
Solstice

Silver Lake Cozy Mysteries, Volume 4

Sophia Watson

Published by Cozy Mystery Publishing, 2017.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

SOLSTICE

**First edition. December 18, 2017.**

Copyright (C) 2017 Sophia Watson.

ISBN: 978-1386990888

Written by Sophia Watson.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Also by Sophia Watson

Silver Lake Cozy Mysteries

It All Comes Out in the Wash

Snow Angels

That Summer in Silver Lake

Solstice

Watch for more at Sophia Watson's site.

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For Pop, the family storyteller.
Solstice

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Silver Lake Cozy Mysteries

Book 4

by Sophia Watson

Solstice Copyright (C) 2017, Sophia Watson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the author, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the author/publisher is a violation of the author's copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places; and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. 

# Contents

Other Books by This Author

Chapter One: Secrets

Chapter Two: The Home Front

Chapter Three: Sutherland & The Chase

Chapter Four: Voss's Mission

Chapter Five: The Secrets of Dunrobin

Chapter Six: Where is Jake Wheeler?

Chapter Seven: Back on the Farm - The Dark Net

Chapter Eight: Getting Close

Chapter Nine: The Meeting - Fate

Epilogue: Reality Bites - Separating Fact from Fiction

About the Author

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# Other Books by This Author

The Bonaventura Cozy Mysteries as Zara Brooks-Watson

Jitterbug (The Fifties) Book 1

Tie Dye (The Sixties) Book 2

The Silver Lake Cozy Mysteries as Sophia Watson

It All Comes Out in The Wash (Book 1)

Snow Angels (Book 2)

That Summer in Silver Lake (Book3)

Solstice (Book 4)

Poetry, Short Stories and Children's Books as Cathy Smith

Waiting for the Sunrise - The Collected Poetry of Cathy Smith (both Journals)

Hidden Treasures: A Book of Short Stories

The Tree People (Children's Book, Ages 6-10)

Most E-books are also available in paperback. See silverlakecozies.wixsite.com/sophia-watson

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# Chapter One: Secrets

The heaviest snow in decades lay thickly upon the small hamlet of Silver Lake. No sound escaped the deep muffler of ice except the cracking of some overhanging icicles off the roof. An unusually large, beautiful silver and tan Husky romped on a cleared portion of driveway, obviously happy in its true ecological niche and having a great time skittering around on the still heavily packed ground, biting at the snow.

The same could not be said of any of the drivers in the town center. No one would even dare drive at night under these conditions. At least ten cars and pickups (including one large delivery van) did not listen to this advice, and were covered with snow and half-buried on the shoulders of various dirt roads. They had been there since the night before. A heavy fog rolled in and shrouded the town and its corn and soy fields with an almost spooky impenetrable cloak.

Life goes on - and folks took to walking as much as possible. Many of them used a ski pole and spiked shoe strips to help them navigate the icy byways. Tow trucks scouted the roads looking for the stranded cars left around town last night.

The Winter Solstice is celebrated traditionally all over our planet. Also called Yule and the December Solstice. It is the day that is the shortest of the year and the night is the longest. It has the least daylight hours. After this day, all the daylight hours slowly - very slowly - almost imperceptibly - get longer, until one day in summer when the day is the longest day of the year and has the most daylight hours. That exact day would be the Summer Solstice.

In Silver Lake, the longest night of the year this year (Winter Solstice) was also a time that had sucked the breath out of most of this small town's inhabitants as they prepared for their own celebration and town bonfires. But before we go there and explain what has happened to this popular year-round tourist resort, we must first tell you about the changes in Asia Reynolds' life.

A solitary professional woman (documentary filmmaker), Asia Reynolds had a close association with a few professional women around town, all of whom she grew up with. These friends included Elise Jamison (formerly Snuggles, the honey lady) and Sergeant Sheila Rodriguez of the Silver Lake Police. Elise is a well-known late-night news commentator with her own show - The Mississippi River Journal. She was the first African-American woman to have her own show on cable in Silver Lake. Frankie Franklin is Asia's closest neighbor in her farming neighborhood. She is also African-American, elderly, and the owner of Franklin's Rib Shack, a multi-generational fast food restaurant. She also runs her own private farm animal and domestic animal rescue.

That brings us to Sylvie. Sylvia Reynolds is Asia's young high school age niece. Sylvie had recently decided to finish high school in Silver Lake, the town she despised as the "boonies" when she first arrived. Now, in love with Asia's animals - Zucchini (dog), Punkin (donkey), Thelma and Louis (goats & their offspring Tinkerbell & Smidgen) and her own St. Bernard puppy, Junior - she looked forward enthusiastically to continue working for Asia's elderly African American neighbor, Frankie Franklin on her animal rescue ranch. She was in love with love and would not forget her new beau, Bertram Thomas, who is a very successful new Air Force pilot and incredible painter. She writes and texts him every day. He does the same.

There is more to this bucolic rural picture than meets the eye. There is a suspenseful underside to the peace that pervades the natural surroundings of Silver Lake.

__________

Months in the future, the snows of winter melted. A man in a dark, floor-length raincoat walked into an unlit room. It was Jacob Wheeler. He was there on a tip from Anonymous (Anonymous is a politico-hacker organization that reveals the underside of destructive corporate and government dealings, like Wiki-Leaks. They represent "The People" as in the U.S. Constitution - i.e. "Government by the people, of the people and for the people.")

Jacob sat down, still in the dark. There was no light. It felt good to him to be invisible. This man preferred to stay hidden. The why of which is in the inner workings of this book.

Light is important. But, so is darkness. Seeds also germinate in the dark. They grow at night. That is the importance of a Solstice - defining a growing season - the relationship between the Earth and its Sun. That, according to the scientific definition of Solstice, is a very, very slowly evolving relationship between the Sun and the Earth. A gradual strengthening of the power of the Sun on the Earth's surface. A slow warming of the soil and the soul.

Observe the rising sun on the longest day of the year. That is, of course, the Summer Solstice. Jacob Wheeler was waiting for that sunrise. Until then, he sat in total darkness, hidden, comfortable.

He had a full glass of water. He was not hungry, just thirsty. He used to drink Glenlivet Whiskey. Now, he preferred a clean, cool glass of water, no ice. His mind was as clear as the water. The Solstices were still celebrated in rural Europe. That was important to him. That was of value. The natural growing seasons were of great value and he never forgot that. Real values were something he sought avidly and wanted to obtain for his inner self, now that his lifestyle was changing.

This was going to be huge, but he still had to be careful. He was in London, a city he loved. But, his move was shaky. He was a new man, well-educated, brilliant, in fact. He was one of the best computer programmers on the planet. One of the most innovative hardware designers, as well. His talent and equipment were unparalleled and well hidden. They had never been for public consumption. He would remain, thus, forever young - forever a child, a new man - not a corporate competitor. He was an anomaly.

__________

A hand grabbed him from behind, shoved him into a closet and covered his face with a wet cloth. After looking at the two men disguised in black balaclavas, Jake breathed in the chloroform and began to pass out, what went through his mind was the bucolic daily life of Stornoway, Scotland and the mists of the Outer Hebrides, his beloved homeland. Everything was of value there. The violet, chartreuse and ultra-sky blues in the flowing, water-like gaseous movements of the northern lights colored his fading consciousness. The colors of the wildflowers in the Spring. That was what he truly desired. That was where he went now, if only in his unconscious mind. He fell limply to the floor as the sounds in the other room indicated a violent search. His last thought was that of relief that his cash was hidden under his waistband inside a money belt.

Whoever did this to him, came back and also duct taped his hands and ankles, stuffing him further into the closet and locking the door. As Jake came to hours later, he overheard the two men talking about him. They had discernable British accents, despite the voice-changing mikes that they were using. He figured they were programmers looking for some of his code. He guessed they hadn't found anything yet. He was wanted in the United States for a murder he didn't commit and a felony bank heist that he had planned and helped to pull off successfully. His worst enemies, though, were other hackers. Maybe even his old cyber crew. He couldn't recognize these men, though.

"Is he still in the closet?" asked man number two, who had apparently gone out for a moment and just walked back in.

Jake had a rush of paranoia.

"Of course, he is still there. We would have to torture him to get him to talk. That is a much more serious charge than theft. It is easier to look for a notebook or laptop. Haven't found a thing so far."

"We need to find his code."

"I know. I guess you came up..."

"Empty so far. Nothing in the hall," said the second man as he continued searching inside the apartment.

"What is this guy doing these days, anyway?"

"No one knows. Nobody has seen him for quite a while."

"Yes, they have, but since his plastic surgery only a few of his former crew can recognize him."

"They held his surgeon at gunpoint, and forced him to reveal his new photos, kept for passport and identification purposes, along with Jake's alias."

"That's true. Good thing you knew one of that crew and you saw the photos. No one knows how many people can recognize his new face. Some of the people that want him are caught in a web that includes cops, the FBI, London Metropolitan police, and other security agencies. We want to be the first to break through. If other techies get him, he might go too far underground for us to find. He would be lost in cyber space."

Ah, ha! Jake thought. He knew it! Programmers!

Jake began to sweat. His hands shook.

There was a hesitation, then an exclamation from the man who was searching his place. "I found it! I found his programming notebook here, inside his sleeping bag, of all places!" The two men laughed. Jake could hear them turning pages. His heart sank. He thought, Why, oh, why had he ever kept a journal? How stupid was that?

One man continued to comment as his voice got more distant, as if he was moving towards the outside door.

"You'd think he would be too smart for that. Writing down code!"

"He should have memorized and destroyed this by now. Leave him in that closet. It's enough that we searched his backpack and the rest of the place. We can follow him if he goes anywhere. I'm not into a kidnapping charge. This is bad enough. All we need is that code."

"Luciano, this place is pretty much empty, so maybe he has not even really moved in yet. We'll see him again at some point. Here, let me check..." The same man quickly and audaciously opened the closet and exclaimed when he saw Jake who had kept his eyes closed. "He's still here. Out like a light." The two men laughed, searched him roughly and locked the closet door again. Then, they ran out of the apartment.

One of the men made a snuffling noise as he closed the apartment door behind him, saying, "That chloroform is giving me a runny nose. I just want a chance at that money. I don't want to get arrested myself. I friggin' hate jail. I'm not doin' no time for this. He doesn't know us, anyway."

Jake let out a huge sigh of relief as the two thugs left. Old issues were coming back to haunt him. This could be more dangerous than it initially sounded. It could be terminal. It was obvious that these men were after his programming, his computer code. Every hacker in London would like to get their hands on that. He had some ideas as to who the two men might have been.

The code in his notebook was encrypted with his own system, so he doubted that anyone could translate it. His life was on the line now and he knew it. Next time, it might not be just chloroform. Those men would be after him again when they discovered that they could not read his code with any known system. He guessed they were probably Cannoniere, but there were too many members of that club for him to know all of them.

__________

Jacob's mind returned to the simple rituals of the Summer Solstice, a place of comfort for him. The Solstice was the next day. He didn't really know why he constantly thought of the Isle of Lewis's Callanish Standing Stones (or Clachan Chalanais in Scottish Gaelic). It was a traditional Solstice calendar make of Stonehenge-like stones erected in the Neolithic Age - between 4500 and 2000 BC - thousands of years ago. These huge stones have accurately marked the natural, local growing season since that ancient time preceding the Bronze Age. The growth of forests, wildlife and the correct time to plant. Many modern people do not know that indigenous people all over the world, regardless of culture, planted ancient gardens within forests.

Jake's grandfather Bernard Campbell-Wheeler, one of his few remaining relatives and a trusted friend, would burn Juniper to rid the house of evil spirits at dawn on the Solstice. Jake could smell the sweet scent of the branches right now in his memory. In his boyhood, it would awaken him with a smile on his face. Now it superseded the vile smell of the chloroform. Who had found him out? He didn't know. Like we said, every hacker in town was after his computer code. Maybe every prominent hacker in the world.

He longed for his grandfather's protective arms, grandpop's dog Adair and his beautiful, gentle ponies Ainsley and Baird. His grand always appealed to his deeper poetic side, especially with a Fell pony named Baird - which means son of the bard (poet).

Jacob worked his hands loose from the duct tape that bound them, loosened his ankles and stood up shakily, wiping his sweating face. He put his ear to the closet door - there were no sounds, just the rushing wind from the window he had left open to let the warm summer air in. He broke the lock on the closet with his boot and walked out of it. He double locked his front door. He also put bullets in his pistol and stuck it in the back of his belt, under his shirt, within easy reach.

Basically, he had nothing in this place. True, he had thought of starting a new life here in working class London. London, a city that he had loved all his life. A city with wonderful memories for him. Well, it didn't look like that was going to be possible. Did it? No more sliding into a dream that did not fit.

He didn't know how they had found him. He was finished here, he knew. It was now much too dangerous to stay. He might not have what his intruders wanted, but that obviously made everything even more dangerous. They could just kill him out of spite and frustration.

He had unlimited funds at his disposal. His beloved and trusted grandfather was his banker and investor, covering his whereabouts and real identity so that he could use only cash. Keeping ahead of the game was what his survival depended on. Grand knew that. He was always on Jake's side, watching his back.

There was a leak somewhere. He didn't think it was his grand or his girl, Jessica Parker - who now lived on grand's estate in Sutherland, and knew his real identity. He had sent Jessica to his grand to protect her. Neither of them would knowingly betray him. Ever. They were true as true could be.

He had been on the run for twelve months more or less. He had been living in a tent in the beautiful forests of the Outer Hebrides, too scared to do anything else. He learned to love it there and to love that lifestyle. But, the time had come to try and live in a more convenient way. Despite having plastic surgery on his face done overseas, it was looking like he might have to move back to the forest.

This plan to move to London would not work. There had been a leak, there was no doubt in his mind. His life depended on finding out where it was. He was thinking about that obsessively and furiously. He could use an internet cafe and try and track some information down with his code for fake IP addresses. He had not put that information in his notebook. Who knew who he was now? What he looked like? The thought made him shiver with apprehension. Obviously, someone knew.

His mind returned to the glass of water and the sprigs of Juniper which lay on his table. His apartment was basically completely unfurnished. It echoed empty of anything except a backpack full of clothing, tenting and camping supplies, some food, a table and a chair. He even still slept in his sleeping bag and camping pad on the floor. He had just rented the place this week - now he would be forced to move on. He needed to run. Run before those guys came back for him, thinking he was still bound, locked in the closet. They had ransacked his backpack and searched the sleeping bag, but found nothing but the coded notebook. He took some time to clean up the mess they had made and re-packed everything.

But before he ran away from here, he must hearten himself with a couple of simple Scottish (Celtic) rituals celebrating the beginnings of a longer day, the season of growth, the Solstice.

Starting at dawn, the next day, was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Jake had taken the chance that his persecutors would have thought that he was still tied up in the closet. He took that chance and stayed in his empty apartment overnight. He felt the loaded gun in his belt. He put it next to him, inside his sleeping bag as he slept.

And it was that day, the next day, right before dawn when he awoke, still safe, thanking the stars for his preservation. Now, his pursuers seemed to have gone, dissolved in the morning sun like the dampness on the grass. For the longest day of the year, it was time to start his new life and evade those chasing him. He might be foolish, but he needed his grandfather's Solstice ritual.

Jake faced the northeast as soon as the top edge of the Sun's disc was visible on the horizon. Facing, in turn, in all four directions: East, South, West and North, he incanted verses in the Gaelic of his grandfather as he offered the water - ending with a long invocation in that language that he had memorized as a young boy. He remembered what the words meant as he poured some of the water on the floor. The sky began to light up more intensively as he sat cross-legged, silently.

About a year ago, Jake's new life had begun to become more natural almost by force - having accidentally crashed his own personal helicopter in the wilds of the Outer Hebrides islands and seashore during a ferocious rain storm. He had tried to outrun those, at that time, who were pursuing him, like now. He had been flying to his grandfather's estate on an island in the Outer Hebrides when he crashed. After that, he began living in the forest with his survival equipment.

As a result, he was now a completely natural man, no longer a criminal. A changed man. He lit the Juniper and swished the smoke around him and the room - throwing the remainder into the fireplace in the living room. Now all the evil spirits that had entered those rooms were exorcised and he was protected. Hopefully.

He felt relieved, as if the yearly exorcism had worked. He needed to leave quickly before anyone came to look for him again. Regardless of the joy of the Solstice, his escape to the city had been ruined and that made him depressed. He wasn't even aware of who had attacked him. He knew why, sort of, and had a clue as who it was, but he still was not sure. He was not sure of anything at this point. He put on a disguise to fool the CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras found around almost every street and street corner in London (and most of England), shouldered his large backpack and left the apartment hurriedly.

He was dressed as a bum, a homeless hippie punk. He felt that if he could manage to sneak over to Dornoch and take the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, he might be able to spend some time with his grandfather and Jessica. For some reason, he had never gotten any word that anyone had really confirmed Bernard Campbell-Wheeler as a close relative of his. Wheeler was a common name and Benny usually used Campbell as his legal name.

To be on the safe side, he had also never been back to visit since crashing his helicopter and going into hiding in the forest. He had called his grandfather a couple of times before on non-bugged, public landlines and updated him on his situation, so the old man knew what Jake needed from him. But, this was his first physical visit since his grand had renovated that estate and moved in. It had previously been way too dangerous.

He was beginning to tell Benny the truth about his former criminal life. His grandfather would have to know. Benny proved the gentleman. He simply told Jake that he was glad he had changed and that he would help him with anything he wished. The stars had certainly smiled on him in that way so far. There were also no more signs of those that were pursuing him.

His thirst for his former life of urban independence seemed foolish to him now. He did his best to plan his escape to his grandfather's estate without leaving a trail. He could take a local train from Euston station at King's Cross, London (which was within walking distance), thereby avoiding toll booths and their embedded cameras on the M6 highway. He could take the train all the way to Inverness, Scotland and hitchhike on the A9 north, up to Dornoch Firth, getting off before the bridge and walking across it into town.

His disguise should be workable without attracting too much disgust. And, hopefully - absolutely no recognition. His grand could pick him up in Dornoch and drive them both to the ferry in Ullapool, only an hour and a half away. He could walk from Inverness, but it would take him too long. Hitching, he could make the journey in about an hour - if he could get a good ride or rides. Hitchhiking was legal in Scotland. He just wanted to put a blind on anyone following a clear trail. As for the public ferry versus his grand's skiff, sometimes it was better to hide in plain sight - they would decide later. Electronically, it would be difficult to impossible to follow his route. (At least without a homing device.) Little did he know that was just what was planned. In a manner of speaking.

His plan to thumb his way to Dornoch from his debarking point from the train in Inverness, was good for disconnecting his route from his other plans. Having his grand pick him up when he got close enough to Dornoch would cover the old man. He didn't want his grandfather too closely connected with his stay in London - or him.

As a hitchhiker, his grand could easily pretend that he was a stranger and pick him up. Jake could use a pay phone or the telephone in a store or pub to call Benny when he got close enough. Cell phones and the internet were out in terms anything or the usage of things like emails. They were all easily traceable. The people on his trail were first class programmers and hackers and anything that was broadcast connected with him was an easy flag for both them and the police on his tail. He needed to be very careful of all the cameras on his planned route. Finding a ride almost all the way from Inverness to Dornoch should be easy. And, as we said, hitching in Scotland was legal.

The hackers and police agencies must be fighting with each other to still be after him. They would be angry that he had escaped from the closet like he escaped from a prison sentence. His European crew had just recently been released on probation from English prisons.

He had no money but his own. Not that the source of his funds bothered them. He was wealthy. His grandfather had given him a trust worth over 100 million pounds Sterling when he was still a child. He figured that most of the police agencies and hackers (except his former hacker crew) thought he had about 20 million American dollars from the Silver Lake bank heist.

Anyone could still demand any payment in return for his life. Not that he believed that they would continue to let him live after he translated the programming secrets they were after. They had already murdered a fellow crew member who had not wanted to mutiny against him. Of course, he knew that every whiz of a hacker wanted to take over his main virus program and eliminate him. If they were into that kind of thing. Not everyone was. Hacker or no.

Jake was a far superior programmer than anyone in the crew he had hired. But, they had become treacherous and greedy after the success of their last heist and shot Jason Bing (who was against the theft and mutiny), throwing him out of Jake's custom jet over the town of Silver Lake, Illinois. The horrid fact was that it was two children that had found the dead body.

All of this had changed Jake's life. He had never killed anyone, himself. The cops thought he might have been involved because he was the Captain of his crew. That was logical if Jason had been out to kill him, but he was not. The cops obviously, but erroneously, thought he had been.

Why did Jake steal, though? He had spent his boyhood alone with his computers, a bit of a social outcast at school. He had been ridiculed for his smallness and bullied for being clever and intelligent. He was too smart to attract friendships in elementary school. Then his parents divorced, which didn't help matters at all.

So. stealing, inventing embezzlement viruses and satellite hacks was simply a means to become popular - even though it was the wrong crowd he was trying to impress. Way wrong crowd. And it simply got worse as he grew up and got older. Now, he was tired of his former criminal activity.

His wealthy grandfather, an ex-real estate dealer, had given him the multi-million dollar trust fund as a reward when he was a young boy winning contests in secondary school. It was a gift presented to him when he did well in school or created a successful app. Both of which were easy for him - so he was flush, never needed any cash. And now, he wanted to become honest. The wrong crowd he had cultivated as his friends had turned against him and he was in a lot of trouble, even his brilliant mind found it difficult to completely understand the maze of violence that he faced now.

He had lived in the forests of the Outer Hebrides for over a full year. He had some help from Alastair MacGregor, an elderly local sheep farmer on one of the islands. He was, from time to time, able to snail mail and call his grand on a landline in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. He needed to watch over his grandfather and reassure him that he was all right. Now his thirst to return to the Scottish Sutherland overcame him after his failure to disguise himself and return to London.

There would be no electronic trail if he hitchhiked and slept outside. His grand was too old to be driving that far and his crew might try and trace Jessica - so that was not safe, and he would not allow it. Jessica knew Jake's situation well, so she would not try anything where she could be traced back to Benny Wheeler's island estate. Benny was listed officially as a Campbell (Bernard Wheeler's mother's maiden name), not as a Wheeler, which was why it had been doubly hard for anyone to connect Jake to him.

__________

Silver Lake entered its summer tourist season gently with throngs of vacationers, street musicians and outdoor vendors, as usual. In fact, the usual warm weather and peaceful crowds made a fine setting for Asia Reynolds' yearly published portrait album of her town. It was just what she needed to add to her repertoire of local historiography, which sold to cable TV, libraries and newspapers, and was framed and sold in local stores as well.

Located on the sparkling shores of the mighty Mississippi river, Silver Lake was awash in spectacular scenery - a fact that Asia's camera gladly took advantage of. When she wasn't taking still shots, she usually had some documentary film that she was working on. It was her documentaries that lent her the ability to help law enforcement when she could. That was a major contribution to society, as she saw it. She was familiar with a long list of eclectic subjects encompassing the world we live in. She was familiar with a wide spectrum of the techniques of in-depth research. Electronic and otherwise. She was not a programmer, but she was always learning new computer skills.

Asia was presently in the process of marketing two of her own recent documentaries - one on the fascinating history of Silver Lake which stretched back to prehistory - and another on the subterranean tunnels of London and the outlying rural cave systems in England. Her town was located next to Cape Girardeau, Missouri and East Cape Girardeau, Illinois. As such, Silver Lake had its own cave system and was connected to the Meramec Caverns in the nearby Missouri Ozarks.

The research for the second documentary - the one on subterranean England had helped to capture Jacob Wheeler's nefarious crew of embezzling computer hackers who had stolen large sums of money from the Silver Lake banks about a year ago. Due to her work in conjunction with Interpol and New Scotland Yard, the money had been mostly recovered and the crooks jailed.

But, not all the money had been found. There were still millions of American dollars missing.

Like so many other English jail sentences, the emphasis was on reform and not incarceration, so the sentences were way shorter than they would have been in America and the criminal computer programmers that had perpetrated these crimes were now back out on the streets, much to Asia's concern. Their European crimes had gotten them incarcerated in England and a plea deal with prosecutors in America traded that jail time for extradition. They were now out on probation, one misstep and they would be back in jail. Hopefully, an American jail this time.

If they again involved themselves in criminal activity, they risked being jailed for much, much longer terms or being extradited to the United States where they would receive much harsher prosecution.

Asia's fears were her own, she did not share them with anyone, which did not mean that other professionals around Silver Lake did not feel the same way. When disturbed, she reached for her greatest comfort zone, her dog, Zucchini, which is what she did right now, burying her face in the large Husky's luxuriant, golden ruffled neck. It was an instant feel-good.

If those criminals knew what she had done to catch them, she could be in a massive amount of trouble. She looked around her, no one seemed to be looking at her, so she kissed Zookie's soft face and hugged her protectively.

__________

A very hard-faced, white-haired man in his fifties with piercing, steel-gray eyes, walked decisively into the First Bank of Silver Lake ignoring the tellers and lines for the bank officers and other services. He knocked loudly on the door of a senior bank official. He had an appointment, plus he had no intention of ever having to wait to see anyone in this bank, or anywhere else for that matter. He had some obvious, outstanding problems connected with a sense of overworked self-importance.

He was, himself, the head of a major department in the FBI and only three years away from retirement with a full pension and maximum benefits, which was only one source of his habit of impatience. He was famous all the way to the White House for training domestic and foreign operatives and high-level security personnel. He was one of the best marksmen in the country, a very talented killer and in high demand not only in the agency, but also in the training of private army personnel - when he was allowed to participate. And even when he was not.

He spoke, read and wrote five European languages fluently. He was also skilled in Morse Code.

He banged on the bank officer's door so loudly, everyone waiting in the lobby turned around and stared at him. The door opened, and he walked in and sat down in front of the bank official's desk uninvited, saying, as he folded his hands into a prayer position, "You need to end your investigation into the .Mbezzel virus. We do not need or want your help. You do not know what you are doing and could cause damage that my agency cannot repair."

The bank official frowned, removed his thick glasses and jerked his head up from the papers he had been studying. He looked directly into his visitor's eyes and all semblance of welcome died on his face. He answered quietly in contra juxtaposition to the harshness and audacity of the agent, "But, we haven't recovered all of our funds. There are millions of dollars still outstanding that the FBI has not been able to find."

The jawline of the bank official's visitor tensed visibly. He answered, "I said end the investigation, and I mean immediately. Right now. Who do you think you are anyway? This case is much too big for you. It is not a simple theft of money. These men are everything short of international terrorists who will stop at nothing to manipulate themselves into a position of power. They hacked a communications satellite in order to do what they did to your bank, for god's sake!"

"I know," replied the bank officer simply, but with a tremulous voice and sweaty hands. It was as if he was the one being accused of embezzling his own bank.

"If you really knew as much as I did, you would have dropped the case long ago and let us handle it without interference. You could be killed for what you are doing. Your family..."

"Will be fine. No one will hurt me. They don't know who I am," the bank official objected weakly and without conviction.

"Yes, they do," answered the agent ominously.

The bank official gazed out his window and took a few moments to breathe deeply, look at the local trees and mull over this rather unfriendly man's comments. He answered, suddenly, "Okay, Agent Jones, I will simply make our accounting and investment departments available to your agents. You can continue alone. If you need our help, please don't hesitate to contact us."

"That would be fine," answered Jones. "We believe the original culprits are armed and dangerous. We, of course, have been working at your side for the last year. But now, the criminals who perpetrated this embezzlement of your area banks are loose again due to, what I think, are sometimes really unfortunate lax sentencing procedures in the UK. They are all out on a very early probation. You can understand that your continued involvement in the media makes your bank employees targets."

The bank official clapped his hands and smiled as he said, "Of course. Of course, Mr. Jones."

"I will take you at your word." With that, Jones strode, straight-backed, out of the bank with a loud, clipped gate, ignoring the stares of the bank's customers. He entered his chauffeur-driven black FBI SUV with blacked-out windows and went to eat at Silver Lake's finest restaurant, La Boheme, treating himself to what he felt was a well-deserved, albeit extravagant, feast at the federal government's expense.

His next visit in this town should be the local police department - again to warn them that this case was his - and his alone. Before he went into the restaurant, he had his chauffeur, Dobbs (who was also his personal secretary and a highly trained FBI agent, who doubled as Agent Jones' bodyguard) buy both of them round trip plane tickets to London.

Jones' cell phone rang. He answered it and said roughly, still sitting in the car, "He wrote all that programming! You were sent to get him to decipher that, get anything else you can, and send it to me. You were not sent to tell me someone got there before you did! Find him again and don't make a mess. Grab him and don't you dare hurt him before we have his code translated. We need his knowledge. You'd better get him within two days. I'm on my way there. Cheers, you idiot! You let him slip again - your life is on the line. We need that code! Call me when your mission is accomplished. Do not delay. There are no more excuses..."

For one FBI agent to another, threatening the subordinate agent's life was outside agency policy, yet Jones felt he had the power to do so. This whole thing was going to be done his way. Jones listened to the other agent's reply intently and then shouted into his cell, "I know he's been offline. There must be something we can trace him with - a passport, a plane ticket, a toll booth...something. That's your job. Get to it!" he clicked off impatiently and threw his cell phone onto the car seat next to him with red-faced anger, still mumbling to himself about the ineptitude of his agents.

His driver looked worried and a little scared. "Let me out of here!" Jones shouted at his driver as he was clumsily jockeying into a small parking space in front of the restaurant. The car stopped abruptly, throwing the angry Jones forward into the partition in front of him. He swung his door open and jumped out while the car was beginning to move again. "You watch your ass, too, Agent Dobbs!" Dobbs saluted his boss and ducked his head out of sight.

Hours later, after a very long, opulent meal, Jones suddenly remembered his appointment at the police station. He had turned his cell phone off at lunch. It was still on the back seat of the car. He would contact the local police in London to give some excuses.

He shrugged with indifference and went back to his hotel room and packed for his flight to London while Sergeant Sheila Rodriguez and Chief Ackerman fumed about the missed appointment. They had called Agent Jones several times and been sent to his voice mail. This hick town held no interest for Jones. He was here for reasons it could possibly take the SLPD years to unravel if he was successful. And, he was usually successful. This was a big case and he meant to ace it.

Jones was in the enforcement branch of the FBI. Jones and his chauffeur, Special Agent Dobbs, took a taxi to the Silver Lake International Airport at around 9 pm. Jones remembered with amusement how Jake Wheeler had shut this airport down. He chortled and rubbed his hands together thinking about it. Power was always of interest to him. Invincible power. The power of controlling media and electronics. It might just be within his grasp. It had better be, or someone would suffer.

__________

Jake ran to the train station at King's Cross, his backpack banging into his back. He had identity cards in the name of Joshua Handlin, although he didn't think he would need them. This was the first time in his life he had ever taken the train. He had always had a car and driver, and good ones. He paid cash for his ticket to Inverness and bought himself some fish and chips and a Coke, eating in the railway station. He finally felt safe. At least safe enough to have a meal. He drifted into a dozing daydream in the shafts of light coming through the windows of Euston station.

__________

Several competing groups scrambled to find Jake. They were at a loss. One group (the police) had access to the recordings of the London street cameras (CCTV). The other group (hackers) had easily hacked into the CCTV system and gotten the same footage. Neither group could spot anyone on the streets of London that resembled Jake Wheeler.

The hackers noted all pedestrians with luggage, which was brilliant and included large backpacks and pull along suitcases. They mapped all these people and their movements around London. They looked at one guy in particular. This guy was walking from an area near where Jake had rented his apartment to Euston station. He didn't look like Jake, but none of them did. They assumed he might be in disguise anyway.

__________

As Jake boarded his train to Inverness, he saw a fellow dressed all in black with sunglasses on inside the station. This nervous guy was taking a photo of him on his cell phone, or so it seemed. Jake bowed his head further inside the hood of his jacket and swung himself quickly inside the rail car. He hoped he was just being paranoid. It was easy to mistake someone taking a photo in your direction, even if they were photographing someone or something else.

That had to be one of his pursuers, he thought, anxiously. He was seriously getting paranoid and could not figure out who these people were. He didn't recognize the man's stature or other features - so he assumed his old crew had hired an outsider, someone Jake wouldn't recognize. Or, the fellow was an undercover cop. Either way, Jake did not want to be tailed. He suspected that those tracking him were checking out a variety of people that might be him without knowing for sure where he was.

He thought, my backpack! They are looking at people with luggage! But, he thought desperately, I need my camping supplies! Now, his safe haven in the forest could be jeopardized - or even his grandfather's place. He knew his disguise was a good one. That wasn't it. It had to be the obvious travel accoutrement of a backpack. It had to be the backpack! He couldn't get rid of that right now. It was everything he needed to survive, even sleeping outside.

