Page 34 of Misunderstood Hacker

I was speechless. Nobody knew I owned fifty percent of Blackwood Security.”Do you want to explain what is going on?How much is this going to cost me?”

“You’re not paying for it. Patty and I discussed it. We are transferring it to you. End of story. I have a mess to clean up in Shialia. I don’t know what Patty’s brothers have been doing, but this place is a mess. We trust you and want you to have it.”

“I think we should talk to the team first and make sure they are okay with it.”

Sam chuckled at the other end. “Patty and I just finished that call. The team is one hundred percent behind you.”

“Okay.” So many emotions were coursing through my body.

“That’s what I thought you would say.Your team is waiting for you in the conference room.”

Still in shock from the news, I got up from my chair and headed down the hall to the conference room. The door was open, and I could hear the team laughing and giving each other jabs.

When I walked into the room, everyone’s heads swiveled toward me.

John was the first to speak. He was sitting at the end of the table in jeans and a crisp black shirt with the company emblem embossed on it. “Congrats, boss.”

It was strange being called the boss. Eric was sitting next to Mia. He got up, walked over, and said, “Congrats, mate,” in his English accent.

Mia walked over and gave me a hug. “You will do amazing.”

All the congratulations were making my throat close. The remaining team members were conferenced in on the phone. They continued with their congratulations.

“This is not what I expected this morning when I walked in. I like the way the company runs, so we’ll stay on the same path.With Sam gone, we’ll need to hire some more people.Sam and I had already talked about expanding the team. Please, if you have anyone you would recommend, send me their information.”

John said he knew a couple people that might work.

“Now that we have that out of the way, updates.”

Mia grabbed the controller from the conference table and flipped the projector to her laptop. “We have retrieved all the women from the list we found in Abshir’s office, except for three.” An image of the three women appeared on the screen.

Dean spoke up from the phone.He was in California, following up on a lead to where the women might have been sold.“I’ve come to a dead end.The address the women were supposed to be at was empty.Jack and I will talk to the local police and see if anyone else has any information.”

“Report back to me on what you find.John, I need you to do bodyguard work this week. Princess Analeigh of Hamlin is flying in for a fundraiser.”

John groaned.“She would be a good experiment for a new employee.”

I tried to hold back my laughter. Princess Analeigh was extremely tricky to work with and was super needy. We usually drew straws to see who had to work with her.

“Sorry, you’re it. Mia and Eric, I need you to take another look at the case. Make sure we didn’t miss anyone.”

John left the conference room grumbling about being fucked over. The conference call clicked off. Eric, Mia, and I were the only ones remaining in the room.

Eric leaned back in his chair. I could tell he was calculating his words. “We checked this case a million times. You need to stop worrying that we’re missing something.”

“I’ve learned to trust my gut. The last time I didn’t trust my gut, we ended up losing people we cared about.”

Eight years ago, Eric, Mia, and I were on a mission in Afghanistan. I was working intel on the dark web. Eric and Mia were out with the other members of our team following leads I had given them. Eric and Mia went to check one lead while the remaining team went to check another.

I had received intel about where a tribal leader was located. The intel I was fed was wrong, but I didn’t double-check the source. It led our team into an ambush. They were captured and killed.

Mia stood up and paced back and forth. “You need to stop blaming yourself for that. We knew what we signed up for when we joined the Seals. I was there. Our CO was on you for any information you could get.He wanted to make a name for himself.You wanted more time to verify, but he took that info and ran with the team.That was not on you.”

Eric tapped his pen on the table for a couple seconds before responding.“I still think he was after something else.I think our CO was in deep, and he used your intel to his gain. It backfired. No matter what, I will always follow you, mate. If you think we missed something, Mia and I will keep looking.”

Knowing they had everything under control, I grabbed my case folder and laptop and headed back to my office. To my surprise, Jessica was sitting at the second computer station.

“I’m so happy to see you.” I pulled Jessica out of her chair, and her hands immediately wrapped around my neck. I leaned in for a kiss, andwe got lost in each other for a little while.

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