Page 75 of Hacking the Holidays
I swallowed hard, my throat tight.
“Don’t be stubborn. Tell me your real name.” His voice was gentler now. “I’m giving you a chance to tell the truth.”
“I’m Rose Thompson. You know that.”
00:19, 00:18, 00:17 …
Sam sighed, and there was something almost sad about it. “We need to have a serious talk.Zara.”
The world tilted.
He knew my real name.
This was a nightmare.
Did he also know who I worked for?
That would be a thousand times worse.
00:10, 00:09, 00:08 …
This was it.
I had run out of options.
And time.
“Fine!” My palm shot up. “Please. Just stop this.”
Sam’s fingers moved across his keyboard.
00:02 … 00:01 …
The timer froze with one second left.
I let out a breath that felt like it had been trapped in mylungs for hours. This was exactly how people had heart attacks. I was sure of it.
The timer disappeared from my screen, and the desktop came back to life, as if nothing had happened.
Sam stood and reached for his jacket with the same casual ease he’d use to suggest getting coffee. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“What?” I stared at him, still trying to catch my breath. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere we can talk privately.” He pulled on his jacket, then looked at me—really looked at me—and I couldn’t read his expression at all. “We have a lot to discuss,AgentMazini.”
My name from his mouth landed like a slap.
Sam knew I was FBI as well.
How long had he known?
It didn’t matter.
I was exposed.
Done.
Kaput.
