She reached for Kathryn. “I’ll keep you both safe.”
40
Cain charged into Thomas’s room, John and the others behind him. Thomas looked up from his computer.
“Is the cell phone working?”
“Yeah, it’s juiced up.”
Cain looked around the room, suddenly alarmed. “Where’s Faye?”
“She’s with Maya.”
“I told you to watch her. With the Mississippians right at our doorstep—”
“Don’t go all apeshit on me. You’re not the first vampire who’s suddenly acquired a mate. She and Maya know what they’re doing. They’re just making sure the two escapees won’t run into our unwelcome visitors.”
Cain hesitated for a moment, but instinctively he knew Thomas was right. He couldn’t watch Faye twenty-four-seven just because he didn’t think he could continue living without her.
Faye, my love, are you all right? He sent the thoughts to her via their telepathic bond.
It took only seconds before warmth spread inside him and he felt rather than heard her response. Of course, I’m all right. Is anything the matter?
Satisfied that their mental connection was working, he sent her another thought. Everything is fine.
Then he jerked his thumb back at John while addressing Thomas. “Show him the text message. Show him how he lured me into the trap.”
Thomas stood up from the desk and unplugged the charger from the phone. Then he swiped over the screen and navigated to the right spot. “By the way, there was no password on it. I’d call that a security risk.”
Cain felt his eyebrows snap together. “I always had a password on my phone.” He remembered it clearly.
Thomas handed the phone to John. “Here. That’s the message.”
John stared at the screen and read it. Then his head shot up and he glared at Thomas. “What is this? Are you trying to set me up?” He stabbed his finger at the display. “I never sent that message!”
“Says right there,” Thomas replied pointing to the top of the display, where the caller’s name appeared. “John. Are you denying that’s you?”
“It must be another John. It’s not me!” John turned to Cain, his eyes pleading. “You must believe me.”
Disappointed that John still didn’t want to fess up, Cain took the phone from his hand, pressed the contact button in the top right corner of it and then the call button. “Do you need another proof?”
The phone rang. And rang.
Cain brought it to his ear, when he suddenly heard a click and somebody breathing. He stared at John in disbelief. John hadn’t moved, hadn’t pulled his cell phone from his pocket, yet somebody had picked it up.
“Hello?” Cain said into the phone, but the call was abruptly disconnected. He pointed at John. “Who’s got your phone?”
John dug into his pants pocket and pulled it out. “I do.” He swiped over the display and unlocked it with his password, then navigated to the call app, before holding the display up for Cain to see. “No call from you.” He motioned to the phone in Cain’s hands. “I don’t know who you just called, but it wasn’t me.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Did you change your number in the last year?” Cain asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
“My number hasn’t changed.”
Cain exchanged a look with Thomas. “How is that possible?”
Thomas sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought the earlier messages in this thread seemed odd.”
“What do you mean?”
“They didn’t sound like they were addressed to a king from his guard.”
Cain looked at the display once more and scrolled back up through the messages, scanning them quickly. Then he looked up. He remembered some of them. “That can’t be.”
“What?” Haven asked, stepping closer.
Cain lifted his head. “The earlier messages are from Abel.”
Several gasps echoed in the room.
Cain looked at Thomas. “How’s that technically possible?”
Thomas reached for the phone and tapped something on it. “Easier than you think.” He held up the phone, now showing the entry for the contact John. “You can change a contact’s name whenever you want to. Let’s say you made a typo when you originally entered it. So you just go back in, and change the name.”
“Shit!” John cursed, drawing all eyes on him. “So that’s how he did it! He got hold of your phone, cracked your password, and changed his contact info to mine so that when he sent you that message to send you into a trap, it would look like it had come from me.”
“Easy to prove, too,” Thomas continued. “The phone number will still identify Abel.” He pointed to the screen. “Is that his number?”