Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“How did you know? That’s exactly what he said, but what does it mean?”
“It means exactly what you think it means. We’re still trying to figure out what they’ve been using, but we’re all in the same boat. Whatever they’re using to keep tabs on us isn’t easily detected by anything on the market, so we just had to learn to live with it. I’m sure your husband is going to know about this conversation. I would email you, but they can see that, too.”
“Are you saying that my husband is spying on me?”
“That’s not how they see it. To them, it’s their way of protecting us. Us, kids, even the damn pets, are probably tagged in some way.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s a long story. I’m almost certain this call is being monitored as well.” I looked around the room expecting, I don’t know what.
“You are seriously spooking me out right now.”
“It’s okay; you learn to live with it. After a while, you even forget it some days.”
“But I don’t hear any clicking sounds or anything like that.”
“They’re too sophisticated for that, but that’s not how it works. They don’t sit and listen to everything you say. It’s mostly a defense thing, a way for them to know where we are and that we’re not in any danger at any given time.”
“Like the chip?”
“Something like that, I guess, but noninvasive.”
“Oh, well, that’s not so bad, I guess.”
“It’s a pain in the ass, and Hank Mancini needs to quit.” The way she said that I got the feeling she wasn’t talking to me but directly to him.”
“Okay, well, I’ll wait for your call then.”
“I won’t be long. Take care. And since he told you to stay out of it, we’ll give them the impression that we are.”
“I like the way you think.” I hung up the phone, more confused than I was before. That sounds like a James Bond movie.
MARK
“What are you guys doing? How does your woman know that she’s tagged?”
“You’re late to the game. Is that why Brittany called my wife this morning? Did she figure it out?”
“No, your wife told her. Actually, I’m kinda surprised she never figured it out before now.”
“So, how much does she know?”
“Not much, for now, she thinks it’s about shaking me down for money. But your wife promised to get back to her after she looks into their backgrounds. There’s no way she can figure it out, though, so I’m not worried.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“What do you mean? Their covers are rock solid; I doubt even the NSA could see through it.”
“Yeah, well, my wife has access to things the NSA could only dream of. She’ll have the information sooner than you think.”
“The kids?”
“Yup!”
“They’re really that advanced already?”
“They’re way better than we ever were.”
“I don’t want my wife involved.”
“Then you shouldn’t have let her catch you?”
“That was a freak accident. I honestly didn’t know she was going to come that way. I only knew when she was right up on me. Then, that idiot chose that moment to throw herself at me. I was waiting for Britt to make her presence known but she just sat in her car taking what I’m sure she thought were incriminating pictures.”
“Smart woman. She didn’t fly off the handle; she did her homework.”
“You should’ve seen her. I didn’t know she had it in her.”
“Well, you married her, so you must’ve sensed something beneath the surface.”
“Yeah, so what now?”
“Now, you let her get the report from Cierra because there’s no way to stop it unless you want to lie to her.”
“I draw the line at that. I can keep her out of shit as I have been for almost twenty years, but I won’t lie to her.”
“Good man! Well, so far, we’ve been able to keep them out of too much trouble, but if Cierra gets the kids involved, there’s no telling which way this thing is gonna go.”
“I don’t know that I want her to know about this shit.”
“It might be too late to stop that train, brother. I can tell you right now, those little shits will figure it out, and they will tell her what they’ve found, and then they’ll try to take over your shit.”
“But we still haven’t figured out who he’s working for. I’m not too worried about Jessica or whoever she is, but Jack is the one with the connection.”
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s been more than two years already. I guess the pandemic slowed them down a bit, but now they’re ramping up, which means it’s time for them to move on. They’ve already spent too much time on this one job already.”
“And you’re sure they didn’t target us because of Dad? They don’t know who we are?”
“It doesn’t look that way. They’re after the business and your connections.”