Broken Protocols 1-3 Read online

  Milo leaned closer. Levi stepped in to look. “What is it?”

  “An intersection of paths.”

  “Whose paths?”

  Milo tapped the top of the screen, drawing Levi’s eye to the faces. Both Defino brothers’ images sat on one side. On the other side sat the two dead lawyers, Lina and John. “So you’ve tracked all their paths?”

  “To this one spot.” Milo tapped the monitor frozen in place. “It’s at the old shipping docks.”

  Levi frowned. “That’s the turf I’d expect from the Defino brothers, but not the lawyers.”

  “Except,” Dani said, “John said something about not liking where he was being forced to take me to.” Dani walked closer to study the screen. “So maybe that’s the headquarters. The boss man would be in a location like that, wouldn’t they?”

  “Only part time,” Levi said, “they’d have a home base somewhere a long ways removed from that hellhole. Likely at the top.”

  Her face fell. Then lit up again. “That would make sense. Could that be Johan? He lived pretty high up. You have no idea what he did for a living, but it sounds like it was just on the edge of legal.”

  Levi shrugged. “If we could track his path to the same area, then I’d say definitely. But as he’s gone underground…”

  “What about his known friends and associates?”

  “He doesn’t have any.” Milo looked over at his brother. “Does he?”

  Levi looked from one to another. “I don’t know. I don’t know him that well.”

  “Then maybe that’s where we should start looking. Everyone in his circle. See where those paths intersect?”

  Milo raised his eyebrows at Dani’s suggestion. After a quick glance at Levi, he swept his hand back the other way, unfreezing the monitor. Immediately, the windows flashed and sparkled as they moved at light speed.

  Dani looked over at him. “I guess that means he’s on the hunt again?”

  Levi smiled. “Seems like it.”

  “So does that mean coffee and treats are back on the menu?”

  With a smile at their tenacity, Levi walked over to the wall where he started coffee. “I guess it does.”

  While he waited for it to finish, the alarm went off. Dani gasped, her hand going to her chest. He reached out to her. “It’s all right. We have company. That’s all.”

  She took a deep shaky breath. “Okay. I’ll go back in the pod room then.”

  “You don’t have to.” He was already walking toward the door. “Not if you don’t want to.”

  “Actually, I wouldn’t mind.” She gave him a wan smile, reminding him how tired she was. What she’d been through already today. “A short nap, with Charmin, would be nice. I’m feeling peaky.”

  “Okay then.” He watched her carry on down the hallway; Charmin, somehow knowing what she was up to, followed close behind. Dani looked tired, melancholic. Taking her away from all of this was a great idea. She’d only been here a few days, but they’d been brutal. The alarm went off again.

  “Levi? Are you answering that?”

  Giving his head a shake, he said, “I’ve got it.”

  At the door, he looked outside. Damn, another Council henchman. At least the uniform and close-cropped hair denoted henchman. He could only see the back of the guy’s head as he appeared to be looking behind him, as if he was waiting for someone to join him. Not unexpected considering the break-in and death this morning. But he’d hoped it would be over, at least for today. Like Dani, he was tired and fed up. The alarm sounded again.

  Gritting his teeth at the visitors’ arrogance to keep hitting the alarm, he went about opening the security system. The alarm went off one more time. “I’m coming. You don’t have to keep on hitting the damn button.”

  Finally, he unlocked it and pulled the door open. And stared in shock at the man standing in front of him.

  Johan.

  Chapter 2

  Dani opened the healing pod. Charmin hopped up and froze. His whiskers quivered. She sat down on the side and yawned. She had to admit, she really could use a nap. The morning had worn her out. She slumped backwards, spread her arms, and closed her eyes. She giggled when she felt the pod automatically shift and move under her as it adjusted to her sideways position.

  “Nice, huh?”

  Charmin didn’t answer. She ignored him. She was so tired. The pod was always so welcoming. Nothing like warmth on your back to soothe and ease the tension inside. She was one step away from falling asleep now.

  “Dani?” Charmin asked.

  “Hmmm?” She rolled over and tucked her knees up higher. “What?” She yawned and felt herself drifting deeper and deeper.

  “Did you hear who just arrived?”

  “No.” And she didn’t care. Her body relaxed a little more. Boy, she needed this.

  Just as she drifted off, she heard Charmin’s response. “Johan.”

  The word percolated through her brain then slammed into her consciousness. She bolted upright, barely missing the pod lid as it lifted automatically ahead of her movement. She hadn’t had a chance to think with so much going on, but on reflection, it seemed like the pod was doing more things. As in learning, adapting to her and her likes and needs.

  Nice.

  And creepy.

  “Did you say that was Johan at the door?”

  “Yes.” Charmin stared at her, his eyes impossibly round. “Why would he come here?”

  “No good reason that I can think of.” She sat on the edge and worried about the problem. “Can we hear the conversation?”

  “Audio on,” Charmin said.

  Immediately, Levi’s voice slipped through the ceiling. “Johan? I don’t understand. Why are you here?”

  Milo didn’t give Johan a chance. “Whatever his reason, it’s a bad idea.”

  “Milo, give him a chance to explain.”

