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PRICE OF FREEDOM

MATT

W ith the burner phone in hand the next day, we dial the number that Merrit gave us.

“Merrit,” she answers with a southern accent.

“Why do you have a different voice?” I ask.

“It’s a voice changer. I’ve got 80 different accents I use, so no one can recognize my voice,” she explains in her Southern twang. “Now, give me details.”

“Tell us your qualifications,” I say. I’m reserved, not wanting to get dumped by another hacker.

“I’m not a hacker, I’m a cyber crime investigator. I use legal methods to obtain my information. Mostly, anyway. I used to work for a government agency, but I freelance on my own now. What do you need?”

“We need you to gain access to Titan Securities interface. An email account was hacked, and we have to know who did it,” Pepper explains.

“Titan Securities,” she muses. I hear typing on a computer.

Simon starts to fuss, so I hold him up and tickle his chest with my nose.

“Huh. They had quite the scandal a couple of months ago. Looks like they need help. I can do it for you.”

“Wait,” I say. “You can do it?”

“Sure. I’ll go in, tell them I’m a cyber crime investigator and offer my services to help them avoid another fiasco like the one that happened a couple of months ago. Then, I’ve been legally approved to sift through their electronic files. Whatever I’ve found can be used in court, because it’s been found through legal means.”

“How are you going to convince them to use you?” Matt inquires.

“I’ve been in the business a long time, Little Women,” she uses Matt’s call name from the hacker chat with a hint of a smile in her voice. “Leave it to me. What email address am I searching?”

She looks at me hesitantly.

“It’s okay, Pepper,” I whisper. She takes a deep breath, then shares, “ [email protected] .”

Your name is safe with me, princess.

“Good girl,” I murmur as I press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Got it. What’s the timeframe I’m looking at?” Merrit asks.

“There were dozens of false emails sent from that account on November 10th. They show offshore accounts where stolen money was being sent and confirmation of insider information sold, but that user didn’t commit any of those crimes.”

“Got it. You’re looking at between $50,000-$100,000 total. I’ll need a money wire transfer of $10,000 before I start.”

“Done,” I agree, and she gives me the address for the wire transfer.

“I’ll let you know the exact price when I find something. I’ll call you back on this phone.” With that, Merrit ends the call.

“$10,000 as a retainer,” she breathes out, and I hug her while I’m holding Simon.

“It’s okay, Jasmine. You’re priceless, so $10,000 is nothing. We’re closer to your freedom.” I kiss the top of her head.

When she is free to go, I hope she chooses to stay with me and Simon.