Althena Book 2

112. Key

A week later, I sit down for breakfast with my boys. Atlas went home. Dacious is still helping the boys, so Saray is with him. My boys won't let me out of their sight. I think they're afraid I'm going to cut myself again, but I didn't do it on purpose last time. I don't even remember doing it. Regardless, they won't leave me alone.

Lila comes in and sits down by Chris. "Good morning. I'm bored."

Chris nods. "We haven't left the house in days. Let's go to the casino."

"No. The casino is fine."

"Mike, you are holding us hostage."

Dacious leans back in his chair. "Maybe a couple of you could go to work."

I cut my steak. "It's my fault. I'm sorry. I traumatized them and now we're hostages."

Lila gets some eggs. "Maybe we can do something together? Like the theme park. We could all go."

Drogon crosses his arms. "It's too hot."

Mike drinks his coffee. "End up with a heat stroke."

Lila puts ketchup on her eggs. "What about visiting Mystical Moon? We could see granny."

"She ran off last time."

Chris rolls his eyes. "We can't run off again. My car is halfway to Crystal Falls."

Cyrus slams his cup down. "You have feet, Chris. And there is too much open area. Even the guards can't keep up with you."

"What if she promises to stay where you can see her?"

I drink my milk. "Is this about me running away or is it about the cuts?"

Conner rubs my back. "Both, babygirl."

I lay my head on his shoulder. "I feel better. I don't want to hurt myself. I won't do it again. I'm sorry."

He kisses my head. "We need more time, baby."

"Fine. You have to have fun without me. I'm grounded."

Mike rubs his face. "No. We can't..."

Clayton comes in. "Seriously people, go to work. I want to see what's on this key. If you want to see it, get up and come with me."

Lila jumps up. "We'll all go. Come on. Everyone up. We're going. Let's go."

Drogon rubs his face. "We need to..."

"GET UP." Chris smacks the table. "YOU ARE DONE STARING AT THESE WALLS. NOW MOVE." He pulls Conner up and pushes him at the door.

Lila pulls me out. "We're leaving now."

We get to Drogon's office and sit around his conference table. At least it's a different table and the view is amazing.

Clayton hands Drogon the tube-looking key. "There you go."

"What do I do with it?"

"Plug it in the laptop." Clayton stares at Drogon like he's the biggest i***t on the planet.

"How?"

Clayton rolls his eyes. "Give me the laptop."

Drogon goes over to his desk and comes back with it.

"Not that laptop. My dad's laptop."

"Why the f**k would I have your dad's laptop?"

"He kept it in the office."

"This is my laptop. I have no idea where his is."

"He kept it here."

"Clayton... Do you see another laptop anywhere?"

Clayton goes over to the desk. "f**k. Where the hell did he put it? It's not at the palace. I thought it had to be here."

I vaguely remember my dad's girlfriend saying something about a computer. I put my hand up to stop their bickering.

"It's not here. I've never seen it. Yea, babygirl?"

"Umm. I can't remember her name. My dad's girlfriend. I think she said something about a computer. Or maybe it was only guns. I don't know."

"Dad's girlfriend?" Clayton crosses his arms.

"I guess we forgot to tell you about her. Dad had a girlfriend. We sent Monte to collect his stuff, I think."

"I thought it was Jax." Mike checks his phone.

"Monte was with me in the casino when she came up to me. I'm positive it was Monte."

"I'll call Monte. See if he remembers anything."

Clayton shakes his head. "How long was he with her?"

"Years. They had no kids. But the creepy part was, she looked so much like my mom. He even called her Aurel. She was at the casino. Mary was complaining about you making drinks. Your mom ran you off."

"Mom knew?"

"She recognized her scent. Dad didn't parade the girl around. He kept her hidden. Your mom was the only person dad ever publicly had a relationship with. And the girl had no interest in destroying their marriage. I don't believe she will ever go public about it. She even came up to me when I was alone. The first thing she said was that she didn't want trouble, but dad left some guns at her house."

"And you believe her?"

"She looked like my mom. People can't fake that."

Drogon shakes his head. "We don't believe anyone blindly. She had pictures. The guns were registered to your dad. No children were involved. That's all we can prove. She signed a few papers for us. She's not allowed to tell her story to anyone. She doesn't even want to. She wants to finish school and start work. She's still young. I think she was 21 or 22?"

"I want to talk to her."

Mike stands up. "The laptop was left with the girl. There was nothing on it except her school work. She said it was Deriston's laptop, but she was using it. Since nothing else was on it, they let her keep it. I told him to go get it."

The group chat goes off. Clayton: -Pick me up, Monte. I want to go.-

Monte: -Why?-

-I want to see her.-

-Where are you?-

-Dark Moon Headquarters. Kings office.-

-Clear the roof. I'll land in 20 minutes.-

Mike gets back on his phone. "I don't know how smart this is. And he's going to need security."

Clayton sits with us. "I want to see if I recognize her or her scent. This is weird."

I shrug my shoulders. "It is weird. I don't believe her to be a villain or a bad person. Maybe young and naive. If you need to see her for closure of some kind, I can understand that."

