Sexy Liar (Dirty Hacker 1)

“Which is?” he asked breathless.

She gave a slow-building smile. “I’m pretty sure I found our killer.”

CHAPTER 14

“TELL ME EVERYTHING again,” Rowan said, as he held Alex’s hand while they trotted down the staircase toward the lobby.

She’d never seen Rowan move so fast, but she knew right before she said, “I finally got into that server. It belongs to the FBI,” that she was going to get a reaction. She just hadn’t expected his reaction to be so intense. He moved swiftly to get dressed and ordered her to do the same. She grabbed jeans and a T-shirt from her bag that they’d brought back from the hotel. Within minutes, they were hurrying into the hallway. “There’s nothing more to tell you than whoever used the dating app did so while at FBI headquarters,” she reported, breathing deep from the exertion. “It’ll take a lot more digging for me to find out who exactly the SiR profile belongs to in the FBI, but whoever it is, works there.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Rowan snapped. He stopped on the landing and turned to her, a vein protruding out of the middle of his forehead. “I kept wondering why I was getting the run-around. This is fucking why. It’s someone on the inside.”

“It also makes all this incredibly dangerous,” she gently reminded him, considering he looked about a second away from storming into headquarters and demanding answers. “We’re dealing with someone in the highest levels of law enforcement. Think of the access they have.”

“I don’t even want to consider that,” Rowan said, letting out a long-frustrated breath. “And yet, it’s one step closer to finding Mia.”

She nodded, but also pointed out, “We need to get somewhere safe. All I know is if it were me, I would have safeguards on that server. He found us once before. He’ll find us again, especially considering we know what we know.”

Rowan’s fingers tightened protectively around hers, and Alex felt the warmth swell in her chest. “And this time, he’ll make sure we’re eliminated for good.”

The thought sent a chill right down to her bones. She nodded. “The game has changed now. We need to think this through from every angle.”

“Yeah, we do.” He pulled her in close, dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’ve got somewhere safe that we can go.”

Good. That was a start. Alex followed him down the stairs, and she stayed right on his heels as they entered the lobby. The bar was off to the right. The news was on the television screen they passed, and the reporter was discussing the last victim, Harriett Laurie, pretty face shown on the screen. Alex’s stomach roiled with the thought that there was a very good chance this psychopath posed as one of the good guys. Even more so, she knew from her experience with Ryder that there was also a very good chance the killer was close to the case.

Rowan’s friend Wes came to mind. She needed him checked out. Maybe it was time to bring Ryder into this.

Before Alex could pose that question, and just as they passed the security desk, Rowan suddenly stopped. She slowly turned to him, saw the concern on his face, and then everything happened fast from there.

A handful of men and women wearing FBI shirts and jackets and bulletproof vests closed in on them, weapons drawn. Rowan shoved her behind him, his gun trained out in front of him.

“Stand down,” Wes yelled. “Hawke, stand down.”

Alex felt her blood go ice cold. If it weren’t for the handful of other FBI agents there, she’d grab Rowan, kiss him, knowing that would be her final goodbye. But she doubted Wes, if he were the killer, would take her out here.

Rowan’s shoulders squared, and his voice lowered. “Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on here.”

“She needs to come in,” Wes said, cool and collected. “She hacked the server. And she has to answer for that.”

Alex slowly turned to Rowan. His gaze was trained on Wes, burning fiercely with betrayal. She grabbed his arm, feeling the slight tremble of contained power. “Put your gun away. It’s fine. I’ll go in.”

“Alex,” Rowan warned, not taking his eyes off the targets around him.

She grabbed his hand and pushed it gently until he slowly lowered his weapon, and she turned to face him, keeping their conversation private. “Call Ryder. Look into Wes.”

Confusion furrowed Rowan’s brows for only a moment before clarity filled his expression. He grabbed her hand, tightening his fingers into hers. “I’ll call a lawyer and get you out.”

“Don’t,” she said. “Let me see where this goes.”

Rowan pinched his lips shut tight, clearly restraining the string of curse words sitting on his tongue, and stayed rooted to the spot while Alex let Wes take her by the arm and lead her into the waiting black SUV.

The drive to the NYPD station was quick, as was getting her into an interrogation room. Metal table and chairs, a one-way mirror where she knew people were watching her from the other side. She kept her breath slow and steady, knowing one thing for certain: She was brought there to make a point. She simply needed to find out what that point was.

When the door finally opened, she expected Wes to enter, but instead, she had to control the surprise engulfing her as the Director of the FBI, Carl Lewis, strode in. He was everything the FBI would want as their leader. Good-looking, in shape, held the classic all-American look with good teeth and neatly styled hair. “Hello, Ms. McCoy.”

“Hello, Mr. Lewis.” She clasped her hands tightly together under the table, confused by his arrival. Sure, he was doing the media rounds to keep the public at ease, but what did that have to do with her?

He took a seat at the table across from her, opening the button of his suit jacket as he sat. “I’m aware of your arrangement with both the FBI and the CIA. I also have no time to play games with you.” He placed his hands flat against the table. “Why were you hacking into our databases today?”