These guys were good. He didn't think the cops were up on tracking any man around London that had luggage, but his old hacker crew just might be that clever and that desperate. They were after money and programming code, so they could torture him. The cops would not, he rationalized. He could get a death penalty for the murder accusation, but even if he was extradited to the US, Illinois had no death penalty. On the other hand, life in prison without parole was not appealing, either.

Even though he had nothing to do with killing Jason Bing over a year ago, he knew the justice system could hold him accountable anyway. He was the captain of the crew that murdered the man. The fact that that segment of the crew that murdered Bing had turned against him was his greatest defense. But, he needed proof that his crew was out to get him and he was not in their association any more. He snorted and thought, Well, the cops might be able to see that his old crew was not friendly towards him - at his own expense!

The English scenery dashing past his train window lulled his senses and he fell asleep, lying protectively against his incriminating backpack.

__________

Sergeant Sheila Rodriguez had waited an extra hour for Agent Jones to show up at the SLPD station. She disliked any cop that could not at least call in to cancel an appointment. He was supposed to outline their tactics in finding Jacob Wheeler, his ex hacker crew and the rest of the stolen money.

Patrolman Chico Almonte, her partner of many years, walked up to her desk with some take-out for lunch. He had gotten a large amount of Mexican food from The Mexican Hat restaurant.

As he put their lunch on her desk, she got up and wrapped her arms around her beau. His strong, muscular waist felt warm and his chest felt like a protective pillow for her head. "Difficult morning?" he asked, quietly, holding her against him more tightly, until she just sort of melted into his body.

"Yeah, baby. I really don't like folks whose job it is to protect the public that become lax in their work."

"I take it Agent Jones didn't show up for his debriefing."

"Yup. He was also unavailable on his cell and did not call to cancel."

"Did you call his office in DC?"

"Oh, Chico, you would not believe what the FBI home office in D.C. said."

"Huh, what?"

"Jones just left for London. He also had permission from his superiors to cut the First Bank from his investigation."

"Wow! So, you think the FBI..."

"Doesn't want us in the loop, either," interrupted Sheila. "Pretty sure of that, even though Washington did not say it literally. It seems inferred. They were not upset that Jones missed his meeting with us. They were even cavalier about it."

"It wouldn't be the first time that they would not want a small, rural police department in on their investigations. Makes sense if they are going undercover."

Sheila violently disagreed. She said, "We're the agency with the most information about the original crimes. They will have to, at some point, refer back to us before any trial."

Chico agreed. He said, "Okay, Honey - let's eat." Sheila was calmed and warmed up to another perspective on her day and let her worry over the Wheeler case slip away into the joys of having a meal with her significant other. Chico had a way of soothing Sheila's biting concerns. She was not one to let another police agency take away anything from their investigation of a case. But, this time, she had to let it ride a little.

__________

Jake Wheeler was a man who wanted a new life, an honest life. The men who pursued him, including the international police force were trying to punish or capture a man who had already changed - a man who didn't exist anymore. Jake was now a family man. He still loved programming, but not in a criminal way, which was why a small contingency of the hacker group Anonymous was trying to help him. The organization was his former enemy, but not anymore. The two members he had attracted appreciated the change in Jake. He was not yet aware of these guardian angels.

These folks from Anonymous would do their best to protect him. The London plan had just not worked out. They could follow him even if he was offline. They were real people too. They had street cred and plenty of members in Scotland. Even his old crew did not have their kind of access or talent.

So, it was bad hackers (Jake's old crew members) vs. good hackers (members of Anonymous)

vs. cops (Interpol, New Scotland Yard, the CID (Criminal Investigation Department in the UK) and the American FBI). Jake was running hard, not unaware of all the people interested in finding him. But, scared...In his mind it was spy vs. spy vs. spy...while he ran scared.

__________

The men who had chloroformed Jake broke into Wheeler's old apartment again. They needed him to decipher his notebook. Luciano said, defensively, "I'm only a programmer. I thought he was locked up! Look at the closet - he broke the door frame!" The two left, frustrated, arguing between themselves.

Just as they drove away, two members of Anonymous stepped out of their car and into Jake's old building, obviously having a look around. They found the door to his old apartment open and walked in. The woman called out, "Jake! You here? We are here to help you!" No one answered. There was just the sound of the wind through an open window and deep silence.

"This plan has holes in it. We had better get ahead of the crowd that could harm him," said Heart Hacker, a sister member of Anonymous. "We need to go. I know just where to look for him." The two partners drove quickly to King's Cross.

The two arrived at the Euston train station just as Wheeler boarded a train. Stealth, the male hacker, (who took Jake's photo with his cell) said excitedly as they saw Jake board his train, "You were talking about hacking all of London's CCTV. The whole of the UK, too?!"

"Yeah," said Heart Hacker. "Jake seems to know he is being pursued by the international police, other hackers and his own past crew. I am sure he knows some of his pursuers. We can insert any info or images we want in all of UK's surveillance videos. We can insert anything and totally misdirect any of his pursuers. They would expect him to run anywhere.

"The cops will be seeing our fake CCTV show, exclusively. No one will have any idea where the real Jake Wheeler is, except us. We will manipulate his other pursuers. We can unmask him for ourselves and use his own image to hide him. Assuming, that is, that they can figure out what he really looks like after his plastic surgery.

"It looks like somebody already did that."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Stealth enthusiastically. "You are brilliant! Since he has no idea of exactly who is pursuing him, we can take over the chase."

"That's the idea. No one will know who we are because even Jake doesn't know."

"No one will know anything unless we want them to. We can use their methods for ourselves."

"Anonymous can do anything!"

"Almost..."

"They'll never know why Jake disappeared this time. Or where to..."

"Good. We can do anything we want. We can send him to Australia using his previous image before surgery."

"This is wild. Let's!"

"Let's what?"

"Send him to Australia. It'll drive the cops nuts. Hold onto your computer hat," exclaimed Heart Hacker, the girl in charge. "Where's my laptop?"

"Ha...it's in the car. I'll get it."

"Hurry, we need to follow Jake."

"Okay, buddy. Be right back. Steal some signals, Heart Hacker. Let's make it Valentine's day, the heart's favorite holiday!"

"Yeah. My day, my way."

Three minutes later, Stealth burst into the station and said, "Car's running. Ticket man says Jake (who I said was my cousin) is on his way to Inverness. Come on. No time to lose. Your laptop is plugged into the car socket. Let's go get some ghost!"

"Seriously, I am going to create a guardian angel electronic phantom Jake and compromise CCTV our way. Let's drive into the past!" commented Heart Hacker quietly.

Stealth and Heart Hacker drove away in a hurry getting on the M6 highway to Scotland as Heart Hacker worked on her computer in the car and changed the videos of Jake into images that showed him going in a completely different direction. He was now on his way to 'nowhere' that anyone could trace.

Soon the image of Jake Wheeler showed up at Heathrow Airport boarding British Airways flight 734 to Sydney, complete with a bulging backpack and the clothes he had on last night.

Stealth shook his head in disbelief and said, "Heart, how'd you know what Jake usually wears?"

"I was there."

"What?"

"Don't try and understand it. I saw him before you ever knew about him."

"Wow! You blow me away. You are amazing!"

"I know, mate. I know."

|  |

---|---|---

# Chapter Two: The Home Front

--------

MEANWHILE, BACK AT the farm, two babies started to fuss as Elise Jamison, local black cable newscaster and childhood friend of Asia Reynolds, held them. They were her identical twins, Dylan and Deirdre, born about a year ago. Now, thankfully, weaned to bottles and solid food. Getting almost too big for their tiny mother to hold them at the same time, much to her rue. Hugging babies was Elise's joy.

Asia, Elise and Sylvie (Asia's teenaged niece) were having a vegetarian lunch and listening to the fussing children at the kiddie table in the dining room, with Elise trying to get them to share and stop grabbing and squabbling. Forget about mommy's lunch.

All was not going well. Asia took half a veggie roll and went in to see if she could help. The twins quieted immediately. Elise threw up her hands and said, "I just love babies, especially my own. When you're done cleaning all the food, spit, vomit, dookie and whatever and washing everything, all they do is argue. No, Asia - not when you or some other well-meaning stranger walks in. Then, Dylan and Deirdre stop in shock, glide into their intel mode and go silently through a few cutsie pantomimes of being wonderful babies. They start competing for favors from the new person. That quiet is ominous, but it is at least quiet."

"Shit," said Asia, self-consciously, biting into her roll-up and sitting down.

"Don't get me wrong, Asia. What I am saying is that I like it when people interrupt these two when they are arguing with each other. I know I love them and it is my fault that they are so intelligent. I guess they will learn to read by five and give interviews by ten. I'm okay with that. I can produce The Mississippi Twins Journal and put them on cable," concluded Elise, sipping her tea while it was still hot, happy when her babies were happy. Happy to finish her own lunch.

Asia grinned and went into the kitchen to finish the rest of her food and pour a fresh cup of tea. Sylvie finished her meal, kissed her Aunt Asia on the cheek and called Junior, her year-old St. Bernard. She waved at Elise and the children and took her dog outside, hitching Punkin, her aunt's rescued donkey, to her cart. She rode over to Frankie Franklin's private animal rescue where she worked.

When she got there, she noticed that the rescued chickens and ducks were loose already, having a good time in the pasture with a couple of rescued horses. The horses looked a little overwhelmed at the crowd.

Sylvie got to work cleaning the large coop inside the barn and mucking out horse and goat stalls. She filled all the feeders and cleaned and refilled water troughs. Then, she sat down outside after putting out a couple of fresh hay bales for the horses, making sure Punkin could not reach the Timothy hay, since she ate mostly Barley straw to keep from getting a hay belly and becoming overweight. Timothy could make a donkey or burro really sick.

Sylvie pulled out a Seven Up from her igloo cooler and found some shade.

Frankie wasn't usually home when she started work at her ranch, so she was alone and sort of liked it that way...trusted and independent.

__________

Asia was helping Elise clean up the twins, give them a bath and put them to sleep in one of her guest rooms.

Elise sat down for a cup of coffee and Asia poured herself some more home grown organic peppermint tea (a favorite) - adding Elise's honey to the mix. For a small-boned, rather physically timid person (the opposite of Asia who was almost six feet tall), Elise actually showed some bravery in raising her own bees and harvesting honey for a hobby after her work at the cable station. For work, she was a cable news reporter for station KANU and had her own late-night news magazine, The Mississippi River Journal.

The cry of a small child resounded down the stairs. Elise said, "Oopsie doozle!" and ran upstairs, opening the child gate at the top of the stairs to see what the matter was.

At the same time, Asia's back door opened suddenly and Dr. Rainier Voss, head of NASA's computer department let himself in the unlocked entrance. He said, in a jokingly stern voice (with just a hint of concern) "Asia! Still not locking the back door?!" Zucchini, Asia's big Husky-German Shepard barked only once and then started wagging her tail in recognition and wiggling her fanny. She ran over to Dr. Voss.

"Rainier! Wha...what brings you here?" stuttered Asia in shock, surprise and delight. She rushed over to embrace her sometime lover. "Oh, it is wonderful to see you! Are you on vacation? Why didn't you email or call me?"

Voss hugged Asia back and whispered in her ear, "I am here on business. This is a clandestine visit. May I stay here? Please don't tell anyone about my being here. Sergeant Rodriguez knows, your closest friends will find out - but they must not speak of me outside our circle. I am here on official FBI business again."

Asia pulled away and looked at Rainier in concern, almost disappointment. She said, "Of course you can stay with me. What is wrong? Can you tell me?

Elise walked in with little Dylan on her hip saying, "This young man refuses to go to sleep. I need to put on your Isaiah Katuma African Smoothie CD (the one I gave you). That is a favorite of his, then he will settle down." Elise looked at Rainier with a question in her eyes. She knew he usually lived on base at Cape Canaveral in Florida, since he worked at the Kennedy Space Center and other NASA offices. "And you, Dr. Voss, are here for...?" she asked, always fishing for news, which she sometimes used as an excuse to gossip locally.

Asia and Rainier looked at each other helplessly silent at the interruption.

"Well, ex - cuuuse me! Act like I'm not here, please!" said Elise, happy to see Voss, but miffed at the silent reception. She took her son into the other room to search for the CD. Dylan, who had been sniffling, stopped when the first cut of the CD began to play. He smiled and clapped his hands. Elise kissed her now contented little boy and said into the kitchen, "What brings you here, Doctor Voss? Your girlfriend? Or need I ask?"

Voss looked seriously at Asia and told her to let Elise in on the secrecy of his visit. She nodded in assent.

"Yes, that is it. I am on a short vacation, but I don't want to tell anyone about it for privacy reasons," answered Voss from the other room. "That boy of yours is getting very large. Does he talk much yet?"

"As much as he can. With me as his mother, you know speaking one's mind is the beginning of a career."

Voss laughed loudly, looked deeply at Asia and said, again in a whisper, "The hackers are back. That is why I am here. I am here to guard your village and keep it safe from electronic intrusion. No repeats of last winter." He said to Elise, more loudly, "I would appreciate it if you did not tell anyone I am here. I value my privacy with Asia over the short time we have together. Let's not make this complicated."

"No problem, Dr. Voss, I will honor your request. Part of my business as a news anchor is keeping the trust of my sources. You know that."

Asia was so taken aback at the news about the hackers, she had to sit down. She put her head in her hands, thinking about losing her cell service which she depended on for her work. She could not lose her internet which was also important for her documentary research. She rocked back and forth in real pain and said, "Oh, no..." in a groan.

Voss mysteriously held his finger to his lips and raised his eyebrows. "Tell no one," he said in a whisper. "I need some sleep. I have been working on these problems twenty-four hours a day for a week. Things could get serious around here at any time. We do not know exactly where Jacob Wheeler's old crew members have gone to since their release from prison."

"Go upstairs," said Asia, holding Rainier by the waist. "Use one of the guest rooms that Deirdre is not sleeping in. Be quiet, so you do not wake her, please, Honey." Voss kissed Asia on the cheek and smiled. "Will do," he said. "Just remember, tell no one. Our safety depends on it."

"Of course," answered Asia quietly. "Not a word."

Elise walked back into the kitchen just as Rainier walked out with his suitcase and took the stairs to the second floor of the old Victorian two by two humming some Beethoven to himself. He smiled in anticipation of playing Asia's lovely Yamaha baby grand. Voss was a very accomplished classical pianist. Giving up life in the concert hall, he had instead chosen a future of electronics and computer programming.

At first, when Voss was a young high school student, he had been an anti-government hacker. Then, when he was caught by the FBI when he was around twenty something, he had been put in prison for a long time. After that, having learned his lesson, he had been recruited by the same agency that had arrested him and had turned government informant and young FBI agent trainee.

After earning a physics degree at Harvard, he joined the NASA computer department, but continued to serve the FBI when needed. Dr. Rainier Voss was a computer expert, there to collect evidence, digital and otherwise. Voss was a Technical Adjunct hired for his advice, not necessarily his enforcement skills. He had the right to arrest anyone, but that was not his primary job.

He was, then, an extremely talented and accomplished gentleman who was in love with the talented and accomplished documentary filmmaker, Asia Reynolds.

Last winter, he had rescued the entire town of Silver Lake from a band of electronic thieves who had hacked a satellite. He was the NASA employee that had first suspected the hack and the perfect investigator to send to Silver Lake to try and find out who was behind the intrusion. With Asia's help, he, Interpol and the FBI were able to round up and arrest almost all those responsible. The hackers were all European and mostly English.

Now, they were out of prison and back in business. England giving them only typically short sentences and claiming jurisdiction due to the past offenses of these hackers on British soil. Three crew members directly responsible for the murder of another crew member on American soil were in prison for life (without possibility of parole) in Illinois, though. The rest of the crew had not been extradited, only being charged with European hacks. Jake Wheeler was being sought for the same murder.

Asia's best buddy (Elise) said in a huff, "What's all the whispering about?" Then she said, "Oh, shit. I know! You're getting married!" She hopped around the kitchen in an improvised dance with Dylan laughing and running around behind her, trying to imitate his mother's dance moves in a very comical way. "I knew it! I just knew you'd marry that sweet bit of whipped cream, Rainier Voss! He's just right for you!" Elise stopped dancing and frowned. She went on, "Hey, girl, where are you going to live? Here or there? Oh, my god! You better not leave me! I need babysitters until the twins are twenty. At least!"

Asia laughed and covered her mouth. She said, "Sorry to disappoint you, Elise. I'm not getting married. Can't a girl have a secret with her own beau?"

"Nope," answered Elise, picking up the now drowsy Dylan who lay his head sleepily on his mother's shoulder and closed his eyes. "Better tell me everything. You knew me first." She hesitated, then said, "And longer, too."

Asia smirked and bumped shoulders with her (the one that little Dylan was not asleep on). "It is nothing, Elise. This is just a surprise visit. I had no idea Rainier was coming. He is on vacation, that is all. We just made plans for a short getaway together. A day or two for just the two of us."

"I suppose I could let you do that," responded Elise, generously. "I mean after all, I went to the Bahamas with Elton (her husband on their honeymoon). That counts."

"Asia!" called Rainier from upstairs. "Come here. I need you!"

__________

By the time the train from London got to Perth, Scotland, Jake Wheeler began to snore - loudly. He awoke and laughed to himself. He was so comfortable on this train. He smiled to himself and thought, I used to have a driver and a limo. My own personal helicopter and jet... There the thought broke off and he fell deeply asleep again, sweet and dreamless. He had booked a seat on the Caledonian Sleeper train at Euston. He really enjoyed looking out the window. He now slept beautifully.

Then he thought, "It's better here..." with no images, just the voice in his deep sleep.

__________

Heart Hacker and Stealth spoke to each other as they drove across the border into Scotland, from the M6 highway in England onto the A9 in Scotland.

"So," commented Stealth as Heart worked furiously changing video and tracking signals over all the surveillance cameras in the UK, giving the fake digital Jake Wheeler a fine, smooth landing in Sydney, Australia. "I heard you were homeless since you were sixteen."

"About that. Still am," answered Heart without much feeling. "I like the independence. No one ever knows where I am. I can run internet from anywhere and bounce my IP address off any hacker in eastern Europe. I am just a code. Not even a real person."

Stealth continued, "I also heard you were a secondary school dropout genius, taking legitimate computer contracts temporarily in order to earn a living, but you were a hacker by night."

"You have me, brother. Anonymous members sure do gossip. Those airways are alive with stories about anyone and everyone. For the former bag man for a London drug dealer - you get around the higher circuitry pretty well."

"Why, thankee, mate."

"Hmm..." responded Heart. "Just a few more video stories and our 'Tales of the Ghost of Jake Wheeler in Australia' will be complete for now. More later, as needed."

"Good. We are almost to Perth. We should check the train and make sure Jake is okay and still on board."

"Oh, he'll be on board. His grandfather can travel easily to Dornoch. I suspect that is his destination. He is a bit more of a baby than we might guess. When he is in trouble, he usually runs to Benny Campbell-Wheeler. He has since he was a child. So far, we, I suspect, are the only people that know about Benny. Oh, and he has a girlfriend named Jessica, too. She is in the Sutherland, also. The guy runs on love when needed. He is a good person, that is, as you know, why we are here."

"Sure thing, Heart."

Heart shifted her position when her cell phone vibrated. She answered it. It was a text from an Anonymous colleague whom she had contacted before setting out on her journey to Scotland. He was very interested in helping. The text read: "Exile 1 and 2 - should we set off the drones? They are in Perth, flew there earlier today. Answer please, 10-4."

Heart answered, "Not yet, wait until we check the train at Perth. We are about an hour away. You can hover those three drones until we give the thumbs up. When we okay it, please start recording as well. The drone videos may prove invaluable."

"I can easily set insect drones on the train in Perth. 10-4"

"Fine thing, Commando," texted Heart. "Do it! Then we can see all the passengers and their interactions with Jake and each other. We can observe Jake 24 hours a day. Great. No one even knows that insect drones exist. We just have to worry that someone might swat at them and destroy them. They look almost identical to house flies. Who would suspect a common house fly to have a video camera? I will put small screens in the corners of my laptop and cell phone, so I can monitor Jake at all times. 10-4 back 'atchya'"

"Exile 1 - I will place the insect drones on the train at Perth as instructed. Will zip them right inside the car. You will see them follow you on board. 10-4."

"Okay, Commando. Will text when we arrive in Perth."

Stealth said, "Damn, he sounds like military. Can't even assume the end of the text, has to say 10-4. Weird."

"He's a former American Seal Commander," answered Heart with a smile and nod. "Super technician. Up on all the latest devices if we need combat protection. That includes guns, red pepper capsule trajectory guns and stun guns. The latest."

"Owie, owie..."

"Commando is a great source of surveillance intel. The best."

"Yup. But on our side exclusively, no politics but our own. Better or the same as the CIA, NSA and FBI. Watch and see. I've used him before to take down British rapists and killers and protect me while I do it. We've got at least three Green Hornet broadcasting drones waitin' for us in Perth. We are good to get Jake to grandpa's. Real good."

"Hallelujah! Blessed Be!"

"You know we have access to FRS if we need it - if anyone we don't know interferes with our mission. I only have to send it to the Commando. He will run the program and mail us back."

"Facial Recognition Software?"

"Oh yeah, brother! FRS!"

"Sounds like we are gearing up for a war to protect Superman. How about the Kryptonite?"

"We have it. In the pocket. We even have night vision and RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) if we need them, including launchers. The guys after Wheeler are real bad ones. Bad enough for them to chloroform him and lock him in his own closet. We are lucky they didn't kill him. His skills are valuable to the good people of this planet. The people after him are thieves. And the cops have the wrong info."

"Hmm...I love the duct tape thing. It is so very weak. Anyone except an infant can get loose from it. So, I know, Heart, that these guys are bad."

Heart commented sincerely, "What we need most of all is to not have anyone follow us or suspect where Jake is going." Heart snorted, then said, "We want them wandering around Australia looking for him. If we have to fight, we will attract too much attention. I will personally haunt and destroy any renegade programmer that tries to take Jake or his precious secrets. You know how much I hate programmers that harm innocent people. Everyone has the right to change for the good, like Jake is trying to do. Everyone."

"That's why we are here, Heart," said Stealth as he pulled up to Perth station, their first stop in Scotland. He pulled into the parking lot at Perth and chose a space overlooking all the incoming and outgoing trains. He got out of the SUV and stretched, reaching with his arms over his head. He groaned. Heart laughed at him and stood on the other side of the car, looking across the hood. He bent over from side to side and twisted his torso as much as he could.

Three obnoxious houseflies hit Stealth on the side of the head. He swore and brushed them away as a train to Inverness pulled up to the platform. He waved at heart and said, "Look! It must be the one to Inverness. I think that's Jake's train. I'll go and ask. You stay here and be a look out. Run your laptop so we know when the drones get here."

Stealth looked down at his feet in confusion, thinking about the three slightly out of season - but not impossible - houseflies that had annoyed him just then. His heart sank. He could not say anything to his companion. One major problem insect drones had was an aggressive human. Ah, jeez! he thought. He hoped he hadn't destroyed any of their drones.

"What's the matter, Stealth? You look like you are going to faint. Are you okay? Maybe you should sit down."

Stealth rubbed his face with both his hands. He leaned back against the car and took a deep breath, still rubbing his face.

"Look, Stealth, the train is debarking! I think I see Jake!" Heart pointed towards the tracks. "Doesn't the guy with the huge backpack look like him?" Heart hesitated and looked piercingly over at Stealth. He hadn't answered and still looked pale.

Then, he looked up at the train and nodded. He said, "Uh...Yeah, yeah. It looks like him all right." Stealth pulled his hood up and covered part of his face. He ran swiftly towards the tracks with one shoulder to the property wall, in the shadows of the trees lining the station.

This time, he was watching for the flies he had seen before, way more carefully.

Heart began running her contact program for Commando and the drones. She saw a drone video which indicated that the drone was flying next to a train. The sign on the side of the train said clearly Euston to Thurso. Since there was only one train at the station, that had to be Jake's train, assuming he was aboard.

Heart Hacker yelled to Stealth, "Robert! Hey, Bob! Bo - Yo!" Stealth looked at her, surprised and pointed to his cell phone. Heart yelled again, "No! Come here. Quick!"

Stealth ran up to the tracks and back to the SUV. "What?" he asked, breathlessly. "That is Jake. I got a good look."

"We have feed from the drones," exclaimed Heart.

"Oh, good! Did they find Jake?"

"Yup. Right on target! Look at this..." Heart pointed to a small screen in the upper left corner of her laptop. A much larger picture showed most of the train's platform from a small camera that Stealth had planted on the wall.

"By the way, Heart, how did you know my name is Bob?"

"You know, I have my info sources."

"I know now."

__________

Jake got back on the train at Perth. Three very small insects followed him close to his shoulders. One of them landed on his backpack for a while. Heart could see the side of Jake's face and whatever was off to his left. Occasionally, a fly drone would rotate so Heart (and Commando, who was flying the drones) could see 360 degrees around Wheeler.

Heart Hacker boarded the train at Perth also. If Jake got off the train unexpectedly, she could notify Stealth on her laptop using a code that masked who and where she was. She wore a Kevlar vest and carried an automatic pistol along with other defensive weaponry - including her favorite - a pepper spray gun. She had seen big guys shrug off tasers, but pepper in the eyes brought everyone low and generally would not alert police.

__________

Stealth needed to drive their SUV to Inverness. He needed to follow Jake and Heart. The journey by car took about two hours. He would meet Heart there and they would implement the second part of their plan. They assumed that Jake would take the train there. If he got off early, Heart would notify him.

Cell phones were out of the question right now. Stealth needed to use Heart's contact programming app which moved their IP addresses around so they could not be traced online. Remember, two different groups of antagonistic hackers were chasing Jake. Plus, a group of police that wanted him for a murder he did not commit and a few felonies that he did. So, a simple phone conversation was too unprotected.

The video broadcast from the fly drone near Jake was watched closely by Jake's Anonymous bodyguards. Stealth's laptop was on, too, so that Heart could send anything she had recorded from the drone and text him via private messenger at the same time. He could also turn on live drone feed, but that was too difficult to watch while he was driving.

Stealth got to Inverness way ahead of the Euston train. The drone videos on Stealth's laptop were clear and in full color. Their ward, Jacob Wheeler, seemed just fine and was waking from a long sleep on the train. He left the train, walked down the platform to a bench and sat down heavily, removing his backpack and wiping his brow with his hand.

Stealth caught sight of Jake again, then Heart, as soon as they had climbed down the stairs from the train platform to the parking lot. Stealth wondered if Jake had a ride waiting for him.

A couple of flies had gotten on Jake's nerves. He thought it was odd that they seemed to be attracted to something in his backpack and didn't fly away even when they hit the open air. Maybe his laundry or some food he had was the attraction. More than likely, he thought and brushed the flies away.

It was getting dark. Jake gasped as the Aurora Borealis spun a web of green silk across the fading blue of the sky. He smiled a little to himself, which - through the eye of a fly made even the deeply serious Commando chuckle to himself.

Heart climbed into the SUV and spoke with Stealth. As they conferred, Jake walked right past them to a main intersection and stuck out his thumb.

Heart shouted at her partner, "Let's go! Jake is thumbing! He's not staying in Inverness. We had better follow him. We can't give him a ride unless he is injured. That would put us on the radar of the cops and anyone wishing him harm. But we can stay close by." She turned her drone feed back on to get a closer look at Jake's activities. The two moved quickly to the exit of the parking lot, just as Jake picked up his first ride.

__________

Rainer Voss had gone down into Asia Reynolds' basement to bring up some frozen vegetarian lasagna with special sauce and ground homegrown, organic eggplant. A one of a kind dish with fresh ingredients right from Asia's garden. This was seriously gourmet and making him anticipate the savory scent of it warming in the oven. He was not a vegetarian, far from it, but Asia was. And she was a fine cook, as well. So, he had become an enthusiastic advocate of her cooking skills and didn't care if it was all vegetable or not. She always offered meat additions if he, or anyone, wanted them. He never needed anything like that. He ran down the stairs in anticipation.

Suddenly, his head was spinning, and his mouth tasted of blood and it hurt. He realized that his eyes were shut, so he opened them and saw that he was nose down on Asia's gray cement floor. He had just missed the steel drain grate. Had he hit it, his nose would have been broken. He assumed that he had fallen down the stairs in his haste. Silly haste, he thought.

He closed his eyes and passed out.

__________

Later, that night, Jones flew from Silver Lake to London Heathrow with Special Agent Dobbs, his chauffeur-bodyguard. When they landed, and they were by the luggage carousel, Jones waved at a red-hatted concierge and Agent Dobbs helped the redhat retrieve their bags. Later, Jones and Dobbs sat down to a meal of steak, potatoes and salad. Jones fiddled with his laptop between bites. He seemed satisfied with what was on his screen and the meal. Dobbs relaxed and looked forward to clean sheets and his hotel room. Dobbs sighed - a little too loudly.

Jones looked up sharply and squinted his eyes at his employee. "Not yet, Dobbs, there might be more to do tonight. It seems that the locals cannot find our target. They are looking at foreign countries right now."

Dobbs cracked his back as he stretched. He thought, Only my boss would call New Scotland Yard "locals". Dobbs wiped his mouth and hands with a linen napkin. "So," he said, quietly, "What is our agenda, then?"

Jones answered, "I have some ideas about where to look, but I need to contact our computer department in D.C, to examine Jacob Wheeler's possible movements. We need recent CCTV feed from London."

"Don't you think Scotland Yard and Interpol have gone over all that?"

Jones' face turned bright red and he wrung his napkin in an angry gesture. He slapped the cloth down on the table, rattling the silverware. A waiter hurried over to Jones. He wrinkled his forehead and asked anxiously, "Sir, is there anything wrong?! May I be of service?"

Jones waved him away with the back of his hand, a gesture that was getting too familiar to Dobbs and was beginning to embarrass and anger him.

"No...no," Jones practically shouted, gaining the inquisitive attention of a few other patrons. "I am talking privately with my partner. May we have some space? There is no problem here. Mind your own business."

Dobbs smiled apologetically at the waiter and other diners. Jones took no notice and kept on talking to Dobbs, "I need to keep a close watch on the feed from Quantico. We might need to board a late train or plane, depending on where they think Wheeler is bound."

Dobbs was too smart to groan out loud, but he did so internally. Jones spoke to him with the usual commanding tone in his voice, "Dessert would be too heavy, so go and pay our bill from the company account."

Too heavy? thought the rather big Dobbs, who had a rather big appetite, too. For you...the only one in the room, I guess... He kept the rest of his thoughts to himself, wisely, no doubt.

Dobbs obligingly paid the bill and got two onion bagels, cream cheese and a large regular coffee to go. He hadn't eaten for most of the day, so...what the hell.

Maybe he could sneak enough personal time to snack and watch Manchester United play tonight on the television. No pubs for him, though. He knew that. Best to be sober. Coffee and a little British soccer, he relished the thought.

__________

Jake got a great ride. The driver was going all the way to Dornoch, but Jake told him that he needed to get off at the bridge over Dornoch Firth. A very unobtrusive insect crawled under a flap on Jake's backpack. Commando and Heart listened intently to the audio feed, another fly drone landed on the back of a rear seat near the windshield and was broadcasting panoramic video from inside the car.

The driver, Barclay MacDougall, seemed to be a local sheep farmer from northern Scotland, from all Jake could gather from their conversation. No threat whatsoever, so far. Barclay seemed to honestly enjoy Jake's company for the short ride to the Firth bridge.

Jake took out a bag of sandwiches he had bought on the train platform in Inverness, offered one to Barclay (who turned it down), and began to eat. A fly appropriately buzzed around Jake's hand and the sandwich. Heart giggled and texted Commando: "Funny move, Mando!"

"Que nada..." he wrote back.

"So, you are on a camping trip?" asked the sandy-haired Scotsman.

"Oh, yes," answered Jake. "I am on a long vacation."

"What kind of work do you do?" asked MacDougall.

The question seemed to throw Jake for a moment. He hesitated. Heart commented, "Oh, no. He had better use whatever story he planned on and stop acting flummoxed."

Stealth nodded, "The driver sounds innocent, but Jake needs..."

Then Jake answered, quickly changing the subject a little, "I'm suffering some burn out. Shuffling papers too much. Nature relaxes me. I enjoy the simple life when I am tenting and sleeping outdoors."

MacDougall chuckled, "Come to me wee farm, then. Me and me family will feed you and take you to your campground, later. Stay overnight if you like."

Jake smiled. He finished his sandwich.

"Is that sandwich local? Smells like fish." Asked Barclay with another smile.

"Yeah. I got these at the fish store inside the little cafe at the train station. Lovely little place. One can get some nice hot haggis there, too. It is local lobster with some onion, lettuce and seafood dressing. I've never seen lobster in a sandwich before. A lot of seafood around here."

