Claddagh and Chaos by Cayce Poponea Read Free Book Online Page A

had made good use of the lack of electricity, having had sex on every surface of this condo.
    “I had to replace several batteries after that particular storm,” Da added as he continued to face the screen, while Shamus typed away on his keyboard.
    “I did a trace back to the IP address of the blips, and whoever did this knew what they were doing and how to hide it.”
    This got my attention. “Shamus, what did they take?”
    Shamus stopped typing and turned his attention to me.
    “That’s the thing; the last three IP addresses were from public areas—the city library, a Starbucks, and the train station. They used the public WiFi as a cover, yet they took nothing; not one file was touched. I mean, if they’d wanted to they could’ve easily gotten into one of the bank accounts and drained it dry, but they didn’t. It’s as if they only wanted to have a quick look and then left.”
    Muscles was standing in the corner, his arms crossed and he was running his fingertips along his chin. “Shamus, do you think this is some basement hacker? Someone trying to impress his girlfriend?”
    Da chuckled as he removed his glasses and moved slightly away, shaking his head as he lowered his gaze. How things had changed since he was the leader of this family.
    “No, this is too advanced for computer geeks. My first thought was the Feds, but then I found the IP addresses and decided against it.”
    “Why?” I questioned.
    “Well, they used public WiFi. The Feds have their own built into their computers,” Shamus stated dismissively.
    “True, but if they just needed a peek at something, maybe they had to use the public WiFi. As everyone knows, the government is cutting back on its spending,” Caleb added. “Could it have been a case of the Feds being cheap bastards?”
    Shamus began to run his hands through his hair. He was clearly puzzled. “It’s not the Feds, guys! They have so many server protectors that keep out all public WiFi so their employees stay away from websites they shouldn’t visit, such as porn,” Shamus spoke from behind his hands that were still holding his face.
    The room was silent as everyone absorbed this new information. Who would come in only to have a quick look around? What purpose would that serve?
    “So, Shamus, what does all of this mean for us?” I questioned, my anxiety rising by the second.
    Shamus sat back in his chair and looked me in the eye. “It means I’ll be increasing the firewall and installing a new encrypting system; like the ones you see on the ticketmaster webpage where you have to unscramble the word to get access. Except for ours, it’ll be a code that’s unique to each of us; just in case this is someone on the inside.”
    I hadn’t wanted to think of any of my men betraying me like that, but there it was.
    “You said they only looked at certain files; do we know what files they looked into?” Da questioned. That particular thought had clearly eluded me.
    “It’ll take some time to follow the trail, but I’ve had a tracer on it since I discovered it.”
    Shamus began to type again as Books entered the room.
    “I thought I heard voices.”He looked surprised as he headed to the fax machine.
    I looked at him questioningly. Could Books be the mole? If we even had a mole? This whole thing had me doubting my most trusted men. Books was family, yet, at this point, I needed to keep my eyes and ears open. I looked at Da, who appeared to have the same idea.
    “Books, what are you doing here at this time?” Da questioned. The tone in his voice I had only experience a few time in my life. He, too, was questioning our men’s loyalty.
    “Remember, Boss? My sister is graduating from UCLA and I wanted to get all the bills paid before I left in a few weeks.”
    That was right; his sister was graduating with honors, a family trait I was told. He and Abby were flying out since Smiles was so close to her due date and the doctors refused to let her fly. She would be staying at