Beloved Predator (Beloved Series #2)

Four

Ari

Patrick's face paled as he took the dollar from my hand and placed it on the dining room table.  He walked to his padfolio and wrote on a blank sheet of paper, tore it off, and then handed it to me.

"Our conversation is protected by attorney-client privilege," he said quietly.  "What's going on?"

"I hacked the Secretary of Defense's email and the Department of Defense's network."

He blinked.  "Recently?"

I took a deep breath and started to pace.  "When I was twelve, I joined a group of hackers.  We were fairly harmless at first, just seeing what networks we could get into and what information we could find."

"But?"

"When I was thirteen, I designed a system that activated when a user triggered certain criteria on the internet, such as visiting a certain website.  It would then trace the IP address to the computer and then intercept data.  I called it Jana, named after the Roman goddess of secrets.  At first the data that was intercepted was harmless."

"Until it wasn't."

I laughed humorlessly.  "Until it intercepted data off the DOD network, including a password file that allowed me to access the Secretary's email.  Took the FBI less than a week to find me.  I was arrested a few weeks before my fourteenth birthday."

"But you're not in jail."

"My dad worked out a deal with the US Attorney assigned to the case.  The only way he was able to swing it was because of who he was and where he worked."

"You've never mentioned anything about your dad or what he did.  Do I even want to know?"

"He worked for the NSA investigating cyberterrorism and keeping government networks secure," I explained.  "When I got arrested it was kept quiet because the last thing anyone wanted made public was the thirteen-year-old daughter of an NSA operative getting arrested for hacking into the same networks her father was supposed to keep secure.  They also kept it quiet because I had something they wanted.  That's how my dad was able to work out the deal that kept me out of jail."

"What did they want?"

"Jana.  The NSA was very interested in the data interception functionality.  The only problem was the FBI seized the box and refused to turn it over.  So, my dad had to work out two deals, one with the FBI and one with the NSA.  The deal with the FBI kept me out of jail in exchange for me identifying the leaders of the hacker group."

"And the deal with the NSA?"

"The code for Jana."

"Then why was there a virus on your laptop looking for Jana?"

"That's where this comes in," I replied, holding up the piece of paper he handed me.  "When I was arrested, they version one."

His eyes widened.  "Version one?  Ari—"

"After I was released, I regrouped.  Learned from my mistakes.  Version two launched the night I graduated high school.  It's still running."

"Key West?"

"It was, but there was too great a risk because of the hurricanes.  All I can tell you is that it's in a secure location.  And it needs to stay that way until I know exactly what I'm dealing with here.  Very few people knew specifically that version two existed."