Barclay's curly red-blonde hair bounced in the wind coming in the driver's side window as the sun went down and lavender silk started crossing the chartreuse silk of the Borealis. He chuckled. "I know..." he said with another laugh. "Inverness is a bonny town. I always enjoy my stays there."

Jake finished his sandwich, drank some fruit juice and looked at the three flies sitting on the dashboard looking back at the used fish store sandwich paper in his hand.

MacDougall said with another smirk, "Go ahead. Throw it out the window. Later, do penance. Pray. Bugs and nasties always live outside. Getting rid of them comes first. Can't you smack those flies?"

Jake felt intimidated. "Sorry," he said, trying to brush the flies away with his hand. He slipped the fishy smelling wrapping paper out his window.

Jake got the funny feeling that the flies looked offended. One by one, they flew back to their perch on the top edge of the back seat. One flew back a little way, and stuck upside down on the ceiling light. Heart and Commando got a great 360 from that drone, albeit they had to switch the view because it was all upside-down.

__________

Dr. Rainier Voss regained consciousness several hours after he had passed out. He awoke confused and disoriented. Asia was helping him to stand, which he was unable to do. He sat down again on her basement floor. He looked up at her and frowned. "Who are you and where am I?" he asked. One thing Voss could remember, he was in this town on a mission. What mission it was, he did not know. Everything was just fog.

The woman who stood over him looking so concerned was rather pretty, despite her being very tall for a lady. He wondered who she was. He remembered he was trying to tell her something before he passed out. He couldn't remember what it was. He closed his eyes.

There was no doubt in Asia's mind that Rainier Voss had amnesia, possibly a rather dangerous concussion, too. He was going right to the hospital, after she called the police station and reported the break in.

|  |

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# Chapter Three: Sutherland & The Chase

Jake got into a philosophical discussion with Barclay. Stealth, Commando and Heart had been listening intently. Then, Jake shocked all of them with how much of his real self he was willing to divulge.

"I was thinking of quitting that job," Wheeler said. Heart raised an eyebrow.

"The one you are on vacation from?" asked MacDougall.

"Yup. I don't like the pressure."

"That's why you are out here, isn't it? Going to rough it, get back to nature? Let nature heal you?" asked Barclay.

"Huh, hah. Yeah. Something like that. I might just go ahead and rent a croft house out here, too. I like it that much."

Stealth looked at Heart and spoke during the silent pauses in drone audio feed, "We are only about an hour's drive from the Firth. We should get to Dornoch around 9 pm, assuming Jake is going that far north and stopping for a while. Of course, he could be going all the way north to Thurso or even further on some other road."

"Bet he turns off," commented Heart. "He seems to be looking for something."

"...or someone. There are a few Wheelers around Sutherland or Wheeler-Campbells. Any of which could be a relative," rejoined Stealth.

"That's half the county."

"Or more, which might be why the bad guys could not find any of Jake's relatives up here. The name changes could confuse them. We'll see. We'll be at the bridge in about ten minutes. I can smell the sea already," Stealth observed. He reached over and got a piece of cold fried fish from Heart's take-out container. He opened a can of strawberry soda. "You know, we might need to start thinking about getting a hotel room at some point. I need some sleep."

"That depends on where Jake is going."

"True. A nice B&B would do it. One with some good food."

"There are so many nice beaches up here."

"It shouldn't be difficult to find something right on the ocean."

Jake went on with his discussion with Barclay, "Some forms of greed are silent and insidious. They lurk rather than strike. I found that developing inside of me at that job"

Heart poked Stealth and shook her head, thinking, How close is he going to get?

Jake looked out the open car window as he dug in his backpack for a sweater. The evening was getting colder.

MacDougall commented wisely, "Yeah, some people don't even know they are carriers - in danger of falling into deep, sleepy, silent greed channels. I agree with you."

"You can't even name it when it hits."

Barclay said, "The elephant in the room."

"Yeah, my man, it is huge. It became embedded in my daily activities."

"Can't miss it, but it might not click with the owner."

Jake nodded his head and rejoined, "Didn't click with me. Does now, though. It got transparent. I kept obsessing with the thought that the life I chose at my job didn't fit me entirely."

"Well, here I am," Jake said pointing at the large steel structure ahead of them. They drove up to the entrance of the huge Dornoch Firth bridge.

Barclay said warmly, "Sure you don't want to spend the night? It is pretty late." Jake shook his head, saying, "Thanks, friend. I am so glad to have met you, mate." He slapped MacDougall on the shoulder and got out of the car. The expanse of the Firth glittered as the full moon hit the water. It was close to 9 pm. Jake took a deep breath of the fine, sharp air. He put his backpack on the ground and dug out his last fish sandwich. Several flies flew past him.

Heart chuckled as she looked first at Jacob Wheeler's face and then around to the back of his head and behind him. When she, Stealth (and Mando) saw Jake put his backpack back on and start up the steep incline to the head of the bridge, she said, "I would just love to pick him up and drive him across that bridge. It must be half a kilometer long."

"We can't, baby," said Stealth. "We'll blow our cover."

Barclay MacDougall stayed in his car watching and training his headlights on the retreating figure of Jake.

__________

Despite the additional distance - and another hour's drive to Charing Cross, Jones insisted on booking a room at the Ambience Hotel. Dobbs tried not to close his eyes on the way there. He was exhausted from the plane ride and the time difference.

The Ambience was truly a spectacular place and Jones settled into their room watching his laptop feed from Quantico intently, communicating with them deep into the night. Dobbs had wished for a separate room, but was content with wireless headphones and the television tuned to the Manchester game. After two more cups of coffee, he was getting groggy. Coffee had the opposite effect on him. If he was tired, it made him fall asleep.

Jones went out around midnight to get some food for himself from a nearby late-night cafe. He had mentioned that the two of them might be driving into other parts of the UK in the morning as per their task force office at Quantico. Dobbs responded by quickly drifting off to sleep.

When Agent Dobbs awoke early the next morning, Jones had still not returned. His bed had not been slept in. Dobbs immediately contacted Quantico on Jones' laptop. He also contacted the Metropolitan London Police. This disappearance was totally against protocol.

__________

Back at the scene of the original crime, Silver Lake was also greeting the summer sun and the dawn of a new day. Asia Reynolds was helping Dr. Rainier Voss with his clothing. He still could not remember anything, even when she kissed him. Asia showed him his driver's license and passport. It did not spark any recollections. She was taking him to a local specialist to see what could be done and examine his psychological state. The large wound on his head had been treated last night in the emergency room of the Silver Lake hospital. Dr. Voss had been sent home from there with a bandaged head and a bottle of pain killers.

A window had been broken in the basement which was how an intruder had gotten in. Somehow, they had been able to turn off Asia's security system and enter the house. FBI Special Agent Lilah Aylward, usually assigned as protection for Rainier, had been called in immediately and had examined the crime scene last night along with Sergeant Sheila Rodriguez and Patrolman Chico Almonte of the Silver Lake police.

The good news was that the specialist examining Dr. Voss felt that his memory loss was temporary, although it might take up to a year for him to regain all of his memory or it might happen as quickly as a couple of days. The main thing was not to pressure him about anything.

The bad news was that Asia needed a new security system that was updated and not as easy to breach. Her outdoor cameras caught the image of her intruder and the FBI was working on what connections he had to Voss's investigation of the recent computer fraud foisted on the Silver Lake savings banks. A thrill of fear coursed through Asia when she thought of the highly skilled cyber criminals that had attacked her town and left a dead man in a snow drift on a main snowmobile trail during Silver Lake's annual snowsled race. They were skilled enough to hack a NASA satellite to disturb Silver Lake's WiFi, which was how she met Dr. Voss, head of a NASA computer department and former FBI agent and anti-government hacker, himself. Voss was very familiar with hacker jargon and was up on the latest technology and even the latest games, being an avid computer game player.

She felt it would take the FBI and other national and international security agencies to catch up with that group again. Plus, she had heard there were other computer hackers trying to get their hands on the stolen money and virus programs used in the Silver Lake heist.

Because of this direct attack on Rainier Voss, if there was any evidence that the same group that had stolen the money to begin with was active again - she knew the FBI would push for extradition to the United States and the punishment would be much harsher this time.

Special Agent Jones got word of Dr. Voss's assault and his condition. He kept up with that for the duration of the Adjunct's recovery. He let the agency know that he felt it was his special duty to find those who had done that to FBI researcher, Voss. Quantico agreed.

Asia brought Rainier downstairs for breakfast and put her CD of Daniel Barenboim playing the Moonlight Sonata on her dining room stereo. She expected a smile from Rainier, since he was very familiar with this piece and loved it as much as she did. Instead, he looked irritated at the "noise" and asked her to turn it off. Shocked, she did so.

__________

Jake had gotten out of Barclay's car at the head of the Dornoch Firth bridge. He started humming Enya's song Only Time, thinking about the lyrics and his future, ironically, "Who can say where the road goes? Where the day flows? ... Only time..." He stepped towards the bridge and ate his last sandwich. He steadied his backpack, picked up a stout branch to use as a walking stick, and began the steep hike up to the steel superstructure that spanned the Firth. He felt a pebble smack close to his foot. He took a look around. MacDougall's car was still parked a short ways away. He saw Barclay wave at him. He waved back, unconcerned, curious as to where the pebble came from.

Heart exclaimed from their own SUV hidden in some bushes, worried, "Stealth! Someone is shooting at Jake! That was a bullet by his foot! I don't think he even realized what that was." Another couple of shots made Jake jump a foot off the ground. He realized then that he was being shot at. He looked behind him at MacDougall again and began running back to the car chased by more bullets.

Stealth leaped out of his car, his 9mm Glock drawn and aimed in the general direction of the man shooting at Jake. It was too dark to see him clearly. He took a few shots anyway. The man looked shocked, and ran into the brush.

MacDougall knew something was up, though he also did not see the shooter or hear a recognizable bullet sound. It was very dark out, since it was close to ten pm. He raced his engine and accelerated quickly as soon as Jake was safe inside his car. A few bullets dinged off Barclay's rear bumper. Jake ducked below the back of his seat. Two flies settled themselves sedately and ironically on the edge of the back seat - one looking behind the car, one ahead and another fly sitting hidden on the dashboard in an air vent surveying everything in the front seat.

"What the hell was that?!" exclaimed Barclay with a frown. "Now, Josh, you have to stay with me. I have plenty of weapons at home that I use to protect my sheep against wolves."

Jake grunted. "I don't know what that was. And, yes, I could use some protection tonight."

Barclay looked at him sharply. "Your job, I suppose. Don't worry too much. I have automatic weaponry as well as a collection of hand guns. I have an automatic assault rifle and automatic pistols. How about the Scotch police? No cell phone reception up here. We have to use the landline at my house."

"Oh," answered Jake anxiously. "I know who this is. At least I have a good guess. We could deal with this ourselves. The police would only complicate things. If you don't mind, we could stand watch ourselves. It seemed as if the shooters were aiming to wound or shoot my legs."

Barclay looked concerned. "Well, that's bloody odd, Joshua." (Jake had to give MacDougall his common alias of Joshua Handlin to protect his real identity.) Jake tried to hide his eyes from Barclay trying to cover the depth of his deception.

Barclay went on, "Are you a drug dealer? I can keep you at my house, but I need to know the truth. Or at least as much of it you can tell me. I have a wife and kids."

Jake laughed and replied, "Hell, no! I am not a drug dealer! I think it is just a jealous office worker who was fired from my company recently." Jake looked out the window. There was no one following them. He asked, "Do you live far from here?"

"No," answered Barclay, turning off onto a long, tree-lined dirt road. "Me sheep farm is just here," he said as he pulled up to a modest and well-kept croft house. No one seemed to have followed them into the hinterland.

This was confirmed by Heart and Mando's observations. They parked their SUV in some bushes. Stealth got out to reconnoiter the farm while Heart continued to watch the drone feed and text Mando. The nice thing about their drone transmissions was that if they lost sight of Jake, an automatic GPS tracker showed them where he was. Even in the deep forest, away from all roads, the tracker would use longitude and latitude markers on a directional map.

Stealth discovered that there was only one road to the MacDougall place. He told Heart he would take up a sentry position in an old shed where he could hear and see the entire back of the house. She was positioned in the front, and could hear and see inside the home with the help of the drones.

Heart put a blanket over her legs in the colder Scottish Highland night and settled back into the car to watch their drones. She took out her 9mm and placed it on the seat beside her.

She and Stealth had decided it was way too dangerous to chase a shooter in the lightless Highland dark. They were not willing to break cover and they were not affiliated with any police force. They could defend Jake much better as long as they remained hidden. Neither Heart nor Stealth had seen the shooter at the bridge clearly, but they had pulled away from the shooting so they could rescue Jake. And, stay close to him, which was of the utmost importance. Thanks to MacDougall, they did not have to worry as much. Commando was able to use the night vision on the drones more efficiently than Heart and he insisted that there were two men, not a single shooter. He was not able to see them clearly, though. But, he noted, that they had on black balaclavas to disguise themselves.

Barclay's wife set an impressive table for the family. After dinner, Jake had thought of walking to the bridge, which was only a short distance from the farm. He really did not want to involve Barclay's children or wife in this mess, knowing who might be after him. He was very tired from his journey, though, and Barclay's impressive gun collection and his ability to stay up all night guarding his sheep and now him, changed his mind.

He phoned his grandfather and told him to pick him up in Dornoch the next day to drive to the Ullapool ferry which would take them to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. This island in the Outer Hebrides was as close as they could get to Bernard Campbell-Wheeler's own private island estate. From there, they would sail on Campbell-Wheeler's private ferry. It might not be covert enough to use one of Benny's boats all the way from Ullapool. From Stornoway, it should be okay. Wheeler's private dock was well hidden and only locals knew of it.

It was risky to call from Barclay's home, but Jake took the chance. Barclay had invoked an instinctive trust in him. After the call, during dessert, Barclay told him that he was in the Wheeler-Campbell-MacDougall clan and Jake figured that Barclay might be about a third cousin.

Of course, Barclay did not know Jake's real name. He told Barclay that it was important that he did not mention him to anyone, or tell anyone he had met him. MacDougall gave his word. Considering the shooting at the Firth bridge, Jake figured Barclay would remain silent.

Because of the day's earlier difficulties, Jake was going to let Barclay drive him all the way to Dornoch township across the Firth bridge tomorrow. Hiking across the long bridge with a gunman behind him was not going to happen. In light of MacDougall's arsenal and willingness to sit awake all night, he felt safe for now. A vigilant shepherd was almost as good as a cop. He would try and stay awake with Barclay. Of course, Stealth and Heart were guarding the MacDougall home, as well. And, they were armed.

__________

When Special Agent Jones had not re-appeared by breakfast the next morning, Dobbs got orders directly from Quantico. His head office felt it was imperative that Dobbs continue their pursuit of Jake Wheeler. He was to take the train to Wheeler's old property bordering the English National Trust land in Chislehurst by the English chalk caves. He was to see if he could deduce any movements concerning Jake or his former crew, especially his former crew member Richie Stevens. Stevens was the youngest cyber crew member and a well-known protege of Wheeler's. Jake's former South-East countryside estate in England was a very large, beautiful area and Dobbs studied an electronic map to get some bearings on what he wanted to look at when he got there.

When Dobbs arrived at the Chislehurst estate, it was still early in the day. He went right to the main house, a mansion of some four stories. A servant answered the door and ushered Dobbs inside. She called the owner of the estate while he waited in a highly decorated ante-room.

A butler brought him a tea tray. There were two cups, and an assortment of tarts and small cakes. Agent Dobbs figured the master of the house was going to take a tea break with him.

A jolly-looking, white-haired, rosy-cheeked older gentleman in a red velvet jacket walked into the room with a big smile and his hand outstretched. "Why, hello, sir!" he said. "What can I do for you?" He sat down, poured his tea and began eating a custard tart.

Between bites, Special Agent Dobbs introduced himself. The owner of the estate, Windsor Adams, was shocked that the American FBI had come to question him. His rosy cheeks paled a little. He said, "But what have I gotten myself into that such a large, powerful agency as yours has an interest in me?"

"Maybe nothing. It has to do with the previous owner of this estate, Jacob Wheeler. Did he leave anything here? Have you seen him? Heard anything about him? He is in some trouble in the States."

"Oh, I see. No. the house was empty when I moved in. I have never met Mr. Wheeler. The estate sale was primarily handled by his real estate agents.

"There is, though, a young man who packed everything for Mr. Wheeler and handles my stables for me. He is quite proficient with dogs and horses - even chickens. I believe he knows the former owner."

Dobbs sloshed a bit of tea into his lap. He became a little excited and leaned forward towards Adams. "Who is this man, may I ask?" he said as he gave Mr. Adams some piercing eye-to-eye contact, also masking most of the tension he felt running like electricity throughout his body.

"I will bring you to him when we finish tea. He lives out back, near the stables. A fine horseman he is, indeed. Do you like horses, Mr. Dobbs?"

Dobbs turned red-faced and said, apologetically, "They're a bit large for me. I prefer dogs. I have never ridden a horse. They are beautiful and impressive animals, though. And, I would love to see yours. From a distance, I admire them." Dobbs added, again, humorously, "...from a distance."

Windsor laughed gaily and said, "And so you shall! A little Scottish whiskey before we traipse through my damp garden?"

"Of course," answered Dobbs, trying to hide his impatience. The whiskey, though, was well worth waiting for. Dobbs had never tasted the likes of a real gourmet Scotch whiskey. The ravishingly expensive kind. He was impressed. Very. He asked, "What kind of whiskey is this?"

"Nice, isn't it? The bottle, by the way, was a gift to me from the former owner. It is 50 year old, single malt, Vintage 1964 Glenlivet made in the Scots town of the same name. It is, Mr. Dobbs, sometimes sold for around $25,000 a bottle. Makes a nice gift, don't you think? Jake said he got it at auction, but I knew his family was one of the richest in the U.K. He could well afford it retail."

Dobbs whistled and took another sip of the smooth, oak-colored, pungent liquor. Windsor offered him more. He accepted. When they were finished with tea, Windsor said, "Well, come along. Let's introduce you to my stable master. He might help you find the man you are looking for."

__________

In Illinois, the growing plains lay golden next to the quick flow of the Mississippi river. It was deep summer in Silver Lake. Asia Reynolds had to rearrange her life in order to take care of Rainier Voss and try to coax his memory back. To her dismay, he did not seem to recognize the music he so dearly loved. At all.

In fact, he seemed to dislike it. He was a concert-level classical and jazz pianist who loved to play Asia's baby grand. But now, he seemed lost to the music.

Asia's big rescue Husky-German Shephard, Zucchini, went over to him and bumped his hand and knees. He reacted to her and smoothed her silky, golden head, asking, "And what is your name, my beauty?"

Asia could not keep a few tears from coursing down her face. Her big dog was her treasure. Who could forget Zookie? She said to Rainier, "Her name is Zucchini. I am a vegetarian and when I quit smoking and changed my diet, I got her from the shelter as a puppy and named her after one of my favorite garden vegetables."

Voss laughed and then gasped when he saw the other Reynolds' dog walk into the room. The magnificent red and white St. Bernard, was Junior, Sylvie Reynolds dog. Sylvie was Asia's niece who was living with her until she finished high school.

Asia grinned at Rainier. "This is Junior, my niece's dog. She works at a private animal rescue down the road and adopted him from one of their unexpected litters."

"Wow," responded the slightly childish Voss. "Those are two big dogs!"

"Together they weigh over two hundred pounds."

"But they didn't bark when I was attacked."

"They did. I remember it well," said Asia. "But, they were outside, so I didn't pay much attention to them. I have a few other domestic and farm animals. Anything could make these dogs bark."

"Oh, yes. I suppose. May I see your other animals at some point? Did I know them before?"

"Yes, you did. We can go out there in a few minutes."

__________

The walk up to Windsor Adams' stables had been breathtaking for the gardener in Dobbs. Adams had perfectly manicured hedges and beds of bright, colorful flowers. He explained to Dobbs that he was a naturalist. His garden was culturing indigenous, local, at-risk foliage. He had frequent visits and had collected numerous awards from the British National Horticultural Society. He gave them cuttings and seeds. He kept a journal in order to record how well his seedlings, etc. had survived.

Dobbs turned a corner with Windsor and saw a blond, handsome young man in jeans and muck boots. The FBI agent stuck his hands in his pockets and said, "Hi" to the young man.

Richie Stevens looked up as he was brushing a beautiful, roan mare with a white diamond on her forehead. There were at least ten fine adult horses and one foal in the stable including the mare. A radio echoed from the back of the barn. The music was American Country-Western. A tub of grain mix stood behind the boy. Richie stepped back from the horse and put his brush down as Dobbs entered with Windsor. He smiled at his boss, sat down on a wood stool and stretched his legs.

Windsor waved them all into Richie's Caretaker office. They followed him in and sat down, putting their chairs in a circle so they could face each other.

Dobbs liked this young man right away. He reminded him of a young John Denver with a British accent. He, just to make conversation, asked Richie, "Do you sing?"

Richie laughed and answered, "Yes, I sing and play guitar. Usually, I like American Country and Western. You ever hear of Porter Wagoner?"

Dobbs, surprised, said, "Hell, yeah!"

To which Richie replied, "I play a nice Green, Green Grass of Home. It sounds great with Celtic flute."

Dobbs cleared his throat and chuckled at Richie's talent. "I'd love to hear it," he said, genuinely. "I'll bet it sounds great."

"I do some recordings for the internet, so I can get you a copy of that."

Dobbs got suddenly serious at the mention of Internet Tech. "That's why I'm here, Richie," he said.

"My music?" questioned the young man.

"Ah, no. I am actually a Special Agent from the American FBI."

Richie looked frightened and trapped as Windsor walked back into the office with a tray of steaming hot coffee. He asked Dobbs, noting the atmosphere in the room, "You told him?"

Dobbs nodded.

Windsor stepped backwards a little and locked the door behind him. "It's cold out here in the evening. A hot Irish coffee will take the edge off. There's half a shot of Glenlivet in your cups."

Richie took his and drank half of it down, his eyes still wide.

Dobbs leaned forward towards the red-faced young man. "I'll come right to the point. Right now, you are not implicated in the murder of Jason Bing or even the robberies that took place in Silver Lake last year. But, you could be. We know of your programming skills and everything you have done with them.

"If you go along with my agency and inform us as much as possible, we will let you go on all of that. You seem to have changed your ways. You have a nice life here. It would be a shame to disturb it."

Richie wrung his hands. "So, you want me to become an FBI informant in exchange for non-extradition to the U.S.?"

"That's correct," answered Dobbs. "Also," he went on. "I need your help to find Jake Wheeler. We think you might have an idea where he is."

Richie shook his head. "I can try. I have not heard from him since he disappeared after his estate was sold. I used to work for him, that's true. But, I was only a lower-level employee - a trainee, really." He paused. "Give me your cell phone number and email address and I will sleep on it. There are a few places I can think of that Jake might patronize. Or his crew." Richie thought a moment and added, "Jake never hurt anyone physically, as far as I know."

"What about the murder of Jason Bing?"

"That was in the middle of a mutiny! Bing was going to warn him that some of the crew was going to revolt! Bing was on Jake's side which is why he was murdered! No way would Wheeler kill him!"

Dobbs went silent and frowned. "There is no proof or evidence of that," he said.

"I can get you the proof. I can get you more guys that were in on that."

"You are free to clear Jake of that charge if you can."

"I am sure I can clear him. I will do that with your help." stated Richie, adamantly.

Dobbs looked at the ground and said, "Then, we can help each other."

"Deal," said Richie.

__________

Rainier Voss walked with Asia Reynolds and her two huge dogs to her barn. It started raining and the four of them broke into a run, panting as Asia pulled open her large sliding doors.

Once inside, Voss expressed delight as he was led over to the small sitting area in the center of the building. The heavy rain beat on the metal roof noisily and a small chill went through the drafty building.

Asia sat down on a nicely caned wooden rocking chair as Rainier sat closely on a cot covered with a lovely quilt and filled with throw pillows. She reached over and filled the wood stove with shavings, kindling and two small split logs.

To Asia's surprise, Rainier rolled up some newspaper and stuffed it into the shavings. He lit it with the lighter in his pocket and leaned over, blowing into the bottom of the barrel stove. "I know how to do this," he said. "I remember how ... uh, I seem to remember this stove. These are good stoves - hand made, but they burn really well and send out tons of heat."

Asia's donkey, Punkin, made a loud noise. A little bright red long-haired Chihuahua (Fuzzy Bud) came over to the warmth of the stove and lay near Voss's feet. Four goats followed the tiny dog. They stopped by Asia's side, nuzzled her hands and stared at Voss. Asia gave them some treats.

A small kid, Smidgen, went over to Rainier and nuzzled his knee. He put out his hand and Asia put a treat in it. The fact that he knew how to do those small things gave her a surge of hope in her heart and put a tear in her eye.

__________

The two men who had previously stolen Jake Wheeler's code book, argued with each other over which one of them had caused Jake's escape at the head of the Dornoch Firth bridge. Luciano Esposito and Fulbright Mason were not courageous men and had scared themselves with the missed shots at Wheeler. They agreed with each other that it had been best to run and hide after the scuffle. They had not wounded Jake as planned, since they needed to capture him alive to translate his code book, something they had not realized at first when they had stolen the notebook.

Jake, on the other hand, had a quiet night with no disturbances. He got some sleep. Barclay MacDougall did not. He declined to close his eyes. He sat guard over his household with his old AK47 cradled in his arms. He made a lot of coffee and drove Jake back to the bridge in the morning after a hearty breakfast.

As agreed on last night, Barclay safely took Jake over the long bridge and directly into Dornoch center. "Are you sure you'll be all right here?" he asked with consternation.

"Oh, yes. I can book my campground from here and take a ferry to wherever I wish to go. This is a good place to catch my transportation," Jake lied.

"That's true. Well, then, call me if you need anything. Anything at all. Be safe, Joshua. It was wonderful meeting you. Sorry for all your trouble. Take care."

The two men parted company and Jake Wheeler walked down a small street in the town. One housefly still hid under the flap of his backpack, looking behind Jake. Another two flies flew on either side of him. These drones surveilled the area around Jake from three different vantages.

__________

The two hackers on Jake's tail were minor part-time members from The Brixton Cannoniere Club - a video gaming club by day. The Club was a techno disco club with a hacker backroom at night. Rainier Voss had embedded himself in the club a year ago for the FBI investigation of the initial hack into Silver Lake. He had questioned some of the Cannoniere members about Jake's crew.

Luciano and Fulbright weren't stupid. They had done their homework via internet spyware and could tail Jake Wheeler on the Dark Net where they were sometimes disliked, but tolerated. Voss, Luciano Esposito and Fulbright Mason had never met.

Luciano and Fulbright had found out who Jake Wheeler was and approximately how much he was worth, which was a lot. They had tried to crack Jake's notebook encryption with only a frustrating smattering of success. They just wanted to scare Jake - not kill him. They wanted to frighten him, capture him and force him to explain his programming to them in such a way that they could use it for their own purposes. And, only then, did they think of killing him - mostly so they could say that they owned that code and could expect no reprisals from Jake ever.

In the past, they had figured they could read Jake's code just fine by themselves. They quickly found out that they could not. They regretted that they had not taken Jake with them the first time they caught him, but they were not ready for a jail sentence. Stealing Jake's notebook was not much of an offense, simply because most of Jake's code was illegal could get him in trouble.

The code book was also a political football with the international police, other hackers and most of the Cannoniere Club. Luciano and Fulbright were kind of known, even in the Dark Net community and among other hackers, as thugs. Not all hackers were thugs or killers, some were Idealistic Utopians or Cyber Vigilantes, even if their hacker codes were illegal. Like Jake, some idealistic anti-bad-government hackers were Momma's and Papa's boys and girls - favored by rich and poor parents alike.

Almost nobody liked the thugs. The Brixton Cannoniere was half thug and half idealistic. Rainier Voss had found out the idealistic members and had connections with them. The thugs were of no interest to him and he had avoided them.

Luciano and Fulbright's best bets on the Dark Net were their code fragments. If that was good, other hackers ignored their questionable reputations and talked freely to them. Anyway, they had their brilliance and had recently traded code with an Anonymous chick by the name of Samantha. They got interested in watching her, since she seemed to be tailing Jake Wheeler from time-to-time. She was talking about him a lot and they were among some of the few hackers that knew what his new face looked like. They cracked her desktop despite some pretty sophisticated programming shields.

They had entered via her desktop mailbox, the back door to her life online. They followed her everywhere. She should have known that she was being spied on, but she didn't.

Luciano and Fulbright were watching her recent spyware video feed on their I-phones. They knew approximately where Jake was. Unfortunately for them, they could not hack the audio feed from the drones. Nor, did they know what kind of surveillance equipment had provided the video.

So, they might know exactly where Jake was - but they didn't know why he was there. They presumed he was going to catch another train in Dornoch - possibly going somewhere into the Scottish hinterland again. They might lose him there. Their hack had not seen the GPS in the original program, therefore they could not use it to help them re-open their tracking. They suddenly lost video synch.

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# Chapter Four: Voss's Mission

A red light flashed on an icon in the upper right hand corner of Heart Hacker's screen. Heart's birth name was Samantha Emerson - a name not too many people were familiar with. She was brushing her hair after a rather rough night of sleeping out in the car. She dropped the brush as soon as she saw the flashing light on her desktop. She wasn't expecting much right now, but Jake was out and obviously walking around town near where they were parked. The drone GPS indicated his location on an electronic map on her desktop.

Samantha slipped over the front seat and swung her laptop tray to face her, immediately keying a message to Commando. Red, flashing lights meant some kind of trouble. It was a signal that Commando had integrated into his drone display.

Commando's handsome, dark face appeared on another small screen. He smiled at Heart and waved, saying in his deep-toned, sonorous voice, "We got hacked, Babe. Please reboot. I caught 'em and locked 'em out. But I need you to shut down a minute, so I can post a code to protect your feed from getting into the wrong hands - which it seems it has been doing for a couple of days. No wonder Jake was shot at. Some hackers have been following your feed since London. So, you need to shut down."

"Now?" asked the shaken Heart.

"Please," said Commando as Heart's desktop disappeared into a blank screen.

__________

When Luciano and Fulbright got back to their Bed and Breakfast in Dornoch, they were unnerved to find out that their pirated video feed had been discovered and shut down. "Where do we go from here?" asked a lost-sounding Luciano. "They killed our compass."

Fulbright waved his hand as if nothing was wrong. He said, "We go out on the street, have a good time visiting a few local pubs and look for the guy. Bring the tablet so we can try and break back into Samantha's desktop. We can try some of our new code on her PC."

__________

Jones was furious when Dobbs was given the entire physical investigation. How easy would it be to interfere with that?! His supervisors had not even spoken to him about it. Dobbs was also not told about Jones' special status with the president. He just assumed Jones was still missing.

Jones had more technical skills in his little finger than Dobbs had in his entire brain. It was an administrative secret, but he was miles ahead of Dobbs. The knowledge of Jones' programming and coding skills was eyes-only classified information. Dobbs couldn't know about it. His security clearance was not anywhere near Jones's. The Secret Service felt Jones should be even more covert than he was already, so they "borrowed" him from his own agency.

Jones had spent the last 48 hours surfing the Dark Net looking for clues in the Wheeler case. Only the White House knew his mission and was funding him directly. He had his own executive suite at another hotel equal in decor to the Ambience. He had never left his rooms since checking in. He had four 24 hour bodyguards from the Secret Service for the time he was on loan to the President. His bodyguards took care of all his needs. He wasn't particularly a Democrat. The president was. The honor was the same to him, though. Still, giving Dobbs all the footwork on the case was not agreeable to him. But, he was too proud of being chosen by the White House to do the technical work to complain.

This case was of interest to Jones because of its economic possibilities. Jones was not particularly honest and had taken bribes and confiscated money before. He didn't give a flying shoe what Wheeler had or had not done. He was not a crowd follower. When three task forces from New Scotland Yard, Interpol and the Metropolitan London Computer Abuse Team flew to Sydney, Australia - he instinctively knew their information source had been corrupted. He sensed that they were being intentionally misled.

He had no evidence, he just had a theory. CCTV to him could easily be hacked. To further convince him that the European agencies were chasing a shadow, he stumbled upon a strange Dark Net website. There were two webmasters who had a code-sharing site called The Cannoniere Club.

That was odd to him. Former FBI Special Agent Dr. Rainier Voss embedded himself inside the Brixton Cannoniere Club, trying to break open the case against Wheeler when things were still fresh - a year ago. Jones' own superior skill at programming attracted the attention of the webmasters when they saw his contributions inside their shared message box. They, thus, began to email back and forth.

