Page 32 of Hacker Revelation

“I missed my family. Juan hired people to take care of me.” I took a deep breath. “When I turned sixteen, he turned me over to the CIA.”

Sophie sat up and gave me her full attention. “How could someone do something so evil to family?”

“He knew his stepsister had two genius kids. Juan played the long game and did pretty well for quite a few years, if you think about it.”

Sophie frowned and handed me the tub of chocolate chip ice cream. “I can’t wait until he’s underground. Did you make any friends through the process, or were you alone for all those years?”

I had lived with Juan for ten years before being shipped to the CIA. He hadn’t let me leave the house except for school. I had friends at school but none at home. The nannies he hired were evil bitches whom he paid to torment me. They would lock me in my room or go days without giving me food when I was younger.

The Farm didn’t have anyone my age. Everyone was in their twenties. Nobody hung out with the sixteen-year-old, so I spent all my time alone. “I didn’t leave any friends behind. Antonio was my first best friend when I became a field agent. But let’s not talk about Juan for once. Are you working from here until everything blows over?”

Sophie pointed to the laptop on the bed. “I’m working on helping a company increase their cybersecurity.”

Computers were never my thing. “Does Zane have people here during the day when he’s gone?”

“Yes, and they watch me like a hawk. I know it’s serious, and I don’t plan on leaving. Bridget will let me work remotely as long as I need to.”

“I’m happy she is letting you work from here. I’m heading back to the women’s center next week.”

I loved to help the women. Antonio promised I could go back next week as long as I took a bodyguard. We had compromised on a female bodyguard from Brock’s security company. Mia wouldn’t intimidate the women like Antonio’s men might.

The bedroom door opened, and Antonio and Asher entered. Antonio looked hot in a tight black shirt that stretched around his biceps. But the wariness in his eyes made my heart break. He didn’t know if he was welcome. When I patted the seat next to me on the bed, he practically ran to my side. Zane joined Sophie on the other side.

Antonio leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I missed you, Kitty Kat,” he whispered so only I could hear.

“Any leads?” Sophie asked.

“The pilot of Juan’s helicopter, a man named Weiss, was in the military at the same time as Nebula. When we dug further, they both deployed to Iraq together.”

“They were in the same unit?” I asked. Antonio ran his hand down my side. His touch made me feel grounded for the first time in days.

“Yes. We’re trying to get a list of the full unit. The mission they were on was declared highly classified by Juan,” Zane said with a sigh.

“Doesn’t your clearance give you access?” Zane and Antonio had the highest clearance appointed by the president, so they shouldn’t have had a problem getting the info.

Antonio frowned as he pulled me into his arms. “We have as-high-as-you-can-get security clearance and can look at anything on the government servers. The issue we are running into is that the data from that deployment is missing.”

“Then how do you know they were in the same unit?” Sophie had asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue. If they were able to find the information linking Weiss the helicopter pilot and Nebula, why couldn’t they pull the remaining unit information?

Zane flipped the channel from HGTV to the NBA finals game. “CJ tracked the helicopter and then pulled the flight plan. Asher broke into Weiss’s house yesterday and found a photo of the unit. I recognized the place in Iraq where it was taken. We don’t know anyone else in the photo. Neither name is in any military database.”

Antonio’s eyes tightened. “We think Juan used a unit to run missions for him off the books. Juan deleted the unit's information from the servers years ago. We need to figure out who all the men in the photo are. Clearly, if they are working for him now, they knew he was corrupt when he worked for the CIA.”

The more they dug into Juan, the more hurdles and missing pieces they found. “I know Neal was working on a new facial recognition software. He might be able to use the photo to find the man we’re looking for.” I motioned to Zane. “If your brother approves, he could run it against one of NSA’s satellites, and we could locate them faster. Neal tried to run Juan, but I have a feeling Juan is wearing a disguise.”

Antonio laced his fingers with mine and gave my hand a squeeze. “You are correct. He is wearing a disguise. I almost didn’t recognize him at my parents’ house. Zack gave us permission to do whatever it takes to get answers. We can send Neal the photo, and he can run all the men. If we find one, it might help us find Juan faster.”

Zane pulled his phone out of his pocket. His fingers flew across the screen, and when he sent the text, his phone made awhooshsound. “I asked Asher to send the picture to Neal.”

It felt good to be in Antonio’s arms again. When I lifted myself so I could sit on his lap, I was rewarded with the feeling of his hard member through his jeans. I squirmed in his lap and elicited a groan. His arms wrapped around my waist tighter to keep me still.

A smile split Zane’s face. “Happy to see you're not mad at Antonio anymore.”

Sophie got up from the bed and grabbed Zane’s hand. “Let’s go work on lunch.”

Zane jumped up, grabbed Sophie around her waist, and threw her over his shoulder. A loud squeal erupted from her mouth. “But I want you for lunch.” They exited the room in fits of laughter.

“Did you have fun talking to Sophie?” Antonio asked. He still ran his hand up and down my side.

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