  Silence.

  A strange lilting voice rasped, “Thanks for the opportunity, Levi. And Milo, for all your brains, you need to learn a little more about human psychology.”

  Charmin snorted. “Why? He’s got brains, and that means he doesn’t need anything else.”

  “That’s not true,” she whispered. “And we should probably be quiet in case they can hear us.”

  He just shot her a look of disgust. “Whatever.” He lay down, rolled over, and curled into a tight ball.

  “Great. You wake me up and now you get to sleep.” She glared at the sleeping cat. “How is that working for you?”

  “Quite well. If you’d be quiet, I could actually get some rest.”

  She threw herself down and curled around the bright orange body, hugging him close. “Do you think I should go out there?”

  “No. Absolutely not.” The alarm in his voice reassured her.

  “Right. That’s not a good idea, is it? Then Johan will know for sure that there’s something odd about me.”

  He shuddered. From his twisted up position, he opened his eyelids and glared at her. “Do Not Go Out There.” He lifted his head as if to make sure she was listening. “Levi will handle it. They know we are here. Let them deal with it.”

  “But…” she stared down into the flat face, “what if they’re in trouble and need our help?”

  “Not going to happen.” He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

  “It might.” She lay her head down next to his. “You never know.”

  “I know.” He snored gently.

  “But what if you’re wrong?”

  No answer. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Before she realized it, sleep swept her away.

  *

  Levi stared at his old friend and wondered what the hell had happened. The fun-loving guy was gone. This man had a hard edge to him, a well-used look to his face and his eyes – it was as if they’d seen too much. A second closer look showed heavy bruising on one side of his neck. He held himself slightly hunched over, one arm protecting his potentially damaged ribs.

  This was not good.

&
nbsp; “What happened to you, Johan?”

  He winced. “I look that bad, huh? I could use my damn healing pod right about now.”

  “Sit down. I’ll get you a drink.” Ignoring Milo’s disgust and instinctive wariness, he poured a stiff drink into a glass and brought it over to Johan. “Here.”

  Johan took it gratefully and tossed it back. He shuddered, and then said, “Thanks, I needed that.”

  “I can see that, but why?”

  His friend slouched back, stiffened, then straightened slowly.

  “You’re hurt.” Levi said quietly. “Is it bad?”

  “No. Just took a beating. On an ordinary day, no problem…but I blew my pod up.” He gave Levi a lopsided grin. “Don’t suppose you’d like to return the favor and let me borrow yours?”

  “No,” Milo snapped. “For all we know, you’re behind the problems we’ve been having.”

  Johan’s eyebrows shot up. “What kinds of problems?” He looked over at Levi. “I told you to marry her to protect her.”

  “I did.”

  “Well congrats, man.” Johan slapped Levi on the shoulder. “That’s great. You’re a married man now.” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it. “She must mean a lot to you.”

  “She does.”

  “When do I get to meet her?”

  “Never,” snapped Milo. “Someone is after her. We’re going to make sure she’s safe.”

  “Why the hell would anyone want to kidnap her?”

  Milo narrowed his gaze. “I didn’t say kidnap.”

  Silence.

  Johan put up both hands. “Hey, I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I have nothing to do with whatever is happening. I’ve been on the run and got into a little trouble myself.”

  “Why?” Levi asked curiously. “What happened to you?”

  “I thought I took everything I needed with me. Instead,” he grimaced. “I left something behind. I’m here to retrieve it.”

  “Have you been up there yet?”

  “No. I was hoping to use your tube to get there, take a quick look around, grab what I needed, and then scoot back down here undetected.” At Levi’s surprised look, he added, “I could go through the little rooftop garden you use.”

  Levi shook his head. “And here I thought that area was private. Secret.”

  “Nothing is secret anymore.” As he spoke, he stared straight at Milo. “Haven’t you learned that yet?”

  Milo stared back at him silently, not showing any give in his expression. After what they’d been through and the secret experiment Milo had accomplished bringing Dani here – keeping his work private – secret – was paramount. Milo would do anything to protect his inventions. And if Levi didn’t quite trust Johan, there was no way that Milo would.

  He was suspicious of everyone.

  Yet, Levi had to concede, Milo appeared to have taken to Dani and Charmin just fine. More than just fine. Maybe he’d run compatibility tests across everyone’s profiles. Yet another thing to ask his brother.

  Later.

  He refocused on the issue at hand. “You can use the tube to get to the rooftop.”

  Milo started to protest, took one look at Levi’s glare, and shut up. He stormed out of the room.

  “He’s not a happy chap.”

  “We’ve had a rough morning.” Talk about an understatement. Levi was half expecting to see more Council henchmen here soon enough. Not to mention cops. They would have more questions. There was no way they wouldn’t. Hell, he had a lot more questions. He studied Johan carefully. “So you had nothing to do with the bug that came in with the pod?”

  “What?” The shock was real at least.

  “Don’t you have an automatic bug sweeper here?” Johan’s lips twitched.

  “Yes, we do. But the bug was built to detach at some specific time or at a pre-arranged signal, then move to a different location in the room.”

  That shut Johan up. He sat back and stared. After a long moment, he shook his head. “What the hell. Whose bug is that?”