They shared more than code. They shared a program that was better spyware than the FBI had. Where some laws prohibited US government agencies from pushing across privacy barriers - hackers had no such problem. Jones soon picked up a signal in Scotland. He had hacked the Cannoniere site! He got the most interesting video feed. No audio - which was frustrating, but someone was really interested in this weird, dull trip into Dornoch, Scotland.

Soon, he noticed a flash of one of the video subjects' faces that sparked a fire within his soul - it was Jacob Wheeler! Someone on the Cannoniere website was surveilling Wheeler! He wondered if they knew who Wheeler was. It must be one of the very few people that knew his face after surgery. Those could be counted on one hand. Jones thought he knew all of them.

Sure, he thought, programmers would know how much Wheeler was worth! In code and money! Thus, Jones was able to follow Jake Wheeler into Scotland. He bought a plane ticket to Inverness and planned on taking a taxi to Dornoch, Jake's last known location.

Jones rubbed his hands together. Dornoch was a very small town. It wouldn't take long to find him there. Then, his video feed went black. Jones yelled and tried to hack back into his previous site. He was there, but apparently their feed was the one that was cut off. Jones slapped his laptop cover shut and swore to himself.

__________

Jake Wheeler spent a very quiet night at a two room Bed and Breakfast near the sea. The sound of the ocean lulled him to sleep and into a much-needed deep dreamless state. The cold sea breezes at night created a blanket of isolation under his quilts. It was a fine night. No pubs, though. Jake was not a drinker.

This, of course, angered and frustrated Fulbright and Luciano who had walked Dornoch into the small hours of the morning. Returning to their own Bed and Breakfast just as the sun started rising pink on the salty air, they realized that they had looked for Jake for over 24 hours. Still no Jake.

Benny Wheeler packed his large Airedale, Adair, into his gardener's beat-up, old pickup. Adair rode up front in the cab with Benny.

Jake had called last night and given Benny a time and place. He was standing at a petrol station with his backpack, eating a slice of pizza for his breakfast, drinking Icelandic Spring water. He had on a long-haired wig with a couple of braids in it and a patch that was dyed blue. He also wore baggy, beat-up blue jeans with holes in the knees. He had on a Nike T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Add to that, a very dark pair of largen sunglasses and a sports cap pulled low over his forehead.

Ben recognized him right away. Adair barked excitedly. Jake's grandfather pulled into the service station. Adair bounded out of the vehicle as soon as Benny opened the passenger door and yelled at Jake, "Hey, boy! You want a ride somewhere?"

Jake caught Adair with both arms and hugged the big, beloved, shaggy dog tightly. "Hey, you big mutt," he said, glad to smell the familiar scent of this dog. "You get into the back of the truck. No," commanded Jake. "Get in the back." Jake chained the dog in the back of the pickup and got in the cab himself. He looked around at the deserted early morning streets of Dornoch and seeing no one, reached over and hugged his grandfather. Three flies settled in different places in the cab and surveilled the road ahead, the road behind and the entire inside of the truck.

Heart awoke with the alarming sensation that they had lost Jake. The drones had set off an audio alarm that signaled that they were on the move again. The noise not only awoke her, it made her feel scared their mission had been compromised.

Stealth reached out and grabbed all their things and stuffed them into their two duffels as quickly as he could. They were out the door running down the carpeted staircase to the first floor (without breakfast or a shower) within ten minutes. Heart was monitoring drone audio and video on her tablet. They caught up to a rusted, old pickup speeding into the Scottish forest. They recognized the back of Jake's head, his long hair and the sports cap he had on. They followed the old pickup to Ullapool. Both vehicles got on the ferry to Stornoway. But, Stealth and Samantha had to stay behind when Jake and Benny got on their private ferry to another island after reaching the Stornoway dock on the Isle of Lewis.

Stealth had kept a good distance on the ferry, so no one suspected anything. "Here, Samantha," he said, handing his partner a stained paper bag. "There's a few pieces of cold, breaded fish in here. I had it in the fridge in our room. Not much of a breakfast, but it is something, anyway. They are rather good. Got them downstairs in the cafe last night after you fell asleep."

Heart accepted the food gratefully and ate ravenously and a little too quickly. She drank some water and burped loudly. They laughed. She felt much better. She had not eaten since breakfast the previous day.

The drone feed disappeared and Mando's voice came over Heart's tablet. "Someone's got a Drone Repellant Barrier surrounding Wheeler's island, but we are inside the parameters already due to our ride in Jake's pickup inside his backpack. That should make a difference. I embedded programming for that contingency. I am ex-military and drone shields are well-known to us. I have studied them.

I am sending the drones to you as soon as I can if they stop functioning properly. The barrier might send them back to London, but I will try and divert their Return to Origin command. I wrote a hacker program for just such a Barrier so that it would not work if the drones were close to a human body. They become invisible to cyber space in that case.

As soon as they can fly on GPS, we can get them back. They're not cheap machines. I would like them to return to base eventually. If I can get them active again, we'll wait. I'll try and fly them inside the main house. Maybe they will work there."

"Sure," said Stealth. "We'll be on the lookout for them. We're parked in a stand of trees right now and pretty sure we sighted Bernard Wheeler's recent island estate off the shores of the Isle of Lewis. Clever people, these. They have their own private dock, here on Lewis."

"We are well hidden," added Heart.

Mando continued talking through Heart's tablet. "I will try and open the drone shield and hack that system - so we can continue hearing and seeing this story unfold."

"Let us know if you need help with the code," said Stealth as he broke off a piece of fish from Heart's hand and stuffed it into his own mouth.

A grunt came from Samantha Emerson's tablet. "Okay," said Mando.

__________

Special Agent Jones landed at Inverness an hour after Jake had left Dornoch. As planned,

the Agent took a cab to the small town and checked in at a lovely small Bed and Breakfast. He walked the town for ten hours and could not find any evidence of Jacob Wheeler. He checked all the bus and train stations. Nothing.

He tried getting into the bug feed again. Ditto. Nothing.

Meanwhile, Mando's brilliant mind wrapped around a rather complicated, but possibly viable algorithm and the drones began broadcasting successfully again. Samantha "Heart" Emerson gave a small victory shout, scaring the big, burly Stealth. She just smiled and showed him the video feed - turning up the audio, so he could hear.

"Mando got in again!" she exclaimed to her partner.

"Oh, so cool! That is super!" commented Stealth who got out of the SUV to smoke a cigarette.

Stealth and Heart returned to Dornoch center and booked a room in a little Bed and Breakfast by the seashore. It was lovely and had a garden filled with flowers.

Jones stayed another three days trying to track down Jake Wheeler, finally giving up in disgust and returning to London. He had been so close. Closer, even, than he knew. Luciano and Fulbright passed him in the halls of their B&B frequently, not knowing who he was.

Jones was a handsome man and they had admired his loose Armani jackets and finely trimmed silver goatee. They were jealous of his showy, expensive clothing.

Stealth and Heart (Bob and Samantha) thoroughly enjoyed their isolated shoreline Bed and Breakfast on the Isle of Lewis. They conferred with Mando continuously. When they needed alone time, Mando was made aware and he monitored the drones by himself, watching Jake's life at his grandfather's carefully, listening into phone calls and the like.

__________

Back in Silver Lake, Rainier Voss was beginning to remember his life. Lilah Alyward was helping Asia to understand that the FBI was familiar with amnesia and wished Dr. Voss to remember his mission on his own. She was prepared to coach him, but his former skills depended on his own efforts.

He would go out to Asia's barn and do a bit of farm work, sitting with Punkin and Fuzzy near the stove. Something about the company of the farm animals and the comforting presence of the barrel stove, gently made the fog of amnesia recede little by little.

Asia let Rainier help out around her place, massaged his shoulders at night and fed him healthy foods from her garden. He only complained once that he would like some meat dishes once in a while. Asia's meals tended to be vegetarian and from her garden. She, though, obligingly changed that a little.

Out of deference to herself, she got her childhood friend Sgt. Sheila Rodriguez of the Silver Lake Police Department to cook the meats. It gave them time to catch-up anyway. Not her favorite smell in the kitchen, but Rainier was coming along so well - remembering more and more each day - she would deny him nothing.

Her love for him grew during this period of convalescence. With her loving attention, Dr. Voss had remembered that he needed to be in London. It was an urgent feeling. But, as he told Asia, he didn't know why he needed to be there.

FBI Special Agent Lilah Alyward indicated to Asia that she did not want to help with this impasse. She told her that it was vital to let Dr. Voss remember on his own. This needed to be totally under his own power and feel as if the mission was voluntary, which it was.

Asia did not know what Rainier's mission was, but Lilah did and could coach him further if the agency felt it was for his own good. Not yet, they had said to Lilah. Lilah, though, was pretty confident that Rainier would find his way on his own. She was there to support and protect him.

__________

Rainier's memory would begin to surface in his sleep. That was the hardest for Asia. He would startle awake and sit straight up in bed, mumbling something unintelligible. She would have to get him some Chamomile tea to get him to sleep again. In the morning, he would have some fascinating piece of information to tell Asia about. For example, he remembered his phone number in Cape Canaveral and Asia's as well. It was beginning to look like he could confer with Lilah pretty soon. He began to practice his karate skills outside, getting Zucchini and Junior a little excited with all the unusual motions. Even Punkin, the donkey, added a few braying noises to the ruckus.

In approximately two weeks, FBI headquarters at Quantico gave Lilah Alyward the go ahead to sit down with Dr. Voss and record whatever he could remember of his assignment, which was vague enough as it was. He remembered that he was going to London to try and find Jake Wheeler and any of his former crew members he could uncover. Lilah gave Dr. Voss some more details of his London mission. He also shyly remembered that Asia Reynolds and himself were in love with each other, but didn't presently want to marry due to their separate professions.

Sgt. Sheila Rodriguez was working on trying to identify the intruder that broke into Asia's house and hit Dr. Voss on the head. So far, she was almost positive that it was a former Wheeler cyber crew member.

Much to Asia's concern, Rainier booked a flight with Lilah to London for the next week. His physician had given him the go-ahead also. Lilah was to stay with Rainier in London and be his backup partner.

__________

Special Agent Jones was giving everyone around him hell since the video feed had gone out on his laptop. He tried hacking the Cannoniere Club webmasters, but their feed was still shut off as well. Between Luciano, Fulbright and Jones - not one of them was able to hack back into Mando's drone feeds. Even though the three men were in the same Bed and Breakfast in Dornoch, none of them wanted to ID themselves and were not known to each other. Jones knew he needed to fight for his share of any money recovered from the previous year's bank heist in Silver Lake. Also, there was always money from Jake's own bank accounts.

Luciano and Fulbright wandered around Dornoch and questioned the ticket agents at the local train station for another three days with no results. Jones returned to London frustrated and angry, wondering if he should book a flight to Sydney like the other agents had done. He debriefed Dobbs with intensity and felt a surge of hope that Wheeler was still in the Sutherland area. There were no clues on the internet. Jones was harboring a deeply hidden secret from Dobbs, but he was soon to be found out.

__________

Dr. Rainier Voss sat down with a flourish at a grand piano in the Ambience Hotel at Charing Cross after his arrival in London. He attracted a small crowd as he played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 Opus 18 flawlessly from memory as Lilah sat nearby in awe. He, thus, proved that his memory had returned and that he could function as he did before he was assaulted.

Lilah called Asia on the phone and told her that Dr. Voss was zooming on the road to recovery and he had remembered that he loved classical music. Asia was, of course, delighted.

Then, it was down to business. The FBI had some questions about the investigation that Agents Dobbs and Jones had been conducting. Some things were just not coming together the right way. It was a delicate situation, since the President of the United States was also involved with the two agents that were previously assigned to London. No reflection on the President's choice of agents, but Dr. Voss was higher ranking in security clearances in general. And, in terms of checking up on the two agents, Quantico felt that Ms. Alyward and Dr. Voss were better equipped to capture Jake Wheeler.

The FBI could hardly contradict the president of the United States, or demand that they oversee their own agent as opposed to Jones being answerable only to the president. The president came first. But, Quantico could pursue an investigative stance even with the White House working with two different agents - and that is exactly what they were doing. The FBI had the right to investigate their own agents.

__________

Special Agent Dobbs was furious that he might be taken off the Wheeler case. He was so close and had gained the confidence of Windsor Adams and Richie Stevens. That was a key that he did not want to share with Voss or even his department at the FBI, let alone his partner, Jones. He was also convinced that Jake was hiding in Scotland.

Agent Jones was not much more pleasant about a possible premature end to his investigation. He let Dr. Voss know that he was not interested in ending his involvement. In three days, the President called Agent Jones on the phone, personally, and asked him to return to the United States, letting Dr. Voss continue the investigation.

Rainier Voss had Quantico's results from Jones' internet and phone usage. The result was not encouraging. It seemed that Agent Jones had found at least two members of Wheeler's old cyber crew and had arrested them in Scotland. Not a problem with that. The problem was financial.

Jones had confiscated at least three million US dollars from both crew members, sending them to a British prison for the remainder of their sentences. He had, thus, accomplished part of his original assignment from the FBI. Problem was, that part of the money that was turned over to Jones in cash was missing. Jones denied ever having received any money other than that which he had turned over to his agency. He was volubly offended that he was accused of taking money from the two men. But, his phone records alone proved that he had received more cash than he had wired to the agency.

Dr. Voss reported to the FBI that Jones should be arrested for theft and other charges. Agent Alyward found only part of the money in Jones hotel room when she searched it. There was about a million dollars missing. After Jones was arrested, he was scheduled to be deported and sent back to America for prosecution. Dobbs was not found guilty, but was removed from the case and also sent back to the US. He was put on clandestine probation by the FBI, who was watching him closely. Dobbs was not aware of his status.

Despite the fact that Agent Jones was discovered to be disloyal to the agency, Rainier felt that he might be on to something by searching in the Outer Hebrides for Jacob Wheeler. Jones was a crack agent, but obviously not to be trusted. Quantico was launching their own investigation into the former agent which was why Lilah and Voss were there as part of that inquiry. Voss was superior to Jones in programming and computer technical ability. Though he was no longer an FBI agent, he was called on from time to time to work as an Adjunct.

Lilah agreed with Voss that Jones's research was possibly good. The two new agents made plans to take the train to Dornoch and begin their own search for Wheeler where Agent Jones had left off.

Jones was not about to let anyone watching his surfing know that he had gotten his clues from the Dark Net and the Cannoniere website. No way. He was careful not to reveal where he thought the rest of the confiscated money was hidden. [Note: the "Dark Net" is the part of the internet that hackers (good and bad) use to contact each other and post nefarious websites and virus/hacker programs. The Cannoniere website is generally seen as part of the Dark Net aka Deep Web.]

The two agents had no idea how Jones had found the two cyber crew members from Jake Wheeler's former organization. It would take some time to figure out the route the older agent had taken to corral them. It could have been Dobbs' research with Richie Stevens.

Voss began by surfing the internet, looking for any information he could find on Wheeler and his former employees. It did not go well. Hackers are not easy prey. They hide in plain sight and have too many aliases to be easily traced by way of internet activity. Voss got in touch with his old friends at the Brixton Cannoniere Club in London - as opposed to the website that Jones had used. They were trusted fellows and not in the independently criminal hacker crowd that other Cannoniere were. They met at the Ambience where he and Lilah were residing. Things began to clear up during their meeting.

Meanwhile, Lilah Alyward questioned the two former Wheeler cyber crew members that had been recently arrested by Agent Jones and put back into the local prison system, and got some very interesting information which included the exact amount of stolen money that was turned over to former agent Jones. The fact was that Dobbs had found Richie Stevens, ex Wheeler crew member, and friend of Jake Wheeler right on his old estate in Chislehurst! From there, Jones had traced the two hackers he had put in jail. With Richie's help.

__________

Luciano and Fulbright were still at their Bed and Breakfast in Dornoch when Lilah and Rainier arrived in the town. They had decided to stay a little longer while they continued to try to hack into the bug feed and research more information on Wheeler.

Jones had thought that he was free from oversight, except for the White House. The president was new to espionage and intelligence gathering. Because of this, Jones only reported a limited amount of facts to the West Wing.

It was precisely because of this suspicion, that Lilah (who had a Ph.D. in economics, finance and accounting) and Dr. Voss (who was a NASA physicist and computer software and hardware expert) had been sent to fill in the missing blanks as to exactly how much of the stolen Silver Lake money had been recovered. This had not been as difficult as it sounded.

Lilah, being rather good looking in the extreme, was able to use her good looks to disarm the men and strike a deal with the two ex-Wheeler crew members who had broken their British probation and were sitting in an English prison due to Special Agent Jones. Although, UK probation requires restitution in the case of theft, the money was stolen in the United States. There were many other offenses that the Wheeler crew had committed in the UK, so that did not apply in this case.

Lilah made a deal with the ex-crew members that if they gave an accurate accounting of the stolen funds from the Silver Lake banks, she could get them out of extradition to the United States for the murder of Jason Bing and even the theft.

It was at this point in their discussion that Lilah was told that Jacob Wheeler was the actual target for murder a year ago when Bing was killed trying to defend him and refusing to join the mutiny. She was sure that they were telling the truth.

The entire FBI tactic was thus, reversed. Wheeler was still wanted, but for a different reason. He was wanted for simple questioning, so that they could find the other crew and recover the Silver Lake funds.

After Dr. Voss's and Special Agent Alyward's thorough research, Jones and Dobbs had been surrounded by the Metropolitan London police and were arrested at their suite in the Ambience. Dobbs was questioned and released, but Jones was imprisoned, soon to be sent back to the USA via police escort, and in chains.

As Jones stumbled around with his police escort at Heathrow airport, he smiled to himself. He wore leg chains and handcuffs. The one thing the police escort forgot to do was to exchange his clothes for a prison jumpsuit. That was a bad mistake. Jones asked to be escorted to a bathroom at the airport for ordinary reasons. Or so it seemed.

No good FBI agent was without secret pockets for emergency equipment. Jones's pants seams were fastened in reachable places with some Velcro. Inside each opened seam respectively was a universal skeleton key for cuffs, a metal saw and other useful tools, including a pre-paid anonymous debit card.

When Jones was allowed to be alone in a toilet booth, he freed himself. He attacked his escort and knocked him out - injecting him with Rohypnol (the date rape drug) which would paralyze him for hours and render him amnesiac for the circumstances under which he was drugged.

Jones ran out of Heathrow just about when the rest of this escort party began to be aware that something was wrong. He ran to the nearest Hare Krishna temple and joined immediately. Waiting until the time was right, he shaved his pony tail off - giving himself a robust crewcut, booked a flight to the States using a falsified passport and flew home.

__________

Rainier Voss, to Lilah Alyward's bewilderment, was not surprised that Jones had gotten away from his escort. He was known for his intelligence, cunning and craftiness - and this just proved it. Other than the fact that Jones was wanted for theft by the US government, Voss let Quantico deal with his further pursuit, unless he, himself or Lilah, ran smack dab into him again.

Now, Rainier Voss felt, Jake Wheeler needed his protection. Voss thought there were Cannoniere and ex-Wheeler cyber criminals out for blood, money and code. Jones might be one of those who were creeping up on Wheeler as well.

During a phone call to Asia Reynolds, Voss got a shock. Asia, with her documentary research skills, was pretty sure she could do a little tracking in order to locate Jake's Scottish relatives - something no one else had been able to do with much efficiency. Rainier gave her the go-ahead, giving her a shielded internet address in order to send her findings to him. They all felt that Jake could be hiding out at a relative's home. No one else, so far, had been able to trace Jacob Wheeler anywhere.

Asia flew to Chicago to do off-line, book research at the city's Genealogical Society. She also mentioned that she might have to fly to London to hunt down her Scottish and other leads on the Wheeler family. Rainier insisted that she allow another female FBI agent to meet her in Silver Lake and act as her body guard. There were too many suspicious characters spying on anything to do with Wheeler.

Of course, Asia agreed to this plan. She had some jealousy towards any alone time Lilah and Rainier had together. But, she accepted his work conditions as an important safeguard. She told him that she missed him and that she hoped to see him soon (fondly recalling their previous time in London successfully investigating the original bank heist and Silver Lake Wi-Fi blackout last winter). It wouldn't bother her a bit if Lilah Alyward would have to leave Rainier's side. She would have celebrated it, as she swallowed her envy over the beautiful Ms. Alyward sleeping in the room next to her lover. She hoped Rainier wouldn't have a clue about her feelings over his fellow agent. She, despite her green-eyed feelings about the innocent Ms. Alyward, was glad Rannie had her protection, although she would have preferred a male agent.

In the meantime, Voss continued his search for Jake Wheeler in Dornoch.

The other female agent, Rebecca Sinclair, actually met Asia in Chicago. It didn't take Asia long to find Jake's family tree. It was well documented. Bernard Wheeler's double name was something that Asia was familiar with, in terms of folks using their mother's maiden names as their own. She noticed the switch when she was reading the long stories about the Wheeler family's female relatives. But, she needed to do more research to make doubly sure that this was the correct family and the Jacob Wheeler that they were looking for. Jacob Wheeler was a relatively common name.

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# Chapter Five: The Secrets of Dunrobin

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AT THE SAME TIME REBECCA and Asia were augmenting Asia's online research into Jake Wheeler with a paper chase at the Chicago Genealogical Society, Jake Wheeler was investigating his grandfather's vast estate, sometimes by dirt bike and sometimes by Fell pony. Benny Campbell-Wheeler's private island property was thousands of hectares and extended for miles square.

It was Jake who had found the property, but during his year hiding in the Scottish forest, signed the property over to his grandfather. The land was new, Jake had never really paid any attention to exploring it. All he cared about at the time was computer technology. Benny moved in from his former estate and enlarged the original house to include a private two-bedroom apartment and several other bedrooms and baths. He also rebuilt and enlarged the barn.

Ainsley was Jake's favorite of the two Fell ponies. Today, he rode slowly, savoring the flavor and scent of the magnificent Scottish Highland air.

Aiden, Benny's Airedale, ran ahead and disappeared into a stand of trees. Jake followed the dog on horseback. Suddenly, a couple of amazing, large Osprey flew overhead. Ainsley ran forward until Jake reined him in. Three red grouse popped out of the woods followed by Aiden who was obviously enjoying the chase more than the frightened birds were. Jake called him off. The whole scene reminded him of his camp in the Sutherland, where he had successfully hidden and lived for over a year. He had eaten many red grouse when he was living in the Scottish forest. He laughed to himself and thought he could have used Aiden at that time. Not that it was that hard to find grouse.

Jacob looked up at the sky, it was a bright robin's egg blue. The afternoon was cooling as if the breeze was ushering in the twilight. It would be dark in about two hours. Just as Jake, his pony and Benny's dog turned an unfamiliar corner around an area of the Wheeler estate that was unknown to Jake, he spotted a rock cave he had never explored before, even as a child.

His grandfather had told him many fantastic stories about the caves on his land - some of which Jake did not believe...they were so far-fetched.

He missed living in the forest - perhaps this adventure would make up for that. He had put himself at risk by coming out of hiding, but he was getting lonely and wanted to see his grandfather and Jessie. He realized now that this might have been miscalculated and a mistake. He hoped, at this point, he wouldn't regret his decision. Unknown to Jake, the drones that usually tailed him were not able to follow him into the deep forests of Benny's Highland estate, so he had been completely on his own. It seemed as if the drones only worked inside the house and around the close, treeless parts of the grounds.

__________

Luciano and Fulbright took the train to Thurso, the last train stop in the Scottish Highland. They were lost without the video feed they had hacked from Heart. Totally lost. Lost and angry. They lashed out at each other. They had gotten off at every stop between Dornoch and Thurso, but no one even admitted to knowing anyone named Wheeler. The Scot's lips were sealed, it seemed. Not unusual for some stranger digging for information in the land of the Picts, or any farming area around the world. It was rudely suggested that they look in England. That, maybe they were in the wrong country.

Fulbright wanted to go back to London and start over again. Luciano still felt that they could still find some clue.

Heart Hacker and Stealth were staying on the Isle of Lewis very happily. After taking the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, they had booked a private ferry to take them across to Benny Campbell-Wheeler's private island off the Isle of Lewis. They had engaged the ferry for a few days hence, when they felt they would be ready to introduce themselves to the Campbell-Wheeler family. They needed a back story and some cover identities.

They watched their drone feed and consulted with Commando frequently. Mando was rich with tracking experience and helped them plan their actions. Mando had noticed that his drones were not following Jake on his pony. He had not expected to have to fly into the rural Highlands even on the islands. Nevertheless, the feed from inside the Campbell household was pretty much all they needed right now. Pretty much all they could get, as well.

__________

Samantha and Bo (aka Heart Hacker and Stealth) sat in their SUV wondering how to complete their tasks within the limits of the drone activity. Bob dozed and half-listened to the drone feed and his growling stomach. Sam was glued to the video feed. She noticed, excitedly, that Jessica Parker was calling around looking for a plumber. Since they knew that Commando had lost feed from Jake for about four hours. It was now imperative that they get inside the house and see everything first hand. It was time to meet the family. Maybe they knew where Jake was.

It would be easier to trace Jake if they were on the island. She shook Bo awake.

Samantha said to him, when he opened his eyes, "It's time for us to knock on Benny's door. We lost Jake for hours. We need to know what is going on. We have to give him our reconnaissance from the FBI hacks that Mando obtained."

A bewildered, sleepy and hungry Bo answered, "Hunh?"

Heart said, "You do plumbing, right?"

Stealth looked embarrassed and said, "Yeah. I learned from my dad. Why? Why on earth do you ask?"

"Benny is looking for a plumber. That's our signal. Let's go! Let's get inside that house! I'll stay in the car. If they see me, tell them I'm your onsite dispatcher and driver. I can call Jessica from my laptop and tell her we are on the way to fix her pipes. We can take the Wheeler private ferry. They have already said that they will send it for us." Samantha, the Heart Hacker, smiled and said, "Saves money." She laughed. "I already called the ferry we booked and canceled."

"Hmm...," mused Bo. "I can do almost any plumbing job. I can buy any tool I might need in Stornoway on the way to the ferry. I have a large adjustable wrench to get started, but I need more than that. Should have some extra tools with me anyway. It is a good way to cover our real missions. I could always use the extra cash, too. Okay, Samantha, I'm on for the game. Did they say what they are paying?"

Samantha grinned and said, "Naw, Bo. I already told them we are coming. I knew you would do the job."

The next day, Bo picked up some extra plumbing tools and supplies in Stornoway. He revved the engine of the SUV and rolled up to the private Wheeler dock. Samantha got out and spoke into the intercom next to the electronic fence. The gate parted and Bo stealthily glided down the drive up to Campbell-Wheeler's private dock, which was set back quite a ways from the road, surrounded by a thick forest. Benny owned this small patch of land, too.

Jessica Parker, Jake's girlfriend and advocate who lived on the estate with his grandfather, sent their ferry to pick the plumber up on Lewis and deliver him to their island. Needless to say, Benny had a ferry that could hold up to four small to medium-sized vehicles. He had smaller craft for guests without cars. When Heart and Stealth arrived, they drove up to the main house.

As Stealth walked up the front path, Jessica opened the large heavy oak front door. She looked at Bob quizzically who was rendered temporarily speechless. Jessie was unusually good-looking. She had rosy cheeks and an athletic body.

"Hello?" she said, a little put off.

"My name is Richard Wiseman," said Stealth, digging into the back story he and Sam had agreed to use as a cover. He tried hard to look like a plumber, using his best Highland accent. "My dispatcher sent me here. I work for Stornoway Plumbing. You called."

(Of course, Sam and Bo had heard Jess's call over the drone feed. Sam was able to call her back and let her know they were on their way. Stealth had on an ear bud, so he could get audio direction from Sam who was still watching the drones.) Bo noticed a house fly landing nearby and smiled.

"You arrived so quickly," said Jessica, sounding pleased and not a bit suspicious. "I didn't expect a response today. Your company said they were jammed with work from the recent flooding rains and needed to call me back. We have two drains that have been getting progressively worse and need unplugging."

"Let me see," answered Stealth, putting on his best professional plumber's attitude to compliment his Scottish playacting. After assessing his work, Bo said, "I'll need to go back to my shop and pick up a longer rooting tool. By the way," he continued. "I heard that your father keeps a couple of the finest Fell ponies in the county. Would you mind if I had a look?"

Jessica was obliging and offered to walk Stealth to the Wheeler stables. Stealth said, "I would love that! I saw the paddock when we were driving up. I assume the stables are right there next to it. I think I can find my way."

Jessica said, "Well, okay. Go ahead." She felt a little wary, knowing Jake's paranoia concerning strangers. But, since this man was only a local, she figured that the plumber was no threat.

Stealth needed to take a look around and meet Jake personally because of the interrupted drone feed. There really wasn't any other way to meet him in the flesh. He never left his grandfather's estate. The Wheeler household sent staff into town to procure whatever they might need. So, there was no reason for Jake to risk anything by leaving.

As Bo walked up to the stables, Jake rode in on Ainsley. When he noticed Bo, he looked frightened. Bo waved at him in a friendly way, hoping to disarm him. "Mr. Wheeler!" he called out. Jake dismounted, tied Ainsley to a fence post and walked over to Stealth looking characteristically defensive.

"Sorry," stated Stealth sincerely. "I am on your side. I am here with my partner, Samantha. We are here to deliver a message to you and offer some protection."

"You have no right," answered Jake, angrily. "Get off my land!"

"We are friends of yours from Anonymous. We know about your changes and support your new lifestyle. We have had changes like that in our own lives, as well. We have been following you since London. We know you are innocent of the murder of Jason Bing. Come and meet my partner and look at her laptop. We have a shielded connection like your girlfriend Jessica, so you can see proof of who we are without anyone else peeping in at it."

"That's not possible," answered Jake, turning red. "We have a Wi-Fi and Drone Repellant Barrier around the entire estate that is impenetrable, except for us. I designed it myself."

Stealth grinned internally. "Well, you are not the only person who can write code. My partner's friend in London can track something rather intensively. He is also an electronic wizard."

Overcome by ego and curiosity, Jake followed Stealth to his SUV. When he saw Samantha, he was taken aback. He knew this young woman from the early days of forming his own crew of hackers. "Samantha Emerson?!" he stuttered in surprise. Sam had once tried to join his crew before she had become an 'honest' hacker. He had turned her down, not because of her code-writing skills (which were excellent and very intriguing to him), but because she was too young. She had been only fourteen at the time. His fears about the present situation somewhat allayed, he sat down next to her in the car.

Smiling, he said, "My...my...fancy meeting you here!" He gave her a squeeze on the arm, looking in amazement at her laptop - which was loading video from inside his grandfather's mansion. "My god!" he exclaimed. "How did you get inside our home? I have bug-proofed the entire estate."

"You forgot my skills. We were guided to your house with code that was invented by an ex-patriot, ex-Seal Commander from America. He is a genius that specializes in making and using certain types of computer technology. We followed you from London and let Lilah Alyward, an FBI agent, know where to find a few of your weakest crew members that broke their probation and were on the lam. And, by the way, looking for you."

Jake looked off into the distance, still a little worried. I mean, after all, Sam used to be a hacker out for the money, now she was changed. Just like him. He listened to her intently. He said, "I should have known!"

Heart Hacker smiled and nodded. "Yes, Jake, that is it. We have been researching your enemies and blocking their interference. We believe in your innocence and have been manipulating the police so that you would be acquitted of all wrong-doing. We believe you need a second chance." Heart paused, "Just like I did."

Stealth added, "Heart...um, I mean, Samantha falsified CCTV video for you and sent most of the UK police to Australia. She sort of used a Trapwire configuration backwards, to release you from CID (the Criminal Investigation Department of the British Police) surveillance. Trapwire, or police CCTV facial recognition software can also be used to falsely identify people...on purpose. Like a computerized video auto-photoshop.

Bo stopped and swallowed, "Don't ask right now exactly how she did that. We can tell you later. You should also be aware that the US government is going to offer you a position with the FBI if you can recover the rest of the Silver Lake money. We are some of a very few people who know what you really look like now, after your plastic surgery. There are about two of your ex-cyber crew that know and some members of the FBI."

Jake frowned and responded, "Now is not a good time for me to consider becoming an informant. I cannot return the money from the banks. I will not. I sent it all to my crew. I pay them to stay away from me.

"I cannot safely access that money. It is not in cash anymore. I know approximately where it is, but I still cannot tell you how to get to it. It was hidden using a computer chip and machine that I invented, but the machine is invulnerable." Jake was partially lying, but it needed to be done. He hadn't even checked on this plumber guy, yet. He needed to ID him. Still, he was shaken that he knew about his surgery. And, that others also know. Regardless of the surgery, he figured his ex-cyber crew was mean and smart enough to figure things out.

"Leave that up to the FBI. They have ways of finding money like that. They can even access some off-shore accounts. If you join them, they can protect you if you were to retrieve the stolen money."

