Undercover Hacker (White Hat Security Book 4)

by Linzi Baxter

  A man stood in front of Bridget with his arms crossed. The black tailored suit fit him perfectly. He was tall, close to six foot five. His hair was dark brown, and his brown eyes looked tormented from years of working for the devil. He was close to losing his temper. He kept pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stay calm. At least if I was being arrested, it would be by this man. He was hot. Like, panty-dropping hot.

  The sexy man pinched his nose one more time before saying, “Ma’am, tell me where Sophie Stewart is before I take you into custody for obstructing justice.”

  Bridget walked toward the tall drink of water. Her pink high heels gave her a minor height boost, but the man Bridget was about to go toe-to-toe with still towered over her. I knew I needed to step in before she ended up in federal custody. She had no clue who she was dealing with. I, on the other hand, knew precisely what was going on.

  I walked out from around the corner. The sexy man in the form-fitting black suit looked up to see me. He headed around Lacey’s reception desk toward me, moving with an athletic grace that seemed effortless. If he hadn’t been wearing the standard-issue spy getup, I still would’ve known he was special ops by the way he moved. Bridget went after him. Before she ended up in more trouble, I needed to get this under control.

  “Bridget, it’s okay.”

  “Say nothing. I have Alex coming down with Antonio.”

  The man, who I assumed was in charge, continued making his way toward me. He was the only one that had been talking to Bridget. The other agents just stared. Bridget made many people speechless. He cleared his throat before saying, “Sophie Stewart, I’m Agent White. Will you please come with us, or do we need to handcuff you?”

  I couldn’t resist playing with him. “Well, Agent White, I know that’s not your real name. You need to stop with the color coding. If you’re putting the handcuffs on, I would prefer the pink fuzzy ones. I like the kinky side of things.”

  Agent White didn’t have time to reply to my comment before Antonio and Alex walked in the front door. This was getting out of control. I needed to go with Agent White before someone ended up doing something they regretted.

  Antonio walked over to where Agent White and I were standing. He looked pissed. “Agent White, do you want to explain why you are trying to take Sophie into custody?”

  “Stay out of this, Antonio. This comes from the director. I need to take her in.”

  “Why was I not informed about this case?” The vein in Antonio’s head was throbbing.

  How does Antonio know Agent White, and why would he be informed about the devil’s cases?

  “This is not your concern. Stop asking questions.”

  The pissing contest needed to end. “Agent White, let’s go so we can get this over with.”

  “Sophie, you don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t know who these people are. If you go with them, we might not be able to get you out.” Antonio spun and looked at Agent White. “You don’t have jurisdiction on US soil.”

  Agent White’s next words brought the dread to the forefront. “Sophie Stewart, you are under arrest for treason.” He reached around to cuff my hands and pushed me out the door.

  I could hear Bridget in the back, demanding Antonio do something. But there wasn’t anything he could do to get me out of my situation. I only hoped it would get me closer to my sister.

  I twisted to take one last look at my life. Bridget was in tears, and Alex had his arms wrapped around her. He looked like he wanted to kill someone for making his wife cry. Antonio was screaming into the phone, and the remaining staff seemed shocked or close to tears.

  Agent White assisted me into the back seat of a black SUV. He walked around to the other side and sat next to me. I held my wrists out to him. “These are unnecessary.”

  “I think you are more dangerous than the director knows. But he would be mad if I hurt his pet.” He reached over and unlocked the cuffs.

  I didn’t think the director would consider me his pet. We had been at each other’s throats for years.

  “Do you want to tell me where you're taking me or why you came for me?” I was planning on playing dumb until they showed me proof of what I did wrong. I wouldn’t put it past this organization to pin a false accusation on me so that I had to work for them all the time, not just when I wanted.

  Agent White shifted in his seat. From the look on his face, he was uncomfortable with this assignment. “You know what you did.”

  “Nope. Since you won’t tell me what evidence you planted, do you want to tell me why Antonio knew your name? Well, your fake name.”

  The sexy man shook his head and looked forward. It seemed I wouldn’t get any answers out of him. I spent the remaining car ride figuring out a plan to either escape or get out of the mess. One speck of hope was that Antonio knew where I might be going.

  When I looked out the window, I noticed we were heading to an airstrip. My stomach took a nose dive at the sight of the strip. I had a feeling we were on our way to DC to see the devil himself. But, I was in for another surprise, since the devil was waiting for me on the plane.

  “Sophie. It’s so nice of you to join us,” he barked.

  Director Sanchez’s voice could command a room. Everyone listened when he spoke. Well, almost everyone. I couldn’t give a flying fuck what the man had to say. Twenty years ago, he made me a promise he still hasn’t fulfilled.

  He came to my adopted family’s house on my sixteenth birthday, asking if I would train under his men and help him with undercover work. If I did, he would help find my sister or at least what happened to her. My foster parents were kind but lacked money. If I could help them by working with this man, I would. I thought maybe one day we could move out of the slums, and I would find my sister. It had been twenty-five years since she went missing, but I had hope she was still alive.

  “Did I have an option? You know Antonio will come after me. Why didn’t you just call me in?”

