Reed (The Love Family Series Book 4)
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Authors: Kate Allenton
REED
Kate Allenton
Copyright © 2015 Kate Allenton
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Published by Coastal Escape Publishing
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reed Love popped a handful of Skittles into his mouth as he scanned the pictures on the Internet, trying his best to block out the extra boxes of private information that popped out at him.
With his ability, what he could see was similar to the pop-up ads that companies paid a pretty penny for, but the data in these boxes were things any normal person would be mortified he had access to.
He was more than a computer genius and hacker extraordinaire, thanks to his DNA. He had a love-hate relationship with the invisible boxes and the ease of access. It was as if his mind was melded with all of the information on the internet and coded with the algorithms. The electronic information that people thought was safe would appear in boxes around their person, even if he was just looking at a picture. Pictures, financial data, passwords, it didn’t matter what the information or how deep in the web they tried to disguise it. Reed had access, no matter if online or in public. These boxes danced in front of him, enticing him to look.
His mind worked like a direct link to the Internet hub where all data was stored. All he needed was the right trigger to reach inside and be able to pull out the file. Unlike Mike, he wasn’t a human lie detector. But like his sister, Skylar, who could see streams of energy for everything, Reed saw the code, and his mind processed it with images.
He didn’t enjoy knowing everyone’s secrets. He didn’t thrive on the damage that could be done. The only thing in the world he wanted was peace from the information, and peace from knowing that there were evil-ass bastards in the world, just like the one he was looking at.
The pedophile was at it again, trying to hide pictures and pornography on his computer. Men like him deserved jail, deserved to get the full punishment of the law, and Reed was judge and jury. Reed opened his secure email, linked the attachment of documents, and hit Send, knowing the FBI wouldn’t be able to trace the email back to him. He gave the FBI everything they would need to convict the sicko, and all because the man was posting in social media what he had for dinner.
Within ten minutes of meeting his sister-in-law for the first time, he’d known all her secrets. He knew she was adopted, and even had access to the records. Why? Because the government and people lived their lives electronically and online. From social media to their banking accounts. It was all there for his taking, and it drove him nuts, sending him into a lonely existence.
Reed clicked onto his MIA brother, Landon’s, Facebook page and scrolled through the pictures. For most, he knew the exact time and place, yet there were a few he’d never seen before. Reed stopped on a photo of the foreign people and places and concentrated.
“I’m going to find you and bring you home.” He wasn’t trying to spy on his brother, but his entire family was worried about why he was keeping his distance and from Reed’s point of view, there was only one way to find out.
Reed’s phone rang, pulling him out of his concentration. He swiveled away from the computer and blinked several times so the information boxes would disappear.
He glanced at the caller ID. Unknown Number. Even something as small as a blocked number couldn’t be hidden from him.
“Hello.”
“Reed.” Landon’s voice was harsh, and he was out of breath.
“Landon, where the hell have you been, and why are you breathing so heavily?” he asked, as the phone kept cutting in and out.
“I’m in trouble. I sent you a package in the mail, a computer file that’s encrypted. I need you to find out what’s on it.”
“Why didn’t you just email it?”
“I just couldn’t. You’ll understand when you get it.”
“Landon, where are you?” Reed asked again, turning to grab a pen from the table. He jotted down the number from the box on a pad before it disappeared.
“I can’t tell you. Just decode that file and find Avery.”
“Tony’s niece? Why would I need to find her?”
“Focus, Reed. You can’t tell anyone about this call. Just decrypt the file, find Avery and give her the information. My life depends on it. Do you understand?”
“Of course.” Reed bolted out of his chair and turned in circles, spotting the stack of mail sitting on his counter.
“Landon, tell me what’s going on.” Reed hurried to the stack of mail and flipped through the letters and the packages, not finding anything out of the ordinary. “I haven’t received it. When did you send it?”
“Sorry, brother, no time. Tell Avery I’m going underground. She’ll know how to find me.”
Popping noises and screams in the background had Reed moving the phone away from his ear. When he listened again, he was met with silence.