"Not at this time," answered Jake. "I am wanted not only for this theft, but also for a murder that I did not commit and had nothing to do with."

"We know that, so at some point we will make sure the agency will find out also," said Stealth. "The FBI also knows that you do not have the money personally. Or, at least they estimate that you do not. They apprehended and interviewed two of your renegade ex-crew members when we lead the agent to them. But, they feel you can help them find out where your other crew members stashed the rest of the money that was stolen. No restitution was required of the arrested members in the past, since they were put in an English prison for other, previous cyber-crimes in the UK and the money was stolen in the United States.

"At this point, any of the other crew members will be threatened with extradition as soon as they are caught by the authorities. They broke their probation by threatening you. There will be no amnesty for them this time around. There were more crew members involved in the murderous mutiny aboard your jet. Three of them (the ring leaders in the murder of Jason Bing, Kent Rockford, Jules Ridden and Raphael Case) have life without parole in an Illinois prison. We are here to add some more numbers to that. I told you, we have your back. And, we are good at what we do."

Jake nodded thoughtfully at his two 'guardian angels'. As well-meaning and talented as these young 'protectors' were, he now figured out how he had almost gotten shot near the Dornoch Firth bridge. This was why he never once used wireless technology when he was on the run. Not even a little bit. Not once.

The security could not be trusted. Someone must have hacked into their computer feed.

He needed to get rid of these two and their interference. They were a major security risk to him. He knew they meant well and was a little interested in the FBI offer and he felt that they could very possibly access his hidden Trust money.

Such offers from the FBI were not uncommon in the illegal hacker community. Hector Xavier Monsegur, "Sabu", founder of the hacker group LulzSec turned informant for the FBI among many others that mainly wanted to stay clear of any prison sentences. Hector Monsegur now works for a legitimate security firm, Rhino Security Labs. A few other former illegal hackers have turned informant, like Rory Guidry who helped to bust Darkode. Some have actually joined the FBI, Secret Service or CIA in their Cyber Divisions.

Even Heart and Stealth were afraid of guys like that. But, this one, if they stayed within some broad ethical boundaries, might stay in their pocket and be a real friend. They knew one of Jake's possible FBI co-workers had done just that at the Cannoniere club in Brixton. Rainier Voss had worked with illegal hackers (all hackers are illegal) to gain information on some criminals. Now, they were ready to work with Jake on occasion if they agreed with the methods and objectives. They knew they were supplementing FBI movement right now, as a matter of fact.

Both Stealth and Heart Hacker felt that the FBI was sometimes as bad as a thuggish non-populist hacker. But, maybe, things could get better. Both Bo and Samantha were willing to help take down a thuggish hacker in the future. This was a real meeting. The FBI needed to be a tool, not a weapon. They would try with Jake and Voss and any other intelligent, friendly agents to hone that tool their way. If Jake took the deal.

Not that Jake would tell Heart and Stealth that he thought the FBI could access the missing funds, especially with his help. It was too risky. He disliked most code-writing and did not want to be a programmer again, even if he could join law enforcement.

"Okay, you two. Thank you for your message. I truly appreciate your protection. I suppose you hacked the FBI headquarters in Quantico to get this information for me," Jake said, remembering the common Anonymous mission of hacking into governments around the world, like a mobile WikiLeaks - in order to make sure that the government really did serve the people, even at their own personal risk. He added, "I am not writing code anymore."

It was Sam and Bo's turn to nod. That, and more, thought Samantha about Jake's comment on hacking the FBI Headquarters.

Jake inquired, "Why didn't the FBI contact me themselves?"

Sam grimaced and said, "There were several problems with that. First and foremost, they do not know where you are. There were also two not-quite-so-honest FBI agents sent to apprehend you. One even found and interviewed your old crew member Richie Stevens. Law enforcement feels this was because the agent was interested in any recovered money. Not for the agency, but partially for himself. He was taken off the case and is on probation in the agency right now. Both were arrested, one escaped and is at large and very dangerous. We will track him for you as soon as we are able. We are working on that right now.

"Two more agents were sent to replace them and tell you of your acquittal and job offer with the agency. One of these agents, Dr. Rainier Voss, was viciously attacked in the US, by, we think, the former FBI Special Agent that is now on the run.

"Dr. Voss has recovered and is staying in Dornoch with his partner. If you change your mind and want to join their security agency, we would be glad to bring them to you. As it stands, they still do not know where you are at present."

"No, no, no!" shouted Jake, shaking his head and attempting to get out of the car.

Sam grabbed his shoulder and said, "It's okay, Jake. We will not do anything without your permission. The FBI could, though, find you on their own. We will warn you if they are getting close. We have our ways, too..."

"I see," answered Jake, getting upset again and feeling more than ever that he wanted nothing to do with this.

__________

The next day dawned with a beautifully pink and yellow horizon. It was a bright day. Jake packed a knapsack with several day's worth of dried and fresh food, essential camping supplies and his little, portable chess set (ideal for long waits). He mounted the willing Ainsley, not letting the disappointed Aiden follow him into the Sutherland brush. He felt good. Free again. Almost, anyway. He really did not think the American police were looking to arrest him anymore. No one knew his relatives in Scotland, so he felt that he could stay with his grand and Jessica for a little while, at least. And that felt good. Real good.

Jake rode the horse back to the cave entrance he had discovered the previous day. He let the pony graze, did not tie him up and trusted him to stay there while he explored a bit. If he didn't return to the horse by night fall, he knew the pony would return to his grand's stable. He was trained that way. He would go home on his own.

Jake's curiosity about this cave had almost become an obsession with him. He felt the need to hide again. The appearance of Bo and Samantha, the hackers from Anonymous, didn't help his self-confidence any. Sure, if Bo told the truth, he was practically clear of all the charges from his old exploits, but his advocates in Anonymous and the American police (including the FBI) would not be able to find or recover the stolen money even if he told them where it was. It was protected too well, by default. He, alone, could turn it in.

His ex-crew members could withdraw money, but not move it. He had given them much more than their fair share, in an effort to keep them from killing him. The code they used to withdraw it was one he had given them. If he should turn FBI informant, he knew he could recover it with the right code. No one outside his ex-crew knew about that. The American FBI was only guessing. But, by taking the money out of hiding on his own, he would risk his life.

"Forever" echoed in Jake's mind as he picked his way into the cave entrance and the dark labyrinth ahead. Little by little, with the aid of his headlamp and flashlight, he felt his way ahead. He marked his trail with white, fluorescent spray paint. He was lucky, there weren't many choices of turns. Not many branch-offs or low overhangs, nor were there any sudden crevices. The thought crossed Jake's mind that the tunnel was, perhaps, man-made during World War II. But, he dismissed that as improbable logistically. More likely, it was created by a very powerful water current, an underwater spring, flowing like a fire hose constantly aimed at one point in the rock.

The air was much cooler in here, than in the forest or fields. Jake was very careful and did not walk blindly. He knew that the floor of any cave could drop suddenly into an abyss or a deep pool of water filled with sharp, knife-like rocks. Or, conversely, the ceiling of any cave could drop below his head level suddenly, as well.

Knocking himself out on a low-slung rock shelf was not real appealing - so he kept an eye out for everything that was ahead of him. He had his camping and survival gear, so he could explore to his heart's content.

He walked onward at a half-way decent pace, until his illuminated watch told him it was midnight. Then, he walked for as long as his strength would permit. Sleepy, he would pause.

Jake yawned. Even though his heart ached for his girl, Jessica, he made camp, rolling out his sleeping bag and portable cot. He lit his propane stove and brewed tea and heated a foil packet of food. There was water in the cave and he had plenty of water purification pills with him and water bottles, as well. He had calculated that there was a two week limit on his food. After two weeks, he would have had to turn back and follow his spray-painted trail to his grand's island.

He felt enormously relieved to have lost those tailing him. Jake fell into a deep, comfortable sleep. The safety of the cave engulfed him like a blanket. He snored.

He awoke in what was the early morning as he felt a wing brush his face - a bat returning to the cave. This occurred less and less in the weeks to come as he traveled deeper into the cavern away from the entrance. He stretched, yawned and packed his gear, intent on journeying onward.

So, it went on this way for many days and nights until Jake knew he needed to return to where he had entered the cave or find an exit. And, find an exit, he did.

Climbing gradually upward, Jake felt like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Following the story, he surfaced in a magnificent, manicured garden maze. Bewildered, he took out his compass and plastic map. He couldn't believe where he must be, so he checked it again and again.

His mind recognized that his position in the Sutherland was not completely impossible, perhaps a bit improbable, though. He figured he must have connected somehow with the Bone caves located near Ullapool. He vaguely remembered his grandfather saying something about that when he was a very young child, maybe five years old. Jake had seen bone fragments and weird, partial skeletons in the cave he had just been walking through.

The Bone caves are famous for their large numbers of prehistoric relics. But, the garden he had climbed into from the cave - perched on a long cliff leading to the sea - confused him. He was obviously on the mainland coast of Scotland. No doubt about that. His grand's tunnel led from the islands of the Outer Hebrides under water to the coastal cliffs of the Sutherland. Maybe the tunnel flooded depending on the season, but it was dry right now.

Another miracle for him. He felt he deserved one after his plastic surgeon was found out and forced to show his records and photographs to Kent Rockford, Jules Ridden and Raphael Case (his renegade former employees) at gun point before they had been caught by the police. So, they (and any of the crew they showed the photos to) could recognize him now, even though they didn't know where he was. He didn't know exactly where he was standing at this very moment, either.

Jake did 360 degrees and ruffled his hair with his arms crossed over his head. He sat down on a large boulder with his chin in his hand, befuddled. He knew he was not close to Ullapool, where the entrances of many Bone caves were. But, prehistoric relics did not always confine themselves to only one area. He was not close enough to make that connection, anyway. He might be about 100 miles from Ullapool where the caves were. That was a good guess, he was about 50 miles from Ullapool.

By his reckoning, he must have walked slightly under 200 kilometers in that rock tunnel during his two weeks walking and camping, apparently, partially under the sea. He tried again to calculate where he could possibly have surfaced. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

It was a good thing he could follow a compass. He remembered his first days of examining an unknown landfall in the islands. He had crash-landed his personal helicopter on a cliff off the Outer Hebrides in a terrible rain storm about a year ago. He had been trying to fly to his grand's estate. The hurricane-force winds during the storm had taken him down before he had gotten to his destination.

He was turned around at first, but his well-calculated survival equipment, technical aptitude, skill at reading stars - and navigation depending solely on a compass without a map got better as time went on. He thought back. He felt his self-confidence start to seep in.

He placed his journey through the tunnel inside the mental picture of his walking journeys on the Isles of Lewis and Harris after the helicopter crash. He tried again to picture where he was. As he was lost in thought, he heard the sound of bagpipes in the early morning breezes floating in from the ocean over the cliffs he was sitting near, but probably coming from the formal gardens behind him. Frightened, he looked for the hole he had exited the cave from. He arose from the boulder, ready to dash back to his hiding place.

A touch on his shoulder froze him in mid-stride.

"Hello, there," said a masculine voice from behind him. "And who might you be?" Jake turned to face a young man in a kilt, who frowned and looked a bit concerned at his presence. Jake, not willing to give away the cave exit, said, "I am lost. Where am I? I am sure if you tell me where I am, I can find my way back to my home."

The man cleared his throat and replied, "Yes. Of course, you are at Dunrobin Castle, in my formal gardens. Are you a tourist? You have strayed from your group, I presume."

Jake, in shock that he had indeed traveled that far, answered easily, "Oh, yes. Where are they?"

The man answered, "Come with me, I will take you to the main building. You should always stay with your group. Well, now you have met the owner." The man in the kilt continued speaking into Jake's slightly bewildered face, "I am James Scott, Master and Heir Apparent to Dunrobin. My father is the present Earl of this area."

"Oh, wonderful to meet you Mr. Scott."

"You are lucky that my father is travelling and did not find you all the way out here in our garden. He is a retired Detective from the Scottish National Police. He might have had you arrested and looked into your records to find out who you are."

Jake shrank from Lord Scott's touch. Fear wrote itself on his face.

Scott noted this and pushed Jake a little further, "Where are you from, anyway? Finding you wandering around my estate makes me curious."

Jake answered, "The Outer Hebrides. My grandfather owns an island there. I was traveling by boat and hiking." Somehow Jake trusted this man. His Campbell family had trusted the Scotts for generations and he was no exception right now, needing help anyway.

The young Lord made a quick estimation and said, "Perhaps you are a descendant of Bonny Ben Campbell? The grandson, the genius?"

Surprised, Jake answered, "I am not a genius. Yes, I am the grandson of Benny. I know your family and ours have been friends..."

"...for over one hundred years. Your secrets (and I have heard you have many) are safe with me. It is a good thing my father did not find you here. He is not as trusting or forgiving. But, you can talk to me. I will not betray you. Dunrobin Castle has many secrets. If you need it, we can hide you here. No one will ever know. Not even my father."

Jake felt suddenly tired and warily grateful for the young Lord Scott's offer of protection.

"Come with me," said Lord Scott. Seeing Jake's hesitation, he continued, grabbing his arm, "I can at least offer you overnight accommodations. We have many secret places here at Dunrobin Castle. No one will ever know you are here."

Jake was actually very tired from his long, rocky trek in the grimy subterranean tunnel, so he agreed. After all, the young Lord was one of Benny's oldest friends. Lord Scott led him into an obscure stone entrance in the formal garden, well hidden behind some well-trimmed evergreens. Jake was still nervous, but awed by the stone labyrinth they had entered. It seemed to lead directly into a well-lit, windowless, highly-polished and decorated narrow staircase. The Lord of the Manor led him upward. They climbed stairs that were, perhaps more than three stories high.

Jake estimated that they might have ended at the top of the castle. They were, perhaps, inside a turret. The room Lord Scott brought him to was also windowless and elaborately decorated. It was a sort of sitting room - an anteroom with an attached bedroom, in which there was an invitingly large four poster bed.

James MacGuiness, Lord Scott said, "I will bring you something hot to eat directly. My father is gone. He never comes up here to this room, anyway, so he will not know anyone is staying with me. Best he does not know, being a former police officer. I assume you are running from the police. It is all over the internet. You computer folks have always got some issue."

Jake shivered at the word "issue", but looked longingly at the bed.

"Settle yourself in. There is an attached bathroom to refresh yourself. Unpack and I will bring your meal up in a flash. I hope you like broiled venison steak and fish chowder. I am sure the cook can add some of the vegetables from our garden. I will eat with you to avoid suspicion from the kitchen staff. They are accustomed to me carrying my own tray into seclusion in order to avoid the tour groups."

Jake smiled warmly at James and gave him a hug. He assured the Lord that his choice of dishes would be fine. James clapped him on the back and said again, "You are safe here, my laddie. We have many more secret passages." The Lord glanced at Jake's camping equipment and continued, "You can even camp in the secret Chinese garden in our forest, if need be." He hesitated and thought back, frowning, "Not in the formal gardens, though. Too many tour groups through there."

Jake snickered to himself to think that Lord Scott thought he was trying to camp out in his formal garden because of his backpack. That was logical but not true.

Lord James left and returned in an hour or so with Jake's meal, just as Jake was getting out of a long hot soak in the tub.

James asked, "Do you wish to call your grandfather?" he proferred a cell phone. Jake jumped at the sight of the phone and shook his head 'no'. The Lord said, apologetically, "I should have known. There is a landline you can use downstairs after you eat. I will close the drapes there. We have many empty spaces. After all, there are 189 rooms in Dunrobin Castle."

James laughed at the shocked look on Jake's face. He walked to a bookcase and lifted an old, antique tome. As he did, the bookcase slid sideways, revealing a stone passage that released a damp, cool waft of air.

"See?" said the Lord. "I can hide you for months here...even years." James hesitated, then went on, "Don't enter this passage by yourself. It leads for many kilometers around my property. You could get very lost. I will lead you on a tour, later. But," the Lord paused, pulling Jake into the dark passage. "If you need to hide in here in an emergency, you can close the bookcase by pulling this brick out towards yourself - and open the hidden door again by pushing the same brick back into place."

"Thank you, your Lordship," said the grateful and amazed Jake.

The humble and accommodating James MacGuiness Scott, Lord of Dunrobin and Earl of the Highlands took Jake's clothing to be washed, leaving Jake in the plush cotton robe provided in the posh Dunrobin bathroom.

"Call me James," said the young Lord over his shoulder. "Rest now. I will return in a few hours. You can call your grandfather then, if you wish."

Jake nodded and indicated that he would like to call his home later.

James Scott hesitated, turning around, his arms filled with Jake's laundry. "By the way, do you play chess or backgammon? I am always looking for a challenging partner."

Jake answered, "Yes! Both. I am particularly fond of chess."

"Oh, good. I've heard you are a whiz at games. When I return, I will bring a tea kettle and my chess board. Or perhaps Bordeaux would be better. We can start a game tonight. I am also very good at this, so beware, my new friend! Tonight, we shall warm the chill of these stone walls with a fire, some good hot tea or mulled wine and a rousing game of chess."

Jake answered, "I do not drink alcohol, sorry. Tea would be fine. I look forward to the chess game, my Lord. Blessed Be!"

"Blessed Be!" answered the young Lord with a chuckle and a quiet snap of the door as he exited the sequestered room.

Jake sat down in the sitting room and ate the sumptuous meal with gusto, warmed and cleansed by his long soak in the hot water of the tub. He noted that there was plenty left over if James wanted any food. It would be good cold, too. As soon as he lay back down on the bed again, he immediately fell into a deep sleep, barely moving the bedspread aside.

|  |

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# Chapter Six: Where is Jake Wheeler?

Sylvie Reynolds, Asia Reynolds' live-in niece, was riding Pumpkin, Asia's rescued donkey, bareback. Sylvie was seventeen and very small, under 100 lbs. Punkin was being very tolerant of having a rider (even a small one). Donkeys are not known for their large size, but they can be very strong.

Presently, Sylvie was in charge of Asia's barnyard animals since her aunt was doing research a few hundred miles away in Chicago.

The landline phone rang inside the kitchen. Sylvie hopped off the little burro and ran into the house, breathlessly catching the phone in time to pant a greeting.

"Hullo?" she said, trying to catch her breath. The donkey brayed loudly at the opening of the porch door. Zucchini, Asia's 120 lb. Husky-German Shepard pushed past the donkey and barked insistently at the phone. Sylvie pushed her hand over her forehead, brushing her hair back in a gesture of frustration.

She heard the four goats: the parents, Thelma and Louis - the children, Smidgen and Tinkerbell - making antiphon noises. Funny, but very loud noises.

Sylvie said, "Shit!" into the phone as Punkin and Zucchini brayed and barked again, respectively.

Asia, who waited patiently on the other end of the line, said, "Oh my god, Sylvie! Is it a farm animal rebellion? Animal Farm 2017?!"

"Yeah, Aunt Asia! And I am George Orwell."

The noise from all the animals almost drowned her voice out again. She commanded loudly, "Shut up, Pumpkin!" The donkey had climbed the porch stairs and was standing inside the back porch walking towards the open kitchen door, braying at the top of her voice as she eyed the bowl filled with dog kibble. "Out! Outside you two. You, too, Zucchini - out!"

None of this worked, although Zookie lay down defensively in front of her food bowl after one more defiant bark. Punkin squealed like a deflating beach ball. Thelma and Louis clomped right into the kitchen and cozied up to Zucchini, as if to say, "See? You like us better than that old donkey! Don't you?" Tinkerbell, their small twin kid daughter climbed into Zookie's dog bed and curled up with a look of total satisfaction. Sylvie blew the hair off her forehead with frustration.

"This is, as you know, a zoo," said Sylvie humorously. She could not help smiling at the menagerie that had trespassed into the house and totally disobeyed her with loving defiance.

"Oink," replied Asia. "So now, to the business at hand."

"Tell me, Auntie! How goes your detective work? Crack the case like you found the hideouts in the unused subway tunnels of London? What rocks did you move this time with your sleuthing?"

Asia Reynolds began to laugh, then she started coughing. Another voice came on the line, interrupting the hacking cough. "Hullo, Sylvia?"

"Hello? Who are you? Is my Aunt Asia okay? Where is she?"

"Oh, she's fine, just exhausted. We have been working very long hours here. She has a bad cold. My name is Rebecca Sinclair. I am an FBI Special Agent and your aunt's bodyguard and co-worker."

"Does she really need a bodyguard? With guns and everything?"

"Oh, my dear, yes, especially now. She was calling to tell you our research at the Chicago Genealogical Society is done and we are coming home to Silver Lake."

"You're coming too?"

"Yes. There are people who want the information that your aunt has, and they would kill to get it."

"They would kill my auntie?"

"That's why I am here. I won't let them. I have weapons and three black belts in various martial arts. I will stay at your home and next to your Aunt until all threats are resolved."

"Oh, good. I will get a guest room ready. When will you both be arriving?"

"Tomorrow. We can take a taxi from the airport."

"Oh, okay. Then, I can go to work at Frankie's Rescue Ranch. I have to feed, water and clean all the animal enclosures, let the horses, etc. out to pasture - and, my favorite, play with all the rescued animals and give them some love."

Rebecca smiled to herself, "You like animals?"

Sylvie responded, "Yes, Ms. Sinclair. They are my whole life outside of school and my boyfriend. I might become a veterinarian after the Air Force."

"Yes," answered Rebecca. "I've heard about your skills, ambitions and your talented Bertram Thomas, the artist and fly boy."

Sylvie blushed. "I love him, and I am sure everything will come together for us."

"Your aunt is very proud of you. Seems you've gotten used to life in the country."

Pumpkin began to complain again, and Zucchini ran outside with all of the goats except little Tinkerbell who comfortably remained asleep in the dog bed, her pretty head propped up on one side of the bed.

The donkey stepped forward again and entered the kitchen with what seemed to be a sardonic smile.

"Ms. Sinclair, I have to go. My auntie's zoo is calling."

"Okay, yeah. I can hear them. Go ahead. See you tomorrow, then."

"Fine. I will see you and Aunt Asia in the evening when I get off work."

"Bye..."

"Goodbye, Ms. Sinclair..."

__________

Former FBI Agent Jones had some good news as soon as he had settled into the new place he had purchased. He had recently, upon entering the city of Chicago, bought a Lake Michigan shoreline, high-rise condo under the alias of William Donahue. Ever since Jake Wheeler and his hacker crew almost got caught in Monaco, Jones couldn't help feeling his luck change for the better. He was surfing the internet within an "Onion Router" (TOR: The Onion Router), which was an anonymity network [an overlay network accessed only with specific software, configurations or authorization using non-standard communications (non-standard code), protocols and ports.]

He knew that Jake had his grandfather's 100 million pound Trust, plus at least 20 million American dollars he figured he had hidden from outsiders using some electronic methodology.

His former hacker crew was responsible for a great deal of his success in hacking the banks in Silver Lake a year ago. Jones wanted some of that. He felt he could easily steal a fortune. He felt he could match computer wits with the genius of Jake Wheeler. He swore he would find him.

Jones was sure Jake must have at least one off-shore account. Using his knowledge of security flaws, gained within the FBI, Jones could access almost all the banks that hid any account using his old connections with DARPA [the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency within the US Department of Defense (a department in the Pentagon that deals with cutting edge programming and computer hardware)]. This was a risky move on his part, being wanted by the government agencies he was using for his own illicit profit.

But, Jones was a former top operative. His ego would also not let him admit that his old successes in the intelligence community could prove faulty. He could match his computer moves play by play with any government agency - or so he thought.

Despite his overblown estimation of himself, Jones was getting increasingly angry with the fact that he could not find either Jake Wheeler's residence or his fortune. If his money was not off-shore or in Switzerland, both areas which had opened themselves with the unusual coding/programming tools confiscated from the DARPA agency, then where was it?

Confounded, Jones comforted himself by tracing the steps that Wheeler's crew took to "transfer" (i.e. steal) funds from the Silver Lake banks. One step he had to use a computer simulation for was the hacking of the communications satellite. He was pretty sure that Jake's stolen funds had never been translated into any physical monetary denomination in the world. The money existed only in numbers, not cash.

In other words, the stolen money from Silver Lake had remained electronic.

That might be fuzzy for anyone, except for Jones and his rather extensive programming skills. He felt he was hot on the trail of this money, but he still felt the going was slow. That was the bad news.

The good news was that two of his competitors in this activity had been reported dead. Luciano Esposito and Fulbright Mason had shot each other in far northern Scotland in a drunken rage over a computer game. He found the double murder amusing, since he thought that these independent hackers were incompetent from the beginning - and a danger and bother to him.

He felt that Jake was no longer in Scotland - after all, Luciano and Fulbright had come up empty. He had changed his mind and was now wondering if Jake Wheeler might really be hiding in Australia. He had begun following the police trail there assiduously, hacking into Interpol's communications. He never regained communication with the hacked video from those two in Dornoch, and never would, he figured, ironically. So, the Australia thing was just a desperate guess, for an edgy, nervous Jones.

All this from the comfort of his condominium on the exquisite white sand beaches of Lake Michigan in Chicago's near north side. Of course, he had his own funds locked up tight in a safety deposit box. This was not the first time he had tried to obtain stolen funds. He had siphoned money from thieves and Wall street criminals many times. Any time he had tracked and arrested a Ponzi Scheme trader or other Wall street cheater, he took as much of the recovered and unaccounted for money he felt was safe.

He was a one man French Connection - or better yet, Monaco Connection. No drugs, though, just electronic money transfers and stolen cash in his own pockets, unreported to the Bureau.

__________

"I don't want to go over to fix those drains," complained Stealth. "We haven't seen Jake in the house for days."

"So, we have to go back soon and take a look. They gave us permission to enter the property. There might be an exit we know nothing about. That is a big island. Try and drag out the drain fix - or break something else to buy us some time. I will give you an ear bud, so you can listen in to the drone feed."

"Okay, Sam, I could create a leak"

"Alright. I'll call them within our internet shield."

Within hours, Samantha, the Heart Hacker, and Bo were back on Benny Campbell-Wheeler's island estate.

While Stealth worked in the two bathrooms, Heart started combing the forests, taking the trails on a dirt bike the two Anonymous members had brought with them.

Stealth took as much time as he could. Benny and Jessica invited him to have lunch with them. Bo gladly agreed. He checked the SUV after eating, and noticed that Samantha had not returned. She had taken a backpack with camping equipment so she could have some extra time for reconnaissance. They had agreed to meet in about two days, if necessary. Bo was sure that Campbell would agree to open his home for the repairs again around that time.

In fact, the Wheelers did agree to do that.

The Heart Hacker, Samantha Emerson, took off on her rented dirt bike as soon as they had arrived on Benny Wheeler's island. After checking a few other trails, she began her search again by coasting to the head of a large trail. The one that was closest to the Wheeler paddocks, following hoof marks embedded in that particular trail. Samantha was careful to keep her engine turned off until she was well into the trees.

Bo was to give her two full days, max, to take a look around. He could easily arrange to take that time to buy plumbing supplies and pipe to repair what he had damaged. If she came back before he left today, she would be waiting in the car with whatever information she had gathered.

Sam jacked the engine of her dirt bike and zoomed down the trail into the forests of the island. She was enjoying this trip and watching for signs of Jake along the way. She saw many red deer, grouse and other animals of the Highlands.

She stopped at a clearing and looked for any signs of camping. Nothing there. She left on the bike and soon came to the opening of a cave. Caves were nothing unusual in the Scottish Sutherland. This was an ancient land and there were many caves along its long shoreline, inland as well. Samantha again dismounted when she noticed that the horse hooves ended right there - oddly turning around and heading back in the direction she had come in. She noted that the hoof marks heading back towards Benny's home were much lighter than those going towards the cave, indicating perhaps that the rider had dismounted and sent the horse back. She hid the dirt bike and walked tentatively into the orifice.

After walking through the cavern for about an hour, she noticed signs of a campfire and a fairly recent disturbed area. Unwilling to look deeper into the cave, she turned around, walking outside again. She took her dirt bike out of the bushes and headed back to Wheeler's mansion. She met Stealth at the car and told him about the cave. They made their surveillance plans from there.

If they used Commando's drones for this, and they flew outside near the Wheeler home, they would be hit by the drone repellant, which would send them back to their point of origin, London. This, obviously, would render them useless. Because they had been inside Jake's backpack, Commando was able to write some code that protected them from the Drone Repellant Barrier when they were near to, or on, a human body. Any human body. Now, they could only operate within Benny Campbell-Wheeler's home. Their surveillance would have to be confined to that building.

Although Heart and Stealth would have loved to follow the leads inside the cave, they thought it best to wait out Jake's absence, and try and research the existence of that cave instead. They left a little disappointed, but felt that Jake Wheeler's life was in his own hands, especially since he had objected to their protective presence anyway.

They both agreed to continue living across the bay on the Isle of Lewis, in Stornoway, and listen to Wheeler's household from the drone feed. They could, at least, protect Jake's home and stand guard over the estate from there.

It hurt to take a step back.

__________

"Brilliant! Bloody brilliant, Jake! True to form!" James Scott clapped his hands over the chess board. Jake smiled widely.

"Checkmate," said Jake, almost redundantly.

Lord Scott squinted his eyes at Jake, looking oddly distant. He looked away from his new friend. "You liked your supper?" the Earl asked, almost in a whisper.

"It was lovely, sir. Thank you," answered Jake, suddenly feeling vulnerable. He was the Earl's guest, but also his prisoner in a way.

"I know how you gave the rest of your crew the twenty million."

This was so unexpected, that Jake felt like running, but there was nowhere to run to. How could he know?

"Don't worry," answered James. "I surf the Dark Net. My connections there have told me rather amazing stories about you. They told me how fair you were with your crew, even though some of them had tried to kill you.

"Why, Jake? You didn't need to share. And now, you are being chased for money you do not have anymore, a crime you didn't commit and restitution you do not need to make. Even more, there are thieves among the police chasing you."

"Yes," answered Jake, simply. "It was time for me to divest myself from the hacker thing and get real. Remember, Steve Jobs invented the black box (which imitates the bell tone for each coin & provides free long distance from pay phones) before he went straight and started Apple. He also began his computer career as an illegal hacker."

"The inventor of so many helpful things also invented a clever, portable way to make free long distance calls (via the black box), which was illegal at the time. Now, partially because of him, free long distance is not only legal - it is the norm. You can change, Jacob! You can do it! And I will help you and keep you safe," declared the Earl. "I am pledged to help you always."

"You already have," said Jake. "You spy on the Dark Net."

"Detective work runs in the family," answered James Scott. "Remember my dad's a famous Scottish policeman."

"A bit different."

"Not all that..."

__________

Stealth and Samantha continued monitoring the interior of the Wheeler mansion. No sign of Jake for the last two days. Benny Wheeler made a few ironic comments that pricked Samantha's ears. She consulted with the Commando in London.

Stealth said, "He doesn't seem too upset at his grandson's disappearance and he has intimated that he can guess where he is."

"Sounds pretty close to what I would say. He knows where he is. Stealth," rejoined Samantha. "You need to question Benny when you go back to fix the pipes."

Stealth looked vague and answered, "I don't have a clue how to start that conversation. I need to ask for an appointment for next week, giving us some time."

"Sounds good. I know how to start that dialog," said Sam. "Ask him about his land. Pay special attention to what he says about caves."

"Well, cool, Samantha," answered Stealth. "I think I can do that. There are pony trails everywhere. I can ask about those. And the caves."

__________

Heart Hacker and Stealth, taking their job protecting Jake Wheeler very seriously, worked on as many tracers as they could for past information about the FBI Agents that had worked on the Wheeler case. The created a timeline right up to the present day. They surfed the Dark Net in many disguises. They caught glimpses of several people of interest.

They saw glimpses of a rather talented programmer by the name of William P. Donnelly. His code was far superior to the ordinary teenaged hacker. Heart thought he must be a professional. Either he was a major Silicon Valley programmer or law enforcement. They tried to trace him down to a residential address. That, to no one's great surprise, was not possible at this point.

But, Stealth noticed the way Donnelly used the Onion Router. (The Router code has many layers of subterfuge. Many layers like the skin of an onion.) This indicated that Donnelly could possibly be an insider from an US intelligence agency. It was not provable right now, but it was a rational intuition on his part. Heart felt Bo was correct. Donnelly was much too knowledgeable of complicated codes that she had seen only the CIA use to be an ordinary hacker or programmer.

They had found Bill Donnelly by logging on to a recently abandoned website that had a familiar south London name for them - The Cannoniere. How could they miss a website that had a name like that?

Donnelly had many old posts. These posts and replies hinted at his own expertise. His code did not disappoint.

Samantha hacked current lists of operatives in all the US intelligence agencies for a William P. Donnelly. There were two Bill Donnellys (one in the CIA and one in the NSA). Neither operative seemed as if their lifestyles and movements would fit with someone who recently used the almost defunct Cannoniere. Nothing connected them.

