Page 25 of Digital Desire

“Blake found out they’ve had three new members of staff in the last three months, all British Nationals. I’ve asked Lucy to go through them and see if she can find anything.”

“Good, anything else?” Jack asked impatiently.

“Yes, there’s some chatter that the cartel is bringing in a new recruit to handle their digital accounting,” Alex said.

Aubrey felt her stomach twist. “Will,” she breathed.

“Yes, my guess is this is all an elaborate way to discredit Will so that when he drops off the radar, nobody comes looking. They’ll think he’s gone on the run.”

“But if this person is intelligent enough to do all this, surely they would figure you would come for him?” Aubrey asked looking at Jack.

“Maybe they don’t know. Will’s link to us is hidden, as is all his other work.”

“Fortis then?” she asked.

“Maybe but either way we need to get him out before he’s taken to Rojas, as getting him out of their compound will be a nightmare.”

“We take him on the road?” Aubrey asked, and Jack raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“That’s the best option,” Alex added.

“Fine, we’ll do some recon. Leave Drew and Blake on that and you, Reid, and Liam meet me at the coordinates I’m sending you. We can plan a moving takedown. I doubt they’ll move him before, so we have a few hours.”

“Copy that,” Alex said and hung up.

Jack continued to drive in silence as Aubrey watched the landscape go past. Her brain played over every titbit of information she had about this case and about Will. That invariably led to how she felt about him. She had promised Jack she would stay away from his brother, but it was one she was going to break. She wondered about the dynamic between the brothers. There was obviously a lot of love, but there was also a lot of tension, and she wondered where it came from. Maybe now was the perfect time to do a little digging of her own.

“So, Will’s your boss, bet that didn’t go down very well,” she said opening the topic in a slightly confrontational manner.

Jack swung his gaze to hers, a slight look of surprise on his face that she would go there. When he looked back to the road, she thought he wouldn’t answer so was surprised when he did. “Will being my boss isn’t the problem, it’s the lying I can’t forgive.”

“Have you thought perhaps he had a good reason to lie?”

“There is never a good reason to lie to family,” he snapped.

“I disagree. Lies are not always told to hurt. Sometimes, they are told to protect.”

“Look, I’m not an idiot. I know life isn’t black and white, and shit happens, but Will and I were close as kids. We didn’t fight or get jealous, but then he pulled away from me and started hiding stuff. Then when he hacked that bank, I felt like I’d lost my kid brother and I don’t know why I’m oversharing with you,” he finished with a snort and shake of his head.

Aubrey smiled then, thinking perhaps Jack wasn’t such an asshole after all. “Maybe you two should talk, I mean really talk. It’s never too late you know. Will hero worships you.”

He glanced at her again as he slowed the car as the road became bumpy. “He might have once, but he barely tolerates me these days.”

“You are so wrong. Will misses you.”

“You really like him, don’t you?” he asked changing the subject.

Aubrey didn’t know what to say for a second, but as she had just lectured him on honesty, perhaps a spoonful of her own medicine was in order. “I do, yes. He’s sweet, funny, obviously gorgeous.”

“If you like tattooed geeks, I guess,” Jack replied, and Aubrey saw the fun behind the zipped up man.

“He makes me feel special,” she answered with a shy smile.

“So why did you run?”

“Because he scares me.”

Jack looked at her sharply then. “Will would never hurt anyone, he doesn’t have it in him,” Jack defended.