“Landon, Landon.” Reed’s worried tone grew louder with intensity. Glancing at the caller ID confirmed his worst nightmare. The phone was dead, and he had no idea where his baby brother was, only that he was in trouble.
Reed picked up the phone countless times to call his other brothers and then set it back down. He searched every piece of mail he had and made an extra trip out to the mailbox, as if what he wanted would magically appear, and still nothing.
“Damn.” He threw his remote across the room. The plastic remote put a dent in his drywall before it fell to the ground, cracking into pieces. “Just great.” He glanced at his brother’s social media page. “Why in the hell couldn’t I see your face? I could have had more than just a number.”
His gaze landed on the scribbled piece of paper. He snatched it from the counter and slid his chair back to his desk. Reed hacked into the cell provider’s database and cell towers to figure out where the signal had originated and to triangulate the location.
Reed frowned and gave a slight shake of his head as he stared at the screen in disbelief. He wasn’t on the Island or some big metropolis or, hell, not even in some foreign country like Reed had always assumed. “What in the world are you doing in Riverdale, Texas?”
Chapter 2
Reed paced in front of his open living room window with a direct line to the cluster of mailboxes that served his group of townhouses. Glancing over his shoulder, he checked the time again for the hundredth time. “Damn it, what is taking him so long?”
Of all days for the mail to be late, it had to be that day. Every minute that passed was a minute wasted.
Reed stepped outside, darting his gaze up and down the street. There wasn’t a single car on the road at that time of day. Not even the mail truck. He fought against a forming headache and plopped down on the stoop, unconsciously picking the leaves from the bush nearby. He tore them to little pieces and dropped them in the flowerbed. His cell phone rang, jolting him from his thoughts. He jumped to his feet and stumbled over the door jamb. He grabbed his phone and checked the caller ID.
All hope fled his body when he recognized the number. “Yeah.”
“Now is that any way to answer your phone?” His sister, Skylar, asked in a disapproving tone.
“Today it is. What do you need?” Reed walked back over to the door and leaned on the frame.
“Can’t I just call to check on you?”
“No.” His answer was short and blunt, maybe a little too blunt. “I’m sorry, Sky, now isn’t a good time.”
“Is everything okay?”
No, not even close.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just working on a project and it’s…complicated.” Reed spotted the mailman and watched as he took his time sorting the mail into the boxes. The urge to buy a cattle prod crossed his mind.
“Reed?”
“Sorry, I’m in the middle of this project. Can I call you back?”
“Sure.” He could hear the disappointment in her voice. He knew that tone, the one that made him feel like an ass.
“What did you need?” he asked in a gentle tone.
“Nothing. It can wait until Sunday at Mom and Dad’s house. Go work on your project.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, feeling like the lowest form of scum. He ran his hand over his head and squeezed his neck.
“Yeah,” she said in a more cheerful tone. “I’ll talk to you Sunday, okay?”
“I’m sorry I snapped. It’s just this project.”
Reed hurried outside with the phone pressed to his ear as he dug out his mail key.
“Really, it’s fine. I’ll talk to you then. Go kill the virus or whatever has you flustered.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sky.”
Reed hung up and shoved his key into the mailbox. His stomach turned at what might wait inside. He slowly opened the box and swallowed around the lump in his throat. A manila envelope sat squished inside. “Crap. This isn’t happening.”
Reed grabbed the envelope, and the rest of the mail, then relocked the box and disappeared back into his townhouse. He tossed the other stuff on the counter and glanced at the package addressed to Scooter Love.
Reed rolled his eyes at the childhood nickname that his brothers used to torment him. Tearing into the envelope, Reed peered inside. A simple thumb drive lay at the bottom. No note, no directions, nothing but the drive.
He tipped the envelope and caught the thumb drive in his palm. He held it between two fingers and lifted it for a closer look. The drive was covered in tiny holes that looked like small reset buttons on a normal piece of electronic equipment. He’d never seen another one like it. He turned it on its side. The drive was shaped like the letter “L”. Instantly the boxes appeared without him even having to insert it into his computer. Numbers, an algorithm, ran like a code meant to be broken or deciphered.