Both Bill Donnellys were not clandestine in their everyday usage of the internet. There was no Onion Router connected with them. They did not have a high enough security clearance to learn the type of programming their Bill Donnelly knew. Only someone like Samantha, Bo and Commando would know the type of code that their person of interest knew.

Stealth and Heart both came to the conclusion that Bill Donnelly was an online alias. They began to concentrate on the webmasters of the Cannoniere website, whom Mr. Donnelly obviously had come to know and communicate with. Their identities might prove useful.

They had also noticed two FBI Special Agents that were in trouble with the US government - Agents Dobbs and Jones. Both had been in the UK and had been taken off the agency's search for Jake Wheeler. Jones, in particular, was cause for much FBI concern. He was formerly under arrest, but escaped from FBI custody. He sounded, to the two hackers, like the kind of person they were looking for. He could well be their Bill Donnelly.

Samantha wanted to concentrate on getting back to the Wheeler mansion and finding out where Jake might have run to, but she kept this information in her back pocket.

__________

Jake called his grand from Dunrobin the next day. He reassured him that he was okay and asked him about the mysterious cave that took him under the sea to the Scottish mainland.

Benny was not surprised that Jake had found one of the secret passages from his island estate - there were more, as well. He knew his grandson would find these eventually with his love of riding ponies down the myriad trails. It would, Benny knew, take a lifetime to find all the many caves and such on his island. He was happy Jake was all right. The man had his resources, thought Benny. Benny told Jake he would pick him up in his boat whenever he wanted to come back to his hideout in the Hebrides.

Jake agreed that it would be soon. He was working on many projects in his computer hardware lab at Benny's. He had already produced a state-of-the-art Q-bit processor that only needed a little more refinement to be the best and fastest processor on the planet. He also managed other innovative hardware that offered identity protection and camouflage for his bank accounts. No one else, not even the computer savvy Jessica, was privy to the real functions and components of his own hardware.

He had recently given Jessie a completely shielded laptop of his own design. It was her birthday gift. She was amazed and delighted. He had welded chips with identity shielding right into the hardware. No one using that laptop could be seen on the Net. He called it his "Ghost-ware". Regardless of the shielding capacity of his invention, Jake only used this computer in emergencies and refused to make one for himself at this point. He could feel the international police breathing down his neck. Oh, and there were also hackers out after his Trust money. Would that ever cease? He didn't think so.

__________

Sylvie Reynolds got up early the next day, and could smell the pungent, overwhelming scent of marijuana throughout her aunt's house. She frowned and went downstairs where the smell was much stronger. She was greeted by little Dylan and Dierdre Jamison, who were giggling and grabbing onto her hands. Well, they weren't the culprits. Way too young, but seemingly a little too happy. Stoned? Maybe a contact high.

Their mother, Elise, was sitting in the dining room, comfortably playing Asia's CD collection very quietly on her sound system while puffing away - also very quietly - on a large bong, obviously filled with weed. The children giggled some more and ran to their toy box.

Elise smiled broadly at Sylvie who could not believe her eyes. Sylvie blinked and said, "How'd you get in?"

"Well, good morning to you, too, Sylvia. If you need to know, I have a key."

"Oh. How did you get that? Do you always smoke weed first thing in the morning?"

Dylan chased his sister around the first floor of the house, picking up and dropping toys into the toy bin Asia kept for them in the dining room.

"Asia gave me the key a while back. I take care of my babies first thing in the morning. This is about the sixth thing. Me and the kiddies are on our way to Elton's mother's house so she can babysit ... Want some?" asked Elise proffering the bong to Sylvie.

"Um, okay. My Aunt and Rebecca are due this evening. By then, I guess, they won't be able to smell anything. I mean Rebecca is FBI."

"Think they would have more important things to do than worry about somebody's mother smokin' legal weed."

"You would think," answered Sylvie, smiling as she accepted the smoking bong. "I like cleaning when I'm high."

"Who doesn't? Guess we're good," answered Elise slowly becoming surrounded by two gigantic dogs and her twins. The children leaned on her legs and the dogs seemed to enjoy trying to catch a puff of smoke with a quick inhale. No need to blow smoke in these dogs faces, they were experienced enough to catch their own toke.

"Your St. Bernard is a pot head," said Elise, ironically.

Sylvie giggled and blew a puff of smoke into her big dog's face. Junior snorted and opened his big nose even wider - inhaling on his own, his ordinary amiability increasing exponentially.

"So, Asia will be home tonight. Any news about the ongoing investigation?" questioned Elise, smelling the need for news permissions.

"Okay, Ms. Jamison. I need to get to work," Sylvie said nervously, not wanting to answer any questions that might be delicate. This was something her aunt needed to deal with. Sylvie glanced at the clock, put her muck boots on, opened the back door and told Junior to wait at the barn. She grabbed her Igloo cooler and put on her cowboy hat, smiling at Elise and the kids who had both curled up on their sleeping mats next to Asia's toy box. "Sorry - you can ask Asia and Rebecca when they get home, okay?" Sylvie realized that she had given away the FBI Agent's name - but too late. She turned white as her St. Bernard pushed past her on his way outside.

Elise looked up sharply and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed Sylvie's arm. Sylvie frowned and swung around to face Elise's pretty brown face, turning a shade darker with intensity. She gasped.

Elise asked, looking directly into Sylvie's eyes, "Who is Rebecca? Why is the FBI sending agents?"

Sylvie looked at the floor and answered, "You can't publish this. You can talk to Aunt Asia when she gets home. You know you need certain permissions when things get serious. So please wait." Sylvie looked back up.

Elise put her hand to her mouth and answered without hesitation, "Shit, Sylvie. You should know better. This is just between you and me. You can trust me. I am a professional."

Dylan called out, "Mommy, Mommy! ..."

Elise responded and went over to her son in the dining room. She kneeled down and cooed at the toddler, "Ssh, it's okay, honey. You and your sister have to go to grandma's for a little while, but I will be right back when I am finished doing my chores."

Dylan smiled and stroked his mother's cheek, rolling over and pulling his blanket over his shoulder. Elise got up and brushed off the knees of her dungarees.

Taking advantage of Elise's divergent attention, Sylvie moved out the back door quickly with a wave, tired of the questioning. She got the donkey cart out and let Junior jump aboard. She hugged Punkin and climbed up to her seat, grabbing the reins. She felt underneath the driver's seat and brushed her hand against Fuzzy Bud, the donkey's Chihuahua. In Sylvie's book, every donkey deserved a friendly Chihuahua. Fuzzy lived in the barn, sleeping next to Pumpkin every night. She had showed up with the donkey and spent her entire life with her, refusing to be parted from the resident burro.

__________

Heart and Stealth saw some internet movement around a William F. Donahue in Chicago, which raised a flag on the Dark Net with both of them. The name, an obvious online alias, was close to Bill Donnelly's nomenclature and online identity. Not only that, but thinking that the fugitive ex-FBI Agent Jones might head back to Illinois, was not a head-breaker. Both Sam and Bo felt that Donnelly-Donahue could be Jones. All personas seemed to have equally unusually adept code-writing skills and similar interests on the Dark Net.

It did not pass by Heart and Stealth that all three people had an interest in the old Cannoniere website formerly webmastered by Luciano and Fulbright. The two Anonymous hackers also noted that this site seemed to have been revived by a new webmaster. All of this was under investigation by them, since everything in this realm posed a threat to Jake Wheeler. Commando agreed and also started tracking the threesome of Donnelly-Donahue and Jones.

__________

Jones, himself, noticed some activity around his online presence, but was unable to unveil those taking a peek at him. He grew frustrated and angry, because those watching him were so highly skilled at covering their movements and identities. He thought they might be KGB agents from Russia. Russians were notorious for their computer skills. A small tremor of fear traveled up his spine, but he refused to become intimidated. He felt at a slight loss not being able to use other FBI or American intelligence agents to help him. He made a mental note to watch his watchers. This thing was going to go in both directions. He used shielding, but he was sure his voyeurs were skilled enough to see through it. He threw a ceramic cup across his condominium floor and broke it.

The Cannoniere website was his first suspected meeting place. He swore to himself, thinking that the website was due to go down because of the deaths of Fulbright and Luciano. He tried to email the Cannoniere webmaster, hoping someone would answer.

Someone did. Two birds! One of Jake Wheeler's well-known (to him anyway) ex-cyber crew members emailed back using his real name, James Forsythe. How stupid ... What a fool! thought Jones - using his own alias of Donnelly, not quite so stupid. Jones knew exactly who James Forsythe was. He was basically a navigator and counterfeiter who had been contracted to Jake Wheeler to supplement his old criminal activity. Jones would continue to check Forsythe's identity until he could meet with him openly online or in person. So far, the guy checked out.

Jones confessed his suspicions of internet interlopers to Forsythe. Jim commented that he would add his skills to try and make this situation transparent. He said he would not tolerate any spying around the Cannoniere site. Forsythe also stated that he had many high-level hacker connections. He did not mention his connection to the Brixton Cannoniere Club or Jacob Wheeler. He also mentioned that he would copy any code his spies were using - even if they were fragments. And they were. Fragments, that is. But, even a fragment of code could reveal the source of the authors. And that was what Jones and Forsythe wanted. The authors.

To Forsythe, the code fragments were enough to take to Brixton - to the real, physical Cannoniere back room, where the heaviest programmers hung out writing code. This crowd usually included several of Wheeler's ex-crew members.

The Cannoniere was a disco dance club every day, starting around 7 pm. During the day, it was a video gaming room. The black hallway in the back of the club led to a comfortable, air-conditioned/heated, windowless space lined with super computers, couches, a kitchenette, full bathroom with a shower, clean towels and athletic clothes in various sizes. Padded slippers were also provided for long-term coding, lasting several days or even weeks. Gourmet food was provided free of charge at all times. The programmers were also paid based on their skills levels.

In other words, everything a hacker could wish for while immersed writing their own fragments of code was provided by the club owner, who also held the keys to whatever the completed version of each piece of code was going to be. No one hacker at the Cannoniere was allowed to know what they were really working on.

The owner of the club was usually available to link those fragments and make sure his workers did not cross him and lose their Cannoniere income (which was significant) and wind up in some prison somewhere or worse.

Many times, the Cannoniere programmers clandestinely tried to piece together their individual codes to make sense of how the club owner used them. To no avail. That did not discourage them. They kept trying. If they were ever discovered using Cannoniere code online, their lives would be at stake.

These curious hackers were in the group of Cannoniere that Dr. Rainier Voss had contacted a year ago when working on the original tracking of Jake Wheeler. Dr. Voss had ingratiated himself into the Cannoniere back room by playing the highest level of video games in the gaming room during the day. He had also made a Cannoniere income at the time. Of course, he also had answered to the FBI who had sent him there.

As a NASA programmer, Voss had a very high security clearance and broke open some of the case against Jake Wheeler. It was Asia Reynolds' skill at documentary research that really tied the case against Jake's cyber crew together.

So far, though, James Forsythe was blind to who Donnelly (Jones) really was. Forsythe assured Jones that he would continue to keep the Dark Net Cannoniere website online and active.

Commando, Bo and Samantha were regular visitors to the site. (These were the internet interlopers that Jones saw evidence of and Forsythe vowed to uncover.) They were sure that they would see some light eventually. There were connections to Jake all over the place. Fulbright and Luciano had shot each other over a video game.

Samantha and Bo were determined to keep a close eye on Jake and protect him and his new lifestyle. They would find him and put him in their pockets. He was a brother now and they would never let him go. Though they didn't know where he was presently, they would find him. They would.

|  |

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# Chapter Seven: Back on the Farm - Diving into the Dark Net

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JUST AS SYLVIE PULLED up with Punkin hauling the donkey cart, Frankie Franklin walked out of the stable leading a bone thin horse, whose ribs were clearly visible. It was a pretty brown and white Pinto, despite its starving condition and overgrown hooves. Frankie called out to Sylvie just as Junior, her St. Bernard, came leaping out from the cart. Fuzzy Bud raised her bright red head to take a look at all the commotion, and barked once, disappearing back into her blanket underneath the cart's driver's seat.

Frankie was basically Asia's next-door neighbor, as much as one could be next door in a farming area. Frankie was an elderly, energetic, African-American woman that truly believed in hard work. She had worked at her parent's ranch and Bar-B-Que fast food restaurant all her life, inheriting both upon their deaths.

Junior went right over to the thin horse wagging his tail with his huge head lowered in gentle submission. Frankie stroked the poor horse's snout with her warm, soft hand. She said, "This is our newest rescue. He is going to be beautiful when he heals. A gentler horse you will not find. His name is Horatio." Frankie paused, "Such a noble name for such a criminally neglected horse. Why owners let their animals get into such a state when they could at least give the horse to someone like me who would cherish and take care of it properly, I cannot fathom. Look at his overgrown hooves. I hope he doesn't wind up lame. What a dismal shame! Why do people have to buy and sell everything to the point that they have forgotten how to give away a being they cannot care for? I am taking the former owners to court. They can be put in jail for this, you know! And fined."

Sylvie answered, "Some rescues charge fees to leave an animal."

"Well, we don't!" shot back Frankie, sharply. "Every farm in this area knows me. This owner was cited for animal cruelty and is going to jail for a good long time, if I have anything to say about it. And, I do. I am testifying against her in court. Her neighbor gave me a call and turned the horse in. It is a clear case of stubborn possessiveness - turning this poor guy into an inanimate object with no feelings - rather than recognizing it as a sensitive, living being. The right of ownership ceases to exist when the animal is obviously being hurt and neglected.

"Horatio's owner claimed she was too ill and poor to take care of him."

Sylvie walked over to the brown and white paint and hugged him saying, "That is a ridiculous excuse. She could have given the horse away or called you to pick him up for free before he got to the point of starvation with overgrown hooves. Poor thing..."

Frankie snorted in derision, "She told me that she loved the horse too much to let him go. Horatio reminded her of her good times."

Sylvie let out a pained yelp and said, "So she let him starve and was on the way to letting him die like that - so she could reminisce?!"

Frankie continued, "She was also too poor and sick to give him adequate clean water every day. He was terribly dehydrated when we got him. We also found the carcass of a dead horse underneath a tarp on her land. So, this is not the first time she has let a horse die."

"Bullshit!" responded Sylvie as she unhitched Punkin, leading her to Frankie's paddock. The little burro immediately "donkeyed-out" by digging all four hooves into the dirt and braying in objection.

Sylvie's mouth fell open. Frankie came over and immediately grabbed the halter from Sylvie.

"She never does this," shouted Sylvie over Pumpkin's loud braying. The donkey even squealed loudly on her in-breath.

"She senses Horatio's need for love and wants to give him some," answered Frankie, leading the donkey closer to the gelding. As soon as she removed Pumpkin's halter, the donkey ran over and nuzzled Horatio. It was love at first sight. It looked like the two equines were going to be stuck on each other. Junior made the love sandwich complete with his huge fluffy self.

Sylvie said, wistfully, "Maybe Aunt Asia would agree to adopt Horatio. I could to take care of him. I would love to have my own horse."

"From what I heard, she isn't even home from Chicago yet. Besides, this fine fellow is still under the vet's care. He needs to finish being de-wormed and he is getting medication for a cough that he has. In fact," continued Frankie, reaching into her pocket and taking out a mouth syringe, handing it to Sylvie. "I want you to give him his medicine from now on. He doesn't like it and maybe you will have a better chance than I do of getting him to swallow the entire dose."

"Sure, Frankie. And, by the way, Aunt Asia and her FBI bodyguard are coming home tonight."

"Well, hmm, this thing is getting serious. As usual. Tell your aunt about Horatio and see if she would like to come over and meet him. I have to work over at the rib shack tonight." Frankie stroked the starved horse on his soft snout again, fed him an apple, and got into her pickup, driving away.

Sylvie had a wonderful time caring for Horatio. He took all of his cough medicine. She cleaned and fed all of the rescue dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, goats and other horses while Asia's Pumpkin played with her new friend in the paddock. Big, 'ol Junior tromped around after them.

Sylvie's cell phone rang around six pm as she prepared to take the donkey cart home. It was her aunt. Asia and Rebecca Sinclair had arrived in Silver Lake slightly earlier and were already at Asia's house.

Asia told Sylvie she had much to tell her when she got home. There had been some breakthroughs in the case she was working on. She warned her for the zillionth time not to talk to anyone about the Wheeler case, or what she knew of it.

Sylvie assured her that she would not and told her about Elise's persistent questioning.

Asia said, "Oh, Sylvie, I'll take care of that. Elise is professionally nosy, but careful to get approval on everything she is told."

As Asia was settling in and making dinner, she turned her new home security system on. Both she and Rebecca Sinclair were a little wary, since they had been able to find - and pretty much confirm the existence of Jake Wheeler's relatives. They knew there were a few hackers after him and were pleased that they had found paper sources for their information. They had not found addresses or phone numbers, but they had what they felt were on to the correct names and lineage, which was tricky enough, since Wheeler was a common name. They could doubly confirm their new information over the internet in Asia's office upstairs at home and work from there.

Family lineages were difficult to validate. There could be so many people with the same or similar first and last names from the same countries of origin. But, they had plenty of identifying information for Jake himself. Rainier Voss had confirmed that Jake's mother had passed away some time ago. They had the year and country of her death and even a photograph. There was only one Jacob Wheeler that fit that description - out of hundreds of people with the same name they had found in the UK.

It was slippery, but Rebecca (who was also a professionally trained researcher) also felt they were on the correct road.

Asia figured that they might have to go to London to continue their live research in terms of finding a residential address for Jake, and, also, the identity of those who were following him. It made her excited to think that she might see Rainer Voss in the near future. She might be able to combine forces with Voss who was researching in Dornoch, Scotland presently.

Asia phoned Dr. Voss after dinner and told him the results of their research. He was delighted and felt that they might be able to track her genealogical information down to recent residential addresses, which could give them solid leads as to Jake's physical whereabouts. If Jake did not agree to the FBI offer to become an informant, Special Agent Lilah Aylward had the power to arrest him for the bank heist in Silver Lake.

__________

Former FBI agent Jones was blindsided on the new information, since Asia's research had all been done with book research at a genealogical library and not online. He continued to email Forsythe at the Cannoniere, thereby opening a window to Bo, Samantha and the Commando. They surveilled so-called Donnelly and were becoming increasingly sure he was, if not a former Wheeler crew member, then a person of interest and possibly an ex intelligence officer.

There was another person of interest, Richard Stevens (aka the Bat), surfing the Cannoniere site and seeming to watch all the activity without really participating in writing black market or Dark Net code. Stealth and Heart took note of him. He seemed to be using a shielded IP address and an Onion Router browser. Stealth and Samantha were some of the very few hackers that could pierce an Onion Router. They were superior code writers. They could tell Stevens was from a place in the Chislehurst area of England. This was a well-known area (near the famous chalk caves) that had hidden Jake Wheeler and his crew for many years.

__________

Meanwhile, Jake was getting nervous and wanted to go back to his grandfather's estate. He missed Jessica, also. He knew he could trust Lord Scott. He needed his promise of silence, since he feared the senior Lord Scott could turn him in to the local police, because of his former affiliation as a Scottish detective with the local district police.

He needn't have worried, James had no intention of giving his sequestered guest away. In fact, his promise to take Jake back to Benny's was starting to sound spot on to Jake. Jake had rejuvenated himself at Dunrobin castle and the time was approaching for his leave-taking. He had work to complete at his computer laboratory located on his grandfather's island. Important work that couldn't wait. This was the main reason why he did not want to accept the position of informant offered by the FBI.

He felt he could better protect himself from his ex-crew and whatever other hackers were after his Trust money than the FBI could. He felt he knew more and had a better grasp of how to hide himself from cyber spies. He relied on the information that Stealth and Heart had given him, exonerating him from the murder of Jason Bing. He hoped they were accurate. They had gotten the info from their hack into FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia - so, the source was solid.

James appeared with their dinner tray and set up the chessboard for this evening's game. He wanted another chance to win, which Jake had not given him so far - much to his chagrin. Jake greeted him with a hug, telling him about this plan to return to the Outer Hebrides. Lord Scott seemed disappointed, but pledged that he would protect Jacob and aid him in any way he could.

After they finished eating, James surprised Jake by turning away from him and saying over his shoulder, "I know you are anxious to get home, but there is something I must show you first. Come with me if you would..." The young Lord waved his hand and beckoned Jacob to follow him.

He opened the bookcase door and entered the mysterious stone-paved labyrinths of Dunrobin with some haste. Jake followed tentatively with a question in his mind.

Lord Scott suddenly moved a seemingly solid stone in the corridor wall and a forked passage opened slowly revealing more depths in this set of secret hallways. "Come, Jacob - follow me. I will show you my secret work room. We are almost there." Motion sensor lights illuminated their way, little by little.

Jake had no reason to distrust James, but the dank, dark passage made him shake internally anyway. At last, the two men arrived at a well-lit entrance with a green wooden door. Scott opened the locked door with a key. He turned on a set of brilliant lights and stunned Jake with what was inside the vast hall of a room.

"For a renovated and repurposed dungeon, this is a pretty cool transformation, don't you think, Old Bean?" he asked the still shocked and speechless Jacob Wheeler. Fear rode up and down Jake's entire body when he realized exactly what he was looking at.

__________

Former agent Jones was not getting all the results he expected in terms of tracking the movement of Jake Wheeler or his ex-crew members. He began to suspect that Forsythe was withholding information about possible locations of his prey. He thought to himself, Does he know? How could he? Or is he hiding information, because he wants Jake's Trust money as much as I do?

He was tailing the Cannoniere webmaster all over the internet and only came up with one possible lead. It was intriguing, and he started an intensive follow-up. Jones used his DARPA software to peel away the layers of the Onion Software that Forsythe had used to create his website. But Jones was nowhere as good at writing code as Sam and Bo were. He just did not get into the inner core of Forsythe's surfing. The Onion Router was originally designed by the US Navy, so the Onion that Jones used was pure and uncorrupted - but too old to really take him where he wanted to go.

Stealth and Samantha, though, used their own software versions of spyware and Onionware to track Donnelly (Jones) through his unexplained fascination with Forsythe of the Cannoniere. Why was he so very interested in the webmaster? They asked themselves. More and more they suspected Donnelly of being in search of Jake Wheeler or his ex-cyber crew. Just another thief after the money.

Finally, Donnelly (Jones) did mention some of Wheeler's crew by names they recognized. Stealth and Heart got really excited. This was just what they wanted!

They considered themselves the "good guys" and had a long list of solid gold ethical uses for the Dark Net and Cyber Anarchy. The new technology of the Dark Net or Deep Web, to them, was two-sided, neither all good nor all evil - it depended on how one used it.

The Dark Net or Deep Web had an evil side - which included websites that sold children, babies, sex slaves, heroin, military weaponry, the "services" of killers-for-hire and other nefarious, illegal objectives and "services". This was the dirty side of The Onion browser.

Sam and Bo were freelance operatives working on the side of good. Besides protecting Jake Wheeler's lifestyle changes and his persona, they also used their own Onion software and the Dark Net to find pedophiles, sex slavers, serial killers and examine dirty politicians - even exposing detrimental secrets of Presidents, Prime Ministers and other high-level politicos around the entire planet.

Besides the painfully hidden exploitations inside the Dark Net, it was also a safe haven for real diplomacy outside of traditional governments which may or may not serve their own people. For example, it protected gay people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East where homosexuality was illegal and gay people were often put to death or imprisoned for life. It gave them a safe place to talk to each other and plan democratic actions, exchanging information in a free and safe way. It protects those who advocate real democracy while living in dangerous, totalitarian dictatorships and other life-threatening situations.

Stealth and Heart Hacker (as Samantha's online moniker indicated - she opened her heart to oppressed people and looked deeply into other's hearts to see who they really were) wrote their encryption software for these altruistically idealistic usages. They were true heroes, regardless of the almost universal illegality of being Cyber Vigilantes, usurping the functions of international police agencies. Along with other talented hackers like the Commando, Samantha and Bo had saved many innocent people's lives, people that could be forgotten and trod upon by other agencies - even those designed to help them.

For example, they could watch internet or GPS movements and read any email online - and hack cell phone conversations. They could hack cell phone companies and read lists of calls anyone has made. How else could they have helped Jake Wheeler know he was no longer wanted for murder by the international police if they had not hacked Quantico? The FBI was now willing to help him under certain conditions, although Sam and Bo felt they were much more qualified to protect Jake's anonymity until the time was right for him to answer the American agency's questions.

They did not believe all police or government agencies were always enlightened or versatile enough to provide all the protection that a person might need. What about the controversial American issue of "statutes of limitation"?

Statutes of limitation are basically in place, on the positive side, to avoid evidence that might corrupt over time. In practice, statutes of limitation consistently protect and release killers that have not yet killed, but still threaten, stalk and torture their victims short of death - like some psychotic rapists.

Literally, a statute of limitation will, for example, give a blood relative only three years after the death of an abused, disabled elderly person to sue the abusive institution or other relative that legally or illegally had custody. That leaves the abusive relative (or the institution) the freedom to abuse another relative/resident again unless you litigate successfully within the three year limit.

If you recognize the rapist that cut your throat after the statute of limitations is past (generally in the USA 5-15 years from the occurrence of the crime, depending on the state) - that dangerous criminal cannot be arrested. Say, you do not know exactly who a perpetrator is for ten or so years, then you suddenly recognize him walking down the street. Thus, because of the statute of limitations in your state, this rapist might remain free to torture and rape again. This happens time and time again. It is not a scary, vile fantasy. It is reality.

This is why Heart and Stealth used their software writing talent to track and sometimes eliminate these threats to innocent people. They can find threatening people much faster than an ordinary police agency and let evidence surface so that ordinary agencies can use it to protect folks from these dangers.

True, their methods are internationally seen as very illegal and could put them in jail for life. In that sense, they were in a cyber group generally categorized as Anarchist or Cypherpunks. But, like the good and evil sides of the Dark Web and computer usage in general, they did not advocate for anything but a fairer supplement to law and police activity - despite the fact that they were usually labelled as criminals and had to avoid agents of such institutions as the FBI, CIA and Interpol, if they became aware of their actions online.

They protected their work with a great deal of superior technical skill. Stealth and Heart Hacker truly believed there were two sides to every coin, so to speak - and they dedicated their young lives to the good side.

__________

Through his Onion browser, former agent Jones found out that FBI Special Agent Lilah Alyward and contracted freelance agent Rainier Voss were still in Scotland looking for Jake Wheeler and himself. He decided to track their activity on the internet and his hacking pipeline into FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. Jones began to guess that Jake was actually in Scotland. The Australian trail began to fade in his mind.

Why, he thought, should he do all the work? Jones decided to enjoy his high-end condo in Chicago and let his hacking lines trace the best FBI tracker on the case. Jones sighed and leaned back in his padded eggshell chair, folding his hands behind his head. He smiled as he viewed the beautiful, sparkling blue off the shores of Lake Michigan through his wall of floor to ceiling windows. The inviting, groomed beach was right across the street from his building. He was feeling very self-satisfied. He swiveled away from the desk with his laptop on it and put his feet up.

He thought, Dobbs can eat shit, sneaking around my back like that! He thinks he can double cross me by working with Richie Stevens!

Well... Jones smacked his lips, Look at who's working with Richie now! I can spy, too. He chortled to himself and took a drink of Scotch. Not a moment passed. With a quick, admiring glance at the calm waters of Lake Michigan again, he turned on the spyware bot marked 'Richie' that recorded to his desktop.

He noted, with a smile, the new emails that Richie had been sending. He was, indeed, looking for his old boss, Jake Wheeler. Jones frowned as he realized that Forsythe had not told him what he had written to Richie - that he was reasonably sure that Jake was hiding somewhere in Scotland. Jones swore. Damn Forsythe! He thought, angrily, thinking how he could get back at him for this.

Richie Stevens' personal emails revealed much about his new bucolic life on Jake Wheeler's old Chislehurst estate. Jones set up another spy bot to gather information from the new property owner, Windsor Adams.

What he could gather, indicated that Richie could guide him to more ex-Wheeler cyber crew. That should be easy for Richie, since he knew so much more about the crew than anyone else did. Jones got excited and felt he was getting close to finding Wheeler himself. He packed a bag and his Donahue passport, thinking that all he needed was a little more direction towards a residential possibility for Jake. His bots could tell him plenty about that.

Jones felt Wheeler must be living with some family members. To soothe his impatience, he opened his Onion browser, searching anything connected with the Cannoniere inside the Darknet.

If he had to kidnap Stevens or Adams to squeeze any more information out of them, he was up for it and packed his special weaponry for that possibility.

Hacking Quantico, he found out, to his great satisfaction, that Special Agent Dobbs was on probation for his former activity in Europe. Jones doubted that Dobbs even knew about his situation. He laughed and clapped his hands. Couldn't happen to a better guy! He chortled to himself.

__________

Lord James Scott raised his eyebrows as he turned to face Jake when they entered his converted dungeon-workshop hidden within the thick-walled, secret passages of Dunrobin castle. He said, in a joking manner, "I know you know what this is." He pointed to a partially assembled machine. "If you tell anyone about this - I would have to kill you." James laughed. Jake did not.

"Impressed?" asked the young Lord.

Jake nodded as he sucked his breath in and moved closer for a better look. He bent over the creation and asked, "What do you use for chips?"

James answered, "I bought standard printed circuits from the Titan Enterprise Group in the States. It took quite an argument to convince them that they could sell part of their machinery."

"Is that the mother company of Revolutions, LLC?" asked the intrigued Jacob.

"Oh, yes!" answered James. "My father knows none of this - nor what it is for. I do not believe he would approve at all. He is very conservative when it comes to things like this.

Jake caught his implication quickly and said, "My lips are sealed. This is a brilliant idea."

"Besides castle tours, this could keep Dunrobin solvent and in the family as it has been for 700 years."

"Still, I prefer Bitmain as the prototype," mused Jake.

"Hmm... you might. But, it is difficult to get chips for this hardware and Titan Enterprise was willing to sell me what I needed to create my own hybridized wallet. I am in the process of writing the software for the machine."

Jake gave a good imitation of being overwhelmingly impressed as he held and examined Scott's creation closely. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I never thought of investing this way. You are a genius!" Still he felt queasy about the fact that such a close family friend would do something like this. But, it could prove very beneficial to him and his grand and Jessica. One could usually count on the Scotts. Avoiding Lord James's retired detective father would be a no-brainer.

"As you can probably guess, this is not all my own creation. The machine is based on the Itan Plus, but is much faster than its 240 MH/S (megahertz). I can process my own investments and others in the blink of an eye with complete anonymity.

"Care to share? What about you Jake? Are you interested in a safer way to invest some of that money your granddad gave you? You know I can be trusted. No one ever need know about this workshop or any part you could play. Your money is safe with me."

Jake put James' complex plug and play machine back on his work table. He shook his head and commented, "Oh, I think I prefer a more standard method of investment. I know about Ethereum, but I like my money in cash and off-shore accounts."

"Jake!" said James, sounding exacerbated. I never expected that you could distrust the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)! They are a rock-solid business group."

"For you, they are. They are the largest Blockchain in the world, at present. I read they now include Intel, JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard and Cisco Systems, which is exactly why I prefer the older BTC systems, if one needs to use such a thing. I distrust major corporate affiliates. JP Morgan Chase had some major problems and contributed to almost bankrupting the entire world in the recent past.

"I really don't understand why you need to invent something other than Titan's highest level machine. Why not use theirs?"

Lord James slapped Jake on the back suddenly, causing the already tense Jake to jump a little, making him glad he had placed James' delicate machinery back on the table.

"Old Chap, can't you guess?! Think harder. What could one do if one's wallet was outside of Ethereum and the EEA slightly and could include other things? Perhaps, even create a new version of the same thing! And, with their own chips, to boot!"

"Other things?" answered the now fatigued Jake, pretending to be denser than he really was.

"Come then, Old Man, let's go back to your quarters. Enough for tonight. Perhaps after a good, deep sleep - or a rousing game of chess, you can guess what I might be up to."

Jake hung his head and agreed as Lord Scott moved towards the door, holding it open for his friend.

Jake knew well enough what James might be thinking and truthfully felt that his invention might be a little risky and too deep inside the EEA-type investment technology to be safe or even dependable.

He knew this. How much he knew would come to light inside his small family circle, later. There were ethical as well as technical questions present that could crash any investment. He felt Lord MacGuiness-Scott was blinding himself to the common inherent dangers of the already shaky investors of Wall Street. Why follow a bad lead? he thought to himself. This complicated scheme was something that Jake, himself, was to compound later. He would do things differently, but the explanation would have to wait. [See the Epilogue for translations-explanations of this computer technology.]

