Page 24 of Undercover Hacker

Deep down, I knew whatever she found would change the course of the op. The op was a snatch and grab. The harder mission would be taking Sanchez out.

When I leaned over to see what she found, I heard Brock yell “Fuck” through the computer’s speakers.

A live broadcast of the director was running on the internet. “Turn it up.”

“Sometime last week, my niece Sophiewas kidnapped from her apartment in Ft. Lauderdale. I’m asking anyone who has any information to help find my miss—”

Sophie turned off the broadcast.

“Brock, are you getting this?” Was what he was saying right? It made little sense. My pulse pounded. The director had put Sophie’s face across all the TV stations. She couldn’t leave the hotel or go to the charity event without someone seeing her.

“Yes. Sophie, did you have any clue he was your uncle?” Brock was pacing back and forth on the screen. His team of operatives were analyzing the newscast, taking down all the information as it flowed through the fucker’s mouth.

Sophie had gone pale since the director’s announcement. “If I’d known, don’t you think I would have told you?” she snapped at Brock.

I dropped into the chair and ran a hand across my face. “So, the director tried throwing us a curve ball. It’s time to find an alternative way to extract Kat fromYermushin.”

“Do you think he’s trying to stop us from going to the charity event?” Sophie asked, raising her eyebrows.

Antonio jumped from his chair and glared at Sophie. “We are getting my wife back tonight.” Antonio slammed his hands against the table. “I don’t care who comes with me. It’s happening at sundown.”

“Don’t give me attitude. We are in this together. I’ve been searching for Kat for a long time. I just found out the man I’ve wanted to kill for years is my uncle. Fuck you.” Sophie stormed out of the room.

“You need to watch it,” I growled at Antonio.

Needing to find Sophie, I headed to the bedroom in the hotel suite. She was sitting on the bed, staring at a picture in her hand.

“Care if I come in?” Emotions were running high. I didn’t want to upset Sophie any further.

Sophie waved her hand over the bed. “Sure. This is all my fault,” Sophie whispered.

“How do you feel this is your fault?”

Sophie crossed her arms and glared at me. “If I would have researched Sanchez, I would have realized our connection. Who even knows if what he said is true? I don’t understand why I never looked into him.”

“He helped you when your parents died. He was an adult, and you were a teenager looking for answers.”

Sophie’s phone buzzed. Unknown caller flashed across the screen. She swiped the smartphone and put it on speaker. “Hello.”

“You have nowhere to run. Time to come back. Everyone is looking for you. If you don’t come in in the next four hours, I will tell the public that Antonio and Brock are behind the kidnapping. It will ruin their lives.”

I motioned for her to keep talking and pointed to the living room. Sophie and I rushed back. Antonio and Brock were talking to each other on the computer. John was cleaning his gun.

“Why are you doing this?” Sophie asked, trying to keep Sanchez talking. “If you’re really my uncle, why did you put me in foster care?”

“I didn’t want to raisetwobrats. If you and your sister had been together, you would have caused me issues. The two of you might have figured out my plan.”

At the sound of Sanchez’s voice coming through the phone, the room went quiet except for the sound of Brock’s fingers flying across the keyboard. I had a good feeling he was working on tracking the phone call. More than likely, the director was bouncing his signal around the globe.

Sophie was vibrating with anger. “If she lived with you, why is she working for Yermushin? Why would you make her work for the men who killed our family?”

Sanchez chuckled into the phone. “For having the IQ of a genius, you’re pretty naive. She was too young to remember the faces. She is a trained killer. Ice does what I tell her.”

Before I could stop her, Sophie threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall and shattered. I hope Brock found what he was looking for.

Sophie lost it when she realized she had destroyed the phone with the link we were tracing. I looked over at the computer screen where Brock was working, and he shook his head. I had figured it would be a long shot to trace the call.

“I’m sorry. I messed everything up again.” Sophie was sitting with her head in her hands, crying.

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