Reed plugged it into his computer and nine boxes appeared on his computer screen and in the pop-up boxes from his ability. In the box that danced next to his computer, the numbers rolled, only stopping on a single digit before moving onto the next in line. Five minutes later, he had all nine numbers, used them like a password and hit enter.
His screen came alive with a ledger similar to a spreadsheet. It listed numbers in one column with corresponding money amounts next to it.
Reed sent the data to his printer before he closed that screen and looked at the next. Pictures of Landon and another man exchanging a briefcase. None of the familiar pop-up boxes appeared as he was studying the new guy. Reed’s brows dipped.
“That’s weird,” he whispered to himself. “Everyone has an online fingerprint. Damn, Lan, what did you get yourself into?”
Reed shoved back from the computer, his mouth parted and his eyes widened as he stared at the last screen. It was a clock counting down with a picture of a skull and crossbones below it with nine more empty boxes where numbers should be.
“Shit.” The pop-up box started scrolling through numbers for the combination to fill in the empty boxes as it had done before. The first one stopped, but Reed wasn’t watching the numbers as a warning flashed across his screen. Power Down, System Malfunction. Reed’s fingers went to work, pulling up every troubleshooting screen to pinpoint the problem. The temperature of his hard drive was heating at an abnormal pace. Reed yanked the thumb drive out of his computer, turning his screen instantly blue. He sat frozen, hoping to hell he hadn’t just fried his pride and joy. Anger rippled through his body.
He slowly opened his palm, looking at the drive in a new light. This technology wasn’t available on the open market. He shook his head. “Whoever designed this is either a genius or a maniac.”
Reed grabbed the papers he’d printed and made another copy, shoving one copy and the thumb drive back into the envelope and stuffing the other one in his backpack. He slid his laptop inside, grabbed some clothes from his dresser, shoved his wallet in his pocket, and grabbed his keys, slamming the door behind him as he left.
He went straight to the bank, opened his safety deposit box and stuck the thumb drive inside, securing it from prying eyes.
Reed parked across the street from Avery’s two-story beach home. The windows were open on the second floor, making the curtains dance in the breeze. His sunglasses did little to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun against the white beach sand. He pressed his lips together and rubbed his neck as he tried to figure out how Avery might fit into the picture. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach, and tightness filled his chest. He stepped out of his car and inhaled the salty air as the warmth of the sun heated his skin.
Reed knocked on the door and stepped back, not sure Avery would even remember him. The door swung open, and Reed found himself face to face with a little Italian lady carrying a rolling pin in her hand and with flour on her cheek. The boxes around the woman’s head resembled posts on social media feeds. They appeared as if he were looking at computer screen. All the files and information he’d ever need or want were sitting at his finger-tips, and this old lady’s boxes contained nothing but an Italian recipe for spaghetti sauce, with unorthodox ingredients, and pictures of her family. The boxes moved with her body, never disappearing from his sight.
“Yes?”
Reed snapped his mouth closed. “Uh hi, I’m Reed Love, and I’m looking for Avery.”
The woman took her time replying as she looked him over and glanced at his car across the street. “She’s down at the beach.” She pulled the door open farther. “You can come through the house.”
Reed stepped into the house for the first time. The white, airy home was exactly as he imagined it would be from the road. Tiles covered the floor as light streamed in through the numerous windows, giving him an excellent view of the ocean.
She showed him to the patio door and pointed out into the water. “You’ll have to get her attention.” She glanced over him again. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”
Unsure if that was a compliment, or a statement about his casual attire, he stepped outside and walked toward the beach. His shoes sank into the sand as he made his way to the shoreline, where a single towel lay. She was going to think he was crazy. Heck, he wasn’t so sure he wasn’t.
Reed cupped his hand over his eyes and spotted a surfer in the distance. Not just any surfer but the woman he was looking for. The way she maneuvered her board, staying in front of the breaking wave, left no doubt she knew exactly what she was doing.
When the wave crashed over her and her board popped up before she did, Reed stepped toward the water, only stopping when he spotted her bobbing head. She was looking at him, and her lips were turned down in a frown.
Feeling like an idiot, Reed waved.
I’m such a nerd.
