“Must’ve been caught by the firewalls.” Maybe if he repeated it often enough, he’d convince himself that it was just a blip instead of his hacker name.
Deep down, he knew what he’d seen. Was it a message or a trap? And why now?
He was so close to escaping his past. So close to freeing Hope from the corporation and getting out of Seattle.
Now it could all fall apart.
Chapter35
“Who knowsI’m working for you?” Ash stalked into Portia’s office after his shift.
“I beg your pardon.” Ice coated every word.
Ash ignored it. Too pissed—too freaked out—to toe the line.
“Who knows that you have Fenix working for you?” He paced in front of her desk.
“Phoenix? Oh, that’s right. Your charming little sobriquet.” She glanced up and pursed her lips. “No one. Need I remind you this is a secret project? I don’t need any leaks.”
“Well, we might have one.”
Her head rose sharply and she gave him her full attention. “When? How?”
Ash dropped into his chair and swiveled around to face her. “I don’t know. But I think someone knows. Today...” He stopped, ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck. I don’t know. It’s mostly just a feeling, but...”
“But what?” Curiosity and urgency colored her question.
“I could have sworn I saw my handle on one of the attempted hacks today.”
“What?” Her voice rose. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”
For just a second he enjoyed knowing that he’d shaken her reserve. But when he closed his eyes, those characters hovered in his vision.
“It was gone in a blink. I’m not sure I really saw it.”
Her gaze pinned him. “Did anyone else see?”
Would it better or worse if someone had? He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Most of us weren’t looking at the screen right then.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” And she was back to frosty.
“They were giving me hell,” he admitted. “About a woman.”
“If you’ve spoiled everything because of that woman you’re seeing?—”
“I was distracted, yes, but no, I didn’t ruin everything. Or anything.” He hoped. “That’s the only reason they missed it. Which I think is a good thing.”
“How do you explain your handle appearing on the screen?”
“A fluke?” he offered, although he didn’t believe it for a second.
She didn’t either, judging by the pinch of her lips.
“I don’t know. I think someone knows I’m here. But why now? The only thing I can think of is if...” Ash hesitated. He hated what he was about to say. There were only two ways that someone knew his location and he wasn’t about to say one of them out loud. There was no wayhe’dscrewed up. “What if it’s a leak?”
“What do you mean, a leak?” Her Ice Queen voice was in play now. Ash would need to tread carefully.
“That’s just it. I don’t know. What if someone found out that we’re looking around at what happened?”
