SEVEN

Allison was too nervous to eat much at dinner. After she’d taken a couple of bites of steamed vegetables, her stomach turned queasy, and she didn’t dare eat any more. The tension inside her had eased up slightly while the conversation remained light, but now it was returning in full force, and she worried she was about to have a full-blown panic attack. She’d only had a couple of those in the past five years. They’d been unforgettable. And horrific. She remembered she’d felt frozen. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. It was as if an iron fist had wrapped around her and was slowly squeezing the life out of her.

Liam was watching her and could see what was happening. The color had drained from her face, and she looked as though she was about to pass out. What was she hiding that she was so afraid he would discover? He was sure he could get her to tell him—eventually—but it would take time, and he had precious little of that.

He decided to once again put her at ease. “Allison, what did you think of Agent Phillips?”

“What . . . Oh, he’s very sweet.”

Both Alec and Liam laughed.

“Sweet? That’s a new one,” Liam said.

She realized she’d given her answer without thinking and rushed to correct it. “I mean, he’s pretty hard-nosed. Has he always been like that?” she asked.

“For as long as I’ve known him, which is five, six years now,” Alec said.

“Once you’re on his team or working with him, he’ll back you a hundred percent,” Liam added.

She wasn’t sure what he meant by that remark. “I’m not going to be on his team.”

“You might change your mind,” Liam said. “You never know.”

She decided not to argue with him. If he wanted to be optimistic, it was okay with her.

Jordan began to gather up the food cartons. “Allison, if you’re finished, why don’t you and Liam go into the living room and talk? I know you’re anxious to find out what this meeting is about.”

Anxious didn’t quite describe how she was feeling. She took her plate into the kitchen, got another bottle of water out of the refrigerator, and followed Liam into the living room. He waited until she had taken a seat on the sofa, then pulled up a chair to face her. There was nothing to separate her from the intimidating man who sat in front of her. He focused his attention entirely on her as though he was studying her, getting ready to pounce.

Alec surprised her by joining them. He moved the other chair over next to Liam’s. Allison could feel her heart beating in her chest. If the two men intended to unnerve her, they were doing a fine job of it.

Liam leaned forward. “Whatever is said here is confidential. I would appreciate it if you didn’t discuss what we’re about to tell you with anyone. Okay?”

He expected a quick agreement before he continued and was totally unprepared for her refusal. “I’m sorry. No, I can’t do that.”

“No?” Alec said, nonplussed.

“I can’t promise you that I’ll keep this conversation confidential,” she explained.

“Why not?” Alec asked.

“I’ll tell Jordan.” Before they could respond, she continued. “I know this must be an important matter. I’ll still tell her, though. She’s my friend, and if she asks . . . which she will . . . I’ll tell her.”

“At least she’s honest,” Alec said to Liam.

“Yes, she is,” Liam agreed. He looked very serious, yet he sounded as though he was about to smile.

Clearly exasperated, Alec asked, “Is there anyone else you know you’ll tell besides my sister?”

“No, just Jordan,” she said. She thought she should probably offer some sort of explanation, so she added, “I’m assuming whatever you have to say involves my work with computers, and Jordan’s an expert. I value her opinion.”

“Talking to her won’t be a problem,” Alec assured her. Liam agreed with a nod.

Allison looked first at Alec and then at Liam, examining each of their faces to see if there was the slightest cause for suspicion. They definitely were intense, and yet they seemed sincere. Her anxiety lessened slightly. Maybe they hadn’t brought her here to interrogate her or to accuse her of a crime after all. Maybe they had other intentions. She mulled over her situation for several more seconds. “Okay,” she said finally. “What is it you want?”

“We believe someone is leaking information on sensitive case files. We’re hoping you can help us find out who it is.”

“FBI files?” she asked.

“Yes,” Alec answered. “At first, there were minor details of cases getting out, but then some crucial information was released. Recently there was a major leak that all but destroyed a case and an agent’s credibility. We believe whoever is doing this has access to our system, but we haven’t been able to find the leak.”

Liam said. “Have you ever heard of the CSA?”

Allison shook her head.

“It’s the federal cyber security agency,” Alec continued. “Everyone who works there spends their days monitoring other agencies, including the FBI. They also look for viruses. They’re the best in the country.”

“Best what?” she asked.

“Hackers,” Liam answered.

