Page 15 of Undercover Hacker

Antonio's voice roared through the phone. “Sophie, did you keep any of the assignment data for the work you performed for Sanchez?” He went straight to the objective. I wasn’t confident how to respond to the query. Director Sanchez had always ordered me to turn over all my analysis after each op. Knowing I didn’t trust him, I had kept a copy. I wasn’t sure how many laws I broke by maintaining government data on my external drive, but I figured it would send me to prison for a lengthy time.

“I suspect she did by the expression on her face. Sophie is wondering whethershe should admit to keeping classified documents on her personal computer,” Zane replied.

“Sophie, I guarantee you won't get in trouble. I might give you a kiss if you have them.”

Zane growled back at Antonio.

“I kept a copy of every job.”

“Do you have it with you?”

“No. Why do you need it?”

Antonio let out a sigh. “Brock and I have been looking into the ops you did. None of the cases you worked were on the books for the CIA. Everything you performed was contrary to US interests and made the director lots of wealth. We need confirmation, and if you have the data, it might make it easier to bring him down.”

The knowledge that everything I worked on was for terrorists made my stomach curdle. Needing a second to myself, I sat down on the couch.

“I will call you right back and let you know where you can locate the intelligence.” Zane didn’t wait for Antonio to reply before he clicked the phone off.

The seat next to me on the couch sunk. “How old were you when you started workingfor the director?”

“A few years after my parents were assassinated.Sanchez showedup on mysixteenth birthday.”

Before my parents were killed, I was heading to a gifted school. The school was extraordinarily expensive. My foster parents couldn't afford to send me. My IQ was off the chart, and I had a photographic memory.

“What did he have you do?”

“I was superb at puzzles and figuring out codes. Sanchez said he had a game for me to test what level I was at. Each time he came or called, he would have a new code for me to break. At the time, I didn't know what I was doing. The older I got, the more I looked at what I was doing. In the early days, he saw how I took to computers, so he supplied me with a computer and gave me network and coding books.”

“Who was taking care of you during this time?”

“When I woke up in the hospital, and they told me about my parents and sister, a nice couple was waiting for me and took me home with them.”

“Hmmm. So, none of your family claimed you?

“My parents always said their family was dead, and we only had each other. That was all we ever needed.”

“How were you not put in official foster care?”

“I never thought about it. Remembering that part of my life brings up too many bad memories.”

I hadn’t thought back to those days in some years. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. The police should have turned me over to protective custody.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You're right. It makes little sense. The police came to my hospital room and took my statement when I woke up. My new parents were there before the police ever came. It was like the call was made before my parents…”

Zane must have caught track of my thinking. “Let's take this one step at a time. We need to find your sister before he moves her out of our grasp. After we get your sister back, we will see if Sanchez was responsible for your parents’ deaths. Lastly, we turn the info over to my brother. Take my word for it. If he killed your parents, I will let you take the shot.”

I’d waited years to figure out what happened to my family. Over the last day, I had discovered that everything I had known was false. “Won’t your brother be mad for us not bringing him in?”

Zane let out a chuckle. “Let me worry about my brother. Where do you have the data hidden?”

It seemed so many people had conspired against me over the years. If I gave up this data, would I lose all the leverage I had against the man who might have hired people to kill my parents? I knew of one person I could trust more than anyone.

“Can I see the burner phone?”

For a second, it looked like I would not get what I wanted. Finally, Zane handed me the phone.

---