Page 14 of The Last Morgan
As soon as Lucy and Corey arrived back at the main house, the sound of tires crunching across gravel made them both turn toward the gate. A long black minibus—far too dramatic for a teenager—pulled into the driveway. Its side doors slid open with a hiss.
Out jumped Barnaby.
"WHOA!" he yelled, throwing his arms up toward the towering estate. "Lucy, shall I call you your Highness now? Look at the size of this palace!"
Lucy laughed softly and lifted her hand in a simple, elegant gesture. Two nearby staff members—alert and well-trained—immediately moved to help unload the luggage that Barnaby began to throw out of the minibus with absolutely no grace.
A backpack stuffed to bursting. A hard-shelled suitcase covered in nerdy stickers. Two boxes filled with coiled wires, blinking LED panels, and half-built gadgets. And, of course, a tote bag labeled "Snacks eyes gleaming. "So where do I start?"
"Start by getting some rest," Corey said. "You've had a long trip, and we’re pulling long hours from here."
Barnaby frowned. "Rest is for the weak."
"And dead," Corey replied. "You want to survive this, you pace yourself."
Lucy stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Barnaby's shoulder. "Trust me. We need you sharp, not passed out in a tangle of wires."
Barnaby sighed dramatically but relented. "Fine. One hour of rest. But then I'm taking that system apart and mapping every byte of the breach."
He turned back to the room, spinning slowly in place to take it all in again. "This is insane. You know that, right?"
"We live in insane now," Lucy said. "You ready for it?"
Barnaby grinned. "Oh, I've never been more ready."
Lucy and Corey exchanged glances. For the first time in days, she felt a flicker of reassurance.
Barnaby had managed to grab a good few hours of sleep, but he knew time was against him. The breach was serious, and the longer he waited, the further the trail could vanish. The moment his eyes opened, he rolled over, checked the time, and groaned. 11:47 PM.
Perfect.
Pulling himself out of bed with the weight of a mission on his back, Barnaby made his way to the workbench. He tapped a few keys on his laptop and sat down, entering a zone of complete focus. Within moments, he was in deep. His fingers flew across the keyboard as lines of code streamed down the screens.
He dived hard, lost in a digital jungle of loops, shadows, and firewalls. His eyes flickered between monitors, reading data like a second language. As he hacked deeper into the system and patched his spyware across the multiple interfaces, he grinned to himself.
It was working.
He was building something entirely new—a digital spider-web software that not only tracked intrusion attempts but flagged every manipulation, every odd footprint in the system. It wasn't just a reactionary defense. It was a trap.
Barnaby was so immersed that he hadn’t noticed the sky shifting outside his windows. Hours passed, but he remained at his station, sucked into a maze of networks, connections, and coding branches. When he finally leaned back in his chair, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes, he saw the orange-pink glow of dawn creeping into his suite.
4:03 AM.
The first stage was done.
He had created a program that would now monitor Lucy’s systems, both at home and at the Morgan Group, with one central command. Any data spike, reroute, or foreign access would trigger an alert. "Not bad for one night's work," he mumbled, dragging himself to the bed. A couple more hours of sleep before breakfast should do the trick.
But rest barely wrapped him in its grasp when there was a knock at the door.
"Breakfast is in half an hour. Get ready," Corey called.
"Thanks, Corey," Barnaby groaned, rubbing his face and yawning. He rolled out of bed, hit the shower, and quickly packed his usual essentials: laptop, drive sticks, and a few extra cables—just in case.
As he stepped out of his room, the hallway still draped in the soft quiet of early morning, another door opened.
Sarah.
She paused mid-step, surprised to see someone else on the landing.
She flinched slightly but recovered fast, flashing him a demure smile. "Oh, hello," she said, looking him over slowly. Her long curly blonde hair cascaded over her silk robe. Her bright blue eyes studied him with interest.
Barnaby, however, did not pause. He gave her a small nod and continued walking without a word.
Sarah’s jaw twitched. She was not used to that. People—especially men—noticed her. Commented. Fumbled over themselves. But Barnaby did not even blink.
Who does this guy think he is? she thought.
And just like that, Barnaby was on her radar.
Downstairs, the breakfast table was already half full. Richard sat at the head, reading a paper. Lillian was making idle chatter with Jackson, who looked bored as usual. Lucy was already seated with Corey to her right. When Barnaby entered, the room quieted.
Lillian looked up, lips twisting slightly. "Oh? Another houseguest?"
Richard peered over the top of his paper. "Looks like we're taking in every riff-raff under the sun," he muttered.
Lucy didn’t miss it. "What was that?" she said, eyes sharp.
"Oh, nothing, Lucy."
"Who is this?" Richard said.
"He’s Barnaby," Lucy said firmly, standing slightly. "He’s a brother to me. And I expect him to be treated as such."
Barnaby looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded respectfully. He sat down next to Lucy, eyes on the plate set in front of him.
He was starving.
Within seconds, he was shoveling eggs, toast, and bacon into his mouth, chewing at lightning speed. He almost choked on the last bite.
Corey chuckled. "Slow down, champ. The food’s not going anywhere."
After breakfast, they piled into the car. Barnaby practically vibrated with energy in the backseat.
"I’m going to find them today," he said, eyes wide. "I designed this new program. It’s like a tracker and a snare mixed into one. I left it running back at the estate. Once I connect it to the mainframe in the office, it’ll sweep through the entire network and flag any anomalies. We’ll find whoever tried to get in."
Lucy smiled. His enthusiasm was infectious. "I’m sure you will." She said matching his energy.
For a moment, the car ride felt like home again. She missed the Oxley's. Even though it had only been a few days, it already felt like a life time.
When they arrived at Morgan Group headquarters, the front lobby was buzzing with morning activity. David Roan was already waiting by the elevator.
"Barnaby," he greeted with a respectful nod. "Follow me. Let’s get you set up."
He led Barnaby through the east corridor and down into the private security operations center. It was a stark contrast to the ornate halls above. Sleek. Metallic. Humming with data.
Barnaby took one look at the setup and beamed. "I like it."
David gestured to a reserved desk. "Everything you need should be here. You’ll have full access to internal logs, firewalls, and encrypted layers. Just let me know if anything is missing."
Barnaby nodded, already powering up the machines. "Thanks. I’ll start syncing my tracker now. Shouldn’t take long."
David left him to it. Barnaby sat, placed his backpack beside him, and slid on his noise-cancelling headset. His fingers danced over the keyboard. His eyes scanned the lines of scrolling data. He checked the sync status.
Complete.
He ran the program.
Instantly, a 3D web map formed on the screen, pulsing with colored nodes representing data flow across the network. He adjusted filters, narrowed focus to abnormal signals, and watched the map respond like a living organism.
Now we wait, he thought.
Barnaby leaned back, satisfaction on his face.
The trap was set.
And someone, somewhere, was bound to trigger it.
Back in Lucy's office, he returned and flopped onto the couch, his bag tossed beside him.
"It’s running," he said proudly.
"Already?" Lucy asked.
"I don’t waste time."
Corey raised an eyebrow. "Let’s hope the intruders don’t either."
They all exchanged looks.
Barnaby didn't get comfortable for long.
The warm, easy atmosphere that had settled in Lucy's office while they shared old memories cracked like thin glass.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.