Page 5 of Hacker Betrayed

"Let's check the house."

The slight scratching against the floor gave away the position of the man hiding in the kitchen. I raised my hand and had Sebastian stop. My brother glared, but I ignored him as I stepped around the corner and came face-to-face with a man dressed all in black.

It would be easy to put a bullet in his head, but the sound could alert others. With a quick jab of my hand to his nose, I heard the crack of the bones only seconds before he fell. My last mission with the CIA was the last time I'd killed someone with my hands. My job in the CIA was more hand to hand than using guns, so I was in top form.

"Jesus, Mia, where did you learn that?" Sebastian whispered as he helped me carry the body to the living room and hid the man dressed in black behind the curtains.

We continued down the hall, and Sebastian took the next man out by wrapping his arm around the man's neck. The process took longer, and the guy made a noise that worried me it would alert others.

The door the guy stood in front of had a light shining underneath. Sebastian nodded when he was ready, and I opened the door, only to find a staircase leading down. Which should be impossible in Ft. Lauderdale. The water table was way too high in Miami for a basement. I'd told my realtor to find me a house with a basement. She told me those types of houses didn't exist. I took out my phone and took a picture. Sebastian raised a brow, but I didn't want to explain I needed to chat with my realtor. The lack of underground shelter held me back from buying a house. A girl needed a bunker. I'd seen enough war and corruption when I worked for the CIA. I wanted an underground safehouse or just a place to escape for a year or two. I still had all my research from when I'd come up with the idea.

My heart pounded as my foot hit the first step. I heard two men arguing with someone, who had their voices disguised on speakerphone. They were told to keep my son locked down in the basement until the person on the other end of the phone could get me. But they wanted to watch me suffer.

The basement didn't give me the option for a surprise attack, so I tiptoed down the stairs and into the open room. My son was crying on an old mattress with chains around his wrists. I raised my gun and shot the man near him in the head.

Sebastian took out the second man, which only left one person. He was shorter with gray hair. I didn't recognize any of them from the Calhoun family. His lips twisted. "Boss will be happy to know I took out a member of the Clark family."

"Looking around, it seems we have you outnumbered," I countered. Villain speeches always annoyed the crap out of me.

"Am I?" He held up his hand with a small device.

His finger was away from the trigger, so I didn't wait for what he planned to say. I aimed my gun and shot the man who threatened my son. His white shirt bloomed red as he fell to the ground.

"Mom, you came."

I rushed to my son's side and dropped to my knees, pulling him into a tight hug. I felt the bomb around his chest.

"Fuck."

My boy peered through his wet lashes. "Bad word, Mom."

Sebastian chuckled. "Charge your mom later for the bad word." Sebastian knelt near Lucas. "We need to get this off you."

"But they said the vest would explode," Lucas sighed.

For being only twelve, my son had taken his kidnapping well. Later I would send him to therapy, but that second, I needed to make sure he was safe, before more men showed up.

"You know this is what your mom does for a living." I pulled the shirt off my son and stared at the bomb. "See right here? Once again, it's Norwood's signature. These are the same wires he uses. You can't sit here and tell me I'm wrong. How many hours did we spend helping him make these? So, are you still going to sit here and deny the family isn't behind this?"

"Except Norwood died four years ago," Sebastian replied. "Seems like someone was trying to frame the family or him. I didn't recognize those men. Like you said, we spent hours building his wires. You think we were the only people who helped him?"

I didn't. "Honey, I need you to stay still while I get this off you," I said to Lucas.

Sebastian grabbed me a set of pliers from the toolbox on the workbench as I studied the wires. I'd taken at least seven of these bombs apart in the past four years. I snipped the faded blue wire, and the green wire was the only one left before I could remove the vest. I placed a quick kiss on my son's forehead. "I love you."

"Love you, Mom."

The pliers cut through the green wire, and everything happened in slow motion. A soft click echoed through the room, and I glanced over my shoulder but nobody came down. Lucas screamed, and Sebastian pulled me back. My shirt blossomed red, and a dart protruded from my side. Then the pain hit. My fingers turned red when I touched my side. Something had punctured my skin, but how?

"Fuck, we need to get you to a hospital."

My vision faded in and out. I'd been stabbed and shot before, but I couldn't remember a single time I'd felt tired. "No hospital. Get the vest off him."

Sebastian glared at me as he helped my son out of the vest. They'd added a feature. Fuck, how did I miss the silver canister added to the bottom of the vest?

"Mom." Lucas's voice wavered.

"Take me to the address in my GPS. It's the second one." My vision blacked out for a second. "Go in the back door. I have the key in my center console. Put me in the office and leave. Protect Lucas until I can come for him."

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