Out of Time Read online

  “At ease, sailor,” Colt said, guessing Scott’s thoughts. “I fucked up my life once. I have no intention of doing it again.”

  Kate clearly didn’t like the turn of conversation and brought it quickly back to the threat against Natalie’s family. “I ran down the names that Dean passed on. There is one that sticks out.”

  Scott knew what that meant, and he could see from Kate’s expression that she was finding it difficult to accept what the facts were pointing to.

  “Someone connected to the general?” he asked.

  Kate nodded. “One of the men employed by Marino served under my godfather when he was the head of the Army Intelligence Support Activity.”

  Aka “the Activity,” which was a special ops intelligence unit.

  At Natalie’s confusion, Scott filled her in on what they suspected about General Murray. Her eyes got big really fast. “Are you serious? He has always been so kind to me—always going out of his way to say hello. And isn’t there talk of him being on the ticket as vice president in the next election?”

  Kate nodded. “That’s the rumor. Which could explain some things.” She didn’t elucidate and turned back to Scott. “I talked to Dean, and Marino had come up with the same person. It’s being taken care of right now.”

  Natalie looked back and forth between the siblings. She’d seen pictures of Kate so she knew they had similar coloring, but it was still strange to see those little nuances that a camera didn’t capture. Like the way Kate’s gaze leveled the same way as Scott’s when she had something important to say.

  “What do you mean, ‘taken care of’?” Natalie asked anxiously. “Is something happening at my parents’ house?”

  Scott was saved from answering by the phone. It was Baylor. When he hung up, he had the news he wanted to tell her. “Your parents and sister are safe. They have the guy who called you.”

  Natalie was visibly relieved, although not completely relaxed. “How do you know he was working alone? What happens if I don’t show up with the computer at the appointed time and someone else goes after my family?”

  “Marino is on his way to their farm right now to make sure there aren’t any more surprises. He is taking personal responsibility for this. And my senior chief is going with him. You can trust him, Nat. Baylor won’t let anything happen to them.”

  * * *

  • • •

  Natalie wasn’t convinced the threat to her family was over. Whoever was behind it was clearly in panic mode and trying to tie up any loose ends. She and her computer both qualified. If they could get to her family once, who was to say they couldn’t get to them again?

  She tried to talk Scott into going to Minnesota, but he wasn’t having any of it. “I promise you will see them soon, but not until we have this thing locked down. We’re close, Natalie. Just be a little more patient.”

  It wasn’t until she’d talked to her parents and sister, however, that Natalie relaxed. They assured her they were fine and being well taken care of; her parents hadn’t even realized there was a threat until it was over. Marino must have taken his private plane because he and Scott’s senior chief, Dean Baylor, arrived while she was talking to her sister.

  Natalie smiled, thinking how Lana had been going on about some new online computer game—

  “Oh my God,” Natalie said suddenly. Of course. It made perfect sense.

  She was sitting in the living room with Colt watching a baseball game—Scott had gone into Kate’s office with her to make a call—so he was the one who replied. “What?”

  “I think I might know what happened to my laptop.” Natalie fished around in her purse for Scott’s burner and called her mom.

  A few minutes later her mom called back. “You were right. It was under Lana’s bed. What do you want me to do with it?”

  “Give it to Dean and tell him not to let it out of his sight. I’m sure Scott will be in touch with him soon.”

  As soon as she hung up, Colt looked at her. “She found it?”

  Kate’s ex was a good-looking guy but kind of on the scary side. Except for the prime physical form component, he didn’t look much like a SEAL. Although from what Scott said, Colt wasn’t exactly a SEAL anymore and was working in some kind of black ops. Colt was the polar opposite of Scott’s clean-cut officer appearance—which pretty much went for Kate as well. Scott’s sister had that refined, elegant Grace Kelly look.

  Natalie wouldn’t have put Colt and Kate together but appearances weren’t everything, and something about Colt obviously spoke to both Kate and Scott. Natalie knew how much Colt’s friendship had meant to Scott and how his false accusations had stung. Colt had a lot to atone for.

  Maybe she and Scott’s former chief had that in common.

  Natalie nodded. “My sister had it. I should have thought of it before. Lana is special needs and loves computers, but she’s gotten into trouble before with games on the Internet so my parents are really careful. They have parental controls that prevent her from accessing certain sites and monitor her usage, which Lana hasn’t been too happy about.” Natalie smiled. “She’s slow, but not unsavvy. She figured out ways around the controls so my parents had to take the computer out of her room. She must have seen my laptop in one of the boxes and taken it.”

  “She sounds like a teenager.”

  “Pretty much,” Natalie agreed with a laugh. “I should tell Scott.”

  “Tell me what?” Scott said, coming back into the room with Kate.

  Natalie filled him in on the laptop.

  “That’s great,” he said. “I’ll have Baylor bring it back and Kate can have a look at it.”

  Natalie was surprised by his tempered reaction. “I thought you’d be more excited,” she said.

  “I am,” Scott assured her. “It will help prove that you tried to send a message when you found out what was going on.”

  “But?” Colt said, as it was clear there was one.

  “But even if Mick didn’t leave a trail on the laptop,” Kate explained, “we have some new information that leaves little doubt that my godfather was behind the leak. We found the link.”

  * * *

  • • •

  Scott’s suspicion had paid off. Brittany Blake’s friend Mac had called when he and Kate were in her office.

  “What link?” Natalie asked.

  “Between the general and you and Mick.”

  She looked taken aback. “But I barely knew General Murray.”

  “He knew you,” Scott explained. “He’d probably been watching you and the other kids brought to America in the program for some time, waiting in case you were ever activated. Remember when I mentioned the Illegals Program that was uncovered back in 2010?”

  She nodded. “The one that was the basis of the TV program.”

  “That’s right,” Kate said. “Guess who was on the national security staff when that plot was uncovered?”

  “Murray,” Colt said flatly, not missing a beat.

  Scott nodded. “The adoption program for the kids of Soviet ‘traitors’ was apparently connected to the Illegals Program. But as none of the kids had been activated at the time, its existence was pretty much kept under wraps and buried. Mac only uncovered a few references in the files because she knew what she was looking for.”

  “Jeez,” Natalie said. “So I was under surveillance not only by the Russians but by the Americans, too?”

  “We’re not sure,” Kate said. “Mac wasn’t able to find out much more. The idea was that not all the kids would be turned or utilized. They’d wait and see how they grew up and be given opportunities when possible. The kids wouldn’t be traditional sleepers or moles or Russian spies who are groomed in America; they would be typical Americans being forced to work as agents. They were a new brand of unaware asset, making them harder to track and uncover.”

  As Kate