Deal

He began to move toward it but Dagger blocked his path. Hack picked up the drawer and turned it upside down.

“It’s empty. See?” He stuck it in the man’s face.

“Looks can be deceiving. Newbie?” The man directed his question to Dagger, who nodded slightly. “Ah, so you’re another slave to this hell hole. That’s a shame. Give me the drawer, boy.”

“No.”

The man lunged forward only to have Hack slam the drawer down on his head. It snapped in two and the gun fell out; Dagger cursed as she caught it.

He appeared to be dazed while he recovered, his eyes widening and he pulled at the radio on his hip, “I’m closing this place down and reporting you immediately!”

“No, you aren’t.” Dagger pointed the gun at him with a sigh. Hack noticed that she appeared to be rather comfortable with her finger stroking the trigger, “You aren’t because then, I will kill you. If I see so much as a report, I will make it as if you never existed. Got that?”

“I’m not afraid---”

Three bullets were embedded into the ceiling above them, shattering one of the lights in the process. Dagger was prepared to show him that she wasn’t bluffing. The man motioned for his men to back down with a wave of his hand.

“We’re finished here anyway. I saw nothing.” He grumbled.

“Good man, but I will be checking those reports, you can count on that. Now get out of here!” She studied the man as he teetered on his feet before waving the Dogs over to rush out of the room. Slowly, after watching the men file out, she sat down at her computer with her face in her hands.

“Next time, Hack, don’t help me and keep your mouth shut.” She sighed. Her words seemed heavy, as if she suddenly realized what she had just done. “Stay on the website in case they’re still checking out the computer status then you can both continue on your assignments.” Hack saw her fingers hovering over the keyboard and her eyes staring blankly at the screen. It was obvious that something was probing at her thoughts but she was unwilling to voice them. Instead, her thumb held the power button and stood once the computer went dark.

“You know what, I’m going to allow an early day. You can stay on the computers or you can get to your rooms,” she smiled slightly before wandering out of the room. Ducky began to head out, ready to take advantage of the early day but Hack stopped him to ask a question.

“Who are the Dogs?”

“The Dogs come every now and then with surprise visits because of Base 1. He isn’t exactly the nicest man. Well, more so now than he was in the past. Base 1 bought this place and the dogs have been hounding him ever since to make sure he doesn’t slip up but, they don’t know that this place is what you could call a hacking headquarters. They think it’s some old computer operators office because we’ve tried to maintain that as our story for several years. Last time they came, Dagger freaked out which isn’t unusual but it was different for some reason. Base probably told her to tone it down this time. Anyway, I’ve asked her about it but all she ever tells me is that it’s what Base would want her to do. With all the experiments he held years ago, I almost wouldn’t doubt it,” Ducky walked out the door to avoid any further questions and waved. “See you tomorrow.”

Hack tried to understand everything. It was only his first day and all these questions were swarming inside of his head. The whole place seemed to scream at him to get out before it was too late but his curiosity only drew him in deeper. He wandered through the various halls, unsure of where to go since he hadn’t been told where his room was. The quiet helped to give him time to think. Maybe this is where he needed to be, maybe this is where he belonged.

Author's Note

Still editing

Reviews

[Jacques]

this was an entertaining chapter to read - you're best yet . i loved where Hack thought Dagger felt too comfortable holding the gun and i like the progression between Hack and Ducky . Dagger seems like someone you really don't wanna mess with you and all this makes me love this book even more .

[Daytonight]

Very enjoyable book!