  “Milo is tracking it down. At the moment, we have no idea.”

  “That’s not good.” Johan stared into space. “I had mine customized, you know. So it would only transmit specific innocuous data to the database.”

  “Really?” Too bad Johan hadn’t mentioned that fact earlier. It would have saved Levi a lot of worry. “That’s a great idea.”

  “Not good enough. Something still went wrong. It did make me a popular fellow for a long time though.” He grinned, a rueful smile of remembered parties and women…so many women. “I had the same person rig it that you bought yours from.”

  “How do you know who I got it from?”

  A harsh laugh slid out of Johan’s throat. “There is only one supplier who has the audacity to do something like this.”

  “Do you have a name?”

  “Nope. No one does.”

  “Damn.” Levi walked over to the window. He wasn’t getting much help here. If he knew Milo, he’d be out searching the airwaves for information on Johan. There was nothing like siccing someone who didn’t trust another to dig out dirt on them. “I need to figure out who broke into my house today.”

  “What? I didn’t hear anything about that.” Johan stared.

  “Oh, you will soon. My lawyer was killed during the mess.”

  “Wow.” Johan let a long slow whistle slide through the room. “Okay, now that I definitely don’t know anything about.”

  Chapter 3

  Dani drifted in and out of the pod’s warm healing rays. Some of the conversation going on in the other room filtered in. Not enough to truly understand what was going on, but enough to stop her from going into a deep asleep. Figures. She yawned and rolled over to face Charmin in another attempt to drift off.

  He stared at her. And damn, those whiskers were quivering. His large globe eyes stared into hers, and his small ears peeled back along his head as if to hear better.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Johan says it’s not him.”

  “What’s not him?” She blinked, trying to process the short terse message. “None of the mess is?”

  Charmin gave a small head shake, sending his fur billowing out. She frowned. “Then who is behind all of this?”

  “No idea. And we need to find out.”

  “Agreed.” She lay there thinking when Johan’s voice filtered in again.

  “Are you sure I can’t use the healing pod? Just for a few moments. I’d sure like to feel better. Honestly, besides the jaw, I’m pretty sure a couple of ribs are broken.” His painful gasp could be heard.

  It didn’t sound like he was faking it. And that made her feel guilty as hell.

  “Sorry, Dani is sleeping in it.”

  “Sleeping? Dude, she should be warming up your bed, not snoozing in a healing pod.” Amused envy laced Johan’s voice. That sounded more like the Johan Dani expected to hear. The sexy party animal looking to score and not understanding his buddy’s reticence.

  There was a heavy silence. Dani winced. If the guy was hurt, it was the right thing to do to give it to him. Did she just get up and walk out as if she had just woken up? How else would they know she was awake and willing to leave the safety of the pod?

  “Chamin, can you contact Milo?”

  One eyelid slid open. How did Charmin manage to look insulted? “Of course.”

  She didn’t want to be seen. She didn’t want to meet any more strangers. Any more bad guys. “Can you tell him that I’m leaving here and going to Levi’s room so the pod is free for Johan?”

  “Yes.” He stood up and arched his back. “If that’s what you want.”

  “Are you coming with me?” She sat up gently and slid to the side of the pod. “Or are you going to stay and visit with Johan?”

  He gave an odd mewl that she took for a snort, then he jumped down. To the speaker system, he said, “Message for Milo only.” She stared as he said, “Dani and I are switching to Levi’s room. The pod i
s free for Johan.”

  He twisted, gave her a look, and when she didn’t understand, he sighed. “Open door. Stealth to remain on.”

  The door opened silently.

  Damn. She hadn’t even realized the door was voice controlled. Hating the things she didn’t understand, she motioned for him to go first. “Lead the way so we can’t be seen.”

  He shrugged. “Configure to keep us in stealth.” And he walked out.

  She followed, a low burning irritation with a touch of envy washing through her. “How am I ever supposed to get used to you knowing how to do all this when a couple of days ago, you didn’t even talk?” she muttered.

  “We’ve been over this. I could always talk. You’re the one that just learned how.” He groaned. “Now if only you’d learn the rest of this stuff faster.”

  He ran down the hallway, and she had to pick up the pace to keep up with him. With his tail in the air, he looked like a normal feline. Under that pouf of orange fur, he was anything but.

  Still, that mess could be laid at Milo’s feet.

  Charmin disappeared up ahead. She entered a room and came to a dead stop. The door closed silently behind her. She gasped. She was inside a huge chateau type of room that could have come from anywhere in the Swiss Alps. The open beam structure with log walls and wood furnishing were awesome, but it was the huge bed on a platform beside a roaring fire that really got to her.

  “Is that fire real?”

  “As real as anything here can be.” He padded over and tilted his face up to catch the warm rays. She had to see for herself. It was indeed warm and cozy. She felt safe here. Comfy. She smiled. This was gorgeous and said a lot about Levi. She turned to warm her back and studied the huge bed. The coverings appeared fluffy and light. Maybe down. But she suspected it was as much of an illusion as anything else here.

  An illusion she wanted to believe in. The idea of sharing that huge bed with Levi – luscious!