Coming Unplugged (Welcome to Carson Book 6) Read online

  RENEE HARLESS

  He’s a rock star that can have any woman he wants,

  but he has his sights set on his brother’s best friend.

  Ryker always felt that he lived in the shadows of his genius twin brother Jameson; no amount of platinum records or devoted fans can change that. Especially when the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen crashes his sister’s wedding and rushes into his brother’s arms. He wants her more than he has ever wanted anything and, brother be damned, he is determined to make her his.

  Norah is in trouble. She has spent years perfecting a secret device for the government only to have it stolen. On a whim, she enlists the help of her best friend Jameson. What she never expects is to meet her best friend’s brother and for him to offer more than just protection, he offers his heart.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2018 Renee Harless

  This work is one of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. All trademarked items included in this novel have been recognized as so by the author. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  All rights reserved

  Amazon Edition

  Cover photo by Wander Photography

  Model Forest Tyler

  Cover design by Porcelain Paper Designs

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  More Books by Renee Harless

  Sneak Peek of Coming Home

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  THE SMALL WOODEN STAGE creaks loudly beneath his feet as he taps to the beat of the song with his sleek black dress shoe against the parquet floor. He is in his element – microphone in front of him, guitar in his lap, melody caressing his skin. He and Harlan, his sister Cassidy’s husband and his bandmate, harmonize an acoustic set of their most popular songs at the request of one of his other sisters, Everleigh – one of his biggest supporters.

  Everleigh’s marriage to their town doctor and her sworn enemy, Brooks, didn’t come as much of a surprise to him. Ryker could always tell that their chemistry and attraction to each other was crazy and off the charts, and he knew that when Everleigh came around, that the two hotheads would make it work. However, he never suspected that they had eloped in Las Vegas after one of his concerts over a year ago.

  But, he has never seen her happier. It seems like suddenly all of his siblings have been paired off, leaving himself and his twin brother to fend for themselves. Though, as he glances across the dance floor, his brother Jameson has his arms wrapped around a busty blonde he brought with him to the ceremony.

  As they finish up the song, Harlan leans into Ryker’s space. “One more?”

  “Sure,” Ryker obliges as he strums the strings to the beat of their newest ballad written by Harlan for his wife.

  The song ebbs and flows with the dancing couples, his mom grinning ear to ear as his father twirls her around the floor. From the corner of his eye, he watches as a woman peeks her head into the pavilion, her eyes searching wildly around the space until they land on his twin. Thankful for years of training Ryker is able to continue the song without missing a beat, literally, as he watches the woman rush toward Jameson.

  His fascination with her grows as she approaches; her dark waist skimming hair curls slightly, framing the pale skin of her face. A modern-day Snow White, that’s what she reminds him of. Her grip on her navy dress tightens as she slides into Jameson’s back. Naturally, her use of heels has been limited.

  Usually, Ryker would chuckle at the antic, but since he is mid-song and her face shows more than just worry, he suppresses the laugh. Ryker watches as Jameson leans into the woman’s space, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly, and whether it be twin’s intuition or merely the change in his brother’s expression Ryker can feel every bit of emotion coursing through his brother. The one that stands out the most is something Ryker never expects – fear. His brother may be a computer nerd, but he has more confidence and self-assurance than most men combined. He also has more muscle mass than most men his age.

  Just as quickly as she barges into the space, the two run out of the pavilion alarming a few of the attendees including Jameson’s date which he leaves idly on the dance floor.

  With a nudge, Harlan brings Ryker back to reality and they thank the crowd for letting them entertain them for the past hour.

  Speaking up Ryker says into the microphone, “I’ve enjoyed sharing these few new songs with you all and Harlan and I are happy to announce that we will be taking a break from touring for the next couple of years. We want to focus on family and ourselves for a while. Thank you all.”

  They had discussed it with their band after their most recent tour, all of them wanting to take a break after touring endlessly for the past four years. With their growing fan base, awards, and chart-topping singles, it is well-deserved.

  Just as Harlan hops off the stage, his focus set on his wife happily patting her stomach who is in front of their sisters, Ryker can do little to acknowledge the happiness of his eldest sister expecting their first child. Instead, his mind is focused on the beauty that captured his attention from the one thing that had always been his constant – music.

  He feels a protectiveness about her, similar to how he expects Jameson to feel with the way he had ushered her from the room. Ryker sets down his guitar and jumps from the stage, following the same trail his brother had left.

  He has never fought his brother over anything: toys, the remote, or women. Their interests have always been separately defined. Until now. Until this woman. And for the first time, Ryker holds no shame in the fact he is about to steal something precious from his brother – her. His princess. His Snow White.

