Command and Control: GHOST Operative (Alaskan Security Book 12)

Prologue-The Day That Ruined Everything

“SIR?” THE VOICE at the door is quiet. Hesitant. Edged with intimidation and maybe a little fear.

I take another sip of the whiskey I’ve been nursing since finally escaping for a moment of peace. It’s been a long fucking day—a long fucking year—and it’s wearing on me. Making me into an even bigger asshole than normal.

Which is saying something.

I don’t turn to see who drew the short end of the stick this time. I don’t really care. “What is it?”

“There’s an issue.”

Of course there is.

“I’ll be in.” I continue staring out the single window in the building housing the company I built from the ground up. I had it installed a few years ago because I was starting to lose my humanity. The killing and violence that are a big part of the world I exist in were becoming too easy. Too normal. And I needed a reminder.

A reminder there’s a world outside this place. One I was a part of many years ago.

Before this window, I would have already been out of this chair. Rushing to take on whatever threat looms. Take down whoever dares go up against me.

But for every monster I take down, there’s always ten more in line. Waiting. Biding their time to make me show just how ruthless I’ve become in spite of the plans once made for me.

Draining the last of my drink, I line the empty glass next to the bottle I’ll visit again before the night’s over.

Not that I’ll notice when it is. Time bleeds together. One day feeding into the next in a never-ending loop of evil and depravity.

And some of it’s mine.

“Sir?” This time the voice is soft, but not hesitant. “You should hurry.”

“Should I?” Standing slowly, I straighten against the weariness creeping into me. “I’m sure no one’s going anywhere.” The urgency I used to thrive on is gone. Has been for longer than I realized.

“It’s him.”

There are few things in this world that make my heart race. Even fewer still I look forward to. This is one of them.

My attention snaps to the young man at the door.

“At first we thought it was Heidi.”

Of course they did. The hacker at Alaskan Security is always finding her way into my system. Her abilities would be a valuable asset for GHOST—the company I started nearly thirty years ago with nothing but grit and a line of credit—and at one point I tried to lure her into my world. She declined the offer.

Smart woman.

Heidi’s IP address is still allowed certain liberties in spite of her rejection. I like keeping her in my pocket, just in case.

Of course she frequently tries to push past the limits of those liberties, but that’s the nature of what she does and who she is. As long as she doesn’t fuck anything up I’ll let her think she’s annoying me.

It was more than disappointing when Heidi chose Alaskan Security over GHOST. I wanted her on my team—still do. Her abilities are unparalleled.

At least I thought they were.

But if what he’s saying is correct, someone else has gained some amount of access to a system I’ve spent huge sums of money to protect.

I cross the room, attention on the game of cat and mouse we’ve been playing with someone who might be even more skilled than Heidi. “How far did he make it this time?”

“I’m not sure.” Elias, the head of my IT team, keeps pace with my long strides as we cut down the hall toward the room we call The Pit. “But he made it past the firewall.”

That stops me dead in my tracks. “What?”

“The firewall. He made it past the firewall.” Elias’s skin pales. “He was in before there was any sign it was happening.”

I begin to walk again, this time faster. “Where did he go from there?”

“That’s the strange thing.” Elias grabs the door to the large, circular room lined with tiers of workstations, and pulls it open. “Nowhere. We think he just left.”

Every eye in the room comes my way as we walk in. I head straight to the main desk at the sunken center of the barely lit room. Leaning down, I scan the screens lining Elias’s workspace. “Show me where you first saw evidence he was here.”

Elias swipes across the largest of the screens with one finger, pulling up lines of code before pointing to a single line. “Here.”

It’s impossible. “There’s no way anyone should be able to get into this system.”

And yet this man has done it—and done it without being seen.

“Print it off.” I walk to the printer and wait, snagging the paper as soon as it slides free. “There’s nowhere else he went?”

Elias shakes his head. “Not that we can find.”

“How long was he in there?” I hold my breath, hoping.

Elias gives me a slow smile. “Long enough.” His smile slips. “But we still can’t figure out what in the hell he’s doing.”

“I know what he’s doing.” And it’s both a little impressive and irritating as hell. “Double-check everything and make sure the firewall is still intact. And send me the numbers you got.” Rushing from The Pit, I don’t slow down until I’m back in my office, the door shut behind me.

Dropping to sit behind my desk, I push the bottle and glass I was so invested in earlier aside before sliding my laptop closer. Slipping on my readers, I scan the page Elias printed off.

A set of numbers are tucked neatly into the lines of code. They mimic the code around them, making them nearly impossible to find, but we’ve seen them before. It’s likely the only indication Elias’s team found that our repeat visitor is back.

