was a crooked agent, and maybe he was trying to frame her for something. She’d been so dumb, she hadn’t even checked out her computer after he’d used it, and now, for all she knew, he could have set her up for any number of false accusations.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not a hacker anymore,” she said, her mind turning over possibilities.
Just how far could Alex have gone? And if he had set her up, why did he do it?
“I understand, Ms. Talbot. But I’ll need you to come with me. You answer our questions, and then you’ll be free to go.”
She considered saying no, saying she’d only talk with an attorney present, but really, she hadn’t done anything wrong, and some niggling urge to prove it won out over her reservations.
“Fine. Let me just grab my shoes and purse,” she said as she left the door.
After tugging on her boots and grabbing her bag, she followed the agent down to his car and got in the passenger side, then buckled up. It all felt eerily similar to the first time she’d ever been brought in for questioning. Only, then she’d been scared out of her mind, barely able to breathe, on the verge of tears throughout the ordeal.
They had to have seen she was just a scared kid, a spoiled brat teenager with too much time on her hands, but then again, maybe they hadn’t. They’d wanted to prove a point with her, show the world that the FBI was cracking down on hackers regardless of their ages or seeming harmlessness.
At least now she wasn’t so scared, and she knew what to expect.
Agent Connelly got in on the driver’s side and started the car. As he steered it out into the street, she tried not to let her nerves get the best of her. He headed south, and it only took a moment for Yasmine to remember that the FBI field office was in the opposite direction. Unless they’d moved it.
“Why are we going this way?” she asked.
He cast a glance at her, then turned his attention back to the street. “I’m trying to avoid traffic.”
She stared straight ahead, a lump of doubt forming in her belly as her neighborhood passed outside the car window. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he knew some roundabout shortcut. Or maybe she didn’t really understand what was going on here. Maybe she shouldn’t have gotten into this car at all. A film of perspiration formed on her upper lip, in spite of the cool temperature.
The only thing he would avoid by going this way was a route to his claimed destination.
And then it occurred to her. Agents always seemed to come in pairs. From what she’d seen, they never worked alone when handling suspects.
“Where’s your partner?” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to have one whenever you deal with the public?” Even as the words formed in her mouth, the feeling grew in her that something was not right.
Agent Connelly stared straight ahead, silent for a moment too long. “He’s sick today.”
She was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Hadn’t she learned anything in her entire life? Like never get into a car with a stranger?
She glanced around, looking for clues. To what, she didn’t know. Finally, anger overwhelmed fear and she knew she couldn’t go anywhere with this man.
“You’re lying. Who the hell are you?” She gripped the door handle, peering ahead for the next stop light where she could jump out of the car.
Agent Connelly’s hand dipped into his jacket, and he withdrew a gun, then rested it in his lap aimed at her with one hand as he continued to steer with the other.
“You’re not going anywhere, so don’t even think of jumping out.”
Yasmine’s throat constricted and her stomach turned sour. Fear iced through her limbs until she felt cold all over.
“What do you want with me?” Her voice came out sounding tight and near hysterical.
“Like I said, I’m just taking you in for questioning.”
“Then why are we still heading in the opposite direction of the FBI office?”
“I never said I was taking you there.”
“Then where?”
“Someplace private where you can provide me with the information I need.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“You know plenty about accessing places you shouldn’t, don’t you?”
“I don’t do that anymore, I told you!”
“But you still know how.”
“What difference does that make?”
“You help me gain the access I need to certain information, and I’ll let you go. After I’m finished with you.”
He glanced at her then, and his gaze felt