Page 11 of Undercover Hacker

Bridget gave her husband a questioning look. “Sorry, I can't say the same. Alex never mentioned knowing you before.”

Zack let out a deep chuckle. “That’s because it was Martha talking about her new daughter in-law and grandbaby.” Zack stepped back, walked over to Asher, and gave him a hug. Then he reached out his hand toward CJ. “And you must be CJ. About time someone tamed Asher.”

The next half hour was spent getting caught up.

“Well, I think it’s time for me to head back to DC. Zane, stay safe, and take him down. I’m counting on you.” With a wave of his hand, Zack left followed by his agents.

Everyone had migrated toward the living room. Somehow, I ended up sitting next to Zane on the couch. Bridget was sitting on Alex’s lap in the chair next to the sofa.

“You finally going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Bridget demanded.

How was I going to tell my two best friends that I had kept something so big from them? Zane must have noticed I was having issues. He reached over and squeezed my leg.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about the beginning?” CJ replied.

I spent the next hour going over how my parents were killed and my sister kidnapped and how the Director of the CIA recruited me a few years later, saying he’d help me find my sister.

Bridget couldn’t believe I had been working for the director all these years without telling her. I could tell she was hurt that I’d hid it from her. But, I had never trusted Director Sanchez and didn’t want to bring Bridget or CJ into the mess. I had dreamed that, one day, they would get to meet my sister. But from the info I saw earlier, I didn’t know who my sister had turned into.

“Zane is going to help me find my sister.”

“I will, Sophie, but I think Antonio needs to tell everyone how he is also tied into the mess.”

Antonio looked pissed. If Zane hadn’t called him out, he probably would have kept his secret with him until the day he died or had to tell everyone.

“Sophie’s sister is my dead wife.”

Alex had just taken a drink of beer and spit it out in surprise. Asher started laughing so hard that he had to grab his side in pain.

“I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said you had a wife, and she is dead. You better explain, or I will send a text to Dad, and then you will really need to explain what the fuck is going on.” Alex looked hurt by the information.

“Kat and I married when we were on an assignment together. Right when we were heading home, she was killed in a café shooting. I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Not even to me? How could you not tell me this? We tell each other everything,” Asher said.

“Really? You want to go there? About telling each other everything?” Antonio didn’t wait for a response. He got up and headed toward the kitchen. Asher hadn’t told the family he was gay until he had started to date CJ.

The silence was thick in the room. So many secrets were coming to the surface, secrets that were put in place to keep people safe. Now that they were out, they seemed to hurt people, anyway.

“Sophie and I will head to another safe house.” He pointed to the necklace around my neck. “Someone can take that with them until this case is over. I don’t want any trackers on us. This time, we are going somewhere my brother doesn’t even know about. Once we make it to the safe house, we will look into Yermushin and prepare ourselves for the fundraiser.”

“You are not going anywhere without me.” I hadn’t even see Antonio reenter the room.

Zane ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. It had been a long day, and I could tell it was getting to him. It seemed like he was close to losing his temper. Not even realizing what I was doing, I reached over and squeezed his hand.

“Antonio, when we head to New York, we will contact you. We’ll work with your office. You, Asher, and Brock, pull all the information you can, and we will contact you tomorrow. We have little time. I have a feeling Director Sanchez already has people heading this way. Sophie and I are leaving in ten minutes.”

Alex nodded. “I have to agree with Zane. You need to come with us. You were the last one to have contact with Kat. You can help us pull as much information as possible, so we can give it to Sophie and Zane. I also think we have something to talk about.”

Jessica was the first to wrap me in a hug before they left. “I owe you my life. If there is anything, you need, let me know. Look on the positive side—seventy-five percent of kidnapping victims are killed within three hours. Your sister is still alive, and you will get her back.”

Once everyone had left and it was only me and Zane, the house seemed to shrink.

5

Zane

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