“You didn’t tell them?” he asked Khloe.
“N-not really. I didn’t want to bother all of you. He was leaving nasty notes, voicemails, that kind of thing. He was angry and blamed me for him losing his job, being on the run, his reputation being called into question, all of it. That’s why I changed my phone number several times. He never showed his face to me, but it was like I always knew he was nearby.”
“You should have told us,” said Wade. “For now, stay on the property and don’t leave without several people with you. Did he know that you were connected to us in any way?”
“Never. I told him I was an orphan and raised in a boarding school. It was close enough to the truth, and I felt like that was all he needed to know. Thinking back, I think he liked that he believed I didn’t have any family ties. I think that’s why I never told him I had an adoptive family. It was something I could hold to my chest. Maybe. Maybe I always suspected that I would need to call on my family.”
“Always,” said Wade. “You could always call on us because you are family, you know that. But we do have to find him. Where would he go?”
“I’m not sure,” said Khloe, shaking her head. “I know the police have searched his parents’ home several times, as well as the law offices. The partners in the firm made it very clear they had terminated him and wanted him nowhere near their practice.”
“I bet that pissed him off,” frowned Jonas.
“It did, and he blamed me.”
“What about vacation homes? Second homes in another state? Anything?” asked Zulu.
“If there was something, another home or family residence, he never told me about it. Then again, he hid a lot of things from me. I could sense it. He made sure to walk away during his ‘business’ calls. The fact that I overheard the names of Harris and Brockman was completely by accident.”
Hiro came toward the table and held out his hand to her. She stared at him, shaking her head.
“No. No, it’s not necessary. You gave me a new phone when I got here,” she said, protesting.
“We did, and somehow, he left a few voicemails for you that we intercepted.” Khloe’s face paled, and Jonas held her tightly to his side. “I don’t mean to scare you, Khloe, but that man is attempting to get to you, and my job is to prevent him from doing that. Let me have your phone, please. I’ll give you a different one in a few minutes.”
She handed him her phone and just shook her head. It would be nearly impossible to break through a VG phone, yet somehow, he’d done it not once but several times. He was on the run, and apparently, someone knew where he was and knew about the G.R.I.P. technology used on their phones. How was any of that possible?
“I need dessert,” she frowned, walking toward the dessert trays. Hiro followed her until she was safely out of hearing range. Then he turned to the other men.
“Someone is helping him. Someone who knows about our technology.”
CHAPTER NINE
Archie could hardly stand it any longer. The cabin that his great-uncle had built had modern amenities – a toilet, shower, appliances, and, of course, a bed. But it didn’t have cable television, Wi-Fi, or any of the other things he desperately wanted.
Despite the two feet of snow outside, he bundled up, grabbed the keys to the snowmobile, and took off toward the nearest town, which was nearly an hour away. He had plenty of gas for the machine, and this would afford him a chance to gather some groceries and maybe even find a portable Wi-Fi device.
On his last trip into town, he’d asked the manager of the local electronics store, and he said he’d order one for him. Whether or not he did remained to be seen.
In spite of the snow, the roads were cleared fairly well, giving others who lived in the mountains a chance to get into town. Pulling a narrow sled behind him, he stopped at the small grocery store first. Anything that might be perishable would be just fine on the back of the sled with ice and snow to keep it fresh.
He kept his ski mask on, which wasn’t all that unusual given the area and the weather. No one would bother to look twice at him. Standing in the meat aisle, he stared at the selection of steaks and frowned.
“What I wouldn’t give for a Delmonico’s steak,” he murmured.
“Can I help you, sir?” asked the man behind the counter.
“Oh, no. I’m fine.”
The man walked away, and Archie bought several steaks, some chops, and two whole chickens. He picked up a dozen cans of tuna, peanut butter, jam, two loaves of bread, and some much-needed liquor.
If he couldn’t get drunk with friends, he’d get drunk alone.
“Friends, pfft!”
He looked around to be sure no one heard him. Not one of his friends had asked about him. No one from the firm, none of his fraternity brothers, none of his usual crowd that he went out drinking with and bought the drinks. Ungrateful shits!
With several bags of groceries, he secured them inside the empty cooler and tied it to the sled. Inside the general store, he bought two more pairs of long johns and several pairs of warm socks. Seeing a stack of wool blankets, he bought three, knowing that it would get colder before it got warmer in the mountains.