“The FBI gets weekly reports from the CSA,” Alec said. “And those reports show there hasn’t been any abnormal activity. In other words, no breaches. We don’t know if the leaks are coming from the inside or the outside, and we need someone who’s never had a connection to either of these agencies to work on this. My fear is that, if we don’t stop them, the leaks could get even bigger. Whoever is behind this could be just testing the waters.”

“Who discovered this?” she asked.

Alec answered, “We knew there was a leak when we were on a case in Hawaii. We couldn’t prove it, though. There were very few people involved in the investigation, and we checked every one of them thoroughly.”

“We couldn’t find anything suspicious,” Liam interjected.

Alec nodded. “The most recent incident was in Atlanta. A field agent was assigned a case involving bribery of a state official. He was just beginning to collect names of possible witnesses, and before he could even do a thorough investigation, the names of the witnesses were released on the Internet. Within a couple of days, two of them disappeared. The blame for the leak fell directly on him, but there wasn’t any proof he had let the information out. We’re fairly sure there’s one source to these leaks, and it’s in our computer system. The problem is, there’s absolutely no trace of a hack.”

Liam braced his arms on his knees and leaned closer. “Do you think you could get in and out of the FBI and the CSA without being detected?”

She had already guessed they were going to ask her to do just that, yet she was still shocked. First impressions, she decided, were often wrong because, when she first met them, Liam and Alec hadn’t seemed the type to break rules. “Do you know how many years I would get if I got caught?”

“None if you worked for us,” Alec pointed out.

“Could you do it?” Liam pressed.

She took a deep breath. “You want me to go up against the experts?”

“Yes.” Liam’s voice was emphatic. “Agent Phillips will know the true reason you’re at the cyber headquarters, but no one else. The rest of the staff will think Phillips has brought you in as another security analyst. After seeing what you can do, Phillips has decided he would like to give you some other assignments as well. He’s asked that you commit to at least a year.”

A year working for Agent Phillips? The possibility gave her shivers. Not going to happen, she thought. “How can you be so sure I can do this? You don’t know me.”

She was wrong. Liam knew pretty much all there was to know about her . . . the important things, anyway. She was very intelligent and had extraordinary skills. That was a given. His investigation had turned up several impressive accomplishments. He discovered that she had written programs for a number of projects but rarely took credit. Even a couple of her professors admitted they had gone to her for help when they came up against a programming problem they couldn’t solve. While the information he had gathered on Allison Trent told him most of what he wanted to know, it was Jordan who was instrumental in convincing him that Allison was up to the task. Jordan didn’t realize she was helping, but every time she told her family of Allison’s amazing talent, Alec took notice and passed the information along to Liam. Alec called her a human computer, and when Liam watched her at the seminar where Jordan spoke, he was definitely impressed. Then today, hearing how she had systematically and immediately torn through the difficult problem at the cyber unit, he realized what a find Allison was. If she was half as good as that demonstration promised, she could get the job done.

He had discovered a great deal about her personal life as well, even though she was very private and tried to keep her thoughts and her talents hidden. She was not very social, but she was loyal and caring, and her friends were just as loyal to her. He also uncovered the fact that her home life had been hellish and still was, which was why she avoided going home whenever possible. She made up excuses on Thanksgiving and Christmas, preferring to spend those holidays alone or in a peaceful environment, often with her sister and brother-in-law until they’d moved to Seattle. Liam’s investigation of her background had been quite thorough, but until tonight his findings had merely been notes in an impartial report. Now that he was getting to know Allison, he could see her vulnerability, and though he didn’t understand why, he felt the need to protect her.

“I know a lot about you, Allison,” he told her. “What I don’t know is why you are afraid to take a lie detector test. You haven’t hidden any money.”

He would have gone on if she hadn’t interrupted. “How . . . ? Did you look at my bank statements?”

“Yes,” Alec said.

She was taken aback by the quick admission. “Then you know I’m poor.”

“Most college students are,” Liam remarked.

“Where does all your modeling money go?” Alec asked.

“Her relatives take it,” Liam explained.

Allison could feel her face heating up. She couldn’t make up her mind if she was embarrassed or angry that he knew about her god-awful aunt and uncle. Before either of the men could continue his line of questioning, she blurted, “I could have hidden money in a secret account. When you know what you’re doing, anything is possible.”

“But you didn’t.” Liam made the statement.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why won’t you take a lie detector test?” Alec asked.