And this time he’s managed to access our system.

Normally this kind of breach would result in an entire lockdown of GHOST. A complete scrub of all systems along with the design and application of a new, improved firewall. But this man isn’t trying to cause harm. If he was, it would already be done. Instead, after getting inside our system, he left only this single breadcrumb, inserted in a benign way.

Except he doesn’t seem to fully grasp just how skilled my team is. How quickly they can glean information like phone numbers and IP addresses.

Turning to the computer, I navigate through the screens, pulling up one of our most used programs before entering the series of numbers Elias’s team identified before our hacker could fully pull back.

The IP address that will bring me right to his doorstep.

In a few short breaths I have a location. A narrowed scope of where I’ll be flying to shortly.

But before the map can populate my computer goes black.

“Damn it.” Shoving back from the desk, I lean down to check the cord I regularly kick from the plug. I must have missed the power warning in my excitement to find this bastard.

But the plug is still secure in the outlet.

My eyes slowly lift to the screen. A pinpoint of light starts at the center, growing until it consumes the entire space. Then it goes black again, the soft sound of an open audio line the only sign the computer’s still active.

“Hello, Vincent.”

My focus snaps to the camera at the top of the screen.

A light and lyrical laugh carries through the open line. “Worried I can see you?”

I was wrong. Our visitor isn’t a man.

It’s a woman. A woman with a voice like fucking honey.

I school my features, not wanting her to know how much she’s shocked me. “It seems unfair you can see me but I can’t see you.”

“Life is unfair, Vincent.”

“I won’t argue that point.” Leaning back in my chair, I begin putting on the same show that’s gotten me through decades of running this company. It’s one of the reasons people don’t fuck with me. And she’s fucking with me. Sweet voice or not, this woman needs to be put in her place.

Retrieving the glass I rejected not long ago, I pour myself a few fingers. “I assume you’re here for a reason. What is it you want?”

“I would like a job.”

“We’re not hiring.” I sip the whiskey, taking down very little even though I want to swallow the whole fucking thing.

“You’re always hiring—for the right people.”

My hand stills. Her knowledge is slightly unnerving. And I’m having a harder time pretending I don’t notice the soft, slight huskiness of her words. “Is that what this is about? Proving to me you’re one of those people?”

“I’m not interested in proving anything to you, Vincent.”

Again, she’s surprised me. “If this wasn’t about proving your skill, then what was it about?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t about proving my skill. I just said it wasn’t about proving it to you.” The edge of her voice pulls me closer, reeling me in the way little else has.

“What’s your name?”

“If I tell you, you’ll come find me.”

It’s what I was planning to begin with, but now… Now I can’t get on that fucking plane soon enough. “Who said I wasn’t coming to find you anyway?”

“That will be tricky since you don’t know where to look.” Her words carry a hint of amusement. “I would assume you’re smart enough to know that if I can find my way into your system, I can make sure my IP address doesn’t lead you straight to me.”

I want to smirk, but I know she’s watching me, so I flatten my lips. “What’s your plan then, Miss—”

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to give you my name, Vincent.”

“So you know where my team is located. You’ve been inside our system. You have my name and you’ve seen my face. If this is what you think will get you hired, then you’re not as smart as you think you are.” I reach for the edge of the laptop, ready to close it even though it’s the last thing I want to do.

I want to keep talking to her. Want to hear a little more of that silky voice as it says my name.

“Wait.” For the first time she sounds on edge.

I pause, tipping my head. “I’m a busy man. I don’t have time to waste on people who won’t put their own ass on the line.”

“Does that mean you’d consider hiring me if I did?”

“I can’t hire someone I can’t identify, so unless you’re willing to—”

The screen flashes to life and steals the fucking air from my lungs. I was expecting…

Not this.

Wide brown eyes stare back at me, deep and soulful. Lined with lashes as dark and thick as the cascade of curls framing the face of a grown woman. Not a young woman, ready to start a life and a family. A peer. A woman who’s seen many of the same days I have. Maybe not all.

But most.

And she’s fucking stunning. Her lips are full and her softly-rounded cheeks are flushed pink across the rise of the bones beneath them. A scatter of freckles dot her nose, offering an air of innocence I doubt she possesses.

I hope.

Her chin lifts a tiny bit as those soulful eyes lock onto mine, and the line of her perfect mouth lifts into a bright smile that threatens to reach even the dark corners where I live. “My name is Julieanne Marello.” Her shoulders square as she sits taller. “And I would like to work for GHOST.”