  Chapter One

  2 days prior

  NORAH’S EYES POP OPEN breaking her from her dead sleep at half past two in the morning just as her skin breaks out in a cold sweat.

  Something is wrong.

  She reaches across her small twin bed in the college dormitory to grab her phone from the nightstand and she squints as the bright light glares at her from the device.

  No missed calls. No messages. No . . . anything. But Norah can feel it deep in her bones like a wolf’s call in the night.

  “Shit,” she bellows in the empty space as she sits up in bed and runs her hands through her long hair hoping to tame the mess.

  There is only one explanation for the way she feels at this moment, a feeling that has become a more common occurrence in the past three weeks.

  Norah jumps out of bed not caring that the oversized T-shirt that belonged to her best friend is twisted around her waist and rushes over to the desktop computer tucked in the corner of her room, the fan whirling making a wheezing sound among
st the silence.

  Her fingers move along the keyboard out of memory and unlock the screen opening it to the program she keeps running in the background. The numbers and letters flash across in a kaleidoscope of codes that only Norah and her partners in the tech lab can understand.

  She takes a moment to read through the notations, recognizing a few critical errors that have her nerves spiking.

  There has been a breach.

  Blindly reaching across the floor, she snags a pair of jeans, a strapless bra, and her white converse shoes. As she shoves her feet into the shoes she presses a series of keys on the keyboard and then bounces up and down as it saves all of her data. Finally, the save is complete so she snags the thumb drive from the laptop and takes a heavy breath before she launches the crash controls on her brand new computer.

  At least her best friend is a software engineer and can rebuild it if her hunch is nothing more than a bad hunch.

  Thumb drive in hand she tucks it into her bra, grabs her oversized purse and shoves a few personal items and cash inside, and then hurriedly makes her way out of the room slamming her door loud enough that she is sure the other graduate students will complain in the morning.

  She jogs across campus, her lack of air not stalling her in the slightest. They’ve talked about this. Her team had come up with a plan if they ever discovered a breach in the data. She lives the closest, so she was in charge of securing the lab. Glancing down at her smartwatch she notes the date and remembers that her partner and professor Dr. Lewis had planned on arriving at the lab around midnight to prepare their device for transfer.

  She and her team had been commissioned to produce a secret device for the government and military. And as of Monday it was complete. They had packaged it up yesterday to be sent off with Dr. Lewis to Washington DC to present the project. Her other teammates were in charge of securing the device yesterday and until midnight when Dr. Lewis was going to arrive.

  Now at almost three in the morning, Norah is worried.

  What if the device malfunctioned causing the breach? Or what if something happened to Dr. Lewis?

  Rushing up to the building Norah scans her identification badge in the reader by the door and as the lock disengages she pulls it open so quickly she almost smacks herself in the face.

  Their lab sits in the basement of the building, so she jogs down the stairs but stops suddenly when she notices the lab door is open wide. Definitely not protocol.

  Diving into her bag she reaches for the small taser she keeps tucked away in a zippered pocket and brings it close to her chest.

  “Is anyone here?” she asks into the darkened hallway.

  When there is no response, she flips the switch at the bottom of the stairwell and bathes the hallway in light.

  “Hello? Dr. Lewis?” she tries once more and as the silence continues she breathes a sigh of relief.

  Stepping forward she moves toward the lab and sticks her head inside. The room brightens as Norah turns on the light. A second switch is flicked on and power boots to all of the ventilation hoods.

  Norah steps farther inside the space skirting around a computer chair sitting haphazardly in the middle of the room. She eyes the chemicals tucked away in cabinets and fridges and notices their heavy-duty locks still in place and breathes a sigh of relief.

  Scanning the room, she doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary besides the chair, and then her eyes land on the steel case she knows is lined with velvet and padding. Her body grows in heaviness and her heart races as she approaches the container. It holds everything. All of their years of hard work and dedication encased by two locks and a biometric scanner. Sweat beads along her hairline as she closes in and places her thumb on the scanning pad knowing that it will only unlock for her or for Dr. Lewis.

  The scan reads and the small light changes from red to green before the two locks disengage. Norah opens the case and sucks in a breath when she notices the little box with the technology is gone along with the scanner used to mark each code with its user.

  “Oh, no,” Norah whispers as she steps away from the case and bumps into Dr. Lewis’ desk behind her.

  She spins around and watches as the screen wakes up to a note flashing over and over before her.

  RUN

  Three letters that cause Norah’s stomach to clench and her heart to pound louder.

