Page 20 of Misunderstood Hacker

9

Brock

Antonio had calledme as he was headed back to Ross Enterprises after Jessica and Sophie ditched him. The thought of her without protection made my skin crawl. I knew she was angry about us withholding information from her. I just hadn’t wanted her to worry.

The sound of the flight attendant’s voice brought me back to the present.

Mia was sitting in the cream-colored leather seat across from me. We were heading back to Ft. Lauderdale in the company jet. The information the FBI had on the bust had been bad intel. Luckily, I trusted no one and hacked into the video feed of the warehouse. The building was wired with enough explosives to destroy a city block. The lead technical analyst had given the all clear, stating there were people in the warehouse. It seemed the FBI had a corrupt agent on their team.

What I couldn’t understand was why the FBI director hadn’t looked over the surveillance before sending in his team. When I showed the director the video feed I pulled, he aborted the mission and sent in the bomb squad. They disarmed the bomb before anyone got injured.

Director Westblack said he would take care of the corrupt people on his team. I let him know we could help. But with everything happening back home, I wanted to get on the company jet and head back to Ft. Lauderdale. Jessica was foremost in my thoughts, and being away from her was difficult. Just thinking about her would make my pants uncomfortable for the remainder of the trip.

I sent a quick text to Antonio, letting him know I would pick Jessica up from work. I had a feeling she wasn’t talking to Antonio or Neal at the moment. She would probably take my head off when I walked into her office.

“Why the pissed-off look? You saved the day with your computer skills. I’m so happy you’re paranoid and double-checked the video feed. We would be crispy tater tots if you hadn’t.”

Mia was extremely flippant when it came to her life. Some days, it seemed as if she didn’t care whether she lived or died.

The day had been a clusterfuck. The op had gone sideways, and now Jessica had received intel from Sophie rather than me. She was going to be pissed that I didn’t tell her about the developments in her case.

“Something with Jessica’s case went sideways.”

Mia’s body went on full alert, as though she could take down the perp right this instant, which she couldn’t do because we were on an airplane heading home. “What happened? Is she okay?” Since Jessica had been working from Blackwood, she and Mia had been spending a lot of time together. Mia had been after me to keep Jessica more fully in the loop.

Tension had my shoulders throbbing. Somehow, I had managed to piss off all the women in my life in one day. “Jessica found out that her original kidnappers were in contact with Doug.”

Mia turned her crystal-blue eyes on me. I could see the fire in them. If the Fasten Seat Belt light hadn’t been on, she would probably have choked me. “What the fuck do you mean she found out? What happened to telling her weeks ago, like I told you to?”

“I didn’t,” I replied. There was no use in arguing my case. Mia only saw things her way.

“I see.”

For the rest of the flight, Mia gave me the cold shoulder. I worked on finding more information. Neal said Sophie had been getting intel from a source she wouldn’t name. I think we all needed to have a full-blown meeting tomorrow with Sam. We needed to figure out how the imprisoned kidnappers were working with someone on the outside.

The sound of the wheels hitting the runway pulled my focus off my computer. Mia was grabbing her bag as soon as the door opened.

“Hey, wait a second.”

My request made her back go rigid. “What?”

“Get everyone together for a meeting tomorrow morning at nine. Don’t worry about calling Sam. I will take care of that call.”

She nodded and headed for the door. I heard her mumble something about men finally getting their heads out of their asses.

* * *

Jessica

The ocean view out my office window did nothing to improve my mood. Antonio had stayed clear of me since Sophie brought me back to the office. Neal had been blowing up my phone. I was surprised Brock hadn’t called to yell at me for leaving my bodyguard. The ringing of my office phone brought me out of my reverie.

I double-checked the caller ID before answering. I still wasn’t in the mood to talk to Brock or Neal, but I had decided to speak with Patty tonight. She needed to know my kidnappers were still coming after me. It was my decision to tell her. I wouldn’t keep secrets from Patty anymore. Having a secret kept from me was infuriating.

My assistant’s name came across the caller ID screen. When I returned from lunch, I had told her I wasn’t accepting any calls.

“Hey, Joana. What can I do for you?” There was no reason to take my anger out on her. Maybe talking with her would distract me from my life.

I could hear the uneasiness in her voice. “Can I come in?”

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