The Darkness Beyond (3 page)

She ran her hands up and down her arms trying to smooth away the goose bumps that rippled across her skin. Had she locked the doors? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she was up and heading to make sure. She threw the dead bolt on the front door and then the latch on the slider that led out to the balcony. After a quick check of the window locks in the bedrooms, her pulse slowed to a more normal pace.

Being scared was silly—no doubt her overactive imagination running out of control. She'd be far better off focusing on something real, like checking to see if D. J. Clayborne was around yet.

A few minutes later, her avatar was back at her favorite table, watching the crowd for any sign of the Knightwalker. Reggie sipped her tea, dividing her attention between the cyberworld displayed on her laptop and the latest installment in her favorite romance series. At the moment, the book was definitely the stronger draw as she lost herself in the growing tension between the hero and the heroine.

When she finally looked up again, she jumped. How long had the Knightwalker been standing there staring at Ruby? Reggie dropped the book on the desk and started typing.

“Knightwalker, how nice of you to drop by.”

As soon as she hit Enter, the handsome avatar pulled out a chair and sat down. “I'd said hello three times. I was beginning to wonder if either you or Ruby here had fallen asleep at the keyboard.”

“Sorry,” she typed. “By the way, earlier I was reading a fairy tale that you might find interesting.”

“Really? What makes you think that?”

She hesitated, but there was only one way she was going to find out the truth about the files she'd stumbled across. Taking a deep breath, she started typing.

“It's written by an author named Brenna Nichols.”

No response.

She tried again. “Since you call yourself the Knightwalker, I figured you'd find a story about Paladins fascinating. Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps you'd prefer some
Other
story.”

This time there was definitely going to be a response. The Knightwalker's avatar leaned in close to Ruby, his expression one of shock and then fury. When he finally spoke, it scared her far more than anything her own imagination had come up with.

“Listen, kid, I hope you erased your tracks. Whatever you do, don't go there again. Chasing me is one thing, but trust me on this, Reggie. Going after the Regents will land you in a world of trouble.”

Then the Knightwalker blinked out of existence.

Son of a bitch! D.J. stared at the blank screen, his hands clenched in tight fists. What the hell was he going to do now? He should make a beeline for Devlin's office and tell him that the organization's firewalls had been well and truly breached. The minute that happened, the Regents would start a witch hunt to track down Reggie. God knows what they'd do to the kid.

That it had gone this far was solely D.J.'s fault. If he'd reported the first incident, maybe he and Cullen or even Jake could've found a way to stop Reggie's forays into Paladin territory. Instead, his ego had taken control, refusing to admit that some punk could best him at his own game.

D.J. would give himself until Monday to handle the problem on his own. If that didn't work, he'd talk to Devlin and hope he survived the conversation.

T
odd Bedford walked into a coffee shop twenty miles from his office and spotted his coworker Ray sitting at a table in the back corner. Rather than head straight there though, Todd stopped at the counter to place his order, giving Ray a chance to watch for anyone who might be a little too interested in Todd's activity. If he saw anything suspicious, Ray would walk out without acknowledging Todd's presence.

This far from the Regents' headquarters, it was highly unlikely that would happen, but neither of them had gotten where they were by being careless. So far, no one had connected either of them with the activities of the infamous Colonel Kincade. Sure, the Regents suspected that the man's tentacles had extended far beyond his home turf in the Pacific Northwest. But suspecting and knowing were two different things.

The colonel was now under house arrest while the Regents went through the man's affairs with a fine-tooth comb. It was a sure bet that anyone implicated in Kincade's systematic theft of money from the organization would join the man in a prison cell. The thought gave Todd nightmares.

When his coffee and scone were ready, Todd did one last visual sweep of the room before making his way to Ray's table. While keeping a pleasant smile on his face, he injected enough temper into his voice to make the other man twitch.

“So, Ray, by all rights I should be on my way home for dinner. What was worth me driving all the way out here for a damn cup of coffee?”

Ray set his own drink down with more force than necessary. “As I recall, you said you wanted to be notified off the record if anyone ever breached our security. Excuse me for assuming that meant you wouldn't want me barging into your office to deliver the message.”

Okay, so maybe the trip had been necessary. Todd pulled out a chair and sat down. “What happened?”

“I'm still working on it, but it appears that a hacker made it at least as far as the archives.”

Todd almost spewed his coffee on the table. “What did they get?”

“As far as I can tell, all the guy downloaded was a copy of Brenna Nichols's ongoing history of the Paladins.”

As if that wasn't bad enough. Todd closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He'd tried to tell the board that having a historian poke around in those confidential files was nothing short of stupid. The woman was too high profile even if she'd kept her word about maintaining the secrecy of the organization. Hard-copy files of the Paladin history could be protected. But anytime there was a computer file, there was a hacker waiting to find it.