He stares into space.

"Jax is on his way too. He'll go with them."

A few minutes later, Jax sits down with us. "What happened to you?"

I rub my arms. The marks are healed, but they're still a little discolored in spots. I shrug my shoulders.

"Someone got a slicey with a razor." Conner kisses my head.

Jax crosses his arms. "Show up at my house and garden if you feel like that again. That always helps you relieve stress. Please don't hurt yourself."

"That's a good idea."

Mike winks. "It is."

"Why were you so stressed?"

"Drogon captured me smuggling drugs. And Akley threatened to kill Clayton. It wasn't a fun time. But I feel better now."

"We'll fill you in later. It's been a s**t show around here." Mike answers his phone.

Chris smiles. "I can fill you in. Come down here. I'm not doing anything."

"Sounds like it." Jax moves over to Chris.

I smile at Saray. "Do you have any plans going forward?"

"I was going to go to Eldervale and finish school next year. But with Dacious being here so much. I think maybe online school is the way to go."

"We're figuring it out." Dacious kisses her head. "I like the idea of her going to a physical school. She would be able to join the activities. But I also like the idea of an online school. I could keep her with me and know she's safe."

Drogon nods. "Green Valley has an online program. Depending on the classes she needs, she may be able to take them online, show up for exams, do extracurricular activities, and go to prom. It's worth checking into."

"Yea, who do I need to talk to about it?"

"Penn. I'll get you his number." Drogon goes over to his desk.

"The only extra thing I did was the girls' club. It would be nice to stay in that though."

Lila nods. "Show up on the Wednesday's you're in Darkburn. Doesn't matter if you miss some. Hell, Thena missed a bunch, and they were in her basement."

I laugh. "You're not wrong."

Lila smiles. "So, any plans for a wedding yet?"

"We didn't know about a wedding. He figured Cyrus would go first."

I scratch my head and turn to Cyrus.

Cyrus glances at me, then looks at his brother. "Don't plan your life around mine. I'm already married anyway. Thena and I can have a big wedding in a few years. If you're ready now, then get married. You can do like we did or make it big like her and Drogon are doing. That's all you."

I smile at them. "I'm ok if you have babies first too. Please don't wait on us. You'll be waiting a while. And I really wouldn't mind a niece or nephew. You should do that."

Saray chokes on water and coughs out, "Not yet."

Dacious turns white and shakes his head.

"Let's not mix dates. What month do you want to get married, babygirl?" Drogon winks.

I wiggle. I love it when he winks. "I like the fall. October, maybe."

"5 months from now or do you want to wait a year?"

"5 months."

Drogon nods. "We claim October."

Chris stands up at the other end of the table. "Thank you for giving me more notice than 2 days. I honestly appreciate that and you are now my favorite. Long may you reign, King Winter."

Mike laughs. "Monte's waiting on the roof. Go get the laptop."

Chris leaves with Jax and Clayton. He's still talking. I think he's happy to have someone different to talk to.

We talk about wedding plans until they get back with the laptop.

Clayton plugs the tube thing into the laptop. "She was very normal. I don't know what I was expecting, but that was something. What the f**k is this?" He stares at the screen.

The boys check it out and shake their heads.

I sneak behind them. They're files but they're impossible to read. Clayton double-clicks on something and weird symbols fill 4 windows.

"Stop." I record it and send it to Katen. -Assistance please.-

She calls me. "Good morning. You're on speaker."

"DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. DO NOT OPEN THEM. DO NOT REMOVE THAT STICK. DO NOT SHUT THE LAPTOP. STOP TOUCHING."

Clayton nods. "Ok. What now?"

"There is no now. Don't touch anything. Send me a helicopter. None of you know how to deal with this level of encryption. You could wipe everything with the press of a button."

20 minutes later, she comes in. She pokes around it for a while.

Mike gives her some coffee. "Are you figuring it out?"

"I need the key."

"That is the key." Clayton points.

"No. Those are the files. I need the key to read them. This laptop has obviously been erased. I need to restore it. The key may be on it."

"So, not a key?"

It sounds like she growls at him. "A key is a computer program used to unlock certain files. These files cannot be read without the key. I have to find the key."

"You're sure it's on there?"

"No. It could be anywhere. The key is a computer program. It can be on a USB drive that's hidden somewhere. It could be saved as a private file on Evo. It could be saved on an external server somewhere. But this computer is my starting point. I have to restore it to a point in time when your father owned it. We'll be able to see what was erased. Hopefully the key is on here. If not, maybe we can find a clue."

Drogon nods. "How long will that take?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "1 day to a few weeks. I'll know more when I get in. I need a private room with a table, 3 spare laptops, and 1 external hard drive. I'm going to start by duplicating the laptop as it is now onto one of the spares. It's always better to work on the spare. If I destroy it, it was only the spare."

Mike nods. "There's an empty office on the floor below us. You can work there. We'll have everything delivered. If you need anything else, let us know. And keep us informed please."

"Of course." She picks it up and takes it with her.

Clayton crosses his arms. "I guess we need to do something else now."