Sophie

The stress of living a double life was getting to me. The deal I had made with the devil was supposed to get me closer to my goal. But the devil kept requesting more of me without giving me the information I needed to take down the people who killed my family.

The devil would figure out soon that I hacked their system to pull the information about Jessica’s kidnappers. When the trail led back to me, they would come for me this time. They had been waiting for an excuse to bring me in and make me work for them full-time. But Jessica was worth what I would go through.

I heard Bridget making a ruckus out in the central area, yelling at someone. I figured I had better go calm her down before I had to bail her out of jail.

“Miss, we are here for Sophie Stewart. This has nothing to do with you.”

I walked around the corner to see a few men in black suits. I knew they were here for me.

“I don’t care who you think you are. I want to see a warrant. You can’t just come in here and demand to talk to my employees without some form of documentation. We do nothing illegal here.” Bridget was screaming. The whole office stood around her, trying to figure out what was going on.

The tall, dark man talking to Bridget looked as though he was close to losing his temper. He kept pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stay calm. At least if I was going to be taken in, it would be by this man. He was hot. Like, panty-dripping 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 started walking toward the tall drink of water. 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 exactly what was going on.

I walked out from the hall. The sexy man in the black form-fitting suit looked up to see me. He headed to the reception desk toward me. Bridget went to go after him. Before she ended up in more trouble, I needed to get this under control.

“Bridget, it’s okay.”

“Don’t say anything. I have Alex coming down with Antonio.”

The man who I assumed was in charge walked toward me. He was the only one that had been talking to Bridget. The other agents just stared. Bridget made many people speechless.

The man 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 starting to get 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 did Antonio know Agent White, and why would he be in on cases with the devil?

“This is not your concern. You need to stop asking questions.”

This pissing contest needed to stop. “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 started to push me out the door.

I could hear Bridget in the back, demanding Antonio do something. But there was nothing he could do to get me out of this. I only hoped it led me closer to my sister.

Agent White lifted 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 not necessary.”

“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.

The trip to the airport was short. I had a feeling we were on our way to DC to see the devil himself. But I was in for another surprise. The devil was waiting for me on the plane.

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

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

“Did I have an option? You know Antonio is going to 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. “Those files were classified. And I always get my way. You’re here, aren’t you?”

I shrugged, not caring. “What do you want?”

He let out a long sigh. “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 start helping 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 were not 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?”

“No. This is where I tell you that, if you want to see your sister, you are going to have to 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.

“If we don’t find her in the next six months, you have no deal.”

“You’ll find her by then, but you might not be happy with what you find.”

“Yes, I will take the job.”

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