Always Been Mine (24 page)

“Believe me, you can be mouthy with me all you want,” Gabe drawled, “especially around my dick.”

She rolled her eyes, but had to admit she walked straight into that one. “Can I call Doug now? You don’t have a coffee grinder, do you?”

Gabe scrubbed his face in amusement and frustration. “Jesus Christ, Beatrice, you are high maintenance.”

“Told ya.” She grinned slyly at him and called Doug. Her assistant once more proved why he was invaluable. He had already picked up two pounds of her favorite coffee beans and packed up her coffee machine including the grinder from her condo.

“You know, you probably need to write down the name of the coffee beans and your roaster,” Gabe said when she got off the phone.

“Why?”

He affectionately tapped the tip of her nose. “Because, poppy, when I said I’d take care of you, I meant every word. And if caring for you includes keeping you supplied with your favorite brew, so be it.”

Her heart fluttered.
 

An hour later, Beatrice managed to make herself useful and made some French toast and bacon for breakfast. Gabe heartily ate what she prepared. Her man could eat. She guessed it took a lot to maintain all those stacked muscles under that tee. She didn’t think he deliberately wore tight shirts, but more like he simply filled them out. Beatrice was tall and not many men managed to make her feel dainty and secure. Gabe managed to do so effortlessly.

“Okay, that’s the second sigh in five minutes.” Gabe eyed her warily. “What’s wrong?”

She blinked. “Is it a crime to sigh?”

“Beatrice—”

“Okay, okay,” Beatrice laughed lightly. She noticed his eyes grew heated. She smiled smugly. It didn’t take much to get her man riled with lust. “If you must know, I was thinking about your muscles.”

“What?” he croaked.
 

“Not many guys make me feel safe. You do it with no effort at all.” This time her tone turned serious. “I play hardball with all these macho-security guys all the time; there’s very little room to feel feminine. But with you, Gabe, you make me feel all woman and beautiful.”

Gabe was the picture of male satisfaction. She could have imagined it, but it appeared he’d puffed up his chest. He linked their fingers together and kissed the back of her hand. “Pleased you feel that way.”

Beatrice’s smile disappeared when she noticed the bruise on his hand. “What happened here?” Her thumb stroked the light scratches on his knuckles.

He looked away. “Nothing.”

He tried to pull his hand from hers but she held on.

“Gabe, tell me the truth. Did you punch something?”

“I couldn’t get it out, babe,” he said quietly.

“Please don’t hurt yourself anymore.” Her heart was breaking. This wonderful man was trying so hard not to lose his shit in front of her. “I know you feel anger, and frustration. You may even blame yourself, but it’s on them, not you.”

“I’m going to kill them,” Gabe swore vehemently.

“Easy, sport,” Beatrice said gently. “They’ll pay one way or another.”

Before Gabe could reply, her phone buzzed.

Why was Caitlin calling her?

“Cat?”

“I’ll be at your safe house in five minutes.”

“What?”

“Travis is a few minutes behind me, and just a warning, he’s pissed.”

Shit.

*****

Travis was a minute behind Caitlin, or maybe even less. Just when Caitlin was pulling up in her Audi, her husband’s Escalade was bearing down the driveway.

“Did she say what’s going on?” Gabe asked.

“I have no idea,” Beatrice admitted, but she was very curious. Caitlin kept Travis on his toes every single time. It was fun to watch them clash. Travis definitely met his match in his wife. If there was someone who could stand up to his arrogant ass, it was Caitlin.
 

Caitlin slammed out of her car and stalked up to the front of the house. Travis exited his vehicle, and was glaring at his wife’s back.

“Okay, it seems there’s trouble in the Blake household,” Beatrice quipped.

“Tell them,” Travis snapped. “Tell them what you did, Cat.”

“Uh-oh, what did you do?” Beatrice asked.

Caitlin huffed angrily, craning her neck toward her husband but not looking at him. “I’m just trying to be helpful. Shall we take this inside?”

They retreated into the house. Beatrice was a bit worried because she had not seen Travis this angry in a long time.

“Okay, what’s this all about?”

Caitlin actually looked excited. Ignoring the dark scowl on her husband’s face, she said, “You know I hang out in hacker chatrooms on the Black Plane?”

