Free Wanted (FBI Heat Book 3) by Marissa Garner Page A

shit. I don’t see a way in. I tried everything.”
    “You didn’t leave any evidence, did you? Nothing that’ll show up on the logs.”
    “Nada.”
    Dillon leaned closer to the screen. The old, familiar excitement built; his pulse accelerated.
    While in college, he’d formed TSK as a Robin Hood and his merry men sort of thing. Except they didn’t steal from the rich and give to the poor. They didn’t steal anything but information on bad guys. Using their superior computer skills, the group of ten or so hacked into computer networks all over the world gathering information unobtainable by law enforcement agencies through legal channels. The documentation or evidence would miraculously show up at the appropriate district attorneys’ or government agencies’ offices. Most of the time, TSK’s work was sufficient to get an arrest or conviction, but always enough for the local LEOs to get the necessary warrants to confirm the information themselves.
    Toward the end of his tenure as leader of the group, TSK had focused most of its energy on terrorist websites. In those cases, their goal had been to shut down as many of the Islamic extremists’ recruiting pages, propaganda sites, and social media accounts as possible. It was a never-ending battle. But any chatter they caught about plots or potential attacks was passed along to the NSA or Homeland Security.
    All their work was done anonymously and for no compensation other than the knowledge they were doing good and helping catch bad guys. Dillon had always been proud of what TSK accomplished, but he couldn’t share those achievements with anyone. Not even Kat.
    “Did you find anything useful?” he asked.
    “Someone’s been gettin’ in and plenty.”
    “Who?”
    “Don’t fuckin’ know,” Chaos admitted grudgingly.
    “How’d they get in?”
    “Looks like someone on the inside is helpin’.”

Chapter 10
    “Who?”
    “How the hell should I know, Shadow? You said not to touch nothin’. I figured you wanted to have some of the fun,” Chaos complained.
    “Uh-huh,” Dillon mumbled, his eyes racing feverishly over the information on the screen.
    “You listenin’ to me?”
    “Nope.”
    “Am I dismissed?”
    Dillon shook his head. God, he was acting like an alcoholic who’d been given a forbidden drink. “Sorry, Chaos. It…it’s—”
    “I get it, man. You missed us. I mean, it .”
    “Yeah.”
    “I gotta grab some Z s, but can you first tell me what we’re doing spying on a nuclear power plant?”
    “Not yet. Good night…and thanks, Chaos.”
    *  *  *
    Kat lay awake for hours after her epiphany in the tub. Depression settled into her bones and seeped into her soul. Moving again, disappearing a second time, was such a gut-wrenching decision that nausea gurgled in her belly. Not only would it mean finding another job and packing up all their belongings, her plan would probably uproot her parents as well. They’d moved with her when she’d run from Dillon before, and now that they’d held Skye in their arms, they would never accept being far away from their daughter and granddaughter.
    To-do list on top of to-do list piled up in her brain. Her first priority, though, had to be finding the next job because she couldn’t afford to quit and go without a paycheck for any time at all. How detrimental would her boss’s bad performance reviews be in her job hunt? Maybe Avila Canyon would hire her back. She had been a stellar employee until she’d left suddenly—without any explanation. Would her past behavior taint her prospects? Most likely. And wouldn’t Avila Canyon be the first place Dillon would look if he chose to search for her? Again, most likely.
    Her roiling stomach added a knot to the mix of acidic juices. Problem after problem marched through her mind until exhaustion dragged her under and blessed oblivion engulfed her.
    Suddenly, Kat jerked awake. She glanced at the alarm clock: two a.m. Frowning, she rolled onto her back. As a