“What do you mean?”
Wylder tosses a manila file in my direction. “I mean that your little butterfly appears to be causing trouble for us.”
A numb feeling starts in my feet. It spreads up my legs as I reach for the file. Bile fills my throat at the thought of what I might see.
But when I open it, it’s just endless lines of code.
“I don’t understand,” I say slowly. “What am I looking at?”
Matthias gestures for the file. I hand it to him wordlessly. He examines it before shrugging and shoving it over to the other side of the table. Dalton and Harley appear just as clueless as us. Only Samson doesn’t bother to look, watching me closely.
It’s then that I realize he knows what’s going on, and that, whatever it is, he’s not expecting me to react well.
My body braces itself, preparing for the inevitable impact that’s coming.
Wylder finally answers my question. “We were alerted by our external security company an hour ago and sent this report. What you’re looking at is evidence that someone is hacking our systems. Notably, any and all connected to The Firm. Past missions. Connections. Bribes. Anything we’ve ever documented, going back a generation, has been accessed.”
“It’s not Ansel,” I say automatically. The numbness is spreading further. I can’t feel anything now. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Ansel has a reputation as the most proficient hacker in the industry,” Samson says curtly, nodding at Wylder, who throws another file in my direction. “I started looking into him the day we returned from the cabin.”
I bare my teeth at Samson. “You had no fucking right to do that.”
Samson shrugs. “One of us had to keep their wits about them. You were being led by your dick. We just needed to know what the end goal was. Which, evidently, was to use you to get information about The Firm.”
I’m over the table in a flash. Samson and I collide with a bookcase, the contents raining down around us.
I pay no attention to the hits I’m taking. I’m too busy pulling back my fist and letting it smash into Samson’s face.
Far too soon, strong hands are yanking me off him.
“You don’t fucking talk about him like that,” I yell, spittle flying everywhere. “Ansel loves me. He fuckinglovesme. He wasn’t using me.”
But those words ring false. He doesn’t love me, does he? He never said it back.
Samson isn’t angry as he wipes the blood away with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, Cade, I am. But the evidence suggests otherwise.”
“The evidence is bullshit,” I roar, wheeling on my brothers, my voice cracking when I wheeze, “You’re wrong.”
“We’re not.” Pity shines in Wylder’s eyes. “Ansel is hacking our information.”
“It’s just lines of fucking data. There’s no proof that it’s Ansel.”
“We have one of the most sophisticated systems available,” Wylder says delicately. “It’s near impossible to break into.”
“Neo did, remember? With the cameras?” It might sound like I’m grasping at straws, but I’m not.
I know this isn’t Ansel’s work. My butterfly might’ve broken myheart, but he wouldn’t betray us. I’m more sure of that than my own name.
“He only hacked our house cameras, which isn’t difficult because they run on Wi-Fi.” Wylder’s mouth is in a grim line. “The security surrounding this encrypted information is different, though. Near impenetrable.”
Vindication flashes through me. “Then it’s not him. He wouldn’t be living in that shithole if he were any good at it.”
Samson shifts slightly out of my reach before he speaks. “Actually, the word on the street is that there’s little Ansel can’t hack. Seems he’s something of an ethical one—he doesn’t take money for himself, just modest payment for the job.”
There’s a rock in my stomach. It’s flaming hot, burning a hole right through me. “See, you said it yourself, he’s ethical. He wouldn’t do this.”
“Cade…” There’s a gentle touch on my shoulder. I glance around to see Wylder beside me. He’s looking at me with an emotion I’ve only seen on his face once before—the day our mother died. The day I knew it would all change and never be okay again. “The IP address the hack is coming from has been confirmed as Ansel’s address. He’s not even trying to hide it. He wants you to know.”