Not that she did, but Beatrice shrugged, prodding her to continue.

“There’s been chatter for some weeks now about this bioweapon about to be auctioned off. I thought it was just someone stirring up rumors until the admiral mentioned it last night.”

“What? There’s an auction site for bioweapons now?” Gabe scoffed.

“Not on the Black Plane. You can be anonymous there but for something like coordinating a terrorist strike or communicating in top secret, you need to delve into a more complex setup we call an IP-MESH.” Dramatic pause.

“Okay . . . spit it out, Cat.” Beatrice noted briefly that Travis was pacing impatiently behind his wife, as if wanting to throttle her but controlling himself so she could explain herself.
 

“One of my hacker buddies is very active in the IP-MESH. You see, to get into these clandestine cell networks you need to know someone via Internet Relay Chat. I already do, so all I had to do was set up my own peer-to-peer public key encryption network where only me and that person shares the key. But I also have a private key that would validate—”

“English, Cat,” Beatrice interrupted dryly.
 

Caitlin scowled, exhaling in irritation. “These networks are highly encrypted and are by invitation only. My hacker buddy managed to get me on some of them, and I think I’ve zeroed in on the Red Bridge auction for the ST-Vyl virus.”

This got Beatrice and Gabe’s attention.
 

“The moderator is Redrook843. There’s a short description of the virus. Its mode of delivery is in a liquid vial that breaks open and vaporizes; they call it a liquid evaporate. It also has a compilation of some test results and pictures.” Caitlin shuddered.

“But didn’t the admiral say they suspected it was in powder form?” Gabe asked.

“Redrook said this final composition of the virus is for the sample sale. For bulk orders, its mode of delivery is different.”

“It sounds like a basement sale for designer clothes,” Beatrice muttered, turning her attention to Travis. “I don’t get why you’re so pissed. I’m sure Cat’s smart enough to cover her sleuthing. Dad can take it over from here.”

“That’s not everything.” Travis glared at his wife.

“Um, I kinda sorta put in a bid,” Caitlin said, not looking at her husband.

“What?” Gabe exclaimed. “Are you fucking insane? What do you think is gonna happen if you don’t honor your bid when it goes through?”

“My point exactly,” Travis muttered, still glaring at his wife.

“Okay, guys, let’s calm down.” Beatrice thought what Caitlin did wasn’t a bad idea at all. Besides, the whole point of the Black Plane was anonymity. “How much did you bid, Cat?”

“Five hundred.”

“Grand?”

“No. Five hundred bitcoins,” Caitlin said. “That’s almost two hundred thousand dollars depending on current exchange rates.”

Bitcoin was an internet currency that was fast gaining popularity, especially on the Black Plane where anonymous transactions were preferred.
 

“When will you know you’re in?”

“A week. Well, there’s about fifteen buyers interested, five samples being sold. So my chances are pretty high. There are three vials in each sample. Redrook will be sending a private message to those selected. I was hoping if my bid gets selected, the admiral can take it from there and send someone to the meet.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Gabe said. “That was way too easy. What if it’s a set up?”

“The opportunity was there; the bids were about to close,” Caitlin said. “But I did consider that possibility.”

“Did you also consider that you’re FUCKING PREGNANT!” Travis roared, obviously unable to hold in his anger any longer. “That you don’t need this stress, not to mention you could have put yourself in danger again. Jesus Christ, Cat! Is it too much to ask for some fucking peace and quiet for a year, if not for the rest of our lives?”

Beatrice could completely see where Travis was coming from. Losing his wife and thinking she was dead for three years had changed him, and he was only now piecing himself back together. Travis was terrified of losing Caitlin again.

“I know, but Redrook must be stopped. He’s taken away so much from so many people already, Travis. You think he won’t come after me eventually? I’m a loose end with Project Infinity.”

“She has a point,” Gabe said.
 

Resignation was evident in the slump of Travis’s shoulders. Caitlin stepped into his space and he clutched her tightly to him, burying his face in the curve of her neck.

“I don’t want to lose you, Cat,” Travis whispered hoarsely. “I can’t lose you again.”

Caitlin murmured back words of comfort.

Beatrice tugged Gabe away to give the couple a moment.

