47

“Whoa, This place is amazing!”

“Thanks,” Camille laughed nervously, cheeks turning red as she followed Charlotte inside. “I think the guys went a little overboard.”

Neither Jag nor Kal had returned that evening which Camille had expected but had still found herself disappointed by. It was bad enough Sid was on some mission for god knows how long but Camille knew that there was a reason for it all.

Come the morning, Camille had decided she had sulked enough and it was time for her to do some of her investigating. Ever since she had found out that Nathan had been behind everything that had happened, Camille had become determined to find out how he had managed to pull everything off so easily. Camille’s details being found amongst the LA Ark’s deleted employee files had told Camille that Nathan had someone working for him that could pull off planting files and hack systems. But hackers didn’t just go around announcing they were hackers so, Camille needed help figuring out how to flush their one out.

“So, what’s going on?” Charlotte asked as they got comfortable on the couch.

“I need you help.” Camille started. “I want to find out who Nathan has working on the inside.”

“Uh, okay…” Charlotte’s silver eyes widened in surprise. “Is that a good idea?”

“Not really.” Camille confessed, grimacing slightly as she imagined Jag kicking off if he found out what she was hoping to achieve. “But, I’m not sitting around waiting for him to continue ruining my life. We both know that he isn’t going to stop torturing me until either I’m dead or he’s behind bars.”

“So what are you proposing?” Charlotte asked.

“I’m not sure exactly.” She replied. “Someone inside the Ark was obviously monitoring the camera thingy in my head, not to mention someone had to behind all of those stolen documents and the bombs. I don’t think we are looking for some evil bomb-building hacker genius here, just someone who had access to the apartment block and the Ark.”

“But weren’t the documents stolen from the LA Ark?”

Camille nodded. “They were which I think will make it easier for us to figure out who is behind all of this. Think about it, it’s not going to be a Draygonian because why would they work for an organisation that hates them? It’s not going to be a soldier or someone in the UN because they are all vetted to hell so that leaves the contractors and their staff.”

“So, we just need to work out who came here from Los Angeles?”

Camille nodded. “I don’t think the mole is going to have made easy though.”

“Well, the first hurdle is how do we access the files?” Charlotte asked.

Camille didn’t say anything straight away but instead glanced towards the study. When she had been exploring by herself, Camille had found Jag’s work station set up in a room just off of the living room area. Having worked for him, Camille knew his password and how to gain access to his emails and files. Surely there would be some way through to the employee files that way.

“We could get into some serious trouble if we get caught.” Charlotte pointed out when she cottoned on to what Camille was thinking.

“Yeah, but it would be worth it.” Camille shrugged. “We have to do something.”

“Oh, you don’t need to keep convincing me.” Charlotte grinned. “When do we start?”

“How about, now?” Camille suggested. “I have no idea when any of the guys are going to be back but I don’t reckon it will be for a few hours yet.”

“Okay but what about that?” Charlotte pointed to the thin gold band on Camille’s wrist.

With everything that had been going on and with the device Kal had created doing the trick, getting the camera out of Camille had been put on the back burner for now. At least the headaches had stopped along with the nose bleeds and passing out so overall, Kal’s invention was a success but, it wasn’t the final solution. However, Camille was in no rush to go under the knife and it wasn’t like her life had dramatically changed because of it. She could wait. But it meant she couldn’t go near the computer.

“That would be the other reason I need your help.” She replied sheepishly. “I can’t risk getting too close but I can tell you where to look.”

“Alright,” her friend laughed. “But when this is all over and you’re allowed back out into the real world again, you owe me a burger and fries.”

Camille grinned at this and gave a nod. “Deal.”

Like everything in the apartment, the study looked freshly decorated and new. Jag’s desk was situated near the large windows, much like it had been in his old apartment. In a way, the desk was both familiar and new to Camille, she had seen Jag sat behind it plenty but she didn’t know much about the computer system.

“So, where’s this computer then?” Charlotte asked as she tucked a strand of her now bright purple hair behind her ear.

“There.” Camille pointed to the desk that appeared empty.

“There’s nothing there.”

“There is,” Camille shifted awkwardly, you just need to turn it on first and then it will show up... I think.”

The look on Charlotte’s face said it all. She approached the desk cautiously as if any wrong move would set off an intruder alarm and a dozen soldiers in full combat gear would drop from the ceiling to arrest her. Just Jag’s disapproval was enough to have both women hesitating but Camille wasn’t going to sit around and wait for Nathan to find her. She was never going back with that man and would do anything to see that happen. So, she would endure Jag’s temper if he found out. She would endure the argument and the lecture about how dangerous it was if it meant that Nathan was stopped.

