Page 31 of Wired Justice

Sophie swallowed her bite with a gulp of ice tea and answered. “Too much. Too many. I think there’s something going on, but I need a lot longer to work through the different variables.” Holding up a taro chip, she pointed it at him. “Wong came by. That man has a lot more going on than initially appears. He has computer skills.”

Jake clutched his chest theatrically. “Oh! The easiest way to Sophie Ang’s heart has been revealed. And here I was, trying the old-fashioned way of getting to her through her stomach.”

Sophie’s brows scrunched. “I do not understand.”

“Never mind. Fill me in on these mysterious skills of which you speak.”

“Well, he told me that the Jones family, the body dump I discovered, was in the WITSEC program. He confirmed that there’s a possible leak in that program, and that photos and video of the family’s execution are being used to coerce other witnesses. He discovered this fact himself online, surfing the dark web.”

Jake finished his sandwich, as usual a fast eater. He wiped his hands on a napkin. “You are thinking of hacking WITSEC and trying to track that case?”

“No.” Sophie was still on the first half of her sandwich. She dabbed her lips with a napkin. “I do not have time, resources, or the protected online access I’d need to do such an investigation, let alone an agency willing to back me by acting on any intel I might uncover.”

“But you know someone who does.”

Sophie met Jake’s gaze. His eyes were a darker gray than usual, the blue in them bruised-looking. Something was bothering him. She looked down at her sandwich and took a bite, refusing to answer.

They’d never discussed the Ghost and his association with Security Solutions, let alone Sophie’s personal connection to the cyber vigilante. Unless Bix had told him about the FBI probe into Sheldon Hamilton at the agency, he wouldn’t know about any of it.

As if reading her mind, Jake pushed back the rolling office chair he sat on and extended his black-clad legs, stacking combat-booted feet on the edge of the desk. “I think it’s time we discussed the Ghost.”

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