__________

This morning, early, Sylvie Reynolds fed her St. Bernard, Junior and Zucchini and made her own lunch and breakfast. Since she had decided to live with her Aunt Asia until (at least) she had finished high school, she had gotten more mature and was happy to take care of herself and her aunt as well. Doing chores unbidden was now a regular habit of hers. She loved her aunt's livestock, worked at Frankie Franklin's private rescue and also Franklin's Rib Shack. She had been a great help to her aunt and had taken good care of her homestead's goats, donkey and dogs while Asia had been doing her research in Chicago with Rebecca Sinclair.

It was Sylvie's deep desire that her aunt adopt Frankie's rescued horse, Horatio, when he was healthy enough to move to Asia's land. She was sure that Punkin would warm to him even more than she did now, and find a little companionship outside of Fuzzy Bud, her Chihuahua life companion.

Early the next morning, Sylvie stood at the stove and scrambled eggs as she stirred a pot of oatmeal. Asia padded up behind Sylvie and touched her waist.

"Making something for me, Sweetie?"

Sylvie gave a quiet yell, jumped and turned around with a laugh without spilling anything except about a spoonful of splattered oatmeal, which was elegantly smeared on the wall behind the stove. She smiled at her aunt and said, "There's toast made from your homemade whole wheat bread and peppermint tea for you and me and coffee for Rebecca." Sylvie pointed at the table which was set for breakfast for the three of them.

"Just sit down, Aunt Asia. I'll serve in a minute. Fresh blueberries with Almonte milk and Snuggles honey for everyone." Sylvie indicated a large ceramic bowl in the middle of the table, just right by itself or with the oatmeal.

Rebecca walked in and said, "Smells great in here."

Sylvie served breakfast and the two older women sat down to the feast. Rebecca commented on how good the coffee was and even got a small bowl of oatmeal and blueberries which was Asia's usual breakfast (being an eggless vegetarian).

"You all eat like this every day?" asked Rebecca. "This coffee is the best I ever tasted."

"It's Raven's Brew which is a Kona coffee from Alaska via Hawaii. It is a very special coffee. I brewed it just for you. Aunt Asia and I don't drink coffee."

"I need my morning coffee boost," replied Rebecca.

"Happens..." answered Sylvie and Asia simultaneously. Sylvie filled bowls of oatmeal for herself and her aunt. "Nice to have you home again, Aunt Asia," she said, handing her aunt her bowl of oats.

Asia smiled warmly at her niece and said, "It won't be for long. With what Becca and I uncovered in Chicago, we think it would be best to follow up in London and the UK."

Sylvie looked a little taken aback. She replied, "I love the dogs, but the house is empty without you. How long can you stay?"

"Not long," replied Becca.

"We have plane tickets for tonight," added Asia.

"So soon?!" exclaimed Sylvie, sounding disappointed. She called her St. Bernard over to her and gave him some toast. Asia's dog, Zucchini came over too and tried to grab the last piece off the plate with a quick, upward swoop.

Asia said, "Hey, you!" and swatted at her big dog. She continued, sort of sternly, "Bad girl...bad dog! No, no!" Then she relented and handed Zookie the toast. Not the best training method, but she couldn't help it.

Becca said, "Kind of a mixed message don't you think, Asia?"

"Oh, Jeez, she knows the difference. Being that large, she will always take advantage of our lack of vigilance." Everyone laughed.

Asia and Becca took their empty dishes to the sink.

Becca said, "Sylvie, we have to go to the police department on business this morning after we pack for Europe."

"Okay," said Sylvie. "Just go. I will wash up when I finish eating. We'll get together later if you have time. I'm cooking tonight. I will make dinner early so you two can catch your flight.

"Bye, Sweetie," said Asia, bending over and kissing Sylvie on the cheek. "I know you have to get to work. See you tonight. Our flight leaves at midnight, so there will be some time."

"Love you, Aunt Asia," said Sylvie.

Rebecca Sinclair and Asia Reynolds pulled down the driveway 15 minutes later in Asia's Silverado pickup. Zucchini rode in the back of the double cab.

__________

He stood in the open doorway between Asia's kitchen and the back porch, leaning with one shoulder on the door frame, listening to his Walkman, tapping a foot with one highly polished boot crossed over the other. He grinned as he watched little Sylvie Reynolds wash the dishes. He waited silently and patiently, enjoying his secrecy.

He was Airman First Class Bertram Thomas, a young local hero who had - before joining the Air Force - released several enslaved foreign women from his own father's basement in a silent circle of investigation and witnessing. The real terror was that his father had been a newly hired police officer with the Silver Lake Police Department. He had gathered himself up, at the tender age of eighteen and notified the police of what his father was doing.

Bert smiled at Sylvie again with deep affection. Sylvie was Bert's heart and soul. His homecoming was a surprise. She hadn't a clue about his leave from the military. He just kept listening to his music and tapping his foot quietly.

Sylvie scratched her head. Hearing a weird tapping noise, she glanced at the clock and thought that the noise had come from there. Probably needs batteries, she thought. That's why it's making such a racket. She started drying the dishes, trying to ignore the tapping.

Bert was watching Sylvie's every move closely with a wider and wider smile on his face. He had to stifle a laugh and accidentally made a snuffling noise, saying, "Oops..." quietly. He snickered.

Sylvie turned slightly in the wrong direction and said, "Zookie? Junior? I'll let you out in a minute." Obviously, she thought the snicker was one of the dogs making a weird noise which they were wont to do when they wanted to go outside.

__________

As Becca Sinclair walked in from the front door a few minutes later, grabbing a packed suitcase to put in the pickup early for their trip tonight after their meeting with the local police, she saw a man unknown to her watching Sylvie surreptitiously and felt a tremor of fear. Sylvie finally turned in the direction of Becca's alarm and saw a man in her doorway with a uniform hat covering his eyes and half his face. She did not recognize him and screamed. Becca pulled out her service revolver and pointed it directly at Bert's head.

"You are under arrest. I am an Officer of the FBI! Hands on your head! Down on the floor! Now!" she yelled.

When Bert's uniform hat fell off, Sylvie recognized him and started crying. She said, "No, no, no!"

"Who are you?! Who do you think you are sneaking into our house like that?!" continued the red-faced Becca, bringing the gun closer to Bert's head.

"I'm...I'm her..." stammered Bert, helplessly, responding to this unfortunate turn of events.

"Her? Her who?! What are you trying to say?" continued Becca, with distrust.

Sylvie wiped her tears and stuttered almost too quietly, "He's my boyfriend..."

"What?!" shouted Becca with her gun still trained on Bert's head, too intent on what she thought she saw to respond to Sylvie's comment. Her face was beet red and she was sweating - but not shaking. She stuck her foot in the middle of Bert's dress uniform jacket, pressing down on his back until he complained.

"Shut up, you!" yelled Becca.

"No!" protested Sylvie, starting to cry again.

"You know this man?!" asked Becca, still a little too loud.

Asia walked into the kitchen with her suitcase in one hand, heading out the door again towards her truck. She looked in horror at the situation and her niece who was now kneeling on the floor trying to touch Bert's shoulder.

"What the hell is this?! Bert? What are you doing here?" asked Asia confused by what she saw. "Sylvie, what's going on?" She turned to her companion and said, "Becca, stop. We know this man!"

|  |

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# Chapter Eight: Getting Close

--------

THE HEAVY SOUND OF a large horse captured Sylvie's attention as she held Bert's head in her lap. Someone was running up the back stairs onto the porch. Rebecca leveled her gun at the still open door to the kitchen.

Asia's attention was riveted. She looked fearful until she realized who it was.

Patrolman Chico Almonte, in full uniform, strode into the kitchen carrying a large rectangular package wrapped in brown butcher paper. He looked directly into Becca's gun.

He said, loudly, "What the hell!"

Asia hurried over and stood in front of her over-zealous bodyguard and gently, but carefully, took the gun from her.

"Sorry, Chico," she said with embarrassment. "We had some problems with Bert surprising Sylvie."

"Seriously, Asia," answered Chico. "Set me back a couple of heartbeats."

"Who is that?" asked the now calmed Becca, indicating Chico.

"Local cop and good family friend," said Asia. "The young lad you had pinned to the floor is Airman Bertram Thomas, Sylvie's longtime boyfriend."

"Oh, shit," replied Becca. "I'm so very sorry, Bert. And you, Chico. Seems I made a terrible mistake."

"All in the pursuit of protecting Asia and Sylvie," said Chico with a grin, wiping some sweat from his forehead. Chico Almonte had to be the most amiable cop, ever.

Bert shook his fancy Air Force dress uniform out, dusted himself off and put his visored cap back on straight again. He took the liberty of sitting down on a kitchen chair and was joined by Chico who stood the mysterious package against this leg.

Chico wiped more sweat from this face with a napkin. He opened his uniform shirt down to his waist to cool off - revealing his favorite "Chicano Cop #1" brown and tan T-shirt.

Bert asked, "Was that Niño, your stallion, that I heard outside?"

"Yup," answered Chico. "I just finished my beat."

Bert smiled, got up and walked to the window. He admired the dazzling, midnight black stallion captured in the afternoon sun, for just a moment. "That is the most beautiful horse I have ever seen. There are a lot of horses around the base in Colorado, but he is the biggest, gentlest and most spectacular beauty of them all."

"I love him to bits," commented Chico, warmly. "He is my buddy and my law enforcement partner. By the way, here is what you asked me to bring over." He continued ironically, "Next time, warn me if you are facing a gun." Bert tried to laugh, but was still a little upset. Chico handed Bert the large rectangular package.

Sylvie sat down next to Bert, touching his knees with hers. Bert handed her the package, saying, "Here. This is for you."

Sylvie frowned and asked, "What is it?"

"Open it and find out," he answered.

Sylvie did so and sucked her breath in surprise. She said, "Oh, Bert! You finished it!"

"I had tons of free time after flight school, so I spent it on this...thinking of you."

Sylvie reached over and kissed him on the cheek, showing the opened gift to her aunt, Becca and Chico.

Asia gasped and clapped her hands together in admiration and surprise. "Oh, my god," she exclaimed. "That is exquisite! Bert, you are a genius!"

Bert shuffled his feet and blushed.

Asia showed the painting to Becca, who walked over and patted Bert on the shoulder. "You painted that?" she asked, now a little shy.

"Yes. I did it from photographs and some live work. It's special - for Sylvie." Of course, they were all referring to the portrait of Niño, Chico's horse, that Bert had painted in sparkling acrylics. Niño's broad, dark obsidian body shone in the talented brush of this young inspired artist. The way Bert had accurately captured natural light took one's breath away.

Sylvie loved the horse, the painting and ... oh ... the artist, as well.

__________

Asia and Rebecca Sinclair boarded their late flight to London that night. They had tried to get two seats next to each other, but failed. So, Rebecca got a seat directly behind Asia. She could watch her and still provide some oversight protection-wise that way.

Asia sat next to a thin, muscular, steely-looking gray-haired man. She was grateful that he was thin. It gave her more elbow room. He didn't seem to drink alcohol, either, which made her more relaxed in his presence. At least, he was not drunk, presently. People can act more aggressively when drinking on planes. So, she was pretty happy about the lack of alcohol.

He was very polite and stood up in the aisle to allow her to access her window seat when she got on the plane at the Silver Lake international airport.

Former Agent Jones was fidgeting and uncomfortable in his seat aboard his flight to London. He wore heavy theatrical makeup and paste-on whiskers - all of which was hot and made his nose itch. Adding to that discomfort, was the fact that he couldn't drink alcohol (or wouldn't) due to his former active training in the FBI. He had to have a clear head.

Some idiot female had to climb over his seat, making him get up and get out of the way, since she boarded at Silver Lake international. She, unfortunately, came with a talkative companion who sat directly behind her.

Asia sensed the disquiet of the man sitting next to her. She also thought he wore pancake makeup. She looked at him more closely. Sure enough, she saw a sort of edge around his ear.

He noticed Asia's intent gaze and peered back at her. She excused herself nervously and got up to go to the bathroom. He got up and let her out. He seemed angry this time and much less polite. She figured that he did not like her staring at him. That made some sense to her. She indicated that Becca should follow her.

Asia and Becca stood closely together at the end of the aisle next to the bathroom. Asia whispered in Becca's ear, "You see the guy next to me?"

Becca whispered back, "Yeah, I noticed that he seemed nervous and tense."

"I think he is wearing make-up. Seems weird to me."

"Maybe he has a skin disease or pock marks or something."

"He acts kind of furtive."

"Well, I don't recognize him from any FBI files I am aware of."

"Me, either. I'll just try and be cool - and maybe make friends with him. Or, at least put some effort into that."

"Good idea."

The two women returned to their seats, aggravating the steely man all over again.

"Sorry," apologized Asia. She held out her hand as she sat down. "My name is Asia."

Jones nodded tersely and said, "Donahue."

"Nice to meet you."

Jones grunted. He thought, even more tensely, That is an unusual name. Getting on at Silver Lake, he was hoping that this was not the Asia. As in Asia Reynolds. If it was, she did not recognize him, and he had never seen her image, either. He sighed. He really did not like this woman, whoever she was. What a pain. Good thing his disguise was working, though.

Her name made him more attentive to her conversation.

__________

Eleven hours later, they all landed at Heathrow. Asia called Rainier Voss as soon as she left the plane. He was to pick her and Becca up and take them both to their hotel, where they would continue to gather the threads of Jake Wheeler's existence.

Jones stretched and groaned. He planned on staying at the Ambience again (in disguise this time). He would stay only a couple of days while he hacked around and tried to determine where to go from there. Perhaps, he would follow the trail of those he spied on at the Cannoniere, go to the physical Cannoniere Club in Brixton, or find Richie Stevens online. But, he would find them and find Jake. He was determined to do so. He was pretty sure that Jake would provide a footprint through these contacts. Perhaps, somewhere in Scotland. He was pretty damn sure he could find a trail - and pretty damn sure it would be in Scotland. It was actually rather good luck that he had bumped into Asia, since he was trailing her online anyway.

He stretched again, glad to be rid of that damn nuisance of a woman, Asia, that had sat next to him on the plane. To his dismay, he noticed that woman standing near the taxi stand, which was his own destination. He grabbed the taxi at the head of the line, throwing his valise at the cabby and shouting an address, trying not to look as if he saw Asia. He got away with it and grinned from ear to ear as the cab rocketed off - leaving that irritating female behind.

That felt good enough, but he had to tell the cabby to turn around and follow Asia and Rainier's car, then go to his hotel. The cabby was a little irritated, but did what Jones requested. Jones noted the hotel that his prey was staying at and went onward to the Ambience.

__________

Jake and James left the underground workshop and walked Dunrobin's inner labyrinth up to Jake's hidden room.

Jake had decided to tell Lord James that it was about time for him to find his way home. Since James, surprisingly, knew nothing about the entrance to the cavern in the Dunrobin formal garden, Jake had to plan his leave-taking for a time when James would not discover his absence. He planned to go tonight after dark, when he knew Scott was probably in bed.

Of course, the young Lord had insisted that Jake get a ride from him in his yacht, in terms of returning to Benny's island. Jake had agreed because he needed to, but had no plans on exposing himself that way. He was still very careful about being in public. It was difficult to explain that fact to others, as friendly as they might be. He even turned down the offer of a ride from his grandfather. Jake prized his independence and felt best when he provided his own passage.

He could find a way to get in touch with James and thank him for his wonderful hospitality when he got home. Snail mail was one of the least traceable ways. No electronics for hackers to look at. He could also get Jessica to use her shielded laptop. Emails still made him nervous, though.

The two week trek underground was going to be a little gruesome and uncomfortable, but he had saved water bottles and dried foods from the Dunrobin kitchen, which would make the journey possible. All his camping equipment had been washed and cleaned and repacked in his backpack due to the Dunrobin staff's kindness. He even had a week's dehydrated camp food with him, saved from his journey here.

After midnight, Jake found his way out the secret passage behind the bookcase and into the formal garden. He ran across the grounds to the small sinkhole behind the boulder where he had surfaced, crossed himself for good luck and slid down the hole, dragging his backpack behind him.

His flashlight and headlight batteries had recharged during his stay at Dunrobin, so the cavern remained brightly lit as he found his way home. He moved as quickly as he could, evading the sound of Scott's bloodhounds. He must have set off a silent alarm when he breached the outside door into the garden. It would be impossible for a dog to follow him down here. He walked for hours until the sound of the dogs had faded away completely.

He walked until he couldn't stay awake anymore and set up his camp, boiling water for tea on his propane stove, settling in for a good night's sleep on his camp cot, pad and soft sleeping bag. He was content knowing that he had made good mileage.

He knew he was in for many long walks the next week and then some. Even when he exited the cavern on his grand's island, the walk would be at least 20 kilometers, or twelve miles, to the main house.

He noted, with pleasure, that his spray-painted markings were clearly still there.

__________

Home again. It felt good to think he would soon feel his grand's arms around him. Benny Wheeler had been his closest relative ever since his parent's divorce and his mother's death when he was a young child. He sort of took the place of his absent father. Thinking of his grandfather, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Day after day, he was faced with stretches of rocky, damp tunnel, endlessly playing out ahead of him. That just made his natural self gain strength and enthusiasm. He was totally up for the walk, especially now that he was sure where he was going and how long it should take him to get there.

Every morning, though, his strength returned and his enthusiasm for the rather spectacular walk ramped up. He packed up from the night before and swung his backpack over his shoulders. He took off at a quick pace - walking towards home again.

He slept in the cave peacefully night after night. The last night, he slept well and awoke to the very faint scent of fresh air flowing lightly into his face. There was, he noted excitedly as he turned his head over on his camp pillow towards his path, a tiny illumination far ahead into the last (he figured) stretch of tunnel.

Again, he packed and strode along as the light and feelings of fresh air around his body got stronger and stronger. He was almost there! Ten more minutes. He ran - a little careful of not hitting his head on any rock outcroppings.

__________

Heart had a great conversation with Stealth yesterday. Jake had been missing for about a whole, frustrating month. She wanted to return to the cave entrance she had found on the other side of the island while riding a dirt bike. Stealth agreed it was important to search the island for any sign of Jake, who had been known to be very clever about vanishing. They knew he also had many wildcrafting skills and was a superior camper.

They needed to know where he was to fully protect him. Heart knew that she and her partner had to know more about Jake and what he wanted for his future. - His plans. They needed to know the man, himself, better.

She had decided to take one of the Fell ponies, Ainsley, instead of renting a dirt bike in Stornoway and bringing it all the way over to the island. It made sense to ride a dirt bike for reconnaissance, at first. But now, she knew where she was going.

Heart loved the warmth of the horse emanating upwards through her legs as she rode the Wheeler's pony. The body of the horse felt like part of her own body. He broke into a trot and went over to the river when they reached the end of the trail. He cantered over to the water instead of going the way Heart indicated. They were close enough to the cave entrance Heart sought, for her to walk to it, anyway.

She forgave the horse. It was a hot day, so she let him drink. It was when she got off Ainsley that she realized that Aiden, Benny's Airedale, had followed them. She laughed and decided to join the horse and dog, sitting down and opening her lunch pack in the coolness of the river bank.

"Such a bad dog," Samantha said gently, joking with the big, shaggy dog as she rubbed him and gave him part of her sandwich.

When she finished her small meal, she splashed her face with the cold river water, while, unknown to her ... Ainsley and Aiden wandered a short distance away.

__________

As Jake exited the cavern and gratefully re-emerged above ground - again becoming part of the outside world. His grand's island, finally! To his surprise, standing over him and shading him from the bright morning sun, was Ainsley! His beloved Fell pony! How did he get loose? he wondered.

Aiden gleefully bumped Jake's hand and Jake knelt down to hug his grand's dog. "You, too!" he said out loud, still hugging the doggo. He was curious to know how the pony had gotten out of his paddock. Then, he noticed that Ainsley was saddled. A spark of fear rocketed up Jake's spine. He had been too amazed to see Aiden to notice that the horse must have been ridden here. That meant someone was here - nearby. Jake crouched down again, looking for cover, crawling behind a boulder.

Still seeing no one, he thought, Well, Ainsley might have run away right after being saddled.

But, he felt that was not a large possibility. Ainsley was a good horse - he would not have done that unless something had frightened him. That was not normal behavior for him.

Jake trembled at the thought. Then he considered, Maybe, someone tried to steal him. It would be difficult to sneak onto this island though, with all his electronic surveillance. Plus, how would a stranger know that anyone lived here? The house and out buildings were set way back inside the interior of the island's forests and well-hidden. Their family friends, such as James Lord MacGuiness-Scott and his relatives would be no threat. Nor would anyone from town that knew Benny. Scots, especially, rural Scots would not usually talk about secrets. And, Benny Campbell-Wheeler's estate hiding his grandson (the local genius) was a big local secret. No one in Stornoway would ever reveal such a thing. Hard to believe, but it was god's own truth. Swear.

Jake heard the distinctive sound of footsteps behind him. Aiden barked and Ainsley shifted around to look. Jake could not duck, the sound was right behind him, too close. It seemed to be coming up from the river bank.

__________

A soft hand touched Jake's shoulder. He flinched. An even softer voice said, questioning, "Jacob?"

His fear gone, but with some bitterness rising in his throat, he answered - without turning, "Samantha? Wha...what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. We are your guardians."

"Self-appointed. I am not sure I need that - or approve of it, either. It's my life. What the hell do you think you're doing? Who the hell are you? Get out of my life and leave me alone ..."

Sam sniffled and said, "You need to reassess where you are at. You have needs you aren't even aware of. We know. We have been watching all venues for you. You think it's only the cops you need to be wary of. It's so much more than that. You know I told you that we can take care of the American FBI. But, your crew wants more than you gave them. Man, Jake ... they want everything - they want to bring you down. They still resent you from the time of the mutiny and murder of Jason Bing."

"But, Samantha, I pay them. For your information, I am still paying them regularly. I know it's like bribery, but it seems to be working. I am a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"Jake, they want the whole, entire Trust. You need to hide your money."

Jake finally turned to face Samantha. He had forgotten how beautiful she was. He was a little stunned at her presence. Smart girl, too. Brilliant programmer, in fact. She was always good - but now ... Looking into her beautiful, young smooth face, he almost trusted her. She wanted to help him so badly. To tell the truth, he, himself, didn't know where he was heading. He was, actually, a bit lost.

He knew after his crew had found and assaulted his plastic surgeon, his freedom would be severely limited. Now, this girl had found the cave - even if she didn't know where it led to. She had better be on his side. He worried about her, anyway.

Deep inside of him, Jake felt Samantha could guide him through this morass to a normal life. Well, he craved such a life. He repeated the phrase to himself, a normal life.

"Hell, yeah!" he said, almost inadvertently, out loud.

Sam laughed and sat down next to Jake, putting her arm around him. She said, "Swear to god - nobody will hurt you. I know what one has to go through to change. I had to do it, too."

Jake smiled into her face, finally, and said in reply, "You know, Sam, you remind me of myself."

__________

Jones watched Richie Stevens avidly on the internet. Stevens seemed to be searching for something. He certainly did not have an avaricious lifestyle. He had said in an email, that he was perfectly happy with his position as a ranch and stable manager on Jake Wheeler's old estate - now owned by a guy named Windsor Adams. He said that he loved horses. He was happy that he had gone straight, yet he still hung around James Forsythe of the Cannoniere waiting for something. The Cannoniere was anything but straight and legal. Jones knew Richie was playing with fire regardless of his programming expertise as the hacker named the Bat. He knew he had been named that because of his quick nighttime hacking skills, flying away undetected and having an unerring sense of what he was doing on the Darknet.

That's why Jones felt Richie was looking for someone. But who? Wheeler? Why? Probably the same reason he was, for Wheeler's Trust money. Maybe Richie Stevens was playing a game with Jim Forsythe, saying he was so happy with his small life. Who would love horses above money? How stupid was that?! He would uncover Richie's real motives, despite his protestations of not being discontented with farm life.

Jones settled down to work doubly hard with his spyware to unravel Richie Stevens. He wanted to know everything Stevens knew about Jake.

When not working on the internet, Jones followed Asia and Rebecca around London on a daily basis. He would work his computer at night, mostly, or when they were not actively traveling around. He tailed the two women constantly, always in a different disguise. He ate where and when they ate. He took the same buses, got off where they got off. He hopped into cabs behind them and had his driver follow them. When they went to visit different libraries, he would follow through the shelves and use his phone to take pictures of the books they looked at. This would prove to be the most helpful to his search for Jake Wheeler - even compared to his internet spying.

The greatest shock Jones had had recently, was finding a photograph of Asia Reynolds in London on her passport while hacking online. He hadn't known for sure what she looked like before that. So, the obnoxious lady sitting right next to him on the plane to London was that Asia.

That's when he started following her on foot. He knew her name from the time he had invaded her house in order to attack Rainier Voss, who he was afraid of. He was not afraid of very much - but, Voss made him wary. He had meant to kill him or at least put him out of commission in terms of aiding the FBI, but he had obviously failed.

He was still in a state of disbelief that Asia was the passenger on his flight to London that had irritated him so much.

No matter now. He was sure he could tail her and find out what he wanted to know. He snickered when he thought about how well his disguise had worked - even on Asia's bodyguard, whom he knew was from his old Bureau, the FBI. Ha! It was all money in the bank from here on out!

Jones' bravado was all he really had at this point - but he didn't seem to know that. He hung on to his hilarity at not being recognized by Asia and a well-known FBI agent. He laughed at them while researching the books they read at the Oxford University libraries and following them from cafe to cafe. Their meetings with Rainier Voss and Lilah Alyward caused him to plant microphones embedded in pens and drop them near their tables at various restaurants. He also used long-distance mike software from a program he had written on his laptop. He simply connected to the transmitting pens and listened from ear buds on his laptop at another cafe table. The sound was clear as a bell, like he was sitting at the table with them. He reveled in how much he got away with.

__________

Richie Stevens was aware that someone was watching him online, but he had no idea who it was. He hoped it wasn't the police. After growing a full beard and dying his hair, he had been to the Cannoniere Club in Brixton during the day and had played video games with their youthful clients. He had a little access to the back room at night.

It was there he discovered two opposing groups of programmers who were willing to discuss the mysteries surrounding his old employer and mentor, Jacob Wheeler. They worked in the club's back room in the evenings. He was lucky, no other members of Jake's old cyber crew were there at the time. To be on the safe side, he had used artfully crafted disguises so no one he might have known would recognize him.

After talking to those who admired the changes in his old friend, Jake, and gaining their confidence and admiration for his own code writing skills, he thought he knew where Jake was. Funny how much programmers talk about family and friends while they are writing code. Funny and useful to him. They took him aside and gave him suggestions for his search once they knew he meant Jake no harm. A few of Jake's ex cyber crew were regulars in the back room of the club, but his informant told Richie that he did not like them and would not reveal Richie's enquiries.

He also knew Jim Forsythe from the Cannoniere website was not a friend and was on Jake's enemy list from the Cannoniere. Richie had to go to Jake and warn him.

His new employer Windsor Adams, agreed that this was important and also agreed to help Richie with money, transportation, lodging, etc.

Jake would not last long with such powerful enemies. He knew that Jake was paying them off to keep them away and protect himself. But, he also knew that was not enough. His enemies wanted even more than before he had started paying them. They were suffused with greed.

Richie had always admired Jake's brilliance, despite their criminal activity at the time. He looked up to Jake like the older brother he had never had.

Windsor Adams could also be trusted. Richie felt that he was very lucky. Richie was raised in foster care in England and had no family that he knew of. His only hope was his skill in programming. Windsor and Jake were his family. And the horses and dogs he cared for. He was happy to be legally employed now and did not miss his former life as a hacker.

Richie had only told Dobbs where a couple of Jake's old cyber crew (whom he disliked) were possibly to be found. Even he hadn't any idea about where Jacob was - and he was sure not going to give the FBI any clues about that, anyway. He knew that Jake was the target of murderers and not a perpetrator of Jason Bing's demise.

He had only hacked the Cannoniere site to check up on Jake after Dobbs had left him hanging about Jake's status with the American Feds. One thing he did know, he had to get to Jake before anyone else did.

He was positive that the information he had gotten from the friendly Cannoniere at the club in Brixton was accurate, Richie bought a train ticket on the Caledonian Sleeper to Dornoch for the next day. He planned on renting a car and driving to Ullapool from there. Although he had never been to Scotland, he was sure of his route. Jake's Cannoniere friends were positive that he had close relatives in some areas of the Hebrides. Jake had trusted and relied on them that much. Richie would have to find his way from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. With confidence, he packed his bag. Windsor Adams told him he should call if he needed any help. Richie hugged him and said he would.

The next day, Richie Stevens left for Scotland, determined to remain loyal to Jake and protect him at all cost.

__________

As Richie Stevens boarded his train for Scotland, Rainier Voss, Asia Reynolds, Lilah Alyward and Rebecca Sinclair were still working hard, spending most of their daylight hours tracing addresses of the Campbell and Wheeler families that had led them to the Sutherland. So far, Asia's genealogical research in Chicago had proved invaluable and true.

Even Jones had changed his thinking completely from believing Jake might actually be in Australia as per CCTV footage and the international police following his image - to following Asia, Rainier and the FBI back into Scotland. Apparently, he hadn't a clue about Richie Stevens and his own travel plans.

Asia and Rainier (oblivious at this point of Jones's tail on them) were enjoying an intense romantic interlude. They visited many cafes, museums and idyllic English parks - taking long walks, hand-in-hand, going to popular theater productions and concerts (especially the London Philharmonic). All this after their intense research coordinating their genealogy information with birth and death records, family trees and the addresses of possible distant and near relatives in the UK - not unlike British inheritance tracers. After hours, they celebrated their love for each other.

Jones was careful not to get too close to the four companions. He did notice, though, that there was a significant down time around the former hacker activity on the Cannoniere website which he monitored mainly at night in his hotel room. There were still some incursions that targeted Jim Forsythe, the webmaster. But, Jones noticed that Richie Stevens seemed to have disappeared, for now anyway.

Jones was perfectly happy stalking Asia and her friends, as boring as it was to him.

Jones was not a romantic. After divorcing his first and only wife, he rarely carried on any relationship. But now, he tolerated the love of Asia and Rainier - correctly identifying Asia as the main director of their research and info-tech. He developed this tolerance simply because he had to. In the end, he could make up for his impatience with the acquisition of the treasure he hunted in the Scottish Highlands by finding the Wheeler estate and/or stealing all or part of Jake's Trust.

Out of the two veteran FBI Special Agents and one prominent NASA scientist, Asia's experienced professionalism as a documentary filmmaker put her over the top in terms of accurately navigating the confusing labyrinths of names, places and sources in the mapping of their way forward towards finding Jake Wheeler and protecting him from his enemies. Lilah and Becca were constantly amazed at her perceptiveness and resources.

Dr. Voss, a former FBI agent and credentialed NASA physicist and Department Head of a Cape Kennedy computer division, would laugh and hug his main squeeze, saying, "You should join the FBI. You'd make a wonderful agent or technical adjunct."

To which Asia replied, "I'm close enough to the agency. I like my profession. The entertainment, media and editorial news aspects of documentary filmmaking are much more appealing to me than FBI investigations. I like documenting history and using my research as a teaching tool. You forget I am also a photographer. That is more than a hobby. I do not need to carry a gun.

Guns make me feel woozy. I really do not have the courage that would be required to be an agent. Sympathy for victims, I do have. But, I leave it to the cops to carry the weapons."

__________

Samantha "Heart Hacker" Emerson and Jacob Wheeler squeezed each other's hands as they both mounted Ainsley, one behind the other, and cantered down the trail towards the Wheeler homestead with Aiden the shaggy, amiable Airedale following happily along behind them.

They had come to an agreement by the river when Samantha had discovered Jake, newly emerged from one of the island's mysterious caves. He had finally conceded to her offering of protection.

They had a long discussion and Jake had to admit that he needed help with his new life plans. Jake agreed that it was possible that coordinating Heart and Bo's computer sleuthing along with their future FBI advocates might give him the freedom he craved. Sure, he thought. That was a lifetime commitment, if they were willing to give that much, he could accept it.

Justice was something he thought he could support at this point. If all these advocates of his could protect him, he might even become an informant. The idea still seared his brain, but it might be a choice between that - or prison - or a sure death at the hands of thieves. That posited no real alternative. He knew that. Things were coming into a clearer focus for him. Could he risk his life for some elusive concept of freedom? He didn't think so. He wanted guarantees and something way more solid than just hope.

He would not be going it alone anymore. Samantha had always impressed him with her code writing and, now, he found her intelligence and personal charm pointing in the direction he desired. They were now tentative friends. Little did he know, that Samantha Emerson was the Brixton teen that had hacked and locked his computer in London over a year ago. Then, she had posted an animated aquarium on his desktop, infuriating him.