“If you help us, I’ll make sure you have immunity,” Liam promised.

“Are you serious?” She stared deeply into his eyes, looking for any sign of deception. “No matter what I tell you, no matter what I confess . . . ?” she asked suspiciously.

“You didn’t murder anyone, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Commit treason? Sell nuclear secrets to the enemy?”

She laughed at the absurdity. “No.”

“You’ll have immunity,” he reiterated.

She was so astonished, she didn’t know what to say. Should she confess all her sins? Could she trust Liam to keep his word?

“Could you excuse me for one minute?” She didn’t wait for permission but got up and hurried to the kitchen. Jordan was stacking the cartons of leftovers in the refrigerator.

“Just one quick question,” Allison said.

Jordan stopped what she was doing and looked at her friend. “Okay. What’s the question?”

“Can I trust Liam to keep his word? He offered me immunity.”

“I can’t really vouch for Liam, because I’ve only just met him, but I can definitely vouch for my brother. If Alec trusts him, you can trust him.”

“All right, then.” She turned on her heel and returned to the two men in the living room. “Okay, I’ll help you.”

“Do you think you can do it? Can you get in without being detected?” Alec asked.

“Yes,” she answered. There was no conceit in her answer, just confidence.

“I still want to know why you won’t take a lie detector test,” Alec reminded her.

She knew she was going to have to tell them. After she explained, they would undoubtedly think of her as a criminal—which was, in fact, the truth—and for some reason that bothered her. She shouldn’t care what they thought, should she? “I did break a few laws, but only in the interest of helping. And also there was the educational aspect. . . .”

“Be specific,” Liam urged.

She decided to start with an instance that wouldn’t sound so incriminating. “There was the time I decided to look in on my bank just to make sure there weren’t any surprises,” she said. “My savings account was there, and I didn’t want anything to happen to it. I had expenses coming up—” She stopped abruptly when she realized she was already making excuses for her conduct.

“By looking in on your bank, you mean you hacked,” Alec began. “And by surprises you mean viruses, bugs?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “And as luck would have it, I found a surprise. It was programmed to wreak havoc on a certain day and time, which turned out to be a couple of weeks away from when I found it. It would have corrupted all the bank files.”

“What did you do when you found it?” Liam asked.

“I removed it. It wasn’t very interesting, just your run-of-the-mill virus, so I destroyed it.”

“Did you notify the bank?” Alec asked her.

She looked appalled by the question. “Of course not.”

“Did you get in and out without being detected?”

“Yes, I did.” She stood then and headed to the kitchen again.

“We aren’t finished here,” Alec said.

“I know. I was wondering if there’s any lo mein left.” She straightened her shoulders as she turned. “I’ll be right back.”

When she entered the kitchen, her phone was ringing. She pulled it out of her purse, saw who was calling, and quickly pressed DECLINE. It was her aunt’s phone number. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with her tonight.

A minute later she walked back into the living room, carrying a white carton, chopsticks, and a Diet Coke. “All of a sudden, I’m starving.”

“Immunity gave you an appetite?” Alec asked.

“Must have,” she said.

The lo mein was still warm. While Liam and Alec discussed some details of the investigation, Allison ate the entire contents of the carton. She loved every bite. She finished the Diet Coke, dropped the chopsticks into the carton, and sat back. For the first time since he’d met her, Liam thought she looked relaxed.

Break was over. It was time for him to find out more of her secrets. “Did you look in on any other banks?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know. At least twenty or thirty,” she said. “I’d look in on them every six months or so. I’d always find more bugs. It’s shocking really, how easy it is to use them to plant a virus.”

“Have you ever planted a virus?” Alec asked.

The question offended her. “No, never.”

Alec nodded, appeased.

Then Liam asked, “You didn’t just look into banks, did you?”

“No,” she admitted. “I checked a lot of businesses. Most of the viruses I found couldn’t do all that much harm, but I removed a lot of them anyway. There were others that could do real damage. They were interesting, so I kept them.”

“Why?” Alec asked. “Why would you keep them?”

“I wanted to study them. I’m designing what I hope is an impenetrable firewall,” she explained. “That’s my goal, anyway.”

They wanted a list of the systems she had “looked into.” Alec took out a notepad and began recording the names as she recalled them.

“How many is that now?” he asked Liam, fearing he was going to run out of paper.

