Page 31 of Hacker Unknown

The clock next to the bed confirmed it was time for me to go. I slid out of the bed and glanced back to see Paolo peacefully sleeping. On the floor next to the bed was Sawyer’s button down. I grabbed it and slipped it over my arm. Meeting Sawyer mostly naked wasn’t ideal. I glanced over my shoulder one last time before I slipped out the door.

Chapter 10

Paolo

Sonali had every opportunity to tell me what the hell was going on. Except she decided to sneak out of our bungalow in the middle of the night. After Master B had shown me the security they had in place and around the island, Brandon and I came back to the bungalow to call CJ and Antonio.

I’d told CJ to try and figure out who Master B was and what was his connection to Sonali. I knew it was something. Playing with her in the club was probably a wrong decision on my side. Even if she was lying, I couldn’t deny the fact I was attracted to her. When we had got back to the room CJ called me when I was in the bathroom.

Her phone had received a message which meant CJ got it too. I remembered Kat telling her CJ planned to clone her phone. Well, the message was from Ninja Ned. CJ lined up all the dots. Sawyer Ledger was both Master B and Ninja Ned. Sonali had agreed to meet him alone.

When I came back into the room after my shower, I knew she was faking sleeping. I thought we had shared something and connected, but obviously it wasn’t enough. She planned to gobehind my back and possibly put herself in danger. No matter how much the client pissed us off, we still had to protect them. I planned to do my job.

I waited for the door to click shut before I climbed out of bed. Instead of following her through the front door. I went out the back and shimmied along the side of the bungalow and jumped down to the sand. Sonali walked down the trail toward the right side of the island. She was meeting Sawyer in a section of the island that wasn’t covered by cameras.

Not wanting to be seen, I snuck through the bushes keeping myself hidden. In the distance I saw Sawyer standing near a fire pit. He was alone and Sonali walked right up to him. I was too far to hear what they were saying. To get closer I dropped to my knees and crawled along a row of shrubs until I heard Sonali’s voice.

“I want the research,” Sonali demanded.

Sawyer shook his head. “That is one request I will never be able to give you.”

“Why?” She threw her hands up. “Nobody has the right to it, but me.”

“That is where you are wrong.”

“Really? There would be no research if it wasn’t for my blood. Whoever gets their hands on it and finds me, then all I will be is a blood bank.”

“Except you are wrong. It isn’t only your blood.” Sawyer glanced at his watch and sighed. “I can tell you now. The shipment has moved, but what I am going to say is turn everything you know upside down.”

“Shipment?” Sonali stepped back. “I need to go tell Paolo the CIA was right. How could Devon be involved with someone who ships guns and drugs.”

Sonali turned to leave, and Sawyer leapt forward grabbing her wrist. I jumped up from the ground ready to run to her defense only to stop. Sonali swiped her leg out causing Sawyer to fall to the ground. She took a step away when the next word out of Sawyer’s mouth had me stunned.

“I’m your brother. Sonali stop.”

She turned back, “Brother?”

He slowly stood dusting the sand off his pants. “Yes, brother.”

“I don’t understand. I was a medical experiment, and Mom never had any other kids. Does this mean you know who my dad is?”

Sawyer motioned to a set of chairs. “Have a seat and let’s talk.”

Sonali shook her head. “I must get back to my room. I should have never left or lied to Paolo. I don’t understand why you would send me to AA Security only to lie to Paolo.”

Hearing her wanting to come back to me made her sneaking around not sting as much, but that didn’t mean I still wasn’t pissed.

“Paolo, I know you are out there. Just come out so we can get this all settled.”

I pushed my way through the foliage. Sonali’s eyes widened, “But you were asleep.”

“My guess is the moment you saw me give Sonali a slight shake of my head at dinner you knew something was up. Your bringingher to dinner did throw off my plans. I never intended for her to lie to you.”

I pulled the pack of cigarettes from my pocket and lit one. “But she chose too anyway.”

“Let me explain.” Sonali pleaded.

“Doesn’t matter Sonali. This is just a job.” I heard the hitch of her breath, but ignored her and kept my focus on Sawyer. “Who did you sell the guns to?”

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