Page 9 of Undercover Hacker

“Makes me feel good to know the government satellites are so hackable.” Zack looked irritated.

This conversation was heading off track. “Director San—uff!” Sophie elbowed me in the side. “Fine, the devil told me to go pick up Sophie today from her work. He didn’t tell me why, just said all I needed to do was tell her she was being arrested for treason. Ten minutes after getting to her location, I was shocked to see Antonio show up. I took Sophie anyway and left him in Ft. Lauderdale. When we got on the plane, the devil informed me Sophie was my new partner.”

Zack laughed. “That didn’t throw up any red flags? You getting a partner?”

I hated working with partners, and the CIA knew I would do everything possible to get rid of one. A couple of times, I had killed them. They had turned out to be Russian spies. Still, I didn’t like working with others. “Not funny, asshole.”

“You can’t say that,” Sophie whispered.

“Say what?”

“You can’t call the president an asshole.”

“Sophie, Zack’s an asshole.”

“Let's get back on track,” the asshole said. “I need to get back to DC.”

I continued telling him how Sophie’s sister was Kat, and the director had been using them against each other for years. The icing on the cake was that the director had told both Zack and Antonio that Kat was dead.

“This all lines up with what I was thinking and the information I’ve been gathering. Director Sanchez has been using the CIA for his personal gain. I need substantial evidence of his wrong-doing. I want him brought down.”

“Can I kill him?” Sophie asked.

Zack shook his head. “I need him alive. This is off the books. He is still looking for you. I'm not sure who we can trust at the CIA. I need you to figure out what he’s doing and bring him down.”

Antonio had finally stopped pacing the living room. If he had kept pacing, he would have worn a hole in my imported armorial rug. He faced Zack. “We’ll take the case, but I won’t promise the director won’t die at the end of this.”

Sophie pointed at Antonio. “This is not your case. You can’t cut me out.”

“He isn’t cutting us out,” I explained. “I think Antonio and Brock should head back to Ft. Lauderdale and work on gathering intel. For some reason, the director wants Sophie. I think she saw something on one of the cases she worked for him, and now he wants her close. His dilemma is that she saw the picture of Kat. Now he doesn’t have as much leverage. Sophie and I will head to another safe house nobody knows about.” I gave my brother a pointed look. “I have a secure line where we are going and will have Sophie send you a secure message when we get to our location.”

“I think we should come with you.” Antonio didn’t seem pleased with leaving Sophie. It bothered me that he didn’t trust me with her.

“I agree. What happens if you are surprised? Sophie doesn’t have field training.” Brock made a good point.

I looked over at Sophie. Under her confident exterior, I could see the worry in her eyes. “Fine. Antonio, you can come with us when we go to the charity event. Brock, I think you should go back to Ft. Lauderdale and work with the team to see what you can find for us. I don’t want to use any contacts at the CIA. I’m not sure who we can trust.”

Zack stood up. “I think you have everything squared away.”

Even though it was under a bad circumstance, it was nice to see my brother. I stood up and gave him a one-armed hug.

As I was walking him to the door, I heard the distant sound of a helicopter. They found us a lot faster than I had thought they would. I looked over my shoulder to see Antonio pulling the gun from his holster. “How far out?” I demanded.

Brock's fingers were flying across the laptop. “Five minutes at the most. They are coming in fast.”

“Sophie, come here.” I ushered Sophie and my brother down the hall. I needed to get them into the safe room. We weren’t entirely certain who was showing up or what they wanted.

Zack looked like he wanted to protest. He knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t listen. At the end of the hall, I removed a picture frame from the wall to expose a keypad. After punching in the ten-digit code, I heard theclickof the panic room door latch. I escorted them into the adjoining bedroom. A door in the back of the bedroom closet stood ajar. I pushed them through the door before either of them had time to protest.

Needing to see what Brock and Antonio had found out, I headed back toward the living room. Antonio gave me a nod, and we got in place to take out the men coming for us.

4

Sophie

This day was getting to me. I had been taken into custody, forced into a job I didn’t want, and had run from the Director of the CIA. Now, we were under attack.

“I absolutely hate being stuck in these rooms. I miss the days of taking down the bad guy,” Zack grumbled. He was pacing back and forth, which was ridiculous since the room was four feet by four feet. He only took two strides before he hit the wall.

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