“Right answer.” Zane winked at her and entered the room Lycos had used as a vault. She and Zane had removed the massive door and renovated the space for video conferences.
Once Jewell had made the conference call to the department heads and the CEO of Guardian Security and ensured the links were secure, she moved into the room with Zane and sat beside him.
Her brothers Jacob and Joseph signed on first. “Hey, Button,” Joseph greeted, smiling at her. “How’s life in the wild?”
“Wonderful.” She beamed. “We’re getting a puppy.”
“What kind?” Jacob asked.
“An Irish Wolfhound and wolf mix,” Zane replied. “Lycos’s female wolf went into heat while they were moving. Bethanie didn’t know it and took Lady for a walk around the rest area where they’d stopped. Dog was waiting for Lycos to get him out of his crate. The wolfhound was on Lady in a heartbeat. Now Lycos has two pups.”
“One is ours,” Jewell interjected. She didn’t want anyone to stake a claim to the dog.
“Who has the other?” Joseph asked.
“Ethan,” Jewell said. “He said Frank about swallowed his taffy when he told him what type of dog it was, but Frank agreed to let Ethan have a wolf on the ranch until his node is ready.”
“Speaking of which, how’s your setup? Since we’re fashioning all the nodes after your system anyway.” When Jason’s voice came from the video lineup, Jewell clicked on his image to put him on the screen.
“I love it. Ethan is literally in my ear if I need help. The coms are stupendously good. It’ll be like heaven when we get the three other modules up.”
“Our new people are ready?” Jason asked. As CEO, he kept his fingers in everything.
“We’re getting them through the wickets. There aren’t any red flags yet.” Jewell had acquired new talent, a few fellow hackers she’d worked with over the years. Con, Brando, and Ring’s skills were phenomenal, but they had to pass clearance protocols and mental evaluations. It wasn’t easy to be hired to work for Guardian, even if you filtered over from the NSA, Department of Defense, or a Fortune 500 company. Even more so since the Siege. “I talked with Honor Buchanan a few minutes ago.”
“Your night supervisor?” Jared’s voice from the stream pulled her attention down. She added him, Jade, and Nic from a different stream. “Yes. She needs some help.” Everyone lifted their heads and stared at her. “I think the incident was hard on her. She’s drinking. Pretty heavily. She said she couldn’t sleep. I’m worried about her.”
“Is she a security risk?” The immediate question popped from Jason.
Jewell shook her head. “No. She doesn’t have any of the information she’d need to be a risk. We’ve reconfigured, rerouted, and enabled new security protocols. Basically, we changed everything. Without me providing access, our system is impenetrable. She’s like anyone else who would want to gain access. We’ve closed it down. It isn’t going to happen.”
“Where is she?”
“Dallas. I really think she needs professional help.” Jewell stared at the screen.
Jason looked up. “What’s Wheeler’s caseload?”
“I don’t have access to that,” Jewell said, then looked at Zane. “Am I supposed to?”
“No,” Jason answered. “That was a rhetorical question. Get him on the line if you can?”
Jewell popped up and headed to her office. “On it.”
“Where are Smoke and Charley?” Anubis asked from the feed.
Jewell called from the office when she heard Anubis’ voice say, “Add him, will you?”
“On it,” Zane said from the other room.
“A very rare day off for the both of them,” Jason said.
Jewell called the number in South Dakota, and Jeremiah Wheeler answered on the third ring. “Dr. Wheeler.”
“Hey, Jeremiah, it’s Jewell. Can I patch you into a conference call?”
“Sure, my next patient isn’t for an hour.”
“Perfect. Hold on.” Jewell made the connection, checked the security, and went back into the video conference room. She picked up her tablet. “He’s on the call, and the line is secure.”
“Jeremiah, Jason King here, along with Joseph, Jacob, Jade, Jared, Kaden, Nic, Jewell, and Zane.”
“Hey, everyone. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Jeremiah asked.
“We have a computer operator who needs help,” Jewell interjected before Jason could say a word.
Zane reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Babe, that’s Jason’s responsibility.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. I got excited.” Jewell pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at the screen in front of her.
“No worries. As Jewell said, one of our primary computer operators seems to have developed a drinking problem since the Siege.” Jason put his elbows on the desk in front of him. “I understand what addiction is, and if this incident has pushed Honor over the edge, we owe it to her to get her the help to find her sobriety.”
Jeremiah cleared his throat. “She’s got to drive this train. No one can make her stop drinking.”
Jewell jerked and dropped her legs to the floor. “But she needs help.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t try to help her. I said she’d be driving the train.” Jeremiah spoke in a caring voice, softening the reprimand. “I have experience with people who fight addictions. And I have space at the moment. I’m releasing one of yours back to duty this week.”
“Sage?” Joseph interrupted, and Anubis jerked his head up.
“Yes. He’s ready to go back to work,” Jeremiah confirmed.
“But back to Honor,” Jewell redirected the conversation. “Can we have someone go get her?”
“Jared, what’s the manning situation in Dom Ops?”
“Where?” Jared asked as he tapped on his tablet.
“Dallas.” Jewell filled in the location.
Jared screwed up his face and shook his head. “I can send someone to check on her, but I’m undermanned in the south. I can’t give up a man to babysit. Jacob, do you have a team on tactical rest in the area?”
“A team to pick up one computer programmer drinking a bit too much. That’s overkill, isn’t it?” Jade said.
“Probably.” Jewell slumped back into her chair.
“Why not Sage?” Jeremiah suggested. “He’s not been assigned yet, he’s available, and I’d like him to get his feet wet, not be thrown into the deepest depths of the ocean for his first assignment.”
“I wouldn’t throw him into the ocean. You, that’s another story.” Joseph’s growling response earned him an earful of laughter.
Jeremiah sighed. “I don’t doubt it for a minute. Should I remind you once again that I’m happily married with a family?”
“I recall you kissed my wife.”
Jeremiah groaned audibly. “Years ago. A peck on the lips. You’re too protective.”
“Being too protective isn’t possible,” Jason interjected.
“He’s right.” Zane, Nic, Jared, Anubis, and Jacob seemed to agree at the same time.