At the river, by the cave, he had invited Samantha (and her partner Bo) to move in with his family on the island. He promised to provide all the Net access both programmers needed, a salary, transportation and room and board. He had been very generous. He was sure they would share their information with him. He would do the same for them.

This new friendship made Jake hopeful and lightened his heart as they entered the gates of the Wheeler homestead.

_________

Now knowing almost exactly where they were ultimately bound, Asia, Rainier, Rebecca and Lilah boarded their Caledonian Sleeper at London's Euston station. They had two sleeper cabins for two with Asia and Rainier in one cabin and Lilah and Becca in the other. This leg of their journey would end in Inverness. From there, Asia had a good idea what would be next. Voss and Lilah could add their map of Dornoch possibilities, as well - having been in the town doing research for quite a while.

Before leaving London, Asia called home and assured Sylvie she could bring Horatio and home him in an empty stall in her barn when he was healthy enough. It made her smile to make her niece so happy.

Sylvie was having her own romantic interlude with her boyfriend, Bert Thomas, on leave from his flight duties at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Horatio should be ready to travel the short distance to Asia's farmstead by the end of the week. Sylvie was administering his medicines over at Frankie Franklin's Rescue Ranch and spoke to the veterinarian frequently about the horse. The farrier had already been there and had done a fine job on Horatio's hooves, which were now in peak condition and the gelding was walking normally without any problems.

She would have her own horse!

Bert had taught her to ride on the gentle roan, Chica, from the Almonte ranch. Horatio was the gentlest gelding equivalent that Sylvie could wish for. He was an older horse, but turning out to be beautiful in a fine array of brown, tan and white. She groomed and brushed him every day, making his hair silky and shiny. He loved the attention and had a sweet, attentive personality that seemed to perk up more and more every day she lavished her affection on him. He was her first horse.

Sylvie had purchased a thick, Indian-patterned saddle blanket for him and a halter embedded with ersatz silver coins. He was her beauty and she wanted to dress him in finery.

Over at Frankie's, Sylvie had exercised Horatio and made sure he got his de-worming medicine, cough medicine and special nutritional mix. She had watched closely as their farrier had expertly trimmed and filed Horatio's neglected hooves. She promised herself the horse would never be lame or threatened with lameness again.

Sylvie's attention to her new horse bolstered his obedience and self-confidence. He was no longer shy and afraid. She felt full of bliss when Bert would ride Chica over to visit her at Frankie's. Junior, her floppy, year-old St. Bernard would encircle her as she exercised the new brown and white Pinto. He would follow them when Sylvie and Bert went out for a ride on Chica and Horatio. The dog and horse were fast becoming good friends.

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# Chapter Nine: The Meeting - Fate

Richie enjoyed his sleeper car on the Caledonian through Scotland. It was an overnight, 16 or so hours, from London to Inverness. At Inverness, he planned on renting a car and driving the A9 into Dornoch, where he wanted to spend a day or two investigating any leads into the Scottish hinterlands that friendly programmers at the Brixton Cannoniere had given him. Jake definitely had relatives in the Dornoch area. How close they were, Richie was determined to find out.

Sure, the Cannoniere leads came mostly from spyware and sources that were originally disreputable, such as Fulbright Mason and Luciano Esposito who were two dead Darknet hackers that fell over the line into the criminally-minded side. But, their information could be useful when verified. And, Richie was on his way to do just that. He fell asleep with his head to the window in his sleeper cabin with a smile, enjoying the rocking of the train and fresh breezes whipping through the window's open aperture as he sped to his first destination.

__________

"Inverness!" shouted the train's speaker. A conductor knocked on Richie's door, saying, "Sir! Your stop! Come along, now!"

Richie, still deeply asleep in his cozy cabin and missing breakfast, hurried and got up. He dressed quickly, packed his bags and ran out into the isle of the carriage.

Just as the conductor was about to close the door, Richie placed his hand on the man's back. He startled, but turned and helped Richie with his bags as he climbed down the train stairs to the platform. The bright afternoon sun hit his eyes and he squinted, looking around himself at the scenery.

Scotland at last! he thought, rubbing his hands together in excitement and anticipation. He hailed a cab and took it to the Seashore Bed and Breakfast overlooking Moray Bay. A beautiful sandy shoreline view. He booked a room and took a hot bath while looking over his balcony into the sparkling sunlit waters of Moray Firth - watching small ships lazily glide over the sea in the distance. He loved it here and sighed to himself, relaxing in the steam of his bath.

Technically the Bed and Breakfast was in Fortrose, but so close to Inverness that the ride there had taken a very short time. After his bath, he hailed another cab and went to the Fortrose Cafe where he sat in the sun-drenched garden and ate a delicious lunch.

At the beach in front of his lodging, he booked a boat tour of the Firth for the next day. He figured he could take a short time out to enjoy the magnificent ocean breezes and sights in this area famous for its dolphin. He also booked a rental care for the later that same day, so he could continue his journey onward to Dornoch.

He casually mentioned the Wheeler name wherever he went just to see what he could uncover. Nothing yet.

__________

Jake held on tightly to Samantha's slender waist. He breathed deeply and thoroughly imbibed the cloying heavy scent of the island's pine. It was devastatingly refreshing after the pervading smell of damp rock in the cavern where he had spent the last two weeks climbing and jogging over rough, uneven surfaces.

He felt like he was in love. He hung onto Samantha's swaying waist slightly tighter - unashamedly feeling their close synchronicity. It was like a dance. They both rode Ainsley the same way. Their hips moved together as the horse walked onward. If he did not feel deep loyalty to Jessica and treasure both her friendship and computer work (some of her code was still shrouded for him), he would have acted on this sudden upsurge of feeling for Samantha.

But, as it was, she was only a new live-in employee. A sister. He was a strong man, he didn't mind controlling even the most intimate feelings in his heart. He needed loyalties, not conflict.

It was just that the exhilaration of surfacing back safely onto Benny's island hit him at the same time that he felt a rush of intuitive, and very new, trust for Samantha back at the river bank when she had accepted his offer of live-in employment. He knew that she and Stealth might be more than just online partners and fellow hackers, so he didn't want anything the two of them would not want.

His new life could be violently de-railed by a love conflict inside his only refuge. He couldn't afford to lose the peace his grand's house gave him.

He reached down and patted the smooth side of his beloved Fell pony, Ainsley. Aiden barked at him just as he saw the estate's large open meadow revealing itself in front of the horse. He could see the peak of Benny's house rising slowly in the distance.

He laughed with relieved delight.

--------

__________

Sam felt the same closeness with Jake's embrace that she really thought he intended. She didn't mind it. She liked him, too. She knew it was not an indifferent embrace. That didn't bother her. It was not harassment. There were reasons not to respond to him. Jake's offer to work and live with him was too precious to her to worry about trouble in heaven. There were too many people out to hurt all of them to splinter their power and weaken their newly forged cohesiveness.

She and Stealth had worried over Jake and sweated blood until he returned. Stealth still didn't know of Jake's reappearance. He didn't know that Jake was alive and healthy and approaching home. She had been too concentrated on the final leg of their escape to take the time trying to get cell reception in the woods in order to call Stealth on her phone. Better to tell him in person anyway and avoid the circle of avaricious hackers surrounding them.

The big Airedale ran ahead of them into the meadow.

Both Samantha and Jake breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously. They laughed as Aiden ran barking into Benny's paddock.

__________

Asia stretched her arms up and felt the cold metal wall of their sleeper - she flipped up the roller shade on the window. The glare of the early morning sun hit Rainier directly in his eyes. Asia was fully aware of how difficult it was to wake him - and, they were late. Voss groaned and rolled onto his face, protesting.

Meanwhile, Becca and Lilah were just finishing their breakfast in the dining car. They had just ordered two espressos. When their order came, they took their coffee upstairs to the lounge car. Inverness would be coming up in about fifteen minutes. They both discussed their situation and decided to make sure Rainier and Asia were packed and ready to de-bark. Neither of them had seen their other two companions that morning.

When Lilah called them on her cell, Asia assured her that the two of them would meet the women in the lounge car in a few minutes. Lilah told Asia that they had booked rooms at a good local hotel within walking distance of the train station. She and Rainier could eat breakfast there, since there was no time for that now.

Asia thanked her.

__________

Former FBI Special Agent Jones was waiting in Dornoch for everyone he had noticed heading his way. And, he had noticed them. He hadn't been FBI for no reason. He was a top investigator. He had gotten there way ahead of those he considered antagonists. He had taken a plane, not being interested in a long, drawn-out trip by car, bus or train. His Onion Browser and spyware had picked up several possible FBI agents and Richie Stevens. Him again! This time heading right into his maw in Dornoch. He changed his theatrical disguise so that Asia and the others would not recognize him even from the plane or London. He prepared his weapons, cleaning his guns, sharpening knives and making sure his magazines were full and in place.

He hoped all of those he surveilled would make the mistake of using their cell phones and the internet. Then, he would know what they knew.

__________

After a short but beautiful seaside reprieve from their chase, Lilah and Rainier were surprised and a bit confused to find out that Asia had hired a rental car and announced that they need not worry about researching Dornoch anymore than they had already. They protested that they had not found any trail that led to Jacob Wheeler's door.

Rebecca, of course, was not shocked in the least by Asia's decision since she had the same information that Asia had discovered in Chicago. Neither woman wanted to divulge anything until they were safely on their way, even to their close companions. There were too many ears.

Asia and Rebecca knew that there was no point in wasting time. They could go directly to Ullapool and move onward from there. That was exactly what the four did. The chase was on!

__________

It was important now, Rebecca and Lilah decided, to turn off their cell phones and stay off the internet for security reasons. They knew there was a strong case for believing that they were being followed. They needed the utmost secrecy now, because Asia was sure the final answers to their search would await them in Ullapool. They could not risk cluing anyone else in on their movements. They also turned the GPS off on their smartphones.

__________

As Jones awaited those he was "following", he frustratingly found little information in Dornoch - until he met a fellow in a local pub. Jones was depressed at the long wait and lack of trackable information on the Net, so he broke his usual non-drinking rule and got smashingly drunk. Still no solid leads! That was, until he met Barclay MacDougall, in fact, a very drunk, rather tired Barclay MacDougall who was obviously off his game after spending several intensive days at a sheep auction. And, several days on a drunken binge.

Jones easily won an arm wrestling contest against Barclay who got into braggadocio afterwards to cover his embarrassment. He told Jones about Benny Campbell-Wheeler's private island - bragging about his distant relative owning an entire island off the Isle of Lewis.

"He what?! What was that last name again?" asked Jones, his blood pressure rising to an insane level. He grabbed Barclay's arm in his anxiety and surprise.

"Bernard Campbell-Wheeler. And he owns an entire island among other large estates! Isn't that something?" commented Barclay who went from bad to worse in terms of a loose tongue. He continued, "He has a genius grandson, too. Famous around here as our native son. His name is ..."

Jones answered for him in a conspiratorial tone, "Jacob, you mean?" He deliberately looked at the floor and acted very nonchalant (despite his reddened face) - as if he didn't care in the least.

"Oh my, yes! How did you know? Say, my friend, Jake might even be well-known in America, too! He has written some very popular software." Barclay blushed at the "fame" of his relative, totally unaware that he had betrayed his cousin, basically too proud of Jacob's achievements to realize what he had done.

Jones knew good and well what he had. He continued to question Barclay. He went back to his hotel room and booked a rental car and the local ferry for the next day, setting out for Ullapool as early as possible.

As the sun rose pink in the dawn sky, Jones sped towards the ferry terminal in Ullapool which was only about a couple of hours away.

__________

Fortunately, Asia and her fellow travelers were already on the ferry to Stornoway, gliding across the ocean on their way to the Isle of Lewis, sure that they could find the island Jake might be hiding himself on.

Asia had researched Wheeler family connections and addresses in London and had found no real-time address for Bernard Campbell-Wheeler - despite this, she had latitude and longitude coordinates for a Wheeler-owned island.

The group was safely aboard a rented boat, speeding towards the island way before any dangers could catch up with them.

Jones had just boarded the Ullapool ferry to Stornoway at the same time, not aware that he was still playing catch-up with Asia and the FBI.

__________

Richie Stevens, on his way to Ullapool, decided to stop over at Dunrobin Castle for lunch and a short tour (the tourist in him could not resist it). Dunrobin was right on his way to Ullapool, just slightly north of Dornoch. In Dornoch, he was advised by locals to continue his enquiry in Stornoway, since the local Wheelers that he spoke with knew nothing about Jake, and their family extended into the Hebrides.

Richie reveled in his luck in finding out about Stornoway, and decided to take a few minutes out at Dunrobin as per his fascination for Scotland. Hearing that Dunrobin served a mid-day meal cinched it.

__________

Jake, unaware of the FBI's protective posse closing in upon him, was embraced by his relieved grandfather as Samantha and Jake dismounted from Ainsley. Stealth, having finally repaired Benny's bathroom plumbing, was shocked and delighted to see Jacob both safe and sound, back in his family's protective circle again.

He stuttered a greeting in surprise at Samantha, who beckoned him over to Jake's side and told him quietly about Jacob's offer. Stealth readily agreed to Jake's deal and shook his head in incredulity.

__________

Asia and her group arrived at Benny Campbell-Wheeler's private dock in the early evening of the same day. They were greeted by a rather large, unfriendly Airedale whose insistent and loud barking alerted household security staff.

The four trespassers were brought to the main house after Rebecca and Lilah flashed their FBI identification.

Jake was not happy with the intrusion. Stealth and Samantha took the agents aside and began to negotiate with them, giving Jake a high-sign that they would take care of this situation.

Jake was nervous, but he trusted Sam and Stealth's knowledge and ability to use their FBI hacks to his advantage. He had also indicated his willingness to cooperate with any conditions the Bureau should impose on him.

__________

Richie enjoyed a large mid-day meal of fresh venison, partridge and garden vegetables - all from the properties and gardens of Dunrobin Castle. He glanced at his watch and decided that he had an hour or two to take in the famous falconry show here.

He watched avidly while the head Falconer, Archibald Henley, flew his trained birds who were so well kept that they did not need cages, but sheltered inside comfortable, unlocked, clean, natural hutches - open roosts. The Falconer explained that he trained the Dunrobin hunting birds with kindness, not punishment, which was why they were so loyal and responsive.

After the short exposition, Henley explained that the falcons raised at Dunrobin were a variety of hawks - mostly Harris Hawks and Steppe Eagles. Richie was fascinated and kept talking to Henley after the show, eventually bringing up the subject of the Wheelers living near the Isle of Lewis.

Henley sucked his breath in sharply. He got close to Richie's shoulder and glanced around to see if anyone else was listening. All the other tourists had left to go on other tours or were headed towards the parking lot.

"My good man," said the shocked Henley, pulling Richie even closer by his arm. "You must know the MacGuiness-Scotts are close friends of that part of the Wheeler clan. You know that, don't you?"

Richie became quietly excited and got from Archie that he knew that Jake Wheeler had recently been a guest of Dunrobin Castle and had left suddenly on his own, without taking leave of the master of the house. Asked how Archibald knew about this, he stated that he had overheard the kitchen staff. They all wondered if Jake had returned to his grandfather and if he was alright.

Henley then gave Richie elaborate instructions on how to get to Bernard Campbell-Wheeler's private island from Stornoway, which was the last piece of the puzzle that Richie needed. He had hoped to find this information out when he arrived on the main island in the Isle of Lewis area, upon which was the town of Stornoway.

Archibald also warned Richie that he should bring some weapons with him, that the approach might be dangerous because of Jake Wheeler's enemies. Richie assured him that he had several hand guns and a high-powered automatic rifle in his luggage. Henley did not seem surprised and instinctively trusted Richie, probably because of his keen interest in the Dunrobin hawks. Well, his instincts were correct.

Henley then confided a further secret of Dunrobin's heritage to Richie. Richie answered by saying that he would keep in touch with Archie and let him know about Jake's situation. He also further promised him that he had a satellite phone and would get in touch if he needed further help in protecting his old employer, if anything should go wrong. Archie could then notify the Earl of Dunrobin and send help.

Archibald Henley smiled broadly and slapped Richie on the back. The two men shook hands and Richie took his leave, on his way to boarding the Stornoway ferry from Ullapool, right on time.

__________

Asia Reynolds and her entourage were rounded up and forced, in handcuffs, to meet Benny Campbell-Wheeler, accompanied by Jake, Samantha and Bo, all heavily armed and on the defensive.

They all sat down and, after the Bureau's agents showed Jake their FBI identification, had an intensive conversation in which Jacob finally accepted the FBI offer to become a computer analyst, hacker specialist and informant. He saw no other way out of his predicament. Rebecca and Lilah had the power to promise him protection if he agreed to this. So, he did.

It had been a long, rough road, but Samantha Emerson and his own love for Jessica Parker and Benny had convinced him that this option was the best choice he could make. He had thought about it for quite a long time. It was now time to give in.

He would avoid all criminal charges and extradition to America. They even had plenty of clout should UK authorities bother him. He must pay back all monies stolen from the Silver Lake banks, even though it had been given to his ex cyber crew in exchange for his freedom. He had plenty in his Trust to cover everything and more than plenty left over. All his money was secretly invested, locked tighter than an off-shore account or Swiss safety deposit box (which was the only Swiss bank option that was still anonymous).

Asia, Lilah, Rebecca and Rainier were then released and invited to stay for dinner with the Wheeler family. The invitation was also extended to accommodate them overnight at the Wheeler mansion and leave in the morning. Both invitations were accepted. Lilah and Rebecca called Quantico to send replacement security for the Wheelers to care for them after they left.

Asia and Rainier went outside to meet Benny's horses and hunting dogs, which included a now calmed Aiden - fast becoming rather affectionate towards Asia who took a particular liking to the big, shaggy Airedale.

__________

Although Jones was only one man, he was like a small battalion due to his FBI training. Due to Barclay MacDougall's indiscrete chatter, Jones now knew exactly how he wanted to approach Bernard Campbell-Wheeler's island. As night fell, giving him the kind of invisibility he needed, he landed on a wooded area of shoreline after freezing all Wheeler electronic radar equipment with his own software and hardware.

There were no loose dogs or security to greet him as he slipped through the forest, approaching the Wheeler mansion under cover of an unlit, moonless night. The moon was not even up yet. He was dressed in non-reflective black, with a one-sided, see-through polyester head cover masking his entire face. He smiled diabolically to himself - this was perfect!

__________

Practically on Jones' heels, Richie Stevens slid up to the Wheeler dock much more openly than Jones. He was greeted by Wheeler's security and taken to the main house to be questioned.

Jake's surprise on seeing Richie was palpable. He, at first, was crestfallen and disappointed, assuming that Richie was there to hurt him or steal from him. Richie's disguise hadn't fooled him for a minute.

After intensive questioning by Lilah and Rebecca - as well as Jake - it was determined that, according to Richie, there was at least one unfriendly person on his way to the island presently. Richie had identified him on the internet. He had been aware that this man had tracked him online and was possibly on his way to capture Jake and hold him until he agreed to pay him a large amount of money.

Both FBI Special Agents immediately suspected former agent Jones who was still on the run after his escape at Heathrow in London. The modus operandi fit. They both checked the island's electronic equipment and were alarmed to find out that all protective surveillance was down.

It was, at this point, that all the lights went out inside the mansion, as well. The electricity had been cut.

Richie's satellite phone was still functional and he called out immediately.

Within fifteen minutes, the island was completely surrounded by local constabulary. They must have been alerted and waiting for an emergency call. Their dogs quickly encircled Jones, who had not had time to enter the Wheeler home. They tore his clothes. The police bound him securely and dragged him off accompanied by Lilah - leaving Rebecca Sinclair to oversee further protection inside the Wheeler household.

__________

It was then that Jake and Richie both revealed several long-held secrets. Richie told the astounded group about the history of the senior Earl of Sutherland. The entire story of which, left the group speechless. The father of the young Lord James MacGuiness-Scot was a highly regarded, retired detective having served in about four township districts near Dornoch. Jake knew something about this, since James had told him. But, he was not aware of how extensive the senior Lord Sutherland's police career had been. It was he that had the local constabulary on the ready, and sent them at a moment's notice when Richie had called.

Then, to top it all off, Jake felt it was time to reveal to his inner circle where his Trust had been hidden all these years. The young Lord James MacGuiness-Scott had almost figured it out, but had missed by a short half kilometer or two. Similar ballpark, but wide of the exact mark.

Jake's Trust was all in Bitcoin or digital currency. Plus, he was in the process of constructing his own "mining" hardware and software, doubly protecting himself.

A miner was the person that held the ledger of the accounts that had converted a local currency into crypto currency.

Lord James used the Ethereum company to hold or "mine" BTC (Bitcoin), not the original Bitcoin company. Bitcoin was the original digital currency company. Both were completely anonymous. Everything was given a code number; no names were used. At that time, one American dollar was worth about $7,000 after being converted to Bitcoin. So, if one wanted to withdraw the original amount invested in Bitcoin they would be given 7,000 times the original invested amount. The same astronomical multiple returns were true in Euros, as well. Generally, Bitcoin worth was on the rise.

So, since Jake also held the ledger to his own Bitcoin "wallet", he was even more protected.

__________

Jessica Parker hugged Jake and told him that she suspected that he was constructing mining hardware. She also figured out why he was doing that and told him that she was glad he was finally safe. All the more, since he would have FBI protection for the rest of his life, especially on the island. Both Jessica and Jake were in love with the Outer Hebrides, and especially Benny's island. It was as if the Wheeler family had its own country.

Jake smiled warmly, embracing Jessica, and said, winking at his grandfather, "This recent journey all began with an epic failure in London, where I tried to run for my freedom. But, a blessing my grand had taught me saved everything (if you believe) - an ancient blessing for the future on the Summer Solstice.

The deeper secrets of where the cave went to from Benny's island was still safe. Not even Samantha knew where it led. Benny did - the MacGuiness-Scotts did not. Not every secret was meant to be revealed.

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# Epilogue: Reality Bites - Separating Fact from Fiction

The young Lord James MacGuiness-Scott is in fact (sans the computer expertise and Ethereum investments, Bitcoin miner hardware, etc.) Lord Alexander Strathnaver-Sutherland, the heir of Dunrobin, the youngest Earl in a 700 year heritage still residing in this Scottish castle and holding the title of Earl of Sutherland. His father, Sir William George MacKenzie Sutherland (born 1933) was truly a highly skilled police Constable of many districts. That fits right in with our fictional tale. He was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland (retired in 1998) and a Constable of Cheshire, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Chief of Bedfordshire at different times during his career. Our fictional Jake was lucky not to run into him too early in the game. But was glad to have his expertise at the very end of this story when Jones needed a pair of handcuffs.

It is true that Dunrobin Castle is slightly north of Dornoch and right on the A9 Scottish Highway - take a turn away from the coastline and you will find yourself on the way to Ullapool where you can catch a real ferry to Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis. It is also true that hitchhiking is legal in Scotland. There are many small islands in the Outer Hebrides, of which the Isle of Lewis is one. Benny's island is fictional.

The cavern leading to Benny Campbell-Wheeler's fictional island is also not real. Good thing for the young Lord Alexander Strathnaver, present Earl of Sutherland, there is also no sinkhole in his formal garden.

There is though, an amazing Falconer at Dunrobin Castle who gives tourist shows on a regular basis. Although, his name is not the same as the fictional Falconer in this book. The Harris Hawks, open roosts, kind training and Steppe Eagles at the Dunrobin estate are true.

__________

Bitcoin and the Ethereum (Enterprise Ethereum Alliance or EEA) are real cyber currency companies online. Although, they are not the only ones. One can transfer any denomination of currency and transform it into Bitcoin (Dollars, Pesos, Rupees, etc. to "BTC" which is the symbol for Bitcoin) and several other digital currencies besides Bitcoin.

A miner is the person who keeps the anonymous ledgers (where investors in cyber currency are entered into computerized ledgers located in mining hardware (called wallets)). The hardware equipment is manufactured by Bitmain (the antminer series of plug and play computer mining equipment); Titan Enterprise Group (who, by the way, does not sell chips as in the novel, but sells miner hardware that plugs into one's computer as in the very real Itan Plus); Revolutions LLC also makes BTC (Bitcoin) mining plug and play hardware as related in this story. This is not fiction.

It is also astoundingly true that if one had invested $100 US dollars in Bitcoin in about 2010, it would be worth about $75 million now. Astronomical!

In the author's opinion, Bitcoin is a slightly cleaner cyber currency than Ethereum regardless of the wealth generated by Ethereum. Like in the novel, Ethereum has questionable investors from some of the banks and companies that failed during the sub-prime loan meltdown from about 2007-2010, when poorly supported mortgages began to default en masse.

If one really doesn't mind the questionable practices of JP Morgan Chase (who settled with their clients for about $13 billion dollars for bundling faulty mortgages and selling them to investors), then ignore me. Bitcoin does not attract these investors. Ethereum does. The author freaks at the name JP Morgan Chase and others such as Citi Bank. Both of whom almost brought the world's economy to its knees. Some poor third world countries still have not recovered. The severe poverty created by these loan defaults lead to such travesties as abandoning one's children on the streets of major cities. The third world has still not recovered from the sub-prime loan defaults in America. It is not just a "bank thing".

To make Bitcoin mining perfectly clear, here is a definition of the process: Bitcoin mining is the process of adding transaction records to Bitcoin's public ledger of past transactions or blockchain. This ledger of past transactions is called the blockchain as it is a chain of blocks - each "block" contains the ledgers from miners. The blockchain serves to confirm transactions to the rest of the network as having taken place.

Here is the difference between the ledger and a wallet: a Bitcoin wallet is a software program where Bitcoins are stored. To be technically accurate, Bitcoins are not "stored" anywhere (they are not physical like dollar bills or Euros. They are registered only as numbers). There is a private key (secret number) for every Bitcoin address that is saved in the Bitcoin wallet of the person who owns the balance. So, the miner or keeper of the Bitcoin ledger, has no idea who the individual investors are - the ledger contains many different anonymous wallets. It is pretty easy for a computer software program to automatically issue anonymous number code to each individual investor.

Jake wrote his own mining software and also the software for his personal wallet, thus, locking out any intruders. Though, the FBI can find individuals within the Bitcoin system. One could still be vulnerable to criminal investigation such as that carried out on the drug baron of the Silk Road Darknet website. DARPA, mentioned as a US government Department of Defense agency, can also investigate the Deep Web. And, DARPA is a real agency. They create software and hardware for military usage.

There is though, unfortunately, such a thing as a Bitcoin data virus. But, hurrah! A miner can use ordinary spyware detection software such as Malwarebytes, which is very accessible to all computer operators and can avoid many disastrous situations like the ransomware run on English hospitals recently. It was a shame that such a simple, inexpensive program was not in use and many hospital records were blocked during the ransomware virus attack, causing many sick people distress at not having their medical records handy to use for essential health care or even surgery. Their records were held for ransom. This has also happened to hospitals in Los Angeles.

__________

The Darknet and Deep Web really exist. It is true there are criminal elements in both (they are basically two names for the hidden side of the internet). It is also true that oppressed people such as gay folks in the third world use this to communicate with each other without reprisal from oppressive governments. It is also true that there are hacker watchdogs on the Deep Web that spy on criminal activity, such as sex-slavers and pedophile networks - like our fictional characters Samantha "Heart Hacker" Emerson and Robert "Stealth".

The Onion Browser (or "TOB" is Onion Software related to "TOR" The Onion Router) - these programs are real and necessary to enter the Darknet or Deep Web. [By the way, Onion software was designed by the US Navy for anonymous Internet browsing.]

DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a real US government agency associated with the Department of Defense. It is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Since its inception, the agency's mission is ensuring that the United States avoids unfavorable technological surprise. It is, thus, a code writing and computer research agency as well as making computer hardware for military usage. DARPA has been given credit for giving birth to parts of the original Internet.

"Code" is another word for software writing. Such as, writing code means to write software using programming languages. There are thousands of programming languages. Some main coding languages are Java, Visual Basic, C++.

Drone shields and hacker insurance truly exist. Drone shields send drones back to their point of origin.

The story of Hector Xavier turning informant for the FBI is also a true story.

Anonymous is a real activist organization with both good and bad hacker members that generally use pseudonyms like Heart and Stealth. The symbol of Anonymous is the Guy Fawkes mask. This is used basically as an anti-establishment protest and to protect the identities of any Anonymous protesters who do occasionally take to the streets. Guy Fawkes rebelled against the English Parliament for reasons that those who use the mask do not necessarily identify with. It is the fact of rebellion that they identify with. The mask is a representation of what Guy Fawkes looked like. Protesters then adopted the mask as a symbol of general rebellion. See the illustration of the Guy Fawkes mask at the end of this Epilogue.

__________

Statute of Limitations protests are also rather common, especially among women. The definition of a statute of limitation in this novel is also real. The example used of the woman who recognized a serial rapist accused of many assaults and home invasions is from a real criminal case. It is true that she recognized him walking down the street in her town many years after the statute of limitations on her assault and rape had passed. This meant she could not call the police and use her own case to prosecute this man. She, unfortunately, had to use other break-ins to prosecute him.

This is also a complaint with elder abuse law. Trying to prosecute a relative or care-giver after the three year statute of limitations on the death of the abused elder has passed cannot be done in some states, presently. So, it goes.

__________

The Sutherland is a historic county in the Highlands of Scotland where the Strathnaver-Sutherlands are traditional Scottish royalty and have existed for over 700 years. This county seat is in Dornoch, a lovely coastal town.

There are many caves along the shores of the Scottish coast, including the prehistoric Bone caves where many remains of prehistoric animals have been found. They are also open to tourism and located near Ullapool, Scotland. The cave on Benny Wheeler's island was fictional.

Scotland is an exquisite country and the author encourages her readers to visit this wonderful land.

Below is the Guy Fawkes mask used as a symbol of resistance by the hacker organization Anonymous. Don't worry too much, there really are members of Anonymous like Samantha and Bo that are there to guard the good people of the planet. They also keep a watch on the activity of large corporations and governments. Illegally, but they are able to watch anyway.

One last, scary note: insect audio-video drones actually exist.

THE END.

GUY FAWKES MASK

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# About the Author

#

SOPHIA WATSON LIVES in n. Maine next to the Canadian border and has lived in southern Alaska, Los Angeles, Virginia and Missouri, among other places. She was born in Illinois on converted, newly suburbanized farmland. She has owned many fine, intelligent, beautiful dogs...including three husky mixes - Mitzie, Stihl and Duke. She presently owns an apartment-friendly, well-trained Yorkshire Terrier named Sparky, Sherlock, Biggie Smalls...Mushroom, Portly or Fi Fi depending on mood.

She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University and attended Harvard for graduate school. She has been writing since she was about ten years old and started her "professional" career by storytelling ad lib as an elementary school substitute teacher for the lower grades.

She is a donor and advocate for a few third world Humane organizations - Soi Dog in Thailand; Animal Aid Unlimited in Udaipur, India; Hope for Paws in the United States and others.

She has also been an advocate for Gay Rights for about fifty years and has ties to the gay community. Her gay character descriptions are firsthand, true to detail and not stereotypical.

She has maintained her own wood pile for her wood stove - is handy with a log-splitting ax - a caution with a Poulan Woodshark chainsaw, ATV and snowmobile.

You are invited to visit her on Facebook. Go to "Cathy Smith Tie Dye" in the search box and click on a Cathy Smith link on that page. Cathy Smith is Sophia's real name, and there are too many Cathy Smith's to otherwise get the correct page.

Sophia also writes under her real name (Cathy Smith) and the pseudonym Zara Brooks-Watson (Jitterbug & Tie Dye - which are semi-historical dramas). If you like politicized short stories, she has a book of short stories in various digital bookstores as Cathy Smith.

# Don't miss out!

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Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love _Solstice_? Then you should read _Snow Angels_ by Sophia Watson!

Snow Angels is the first book in a mini-series about cyber crime and Cyber Vigilantes within the Silver Lake mysteries. Still featuring Asia Reynolds as a primary forensic researcher.

Jake Wheeler has been a major cyber-criminal, a teenage genius, computer prodigy, hacker and darknet webhost, the victim of a 'copter crash on the cliffs off the Scottish Highlands, honorary member of _Anonymous_ , an FBI fugitive. Then, possibly, an FBI informant in an international turnaround.

Jacob Wheeler began life as a lonely boy, small for his age and too intelligent to be popular. He was a little socially inept.

Jake was bullied in school and in his neighborhood and took solace in his computers.

As an adult, his skill at programming brought him into contact with the wrong crowd. He became an ace hacker.

His life was about to change.

Read more at Sophia Watson's site.
Also by Sophia Watson

Silver Lake Cozy Mysteries

It All Comes Out in the Wash

Snow Angels

That Summer in Silver Lake

Solstice

Watch for more at Sophia Watson's site.
