time to time. It had been a fun place.
Suddenly a thought came to her. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her father’s letter. “Oh, Daddy,” she whispered. She now knew how to break the code on the flash drive. He’d left clues in the letter. Long and twisty roads. A lighthouse. “The campground.” There was a playground there and one of the play sets looked like a lighthouse to her.
Payton ran up the stairs and turned on the bedroom light. Alex sprang from the bed in full military mode ready to hurt whoever had woken him up. Shit, she hadn’t thought about that. She was too excited.
“Payton.” He sighed when he realized it was just her, but then he tensed. “Are you alright? Did you hear something outside?”
“No, the code,” she said excitedly. “I broke the code for the flash drive.”
Chapter 29
Colin met them at her father’s building and escorted them inside.There was no security guard inside. Only a badge was required to get into the building.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get much sleep, Colin,” Payton said keeping pace. Payton could hardly contain her excitement.She felt bad, but not that bad. Her father died to keep this information safe. It was up to her to finish his mission.
“It’s all good.” He waved it off. “I was only having an amazing dream. I was on a beach with two woman who were—kidding.” He chuckled when he looked over and no doubt saw her shocked expression that he was sharing an intimate dream with her. Two women? Payton couldn’t fathom that many lovers. She had trouble keeping up with one. “The sooner we can crack this thing, the better. Come meet the team.”
Colin led them into a small windowless room in the middle of the building. The room itself couldn’t be any bigger than a hundred feet. Five rows of desks with a three foot gap in between filled the room, with multiple monitors on all of them. Chairs were spaced out a foot apart to give the occupants some space but not much. Payton’s workspace was larger than this.
“This is Duke,” Colin introduced him to them; he looked like a bodybuilder. Duke stood when Payton and her group entered. Payton actually felt small. He was well over six and a half feet. His clothing was stretched taunt over sinewy muscles.He had a shaved head and fair skin like he didn’t get out in the sun much.“This is Payton and Alex.”
“Nice to meet ‘ya.”He had a southern accent like he was from Georgia or Alabama.He shook Alex’s hand.Duke took her hand and kissed the back of it“Enchanté.”
“Smooth,” Colin said rolling his eyes and pushing Duke in the shoulder. Duke didn’t move, but he did release her hand. “Sorry about him. He’s not around female company much. Welcome to our lair.”
“Thanks. No offense, but you don’t look like a computer analyst.” He looked like he belonged out in the field.
Duke puffed out his chest like a bird trying to impress a mate. “I used to be infantry. I had experience with computers. Colonel Weber and Colin helped me get a new job when I was injured.”
Really? He didn’t look injured.
“Fake leg,” Duke said as if she’d asked aloud.
“Well, I’m glad to have you on board. Are you always here or did Colin call you?”
“I normally work in another department, but Colin asked me for my help on the flash drive so all my spare time has been in this room and working on it.”
“Why this room?” she asked looking around. It was gloomy.
“This is my workspace,” Colin said. “Since secrecy is the top importance and the colonel dealt in top secret information. The less people know what’s on it, the better. This room has no security cameras due to security protocol nor windows. It’s one of the safest places to work and gather Intel.”
“There’s also the fact that only certain areas have secure lines. This and a few other rooms have it, but I like the privacy in here,” Duke added.