Avery slid on top of her board and paddled in with the rolling current. When she reached the shallow water, she got off the board, picked it up, and using her free hand, she wiped the water from her face and hair.
Reed forgot to breathe while watching her in a silver screen moment of silence, where the beautiful woman in a tiny bikini rose from the sea. Her curves and long legs….he pushed the thoughts aside. This wasn't the time or the place.
“Close your mouth.” She chuckled, slipping her fingers beneath his jaw and pushing it closed. She walked past him and glanced over her shoulder. “And grab my towel, would ya?”
Reed swiped up her towel and shook the sand from it as he followed behind her. “I need your help.”
She glanced back again and grinned.
Reed stepped up onto the patio and tossed her the towel after she unhooked the leash from her body. “I’m Reed Love, in case you don’t remember me.”
“I know who you are,” she said, drying her arms and legs. “What I don’t know is why you’re here in my home.”
“Avery Malone, show some manners,” the woman Reed assumed was her grandmother called from inside the house.
“Yes, Nonnie.” Avery rolled her eyes. “Seems like you made an impression.”
“I haven’t been here long enough to make an impression.”
“Huh.” She gestured inside the house. “Come on, Love. You can tell me all about your needs while I change.”
Reed swallowed around the lump in his throat as he followed her into the house. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and dipped her finger into the pot on the stove, only to get a smack on the ass from the little Italian woman. “You know better than that, child.”
“I know, but I couldn’t resist.” Avery kissed Nonnie on the cheek. “We’re going upstairs.”
“Good girls don’t take men upstairs until they’re married.”
“Nonnie, it’s platonic. Reed is just a friend.”
Nonnie pointed the roller at him again. “Why do you only like her as a friend? She’s pretty and smart, and she’d make a good wife.”
Reed stood speechless until Avery grabbed his hand. “I told you, Nonnie; I’ll never be a wife. I’ve got too much I want to do to settle down.”
“You’ve done enough. It’s time, child,” Nonnie yelled after them and watched them go up the stairs.
Avery pulled him into her room and shut the door.
“I need your help.”
“So you’ve said,” she answered and pulled a pair of silk panties, shorts and a shirt from her dresser. The informational boxes around her head were pictures of exotic locales with one picture of her, Landon, and a small child.
Reed could not look away. His gaze traveled down her body again. His jeans tightened in response. This woman was a walking wet dream. She reached for the straps of her bikini top and tugged. She was about to get naked before his very eyes. He should look away. His manners insisted he turn, so he reluctantly did. He turned away from her and picked up one of the pictures on her dresser.
“Is this you?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder forgetting the reason he’d turned in the first place. She was topless with nothing but shorts covering her body. “Woah, I’m sorry.”
She slipped the shirt down over her bare chest. “I’m sure you’re no virgin,” she answered, moving to stand beside him. “Relax, I don’t bite.” She smiled. “At least, not on the first date.” She chuckled and slid the picture from his hands and replaced it. “You said you needed my help?”
Reed smashed his lips together, warring with exactly what to tell her. “My brother.”
She leaned her hip on the dresser. “Which one? You have a handful.”
“Landon called me last night. He sounded like he was in trouble, said that he was going underground and that you’d know how to find him.”
The playful humor in her eyes began to dim the longer Reed spoke. “Is that all he said?”
“Avery, where’s my brother? Why hasn’t he come home?”
“I can’t tell you much. It’s confidential, but I need to know if that’s all that your brother said. Why did he call you and not me?”
“What is your connection to him? Please, help me understand.”
Avery crossed her arms over her chest. “Reed, you’re in way over your head. Just tell me why he called you and then go home. I’ll handle it from here.”
“I knew this was a bad idea. I should have just called Declan.” Reed put his hand on the doorknob, and the next thing he knew he was flung across the room and had landed on her bed; she was straddling his body and pinning his arms down.
“You don’t get it, Reed. You aren’t leaving this house until I know his exact words and why he called you.” She pressed her lips together, and her eyes flickered with heat and determination. “I know a hundred different ways I can hurt you and make you talk, but all you’re doing is hindering me from our mutual goal of helping your brother, so start talking.”