Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
GRAND CAYMAN
Natasha swept the hotel room for listening devices and cameras as Wyatt sat on the bed she’d already cleared and popped open the laptop to call Harper.
After grabbing dinner at the airport in Miami, they’d taken the connecting flight to Grand Cayman. The sun had already set, and even though it wasn’t that late, they were both exhausted, but hopeful Harper would have news.
“Nothing so far,” Natasha announced after checking the bedside lamps and tables.
The desk in the corner of the room, with the LCD screen mounted above on the teal wall, was clean as well.
“Just need to check the bathroom.”
“Thank you.” He tossed the pillows to the side, stretched out his jeaned legs, and positioned the computer on his lap.
She hurried into the bathroom to finish her sweep, anxious to hop on to the call and learn whatever news Harper might have to share.
Natasha stilled at the sight of the marble-tiled shower when she entered, though. Memories of the previous night in Montreal flooded her mind—of the luxuriously large showerhead raining hot water over her and Wyatt.
Focus. Pushing away the steamy thoughts, she swept the bathroom for bugs and returned to the bedroom.
“All clear. If The Knight was ever in this room, he didn’t leave anything behind.
” She hadn’t expected it since there’d been no specific room reserved for her, but she had to be cautious when it came to that bastard.
Wyatt motioned for her to join him on the bed. “The call is connecting now over a secure server.”
She sat next to him and propped a few pillows behind her back.
“We’re here,” he announced once Harper’s face filled the screen.
“Good. Anything strange yet?” Harper was also in her bed and wearing pink cotton pajamas with ice cream cones on them.
“Not yet. Swept the room. It’s clean,” Natasha answered.
“How’s Gwen?” Wyatt asked. “What happened at the convention hall today?”
A million other questions bumped around in Natasha’s mind that they needed to get through as well, but based on the relaxed look on Harper’s face, Gwen was safe.
“Gwen’s back at her hotel, probably getting ready for the competition tomorrow.
No interaction between her and Felix today during the seminars.
” Harper must have traveled with her own pillow because she had a silky pink one propped behind her back, which didn’t match the rest of the bed.
“Felix gave a speech. Kate stood on stage looking irritated, and Jasper didn’t make contact with anyone.
Kept to himself. The boys are in position and keeping an eye on everyone. But I do have some news.”
Natasha leaned in closer to Wyatt, her heartbeat picking up as she focused on Harper.
“Alexa came through for us. MI6 has people on the ground in Montreal. They’re going after The Knight, too.
Using Jasper as bait, although he doesn’t know it,” Harper began.
“He called MI6 just like he told you. But he didn’t reappear out of the goodness of his heart or any sense of obligation.
He informed them his presence in the competition was a life or death matter.
The Knight discovered where he’d been hiding and left a chess piece at his front door along with a two-part message—attend the Bug Bounty Competition, or his family will die.
And, if he cooperates with the CIA in any way, he’ll be killed as well. ”
“Which was the reason for the lie?” Something still felt off, though.
“I guess. It’s also why MI6 decided to keep the CIA out of it,” Harper answered.
“Jasper’s pretty close to his parents and his twin sister back in England. He’d come out of hiding for them. I guess that makes sense.” She frowned, trying to digest the news. “The Knight must know Jasper was responsible for tracking his location, and he wants payback.”
“MI6 agreed to let him enter the competition and keep him safe if he returned to England afterward,” Harper explained.
“But they left out the part about using him as bait, huh?” Wyatt grumbled. “So, now we have MI6 agents in the mix. Not sure how I feel about this. But are we assuming Jasper is innocent?”
“For now, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.” A line of worry cut through Harper’s forehead as if she had the same off-putting feeling Natasha was experiencing. “He could’ve lied.”
“But . . . the chess piece. Jasper wouldn’t have known to use that detail in his story to MI6 unless it was true.
He had no idea The Knight sent me a chess piece, too.
” She wanted to stand. To pace while trying to work through the puzzle, but her legs felt like rubber.
She was mentally and physically drained. “You learn anything else?”
Harper nodded. “Not only does the data center in Sweden store virtual data files, but they also store cryptocurrency. The account hacked by The Knight contained three hundred million dollars in Bitcoin. Every penny was transferred out of the account.”
Three hundred million? “Isn’t that—”
“The estimated number the CIA came up with as to how much money The Knight amassed selling intel he’s hacked in the last five years,” Harper finished for her.
“What, he hacked his own account?” Wyatt asked, a joking tone in his voice. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m guessing you still don’t have the name of the account holder, or you’d have led with that.” This was the first time The Knight had stolen money. But then again, he wasn’t playing by his usual rules, so why was she surprised by this move?
Harper’s shoulders slumped. “We’re still working on getting that. Another day or so, and we should be able to find out who lost three hundred million and doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“So, what’s the plan now?” And why the hell did The Knight bring her to an island?
“We’re going to keep looking for connections to try and find a way to get a move ahead of this guy for once.
And do our best to stay off the radar of MI6 and Canadian Intelligence.
” Confidence cut through Harper’s tone, but she didn’t know The Knight the way Natasha did. She hadn’t worked his case for years.
All the setbacks. The failures. The loss of her team members.
Harper hid a yawn with her hand. Had she even slept since arriving in Canada? “Anyway, get some rest. If anything changes on our end, I’ll call you. For now, there’s nothing you can do but wait and see why that asshole brought you down there.”
“We’ll sleep if you finally get rack time, too,” Wyatt commented, and Harper’s nod came across as a sarcastic Yeah, sure.
“Stay safe. And thank you for everything.” Natasha moved off the bed and stood by the window as Wyatt ended the call.
“You okay?”
She peeked between the silver-colored drapes to steal a glimpse of the resort.
The massive pool, illuminated with internal lights, glowed a brilliant turquoise, and lampposts lining the meandering pathways gave the air a soft glimmer.
Happy couples strolled hand in hand through the property as palm trees swayed in the breeze.
And off in the distance, too dark to see right now but nevertheless a prominent feature in this paradise was the Caribbean Sea.
“I’m just frustrated.” She let go of the drapes and turned to find him standing only inches away.
“I am, too.” His white long-sleeved shirt wasn’t overly tight, but the fabric clung to his muscled arms, and she reached out and squeezed his bicep, worried about him. He had so much going on, too.
Her gaze lifted to find his eyes as she released her hold of him. “What are you going to do about Gwen?”
It was a conversation that needed to happen sooner or later because if they were going to bring Gwen into the fold in some fashion, he’d need to decide what to tell her.
“Charlotte’s not going to let me drop the news on Gwen alone.” He moved to the bed and sat. “And I don’t feel right about tearing this girl’s world apart with the truth, either.”
She sat next to him and took his hand in hers, wishing there was something she could say or do to help make it easier on him.
“But I also know I can’t look Gwen in the eyes and lie to her again about who I am.” Wyatt turned his head to face her, revealing the pain in his irises. “What do I do? Please, tell me.”
She leaned her forehead to his and whispered, “I don’t know. But you’re not in this alone. You have your team backing you up.”
“And do I have you?” he asked, his voice shaky, emotion nipping at his words.
She pulled back to find his eyes. “I think you’ve had me since that night on the beach, I just didn’t know it then.”