Nothing Special V (Nothing Special 5)

“See. Free’s mind works like that constantly. He’ll fit in. He can do the technical part of this job with his eyes closed,” Tech told them.

“If he’s so brilliant, why isn’t he employed?” Syn asked.

“He doesn’t have a degree. We were at MIT together, but he left shortly after I did. There was nothing he could be taught there, anyway. He hardly went to class but still aced everything. We were both getting the degrees only to have the paperwork. But neither of us made it through to the end. You know what happened with me, and he kept having family issues.”

“Anything, Tech, that would get us in shit for hiring him? He’s not wanted by the FBI or some shit like that, is he?” God asked.

“No. He’s not a criminal. Moral to a fault. He’s brilliant enough to hack a bank and reroute millions into an offshore account, but he’d never do it. He lives in an RV and travels the country installing networks and upgrading software systems.”

“I heard a slight accent, is he here legally?” God asked, again being careful.

“He was born here. Yes, he’s a citizen. His father was British, his mother’s African American. He spent his first ten years in Peterborough before his mother moved them back to the States.”

Tech’s computer pinged an announcement and some files started downloading. He read through some of them, knowing where they were coming from. He smirked and turned around to look back at Pres. “Did you know your business partner, Adam Carbone, is hundreds of thousands in debt? It looks like Free decided to start digging, too. Beginning at the top. He’s still sending information. Looks like Mr. Carbone’s been writing substantial checks to bookies associated with illegal gambling sites.”

“He’s part owner of the business if anything happens to you, it all goes to him, right?” Day looked to Pres for confirmation.

Pres nodded gloomily. “I’m seventy percent owner. I’ve never drawn up documents to transfer my shares to Ric or Blair. We weren’t in a rush to do it, but I will now.”

“Sounds like motive to me,” Ruxs said. “He might be thinking along the same lines because he attacked you in your home while you were with your partners. In an attempt to take out all of you. If he’d been trying to kill only you, he would’ve waited until you were alone.”

“This is that guy Free doing this?” Day asked.

“Yes. He’s using my system, but yes,” Tech answered.

“Go get him, Tech,” God ordered. “Steele, Ruxs, Green. Ride with him.”

Tech pulled up to the curb at Atlanta International, scanning the thin crowd. He inched forward a few more spaces when a shuttle pulled away and put his truck in park. A lot attendant waved them forward, yelling about no stopping, but Steele held his badge out the window. The attendant moved on to the next vehicle, aggressively motioning for cars to keep going.

“Where is he?”

“He knows we’re here.” Tech was practically bouncing in his seat. He couldn’t believe Free was here. He’d missed him. He wasn’t sure Free had gotten his encrypted message since he hadn’t responded, but here he was. It wasn’t easy to contact him; he wasn’t on any social media, nor did he use any registered emails. If a company was looking for help with their servers, Free heard about it, researched them, and if they were on the up and up, he contacted them… not the other way around. He preferred to stay off the grid and unfortunately, his caution was warranted.

He knew Free felt like he owed Tech after what he’d done for him before Tech was arrested by the Feds, but he didn’t want Free to feel indebted to work for God and Day if he didn’t want to. This wasn’t a job you could do out of obligation. But he knew Free liked to help people, enjoyed righting wrongs. He was good at it, which was why he’d found the man behind Prescott’s threats faster than any of them did. Free had been righting the wrongs done to him and his mother all his life, so he knew how a vicious person thought, making him very skilled at finding them.

“There he his.” Tech pointed. He watched his long-time friend emerge from the automatic doors with only a laptop bag on his shoulder, pulling a small black carry-on behind him.

“That’s him?” Ruxs gawked.

“You like what you see?” Green stared, too.

“I’m just saying. I wasn’t expecting, ya know.”

Free didn’t look like your usual tech guru; he was striking. Blair’s earlier comment about having to look like sex on a stick to work for the team was proving to be an odd coincidence. Free had filled out in all the right places since Tech last saw him, two years ago. He was thick and toned. He’d always been tall, about six one, but Tech didn’t remember the defined chest and nice-sized biceps. Free wasn’t as big as the Enforcers, but goddamn, he did fit in with the team. His tan skin was smooth and healthy, his dark eyes and even darker lashes made his eyes look exotic and mysterious. In simple plaid trousers, a snug brown V-neck t-shirt and scarf, he looked like a sexy hipster. Free smiled, displaying pretty white teeth when he saw Tech coming around the truck. He set his laptop bag down and wrapped both arms around Tech, holding him close for a long time.