“I counted twenty-two,” he said before turning back to Allison. “Did you keep a record of all of these?”

“No. If you’d like, I could write a list. I think I can be pretty accurate.”

“There couldn’t be that many more,” Alec commented.

If he only knew. Should she pretend to agree? She decided to keep silent.

“You’ve never looked in on any federal agency?” Alec asked, clearly skeptical.

“You’ve already asked me that. No, never. That would be breaking the law.” She rushed to explain, “I know. I’m not making any sense. I broke the law every time I entered a bank’s or a credit card company’s system, but I felt I was helping them. Going into the FBI or any other federal agency wouldn’t be helping.”

“Anything else you want to tell us? Now’s your chance. You’ve got immunity,” Liam reminded her.

Should she tell them about the hackers who’d stolen from the nursing home residents? It had happened three years ago. She thought she was safe, but there was always the chance that someone would come along and figure out she was the one who had gone after them. “There are a few other things I’ve done.”

“Be specific.”

“Now or never, Allison,” Alec said. “What else have you done?”

“When I said I had never taken any money . . . that wasn’t exactly true,” she admitted.

Alec and Liam leaned forward expectantly.

She took a deep breath, then said, “I stole thirty-eight million dollars and sent an e-mail to the FBI telling them where they could access the funds.”

Liam seemed to take the announcement in stride. Did anything faze him? Alec, on the other hand, looked shocked.

“Thirty-eight . . . ,” Alec began, then stopped.

“Million,” she supplied.

She explained everything, from the nursing home segment on the news to the e-mail she’d sent. Alec said he hadn’t heard of the hacking. Liam didn’t respond. He seemed to be studying her as he listened to her recount the details.

“Did they get the hackers?” Alec asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “It was on the news, but it all happened a long time ago.”

“About three years ago,” Liam added.

“Then you knew about it?”

“I read a report on it,” he answered. “A lot of people tried to take credit for getting that money back. None of them could tell the investigators what was said in the e-mail sent to the director, though.”

“Do you remember what it said?” Alec asked Liam.

He nodded. “Yeah, I do. It made me laugh.”

“What was so funny?” Allison wanted to know.

“Prove you did it,” Alec urged. “Tell us what the e-mail said.”

She didn’t hesitate. “‘You’re welcome.’”

Alec looked at Liam, who nodded. “That’s right,” he confirmed.

“Any other chunks of money you’ve liberated?” Alec asked.

“Yes, and each time I gave specific instructions on how to locate the hackers. And proof so they would go to prison.”

“What about the money?”

“I told the FBI where they could find it.”

“I’m curious,” Alec said. “How much money—the total?”

“Around eighty million.”

They both looked incredulous.

Alec had a good laugh and, shaking his head, said, “You’re lucky you have immunity.”

Jordan entered the room as Alec was speaking. Hands on her hips, she snapped, “But you did promise her immunity, and you’re not going to take it back.” When they all turned to look at her, she defended her eavesdropping. “What? You didn’t think I wouldn’t find out what was going on, did you? The house is still empty. Sound echoes,” she protested with indignation.

“Don’t get all worked up,” Alec said, exasperated. “I was just saying what could happen if she didn’t have immunity.”

“Stop trying to scare her. What she did might have been illegal, but not a serious crime. She didn’t cause any harm. Nobody goes to jail for looking.”

“Does she seem scared to you?” Liam asked.

Jordan frowned. “Okay, she doesn’t. Allison, don’t let them bully you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

“I won’t,” she assured her. “Alec, there’s another way of looking at this situation. If for whatever reason you were to take away immunity and decide to arrest me, what evidence do you really have? I could explain that I was telling you a story. I could say that I made it all up to show off,” she added with a nod. “You don’t have any proof that I’ve done anything wrong.”

She looked so proud of herself Liam wanted to laugh. “You’re forgetting you told us you have a file of viruses you’ve collected, remember? That’s what would nail you.”

“Yes, it would,” she agreed. “If you could find the file.”

“You think we couldn’t?”

“I know you couldn’t.”

Liam appreciated her arrogance.

“You’re awfully confident, Allison,” Alec remarked.

“None of it matters now, does it? Besides, I’ve decided to quit. No more looking in on protected sites. I promise.”

“Except you’re going to help us,” Liam reminded her.

