Page 5 of Girl Code
Mickey shook her head, shock and amazement in her eyes, “So you’ve been lying about who you are and what you do for the past what, two years? Three?”
“Yes.” He answered and when he saw her start to get indignant, start to open her mouth as if she was going to call him out on living a lie he held up a hand, “Don’t act all saintly, Mick. We both know you’ve been lying too.”
“Me?” She all but shouted, “What have I lied about? I haven’t even spoken to you.”
“No. But you still speak to Tiffani, and so do I.” He saw her wince and decided to plow on before they got caught up in the tangle of the old triangle between them, “You told her you weren’t hacking anymore and I know that’s a lie.”
Mickey’s chin went up and she stood straighter. Her face turned to solid stone. She stared straight through him when she lied right to his face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. You hacked Keating, Mick. I know you did because I know you. I know your code. I know your signature. I found it in the system when our alarms went off at NAGOR that there had been a possible breach of classified documents.”
Mickey still didn’t budge, “So what? You’re here to arrest me?”
“Of course not.” He blurted before he could stop himself.
He shouldn’t have said that. It made it sound ludicrous when it wasn’t, or at least it shouldn’t be. He was a cop. She was a criminal. He should be here because he was arresting her. Instead, with three little words, he showed more of his cards than he’d been planning and they both knew from the way Mickey tilted her head slightly, eying him curiously.
“Why then? Why are you here, Dante?”
He sighed, all of his excuses and rationalities went out the window when she looked at him like that, so confused about why it was he would bother to walk back into her life now.
“Because you’re in danger, Mick. There are people out there, people associated with Keating and with NAGOR that don’t want the information you hacked to go public. They’ll be coming for you.”
“What? That’s insane.” Mickey took a step back, holding her hands up as if warding him off, “They can’t possibly know it was me.”
“They can and they will. They’re good. Better than me. Better than you even.”
She snorted and he growled.
“Don’t let your ego put you in danger, Mick. They’ll trace that hack. If I could do it, so can they. That’s why I came straight here to get you. We need to get you out of here and get you somewhere safe.”
“So you’re here to what? Save me?” She all but rolled her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, Dante but you’re no white knight and I’m not a princess in need of saving.”
“Dammit, Mick. Take this seriously. You hacked Keating. You released the information from his emails but there’s more isn’t there?”
For the first time since he caught sight of her in the office, Mickey blanched. He’d known he was right. He’d known it but still he’d needed her to confirm it. She had, even if she hadn’t said a word.
“There’s more. Data that you didn’t release yet?”
“I…” She paused, hesitant, questioning.
Dante stepped towards her, “You can trust me, Mick. You know me. I’m here to help. Tell me what else you got off Keating’s computer.”
“I…” Mickey shook her head and sighed heavily, “I don’t know. It’s encrypted. I couldn’t get it all unpacked before I had to leave for work so I left my computer at home working on it. It’s running code now, line by line.”
Dante tried to steady his heartbeat. This was what he needed. Whatever it was Keating and NAGOR had been hiding behind firewalls and encryptions. This was the dirt that would take them both down forever.
He’d been trying to do it legally for months, the police for years even. Mickey had managed to get the information in one night. She really was something special. He’d never doubted it. But now she was on the radar of some very bad men who would go to the greatest of lengths to keep that information from getting out, which meant he had to keep Mickey safe and they had to get to the data to the police.
“It’s on your home computer?”
Mickey nodded.
“Then that’s where we’re going first. We’ll grab your stuff and I’ll get you to a safe house. You can finish cracking the encryptions and then I’ll call my bosses and tell them…shit, I don’t know what I’m going to tell them.” He realized as he spoke it out loud, “Maybe that you’ve been working for me. I don’t know but I promise you that I’ll keep you safe, Mick. Nobody is going to hurt you, or arrest you, on my watch.”
“Dante…” She hesitated again but he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to meet his gaze.