“Was anything else compromised?”

“Not that I could tell.” Ray smoothed down the wisps of hair that failed to hide his shiny scalp, a clear sign he was nervous. “Whoever this guy is, he's good. Damn good, in fact. It was only by sheer dumb luck that I found any trace of his incursion.”

Todd set his coffee aside. He was revved up enough without adding caffeine to the mix. He considered his options.

First thing, he needed to soothe some ruffled feathers. “You did the right thing by calling me. I should've known you wouldn't have requested an unscheduled meeting without good reason.”

Ray nodded, looking marginally happier. “I didn't want to risk anyone at the office finding out about this before I had a chance to run it by you. I
should've
reported the incident to the Regents first, not to mention my boss in Security.”

The man was right, of course, but following protocol was out of the question now. If Ray were to go ahead and report the breach, how could he explain the delay? With everything going on connected to Kincade, Security took a very dim view of anyone who didn't follow the rules inside or outside the organization. Filing a report now was clearly out of the question and they both knew it.

Whoever the hacker was, it took some serious mojo to circumvent all the security protocols maintained throughout the Paladin organization. One had to tread carefully to avoid being caught, thanks in large part to the two premier hackers within the Paladins themselves.

In fact, Todd's first thought was to wonder if D. J. Clayborne and Cullen Finley were up to their old tricks. Those two Paladins loved nothing more than sneaking around in the organization's files for no other reason than to prove the systems were vulnerable.

The problem was that neither of them had any reason to download a history of the Paladins, not when they were living it. Besides, they were friends with Trahern, Brenna Nichols's Paladin lover. If they'd wanted a copy of her work, they probably only had to ask.

That left an unknown hacker. Todd hid his rising excitement. If they could catch the guy without raising the alarm, maybe they could put him to work. Rumor had it that Kincade had left money squirreled away in hidden accounts. As the former Regents' representative in the Seattle area, he'd had his fingers in all kinds of pies. Some of that money had been promised to Todd and Ray for their help in covering the man's tracks.

So far, those who were interrogating the bastard hadn't gotten very far in recovering the Regents' losses. In Todd's mind, all of that money was now fair game. Finders keepers and all that. He'd considered having Ray hunt for it, but neither of them could risk discovery.

No, it'd be far better to outsource the job. And once the hacker did his job, well, accidents happened. There were ways of dealing with loose ends, ones that wouldn't lead straight back to Todd's door. Shove a human across the barrier at the right time, and he wouldn't last long enough to realize that he was bleeding out on alien soil. Todd smiled at his companion.

“Find this guy.”

Ray's eyes narrowed and he frowned. “Are you sure? If he's as slippery as I think, he'll be hard to control.”

“You let me worry about that. Once you've located him, call me and I'll get you some backup.”

Ray nodded although clearly still not happy with Todd's decision. Too bad. Todd checked the time. “I've got to get back. The wife's family is coming for dinner tonight.”

Todd smiled again. “See that this happens, Ray, and I'll make it worth your while. I'm sure your bookie will appreciate getting paid for once.”

Then he walked away without looking back.

“Gotcha, you little jerk!”

D.J. grinned at the information on the screen, basking in his hard-fought victory. He'd found Reggie. This R. Morrison he'd tracked down had to be the guy. If so, his nemesis lived right down the I-5 corridor, just outside of Portland. He printed out the address and a map so he could find the place when he got there.

Next up was telling Devlin that he'd be out of town for the weekend. Timing was everything. Rather than risk having his friend ask too many questions or even order him to stick around, he'd text him at the last possible minute. Better yet, he'd send the man an e-mail.

With luck, it would get lost in the dozens of messages Devlin got every day. Heck, maybe Devlin wouldn't even see it until Monday morning. To be on the safe side, D.J. waited until he was packed and ready to leave before hitting the Send button. Unfortunately, as he merged onto the southbound lanes of the interstate, his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID.

Damn it, just as he'd feared.

Luckily, Washington state law made it illegal to drive and talk on a handheld phone. As a law-abiding citizen, D.J. couldn't possibly take the call. He powered off the phone and kept driving. Once he confronted Reggie and showed the kid the error of his ways, he'd head back to Seattle and face Devlin's wrath.

Hell, he was on Dev's shit list so often, one more time wouldn't matter. Right? Now if only the growing knot in his stomach would buy into that idea. Unfortunately, there were only two things D.J. took pride in. One was his skill with computers. The other was his loyalty to the men he fought beside.

If Devlin needed him, he'd turn around and head right back to headquarters. He pulled off at the next exit and stopped in a convenience store parking lot. Holding his breath, he dialed Devlin's number and waited. When it went to voice mail, he didn't know what to think.