  “You took that option away when you hacked our network. Antonio works for me. I’ll get him to drop his bulldozing. And I tried calling you numerous times. You weren’t answering.”

  “Is it hacking when I have access?” I asked. “Sucks when you want something and can’t have it.”

  The devil took a sip of Scotch and pointed to the white leather seat next to him. “Those files are classified. And, I always get my way. You’re here, aren’t you?”

  I shrugged. Not wanting to give him any satisfaction, I sat in the seat across from him. “What do you want?”

  He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes at my outward disrespect. “It’s time I tell you why I haven’t let you find your sister.”

  This is the carrot he always dangled in front of me to keep me in line. I would help him with his cases. He would give me a little information about my sister. I had looked for the files they had on her. They weren’t on any of the servers. I had a feeling the director kept them in a safe so I couldn’t reach them.

  “Is this where you give me a little information so I fall back in line,” I said with disgust in my voice.

  “No. This is where I tell you that, if you want to see your sister, you will become a full-time agent and work with Agent White. The case you will be given will lead you to your sister. Do you agree to come work for me for the next ten years?”

  If it led to my sister, I would do anything. Agent White was sitting in the chair across from us, watching the exchange. It wouldn’t exactly be a hardship to work with that man.

  “Kat and I have been apart for twenty-five years. I’ve worked for you the past twenty. Have you known where she was this entire time and kept her from me? If I don’t find her in the next six months, you have no deal.”

  “You’ll find her by then.”

  “Then yes, I will take the job.”

  An evil grin spread across his face. “Welcome to the CIA, Agent Red.”

  2

  Zane

  I watched Sophie look at Director Sanchez with
anger in her eyes. The director was a lean man. He was dressed in a perfectly-ironed black Armani suit and a crisp white shirt. He had one leg crossed over his knee, showing off his new Italian leather shoes. It was obvious that if Sophie didn’t need something from him, she would take him out. There was pure hatred in her eyes.

  Director Sanchez always got what he wanted, because he had something over the person he needed a favor from. However, Director Sanchez had nothing on me. I just worked for him. Lately, I’d noticed that he was losing control, and I thought bringing Sophie in was his way of trying to fix one of his mistakes. I would call my brother later today to let him know the CIA Director was up to something. I had a feeling it wasn’t something good.

  I didn’t trust the man. I should’ve asked more questions about taking Sophie in. After my last operation, I had needed something easy, and bringing in one woman had seemed easy. Now, I was second guessing that thought.

  “No. This is where I tell you that, if you want to see your sister, you will become a full-time agent and work with Agent White,” Sanchez explained. At the sound of my code name, I tuned in more closely to the conversation. In the ten years I had worked for the CIA, I very seldom had a partner. I wondered if my brother was plotting something. I needed to talk to the man more often.

  Brad, another agent who was sitting next to me, snorted. He understood that I didn’t work well with others. This mission had been thrown at me this morning. The director had told me to bring Sophie in. I wasn't given any case notes on the op, but they said she knew why she was being taken in. Being around Sophie for the last hour made me realize she was more dangerous than anyone knew.

  “When do we start working on the assignment?” Sophie asked.

  Director Sanchez leaned back and took another sip of his Scotch. “We’ll head to Langley once we land and get you and Agent White up to speed.”

  Sophie tilted her head toward me. “You don’t know what our assignment is?” Since getting on the plane, this was the first time Sophie had acknowledged me. I, on the other hand, had a difficult time peeling my eyes away from her body.

  The white leather seat squeaked under me as I leaned forward. “The only thing I was told this morning was to bring you in. I had no idea I was getting a partner.” Hiding the annoyance in my voice was hard. Director Sanchez had had plenty of time to tell me his plans.

  Sophie turned back to Director Sanchez and kept talking. It gave me time to study her. She was stunning. Her fiery red hair was up in a messy bun. The freckles on her nose proved she was a natural redhead. She had the prettiest deep-green eyes. Her lips were plump, and all I could think about was having those lips wrapped around my cock.

  Fuck. Just looking at her sent my body out of control. All of a sudden, my pants became uncomfortable.

  The jerk of the plane hitting the tarmac brought me out of my lust-induced thoughts.

  Six CIA analysts sat in the war room at Langley. I grabbed a seat at the front of the room next to the director. Sophie slid into the place next to me. She was shifting in her chair, looking uncomfortable. Before I had time to ask her why, the director started the session.

  An image of a man in his late sixties appeared on the projection screen. The gasp next to me had me turning in Sophie’s directing. The color had drained from her face.

  “You mother fucker!” Sophie launched from her seat. “You told me he was dead. You said, and I quote, ‘The whole Reapers motorcycle gang is dead, including the president.’ That man does not look dead.” At Sophie declaration, everyone’s attention had swung from the screen to her.

  Director Sanchez sighed and sat back in his chair. “You need to keep your temper under control, Red. Our goal is to take down his network. I didn’t need you getting yourself killed when you were a kid. I told you that, when you were old enough, you could go after the individuals that hurt your family. The Reapers have become worthless, and the agency no longer needs them. Who will lead us to your target? Your specialization is hacking, not assassination.”

