The B-Team (Benson Security)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Julia took three thousand years to use the bathroom. In that time, Ryan had eaten two sandwiches, drunk a cup of coffee, and checked on Sarah—who was sleeping like a baby on one of the guest room beds. He’d been in two minds about waking her for Julia’s big reveal, but the dark circles under her eyes had swayed him to leave her to sleep. It would be easy enough to fill her in later.

Julia’s glacial walk back to the bed was watched with ferocious attention by everyone present. If telekinesis had been a thing, the intensity of the brain activity in the room would have made Julia levitate to her bed. Unfortunately, they had to settle for watching her inch her way toward it.

“For the love of Prada,” Rachel said, “someone pick her up and shove her in bed.”

Once again, the Queen of the Damned had said out loud what everyone else was thinking.

“I’m okay,” Julia said as she concentrated on her path to the bed.

Rachel threw her hands in the air. “You’re only two weeks further along in your pregnancy than I am, yet I’ve crossed this room ten times since you came out of the bathroom.”

“Every pregnancy is different,” Claire said with the superiority of a woman who’d birthed a football team.

“Nearly there,” Julia said, oozing upbeat determination.

“She reminds me of Callum when he was getting used to his jazzy new prosthetics.” Isobel looked wistful. “Brave little soldier.”

“I’m going to puke,” Ryan muttered.

At last, Julia climbed into bed—with the help of Belinda and Beast—and settled under the covers. She pulled her laptop toward her and tapped the keyboard.

“So,” she said, “I think this is what I was looking for.”

Ryan grinned. This was why he liked Julia—there was never any beating about the bush or pausing for dramatic effect.

“About a week ago, Elle sent me a news item about the Metropolitan Police.” Julia looked up at them. “I can’t believe I forgot it when it was only a week ago. I’m so sorry. It’s probably because the story was so disturbing…” She waved a hand and took a deep breath. “Anyway, the article says that the police have made a deal with the government of the country that houses our secure server, allowing them access to the facility for a limited period of time to search one particular server.”

“Not ours?” Isobel sounded shocked.

“If it was our server,” Rachel said with long-suffering, “we would have been told about it.”

“No,” Julia said. “Not ours. The facility hosts lots of servers. Up until now, it’s been a really secure site with a great reputation, although I wasn’t too sure reputation was enough to go on.” Her brow furrowed. “I talked to Elle about it when she was looking for a location for our information, but she assured me that this company’s known for not allowing anything awful to be stored on their servers. It was hard to confirm that, though, because they wouldn’t give us a list of their clients.”

“Of course not,” Rachel said. “The whole point of a facility like that is anonymity and security.”

“Well.” Julia straightened her shoulders. “Ethics and morality should be part of the criteria too.”

“Not sure that’s how the world works, Jules.” Ryan ran a hand through his hair. “But you’re saying the cops have been granted access to one of the other servers?”

“Yes.” She looked crestfallen. “It turns out that the company running the facility wasn’t as morally upstanding as Elle was led to believe. A child pornography ring was using their services.” For a second, it looked like she might cry again, but she pulled it together. “We were paying to keep our information safe in the same place as people who do… that. It isn’t right.”

There was silence in the room before Belinda spoke. “No, it isn’t. And I’m sure that as soon as Elle’s out of the custody suite, she’ll look for somewhere more ethical to house our server.”

Julia nodded. “She’d already started searching for an alternative site. She was furious about all of this, but she said it’d take time to move everything.”

“What’s this got to do with the team being arrested, Julia?” Ryan asked, but his brain was already making connections. “You think the Met’s going to try to hack our server while they have access to the facility, don’t you?”

Isobel gasped. “Can they do that?” Wide-eyed, she glanced at each of them.

“Yeah,” Harvard replied from where he sprawled on a dining room chair, watching Rachel pace. “One of the reasons the place is so secure is that you need onsite access to hack it.”

“And they have that now,” Belinda said. “But surely someone will monitor them to ensure they don’t stray beyond the offending server?”

“There are literally hundreds of servers there,” Julia said. “I’m not familiar with the setup of the place, but I imagine it would be difficult to monitor what everyone’s doing for every single minute they’re there.”

“It’s still a stretch,” Ryan said. “What makes you think this is a possibility?”