  On a whim, she tugs open the side drawer of the professor’s desk and pries open the back to reveal a hidden compartment. She and Dr. Lewis agreed to keep the backbone of their technology separate so that if an event occurred you would need both setups to have it work properly. In the secret compartment resides a small server that feeds from his computer. She removes the cord and places the server in her purse before stepping away from the desk.

  A noise sounds in the hall and Norah stands up straighter, more alert than before as the adrenaline courses through her veins.

  They’ve come back.

  She frantically looks around the space and eyes the small window beside one of their storage units and realizes that the tiny opening may be her only escape.

  Moving fast she rushes over and twists the old knob with both hands until it budges enough to push the window open. The noise down the hall intensifies and Norah steps up onto the table under the window and wedges herself between the glass and frame. From her shoulder she tosses her bag onto the ground and as she looks back for just a second she notices a red laser aim into the room.

  A gun!

  With a new surge of energy, Norah hoists herself farther up on the window, regretting that extra piece of pizza and beer she had for dinner last night as her legs dangle like worms on a hook inside the room. Pushing her hands against the window frame with every ounce of strength she possesses Norah tumbles forward and lands with a thud onto the ground. She doesn’t have a moment to look back into the room or to take note of the bruising that is sure to form on her knees and back. Instead, she grips her bag in her hand and runs like hell toward the bus station.

  Living at the University she doesn’t have a need for a car and at this moment she wishes she knew how to hotwire one, but that is a talent her friend retains, not her. The bus station is three blocks away and she huffs it by foot, her sneakers pounding away on the concrete pavement of the sidewalk. The fog covered street gives an eerie haze to the night but it keeps her hidden in the shadows as she skirts around each street light.

  Finally, the buses rounded up for their early morning travels come into her line of sight and Norah feels like she can take a breath. She hastens her pace as she hears a car barreling down the street behind her, an uncommon occurrence during this hour in this part of town. Pebbles erupt across her skin and she darts behind the tree line beside the sidewalk, masking her from their view. As the car zooms past she takes note of the black Mercedes decked out in dark tinted windows and no headlights. If it wasn’t for the street light she would have missed the car altogether.

  She hunkers down low for a few minutes, using the branches of the trees to cover her from view in case the car returns but after ten minutes she decides that the coast is clear and she runs toward the building.

  As she storms into the room like a twirling hurricane, the few waiting passengers stare at her for a moment and then continue whatever it is they were doing before she arrived.

  “Can I help you?” the woman calls out from behind the glass booth and it takes Norah a moment to realize that she is speaking to her.

  “Oh, yes. Sorry.” The woman simply continues to stare at Norah impatiently.

  “Where would you like to go?”

  “How much is a ticket to Asheville?” Norah requests as she reaches for her wallet and fingers through the few bills she has and quickly realizing that she may not have enough to book the trip with cash.

  “One hundred and fifty-three dollars.”

  Shit, there definitely isn’t enough cash for that trip and a place to stay.

  And then she remembers that her best friend’s s
ister is getting married in the Outer Banks of North Carolina this weekend.

  “Actually, how much to the Outer Banks in North Carolina?”

  The woman glances up from her computer screen and rolls her eyes.

  “The closest we can get you is to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. You’ll need to find another ride from there.”

  “Ok. How much?”

  “About fifty-five dollars.”

  Yes! I can do that and then call an Uber for the remainder.

  “That sounds great. I’ll take it.”

  As the woman prints off the ticket Norah glances around the room looking for a secure place to stay as she notices the board saying the bus doesn’t leave for another three hours. They would have time to come back and find her. She bounces on her toes anxious to discover a place to hide.

  “Here you are. The bus leaves at 6:30.” As she slides the ticket over she narrows her eyes at Norah’s shaking hand. “Are you alright? You ain’t doing drugs are you?”

  “No, I’m sorry… it’s just… people are looking for me and I need to hide.”

  “Ex?”

  Norah huffs as if a mean ex is the least of her worries. “No, I… it’s work related and they’re trying to steal something I created. Something big.”

  The woman’s eyes double in size and Norah has no idea why she’s so compelled to tell someone what’s going on. But she has the urge to make sure someone is there to try and keep her safe.

  “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be breaking the rules but you look paler than a hooker in church. We have an office back behind me that you can go and lock yourself into. I’m the only one with a key. And this booth is bulletproof. Ain’t no one getting in without access.”

  “Thank you so much!” Norah cries out causing more of the people in the room to grumble. “Oh, do you have an ATM here?”

  She doesn’t know why she hasn’t thought of it before but she needs to remove as much cash from her account as possible before they freeze it. Norah knows that anyone with the knowledge that her device is even real has high-security clearance and can quickly shut down her entire existence; make it seem like she never even lived.