*****

Everyone was crammed into the control room of the safe house. The admiral arrived within the hour of Gabe calling him about Caitlin’s breakthrough. Travis and Porter greeted each other cordially. Gabe thought that was an improvement. There was no use harboring grudges at the moment because with what Caitlin had done, there was no room for second guessing, only action.
 

“What are Redrook’s precautions for himself?” Porter asked. “Is it going to be a drop-off or a face-to-face meet? I don’t think he’d risk exposure.”

Caitlin suddenly looked unsure of herself. “Technically, I’m already vetted by the person who invited me into the network.”

“Except you don’t really know the person who invited you. You know him online,” Travis said.
 

“He’s been my chat buddy since I got my skills back, Travis,” Caitlin said. “We’ve worked on hacks together actually.”

Travis scowled at her. “What kind of hacks?”

“Um, we instigated a denial-of-service attack against an Al Qaeda website,” Caitlin mumbled.
 

Porter chuckled. Gabe didn’t think it was funny, because he could feel Travis’s frustration.
 

“What else?” Travis’s voice was soft.
 

“You know, other similar stuff.” Caitlin threw up her hands nervously. “So you see, I trust him and his causes.”

“Let me play devil’s advocate here, sunshine. Why would he be on IP-MESH networks that auction off mass-destruction weapons if he was fighting terrorism?”

“Because he was trying to prevent it?”

“Exactly,” Travis said, “and why would he want you onboard?”

“So I can help him?”

Travis shook his head. “Babe, you’re too trusting. Yes. He wants you to do the dirty work. Let you take the fall, maybe? Well, over my dead body.”

“I don’t think Saber Boy wants to see me hurt.”

“Saber Boy?” Gabe’s lips twitched.

“Saberboy528. What can I say? He’s a Star Wars fanatic. Anybody who’s got a Luke Skywalker fixation is set on fighting the dark side, don’t you think?”

“I see you’ve been catching up on the movie list I gave you,” Beatrice grinned. “I have to agree with Cat. But I’d still take precautions, okay, sweetie? Once you get confirmation of how Redrook wants to do the transaction, you’re done.” She turned to the admiral. “That’s as far as Cat goes. Right, Dad?”

Porter nodded. “Of course. We’ve got agents ready to take over, but we still don’t know what Redrook looks like.” He turned to Gabe. “We may need you to do surveillance. During meets like this, the main player is usually in the background. You are the only one who can potentially identify him.”

Beatrice looked ready to argue; instead, her gaze locked with his. They both knew everyone had a role to play if Redrook and Red Bridge were to be taken down once and for all.
 

*****

For a safe house, there seemed to be a constant rotating door of people coming and going. Porter left a few minutes earlier, Travis and Caitlin stuck around for a late breakfast, and now, Doug called to say he was coming over. Gabe had reservations about too many people knowing their location, especially with the risk of being followed. But Beatrice assured him that Doug, being an assistant to a security consultant, was adept in all manners of evading and shaking a tail.
 

Would he ever spend one whole fucking day alone with Beatrice?

Apparently, Beatrice had been helping Caitlin with some interior design ideas for the Blake residence as he watched the two women look up shit on the laptop. Gabe realized he wanted Beatrice to put her personal touches in his home, too.
Their home
. He bought that house for them, but if she didn’t like it, he’d go wherever she wanted. Hopefully, she would give up the condo, because no way would he and Rhino be comfortable there. The two seemed to have formed an unbreakable bond after their shared ordeal, so Gabe was sure Beatrice would consider Rhino’s comfort if they were to move.

Christ.
You haven’t even asked her, you moron
.

There was no question in his mind that Beatrice was it for him. He just needed to convince her there was no other man for her as well.

“Things going well between you and Bee?”

Gabe turned his attention to Travis. Both of them appeared content watching their women share an animated conversation.

“I hope so. It’s hard to gain traction in our relationship with all this crazy stuff that’s been going on.”

Travis nodded in understanding. “I hear you, man. When I got Caitlin back, I couldn’t wait to get started with our life together, but aside from her amnesia, shit just kept on happening.”

“She never got any of her memory back at all?”

“Nope.”

“She got her skills back though.”