Page 113 of Hacking His Code

He snickers. “Hired? As if I’m getting paid. I got roped into this over twenty years ago, when Lucy dragged me into it.”

“Lucy? Did you know her?”

“I was in New York a lot, and sometime after Ernestine got with Rand, Lucy contacted me, asking to go out…quietly. I told her I was game, and we hooked up a few times. Then, she brought me to a sex club. I thought it was super sexy that Ernestine’s quiet sister was a fucking sex maniac…then I found out she was videotaping things. Things that could get me into a lot of trouble.”

“So she blackmailed you…”

Chet’s nostrils flare with anger. “That bitch got what was coming to her.”

“What did you do?”

“She was asking me for things—favors. Information from people I was connected to. We were at her apartment, and she played a video of me doing lines of coke with…questionable people. It would have destroyed my career.”

“So…you killed her?”

“We went out to lunch, and I slipped some hemlock into her food. Shortly after, I went to the bathroom, taking her bag without her noticing. I slipped away, standing in an alley to watch the scene unfold.”

“But she didn’t die at a restaurant…”

“She was picked up by authorities. I knew she’d die in custody, so I rushed to her apartment and planted evidence from her bag of her dealings with various foreign groups, so they wouldn’t look close to home. I stole her computer, in case there was anything incriminating against me on it. Then I called the cops and told them to check on the apartment, that it was giving off a suspicious odor, knowing the FBI wouldn’t be able to sweep it under the rug if local cops broke the case. I guess I wanted to hurt Rand and Ernestine.”

“But…that doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t they report Lucy’s death?”

“It’s the fucking FBI. They play by their own rules.”

“Why are you here now? Kidnapping me.”

“Two months ago, someone sent me videos of my time at the club and told me that if I didn’t do everything asked of me, they’d release it. They gave me all the things I needed and said there’d even be a reward in it for me.”

“So, you’ve been behind all the emails to Hunter?”

“Yeah. They helped me prove I was her by providing code.”

“You may think you’ll be able to sleep after what you do to me, but what do you think they’ll have you do next? You’re never going to be free from whatever master you’ve taken.”

He pauses. I can tell I’ve rattled him.

His phone buzzes, and he looks down. “Download’s complete, and now it’s on to the bosses.”

“Masters,” I say.

He puts down his phone and raises his gun, and I prepare to launch myself into the bathroom.

Crack!

Chet falls forward, the gun falling to the floor.

It takes me a moment to realize the bullet hit a wall and not my body. Relieved, I look up to see one of the men who took me captive at Hunter’s behest standing over Chet who is crumpled on the floor.

The hired muscle looks up at me. “Am I gonna hafta put a bag over your head this time, miss?”

Armed men flood the room, restraining Chet and taking his personal belongings.

A muscular man grabs me by the arm, pulling me from the bed. “Name’s Snake, and I’m gonna get you to safety.”

“Move aside! Move aside!” someone shouts from the hall, and I look up to see Hunter.

“Let me through!” he says, hurrying to me.