Was the barrier down? He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, searching for the familiar buzz of high energy. Paladins were all attuned to the frequency of their stretch of the barrier. Once he located that frequency, he followed it back toward the tunnels under Seattle. Good, it felt normal, healthy. That could change any second, but for now it seemed stable. Rather than stew about it, he punched in another number.

Cullen answered on the first ring. “Hey, D.J., what's up?”

His friend sounded calm. Good, that probably meant the barrier was all right for now.

“Devlin was looking for me, but he's not answering his phone. I just wanted to make sure nothing was going on.”

“Not that I know of. Did you check his office? Maybe he's on the other line.”

Okay, truth or lie? D.J. hedged his bets. “Uh, I'm not exactly at headquarters or even in Seattle. I have a few things to take care of, so I'll be out of touch for a couple of days.”

Several seconds of silence passed before Cullen spoke again. “Buddy, I hope you know what you're doing. I'll try to avoid Devlin, so maybe that will buy you some time. But if he finds me, I'll have to tell him if he asks.”

The offer made D.J. smile. It wouldn't be the first time the two of them had combined efforts to deflect Devlin's attention. This time, though, was far more serious.

“Thanks, Cullen, but don't do anything to get him pissed off at you, too. No use in both of us being on his shit list.”

He could almost see Cullen shrug. “I've been there before and survived the experience. In the meantime, is there anything I can help you with? Like those mysterious e-mails you've been getting?”

Son of a bitch, how did he know about those? Stupid question. The two of them were pretty much on a par when it came to computers.

“Maybe. I'll let you know how it turns out when I get back home.”

“Okay, but don't hesitate to call for backup if you need me. I'm always up for a little cyberwar.”

D.J. could hear voices in the background, most likely the two kids Cullen had unofficially adopted. It was time to get off the line and back on the road.

“Talk to you soon, Cullen. Tell Lusahn and Bavi hi for me, and give Shiri a hug.”

“Will do.”

When the line went dead, D.J. shut the phone off, telling himself he didn't want the distraction as he drove. That wasn't the real reason though. If Devlin called again, D.J. couldn't risk telling him the truth, but neither would he willingly lie to his friend. And if that wasn't a helluva position to be in.

Rather than dwell on it, he gunned the engine and tore off down the highway. The sooner D.J. found Reggie, the sooner he could go back to his life.

Reggie had spent far too many hours pacing back and forth in front of the computer, watching her avatar sit alone at the cyberbar. She'd been hit on by a number of others but none of them was the Knightwalker. Even if he'd changed avatars again, she would've known him. She was sure of it.

Obviously she'd struck a chord when she'd mentioned the Paladins and the Others. Were those code names for some kind of secret government project? That didn't feel quite right, but it was the best explanation she'd been able to come up with.

The walls were closing in on her. She'd been shut inside all week at work, and it was past time to burn off some energy. Should she go for a run or settle for working out inside? She'd let the weather decide.

A quick peek outside had her shoving her feet into her running shoes. After putting a bottle of water into her fanny pack and grabbing her keys, she trotted down the steps and cranked up some red-dirt rock on her iPod. Outside, she stretched before setting off at a slow jog, giving her muscles a chance to finish warming up.

At the corner, she kicked it into high gear and circled the block. Unfortunately, the sidewalks proved to be crowded, no doubt thanks to the beautiful weather. Rather than deal with the frustration of weaving in and out of the mob, she headed down to the track at the local high school.

Once she fell into the familiar rhythm of the run, her thoughts turned back to the Knightwalker. What was he up to? What did D. J. Clayborne, the man behind the avatar, do besides create havoc in other people's computer files?

She'd tried every internet search technique she could think of and failed to turn up anything. Maybe if she had some idea of where to look for him. As far as she knew, he could live on the other side of the world.

Obviously D.J., if that was even his real name, knew how to hide in plain sight. Well, when she was back in the office on Monday, she'd try again. As much as she'd enjoyed the game of tag they'd been playing, it was time to get serious and track him down. If she could pinpoint his location, she'd turn the information over to her boss and let him take it from there.

Her decision was made, and she'd live with the consequences. D.J. was like any number of other hackers she'd brought down over the years. Yeah, and if she kept telling herself that, she might just believe it.

Time to head home. At the next turn, she peeled off the track and cut across the grass to the driveway that emptied out on a busy arterial. She ran full out the rest of the way, stopping only to do her cool-down stretches in the parking lot.

As she straightened up, someone tapped her shoulder. She shrieked as she spun around, ready to go on the attack until she recognized Cody. She smacked the nitwit on the arm hard enough to sting but not bruise.

“Darn it, Cody, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?”

He rubbed his arm and glared right back at her. Then he reached out to yank her earphones off her head and dangled them in front of her face.

“I didn't sneak. I called your name twice. It's not my fault you didn't hear me. You're the one with your iPod cranked up so loud the whole city can hear it.”