  Sophie mumbled something inaudible under her breath.

  “This photo was taken two days ago in, Moscow.” Steve, the senior analyst, went on to explain the intel the agency had received. Steve was small for a man. His brown hair was messy and unkempt. He was the best analyst the CIA had. Sophie and I were lucky to have Steve working on our side. “We think Yermushin is selling something to Russia.”

  Sophie leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “What is Yermushin selling?” Sophie’s voice was raw with emotion.

  I already knew what Yermushin was selling. Earlier, the director had said the agency no longer needed him and we could take him down. But the CIA had been trying to take Yermushin into custody for ages. He seemed to slip through our grasp each time. The director’s words contradicted everything I thought I knew. I had been after Yermushin for years. The CIA had a plant in his organization, but the plant couldn’t reveal much without blowing her cover. She would give us tips but never enough to bring him down.

  “He’s selling women on the black market. Do we have a date for the next auction?” Director Sanchez asked, his face neutral, not giving any sign of what he was thinking.

  Steve reached for the envelope in front of him. He flipped through a couple of pages before responding. “It’s scheduled for next week. We believe it will take place at a fundraiser in New York.”

  Before anyone had time to respond, the conference room door swung open. The bright light from the hallway blinded me, so I couldn’t see who stood in the doorway. I could only see two massive shadows.

  “Someone forgot to send my party invite,” the more massive silhouette stated matter-of-factly.

  Antonio Ross. I would recognize his voice anywhere. It held a hint of a threat. He wasn’t a man of many words, and when he spoke, people either listened or disappeared. He might be out of the military, but the POTUS and the CIA called on him and his company often to fill contracts.

  Not waiting for an invitation, Antonio and the person with him headed toward the seats on the other side of Sophie. With a motion of his hand, Antonio waved the two analysts from the chairs. I didn’t recognize his companion. He was tall, blond, and built like a football player. He sat next to Sophie, and I heard him ask whether she was okay. It sounded like genuine concern in his voice.

  “I told you to stay out of this.” Director Sanchez rose from his chair and leaned forward on the conference table to get his point across.

  Antonio leaned back in the chair he had commandeered from the analyst. “See, that’s where you've always been wrong, Director.” Antonio's voice dripped with hatred. “I don’t take orders from you. My orders come from someone a lot higher than you.” Antonio’s gaze never wavered from the director’s. “Are you saying I need to make that call to be in this meeting? You took someone from my family without cause.”

  Sophie went to speak, but the man sitting next to her grabbed her hand and shook his head. The gesture made me want to rip the guy's arm off.

  Director Sanchez had a smirk on his face, as if he were about to win a game. “Sophie agreed to work here. This is her and Agent White’s case. I will have you removed from this building if you don’t leave.”

  Antonio was known for being one of the best of the hired mercenaries the government used on contract. He was called on by top officials all the time. If the director didn’t want him on this case, it meant he was up to something. There was no way I would let Sophie come to harm. I had only met her this morning, but something deep inside me wanted to protect her from the surrounding people. I had a trump card I could pull on the director. In all the years I had worked for him, I had never used it.

  “I don’t mind him working the case with us. If Antonio wants to volunteer, who am I to complain?”

  “No!” the director screamed. He reached for the conference room phone and dialed security. Before he hit the last button, I reached over and clicked the line off. I could handle having the director on my bad side. B
ut, Antonio and I went way back, and I didn’t want to make an enemy of him.

  It took a second for the director to get his bearings. “Agent White, I will ruin your career.”

  I had never taken kindly to being threatened. Most men who had threatened me were six feet under. However, this conference room wasn't the best place in which to kill the director.

  I knew the grunt of laughter to my left came from Antonio. He was the one person in the room who had seen me lose my shit before. Needing to get my temper under control, I took a few calming breaths. “Sit down, Director.” I pointed to his chair. “Here is how this will go down. Antonio and his friend will help Sophie and me on this case. Then you will give her the information she needs without her having to work for you for ten more years.” I could hear the anger in my voice. He had played with her life for too many years.

  “You can’t speak to me like that.”

  “Everyone out.” When the room didn’t clear, I said, “Now!” The analysts scurried out the exit, running each other over. Steve got up to leave with the rest of them, but I caught his eye and pointed to his chair, indicating he should stay.

  “Director, I think you forget who I am. I'm an agent because it's what I like to do. I could have your job with one call, so don't push me. Antonio could get the same result with a call. The difference is that I’ve never made that call before, so I’m sure my brother will do what I ask.”

  The blood drained from the director’s face as he remembered who I was. People were so used to working with me that they forgot who I was related to. “You would really drag Zack into this?”

  I knew I had him where I wanted him. “Yes, and it’s President Tucker to you.”

  “All right, you can use them. But I want to be kept informed about everything at all times!”

  “With that out of the way, Agent White, this is Brock McKenzie. He owns Blackwood Security. Steve, please hand him a laptop,” Antonio demanded. When it looked as though the director would protest, Antonio continued. “I’m letting you stay in this room as a courtesy. Steve could get me up to speed without you. If you want to stay, sit and shut up.”