She turned her laptop so the screen faced the team and pointed to a paragraph she’d enlarged. The text was easy to read. “They only have access for fourteen days.”

Beast let out a low whistle. “I’ll be damned. With Elle and Evan on a fourteen-day lockdown, there’s nobody to monitor our server for a breach.”

“But why keep Callum and Lake too?” Isobel said. “Callum couldn’t hack his way out of a paper bag.”

“Because”—Rachel stopped pacing long enough to glare at everyone—“apart from Elle and Evan, they’re the only ones with the authority to wipe our server.”

“You don’t have that too?” Claire looked stunned.

Rachel waved a dismissive hand and started pacing again. “I only bought back into Benson Security a few months ago. We never got around to setting me up with that kind of access.” She frowned. “I should have pushed it up my list of priorities.”

“I can’t believe this.” Ryan clasped his hands on top of his head. “I assumed this was a vendetta story but turns out it’s a heist. The commander’s ripping us off.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” Belinda said. “He could be looking for evidence to back up the terrorism charges.”

“Nope.” Ryan dropped his hands and shook his head. “Anything he finds on our server is inadmissible in court. He doesn’t have a warrant for any of it. This is totally a heist.” He looked at Harvard for confirmation.

The big man folded his arms over his blue sweater. “Definitely a heist,” he said grimly. “Though I’m pretty sure if the commander can make something stick on Lake, that would be an added bonus.”

“Another corrupt commanding officer,” Rachel snapped. “Next time I have dinner with the prime minister, I’m going to point out that there’s a valid reason people are losing faith in the police.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you aren’t bringing it up with the king.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Rachel said. “He has no influence in these matters.”

“How silly of me,” Claire muttered.

“If he’s out to steal information,” Ryan said, “what’s he after? I mean, he can’t download everything because somebody would notice, so he’s got to be looking for something in particular. Any ideas?”

There was silence.

“This makes no sense,” Belinda said. “Apart from a decades-old grudge against Lake, the commander doesn’t have any other issues.” She gestured to the whiteboard containing his background information. “He’s had a squeaky-clean reputation since joining the police. There are no criminal associates, no ties to any dodgy organizations, no dubious interests. Everything about him screams he’s a stickler for the rules, so much so that he annoys the people around him.”

“That’s true,” Julia said. “I’ve found four interviews with his subordinates where they mention he insists on the correct uniform at all times. Someone who’s so picky about something that trivial, to the point where his staff comment on it, is not someone who’d throw away his career. So why break the law now? He’s risking everything—his reputation, his career, the family name. I don’t understand his motivation.”

“He has a huge sense of entitlement,” Harvard said. “People like that get bitter. They tend to think they deserve more than they have. Wouldn’t take much for someone with that mentality to just take what they feel is rightfully theirs.”

Ryan started pacing alongside Rachel, who glared at him. He ignored her. His brain was working hard, and his body needed to move to catch up.

“So, maybe we aren’t talking about something he can use as evidence,” he said. “Perhaps it’s something he can use to further his career. To give him the status and recognition he believes he deserves.” He glanced around the room. “Blackmail material? Or information on some bad dude he can take down and get the credit for?”

“Again,” Julia said, “our server is full of data that meets that criteria.”

“We need to talk to somebody who knows him well,” Beast said. “See if he has any obsessions that can help narrow down what he’s looking for. Maybe a criminal who got away that he’s eager to prosecute, or someone he feels is mocking him just by being free.”

Isobel perked up. “His ex-wife! I bet she’d love to talk to us and spill every one of his dark little obsessions.”

“His ex-wife lives in Kensington,” Julia said.

“That’s not far. We can go see her.” Isobel looked ready to run from the room.

“Not we ,” Rachel said. “If we all turn up at her door, she’ll call the police. I know I would.”

“I’m not even sure she’d talk to us anyway,” Claire said. “If a stranger rocked up at my door, asking personal questions, I’d get Grunt to sort them out pretty damn fast.”

“She’ll talk to me,” Rachel said, stopping so suddenly that Ryan almost tripped over her.

Harvard grinned. “Breaking out Lady Ford-Talbot again, Princess?”

“It doesn’t seem like we have any other option.” She strode toward the chair that held her handbag and slipped her shoes on, wincing as she did so.

“Are you okay?” Harvard reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“My back aches.” Rachel stood. “I think it’s from those cheap, nasty chairs at the police station. I’m all stiff and achy.” She looked at Julia. “What’s the address?”