Allison didn’t respond immediately. “Yes, I’ll help you with this problem, but . . . I’m not going to commit to working for the FBI for an entire year. I have plans. As soon as I find your leak, I’m gone. And no one else will know I’ve done this. Agreed?”

It wasn’t the deal they had hoped for, and Phillips wasn’t going to like it, but Allison appeared to be resolute in her position. Liam nodded to Alec and then said, “Agreed.”

Jordan walked into the living room and sat next to Allison on the sofa. “I’m assuming all the secret talk is over.”

“I explained to them that, as soon as I get a chance, I’ll tell you everything,” Allison said.

“We don’t want either one of you to talk about this outside this house. Got that?” Alec warned.

“What about Noah? May I tell him?” Jordan asked.

“You’re going to anyway, aren’t you?” Allison wondered.

Jordan nodded. “Yes. I just thought it would be nice if I asked.”

“For God’s sake, Jordan,” Alec said, “this is serious.”

“I know,” she replied. “Neither one of us is going to post this conversation on the Internet, and Allison doesn’t need to tell me what the assignment is. I’ve already guessed the obvious. You want her to catch a hacker, don’t you?”

“Something like that,” Alec answered.

“Don’t leave me out. I want to help.”

“No, absolutely not,” Allison said. “If anything went wrong, you could get into trouble.”

“So could you.”

“I don’t matter,” she blurted, unaware how telling the comment was.

“Of course you matter. The FBI has given you immunity. You can’t get into trouble.”

“What I meant to say is that, if I were to get into trouble, I’d deserve it. I’ve broken the law. You haven’t. Things have a way of getting messed up. It could be dangerous.”

“How?”

“What if the person or people I’m going after find out who I am and come after me? It could happen,” she insisted.

Jordan turned to Liam. “Are you running this?”

He nodded slowly. He kept his gaze on Allison and said, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’ll be safe.”

“I still want to help,” Jordan insisted.

“I’ve got a better chance of searching without being detected. That’s all I’m saying,” Allison said.

The two of them began to argue in a language Liam had never heard before. It was computer talk on an incomprehensible level.

“What would you do, Jordan, if . . .” was as much as Liam or Alec understood.

As Liam listened to the two women debate the best ways of entering a secure site, he couldn’t stop staring at Allison. She was beautiful, yes, but what held his attention was the way her mind worked.

Alec interjected a thought into the discussion. “You know, Allison, there are some people who have sold various bugs and viruses for a lot of money.”

“I’d never sell them,” she protested.

Allison’s phone rang again. She muted it and didn’t even bother to see who was calling.

“I’m curious. How many viruses have you collected?” Alec asked.

“Oh, you know.”

“No, I don’t know. That’s why I asked,” Alec said.

She started to blush. “I’d like to know, too,” Liam said.

“A few?” Alec asked.

It was obvious she was embarrassed. “More than a few.”

“How many more than a few?” Liam asked.

“Several?” Alec asked. “Or a bunch?”

Jordan nudged Allison and said, “You’ve already admitted that you have a file of viruses. You might as well tell them how many. They can’t do anything to you.”

Eventually they would find out, Allison thought. If she just told them now, she’d save time. “Not including the ones I’ve destroyed, I’d say there’re a hundred seventy or so in the file, give or take twenty or thirty.”

“So . . . two hundred,” Liam guessed.

She nodded. “Or thereabouts. Maybe a few more.”

Alec looked astounded. “How long have you been at this?”

“Not all that long.”

She picked up the carton and the can and carried them to the kitchen to get away from their scrutiny for a little while. She didn’t like being the center of attention, especially since she was now considered a criminal in their minds. Alec was a nice man, she thought, but he looked at her as if she were a freak. Liam didn’t, though. He seemed skeptical, which wasn’t as bad, she supposed, yet there was something about the way his eyes focused so intently on hers that unnerved her.

Standing at the window with her arms folded, she stared out into the night and thought about the conversation. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so honest. It was too late now, but she felt sick with regret. She never should have started looking in on private sites. It didn’t matter if her motives were good or bad. She had broken the law countless times. Never again, she vowed.

In the living room Alec turned to Liam. “If only half of what she says she can do—”

Jordan interrupted. “It’s all true. Allison doesn’t lie.”

“She’s that good?” Alec asked.

Jordan nodded. “Yes.”

Alec shook his head and let out a long, low whistle. “She’s a weapon. In the wrong hands she could be lethal.”