After a couple of minutes searching, Charlotte was able to get the computer system to activate. The two large glass like screens appeared moments later and the surface of the desk lit up with the image of a keyboard.

“Camille, this is in Draygonian.” Charlotte sighed. “I can’t read it.”

“We just need to get past the security protocols and then we can change everything to English.” Camille replied. “Here, use this.”

Camille held up a scrap of paper with crudely drawn symbols on it only to receive a raised eyebrow from Charlotte.

And that was how the next few hours went. Charlotte managed to get into the system and Camille was forced to wait patiently from a safe distance. It was both exciting and frustrating. Camille felt like more than some poor orphan who was helpless against the world but at the same time, she was still tethered by Nathan’s shackles. He still had some control over what she could and couldn’t do. She just hoped that this made a difference because she couldn’t take much more of it. How was she meant to move on if Nathan kept dragging her back in?

At least this gave her an ounce of power. If they could work out who the mole was, then she had someone over Nathan that she could use to put an end to his games. But the chances were slim. Their mole had done a good a good job of hiding themselves. Camille was aware they could have disappeared already but they had to try.

“Some of these photos are awful.” Charlotte muttered. “I am so glad that none of these see the light of day.”

“They can’t be that bad.” Camille sighed tiredly.

“You’d be surprised.” Charlotte replied before straightening in her seat. “Okay this is weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“Tina’s file says she’s from Greenwood Indiana but she told me she moved here from California.” Charlotte replied as she frowned.

“I think she told me the same thing.” Camille admitted. “Could it be an error?”

“Hmm, maybe.” Charlotte didn’t sound convinced and her frown only deepened. “I’m going to try something.”

Camille felt like she was holding her breath as she sat on the edge of her seat. What was Charlotte doing exactly?

“Ho-ly shit.” Charlotte breathed after a few painfully long minutes, grey eyes wide in disbelief. “Camille, you need to see this.”

“I can’t come over.” Camille replied. “I can’t get too close to anything with a Wi-Fi connection, remember?”

“Trust me, the risk is worth it.” Charlotte countered. “You need to see this for yourself.”

Whatever it was Charlotte had found, it had to be serious if she was throwing caution to the wind. The disbelief on her friend’s face was enough to have Camille standing from her seat and walking forward on legs that felt like jelly. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she rounded the desk, blue eyes landing on the two screens Charlotte was looking at. On one was a digital version of an obituary that had been posted in a newspaper in Greenwood. The obituary was for a Tina Ludlow who had died under mysterious circumstances aged just forty-one. But it was the second screen that had Camille’s blood running cold. On the screen was a news site article from Los Angeles.

*Police are still searching for suspected hacker, Julie Meyers in connection with a number of cyber attacks on local banks. Meyers is also wanted for questioning in relation to a homicide...*

“What the hell?” Camille frowned in confusion as she looked at a picture of the woman she had come to know as Tina now labelled as Julie Meyers.

“I think we just found our mole.” Charlotte muttered.

Camille didn’t have time to respond. She didn’t even have chance to process what she was seeing because the chime announcing the front door was opening, snapped her out of her shocked daze.

“Shit!” Camille hissed. “One of the guys is back.”

“Go distract them.” Charlotte replied. “I’ll tidy up here.”

Camille nodded, heart still hammering in her chest as she tried to focus on distracting whoever came through the door. And yet, her world felt like it was spinning. How could Tina be the jacket? She never said anything to suggest she hates the visitors and yet...

“Camille?”

Kal’s voice shook her from her frantic thoughts, her eyes focusing on the male and then Jag. Something about the look on their faces had Camille’s blood running cold. That gnawing feeling that had been twisting her gut for days now came back with a vengeance. They both looked exhausted but there was something in their eyes. There was anguish and worry and dread all mixed together like some ugly colour. Something bad had happened but Camille didn’t want to hear it. If they didn’t say what she had been fearing all along then it wouldn’t be real. She could walk away right now and for a little longer she could live in ignorant bliss.

But it wasn’t going to work out like that.

“What is it?” Camille found herself asking before she could stop herself.

The look Kal and Jag shared only added to Camille dread, her throat going dry as she tried to swallow against the hot bile creeping up her throat.

“It’s about Sid.” Jag spoke this time. “There’s been an incident.”