“Um, Rachel,” Claire said hesitantly. “These aches you’re getting, are they coming in waves, by any chance?”

“How should I know?” Rachel said irritably.

“You must have noticed if they’re happening on a regular basis.” Claire sounded as though she was talking to one of the children she used to teach in preschool.

“They come and go.” Rachel was dismissive. “It’s been happening all day, and it isn’t a problem. I’m telling you, it’s the chairs.”

Isobel and Claire shared a knowing look.

“Or,” Claire said gently, “you could be in labor.”

“I don’t think so. I only told my lawyer that to help her get me out of that despicable place, but I’m certain that isn’t the case. I’m not in agonizing pain, and I have no desire to push a human being out of my vagina.”

“Ew.” Ryan grimaced. “Please. Don’t use the V word.”

“Oh, do grow up,” Rachel told him.

“What she said,” Isobel added. “Vagina is a perfectly normal word, and half the world’s population has one.”

Ryan stuck his fingers in his ears until Isobel’s lips stopped moving.

“Rachel.” Claire was still in patient-teacher mode. “Did you read up on giving birth? Because it doesn’t sound like you did.”

“I didn’t need to read up on it because I’m not having a vaginal birth.”

“There’s that word again,” Ryan said with a shake of his head. “We’re just throwing it around all over the place today, aren’t we?”

“That’s not how it works,” Claire said to Rachel. “This baby’s coming out when it’s ready. It’s not like it’s going to stay in there forever. Your choice isn’t really a factor here.”

“Yes, it is. I chose to have a cesarean, and I scheduled it for two weeks’ time.”

“Does the baby know it’s been scheduled?” Isobel asked dryly.

Rachel pinned her with her CEO look. “The baby is not in charge here. I am, and I’m not in labor.” Her face tightened as she rubbed her lower back, and little lines of pain appeared around her mouth.

“Somebody time these aches Rachel’s having,” Claire said.

“On it,” Isobel said as she looked at her phone screen.

“It’s not labor,” Rachel snapped. “My water hasn’t broken.”

Isobel shook her head. “Shoulda read the book I gave you. Not everybody’s water breaks naturally. Sometimes, the midwife has to do it for you.” She smiled wickedly. “They use something that looks like a big crochet hook to do it.”

“Definitely gonna vomit.” Ryan covered his mouth with his hand and thanked God that Sarah was still asleep. He suspected this conversation wouldn’t be very reassuring for her.

Julia looked anxious. “I’m not sure you should do this, Rachel. Even if you aren’t in labor, you’re obviously in pain.”

“I’ll go.” Belinda straightened. “She’ll open the door to me. I may not have a title, but I have celebrity status.” She grimaced. “Not that I like using it, but if it helps the cause…”

“I’d open the door in a heartbeat if you were on the other side,” Claire said.

Isobel nodded. “It’s kinda like that movie where Hugh Grant goes door to door at Christmas looking for the girl he likes. What was that called?”

There was a chorus of Love Actually.

“That’s the one,” Isobel said. “Shame it isn’t Christmas.”

“I suppose it could work,” Rachel conceded and resumed her pacing, watched by her very intense husband.

“I’ll go too,” Ryan said because he wasn’t sure Belinda knew what questions to ask.

“I go where she goes,” Beast said, shocking no one.

“It’s settled then.” Belinda squared her shoulders.

“While you’re gone,” Julia said, “we’ll start going through all the files on the server to see if anything jumps out.”

Isobel sat back in her chair. “At the very least, searching for the Fitzwater name might produce something helpful.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Belinda said as she fluffed Julia’s pillows. “If nothing else, you’ll feel better keeping busy. Ryan, could you wake Sarah so she can keep an eye on Julia?”

“There are plenty of people here to keep an eye on me.” Julia flushed. “No need to wake Sarah.”

“Yeah,” Isobel added. “What are we? Invisible?”

Ryan shared a look with the slightly panicked Belinda. “How about I get Sarah anyway? If she sleeps much longer, she’ll be awake all night.” Actually, she’d probably sleep right through to morning, but he wouldn’t share that with the room.

Belinda appeared relieved, while Claire and Isobel were clearly affronted.

Business as usual , Ryan thought as he went to wake his wife.