Page 32

Roxanne

I drive toward my old apartment with a growing sense of dread.

The early morning light is a contrast against the gray streets.

Leonard sits in the passenger seat beside me, watching me worriedly as if he can sense the turmoil raging inside me.

I barely notice his concerned glances. My mind is fixed on the IP address we discovered and the reality that someone’s trying to frame me.

When we pull up outside, the place looks as worn as I remember, but I haven’t been here in months.

I left without much of a goodbye, just an excuse about work that Spike didn’t believe.

I’d always meant to explain things properly, but somehow, I never did.

Now, as I step out of the car, I’m not sure what kind of welcome we’ll get.

We reach the door, and I raise my hand to ring the bell, but it swings open before I can touch it. Spike’s standing there, his eyes red-rimmed and watery, and a scowl already pulling at his lips.

“Well, well,” he mutters, leaning against the doorframe wearing a smirk mixed with hurt and annoyance. “If it isn’t Roxanne, the great Houdini. Decided to reappear out of thin air, huh?”

“Spike, I’m here because something important came up, not to bring up old arguments,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. I’ve never liked how confrontations with him go, but there’s no getting around it now.

“Right,” he scoffs. “And you decided to come at six in the morning with him ?” He nods toward Leonard, giving him a hard look.

Leonard steps forward, hand outstretched in his usual businesslike manner, but Spike just stares at it with raised eyebrows.

I feel an uncomfortable sense of guilt. This was my home for years, and Spike was my friend and my roommate.

But I hadn’t been honest with him, and now I’m here with Leonard, looking for a back door to a breach in my system I didn’t even know existed.

“Spike, I’m not here to fight with you. We need to check something inside. It’s related to work, but it’s…well, it’s personal too,” I explain, hoping he’ll understand. “Please. This is serious.”

He looks between us, still suspicious, but something softens in his gaze. Maybe the part of him that still had a crush on me hasn’t quite disappeared. I feel bad manipulating his feelings for me, but right now, I’d do anything to make this problem go away.

“Fine,” he mutters, stepping back to let us in. “But I don’t know what you’re hoping to find here. The place hasn’t exactly been quiet since you left.”

I walk through the doorway and into the familiar chaos of a party that died down a few hours ago.

A few people are scattered across the living room—some slumped on the couch, others sprawled on the floor.

The remains of last night’s party are everywhere: empty beer cans, pizza boxes, and, of course, someone still playing on the PlayStation, the screen is flashing with a racing game.

I shake my head. Some things never change.

Spike gives me a pointed look. “Good luck finding anything here. The internet went out about a month ago. Had to get some guy to fix it. He was here for ages, messing with all sorts of cables and God knows what.”

“A month ago?” My voice is sharper than I intended, and Spike raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Why?”

I exchange a look with Leonard, my mind whirring.

“After we discovered that the breach started from the third-party software. It can’t be a coincidence that it pinged my old IP address.

Whoever this technician was must have set it up then.

It’s easy to mess with the internet and pretend it doesn’t work properly. ”

“Did they call you, or did you call the internet provider?” Leonard asks Spike.

They lock in a staring contest for long moment, but it’s Spike that gives up first. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at their childish behavior.

“That’s the weird part. He showed up at the door saying they were doing some kind of work in the neighborhood and he needed to check our connection. We didn’t even have time to call them,” he says, frowning.

Leonard gives me a meaningful look. “Because he couldn’t answer the internet provider company’s call, so he intercepted them before they could do anything.”

Spike’s eyes narrow as he processes this. “He was very convincing, and we had no doubt he was someone legit. So, you think this guy used my apartment to hack…what, your company?”

He looks at Leonard in disbelief, and Leonard shifts uncomfortably.

I know there’s no good blood between them, but the accusatory tone in my ex-roommate’s voice is obviously grating on his nerves more than it should.

It’s not just my freedom at stake right now—his company’s credibility is on the line too.

“Not exactly,” I say, jumping over a couple of passed-out partygoers as I make my way to the router.

“It’s more like they used my network as a cover.

But they didn’t know I have a secret back door to every network I put up.

It lets me trace any traffic back to its original source.

A bit of a simplification, but more or less, that’s how it works. ”

Spike scratches his head, still looking bewildered. “Okay…so, you’re saying you can find out who’s really behind this?”

Leonard is unusually quiet. I want to reach out and hold his hand, but I know that while it would be acceptable in the privacy of his home, it’s a different matter in public.

He has to maintain his business mogul facade, and sometimes I feel sorry for him.

The situation doesn’t look good for my freedom, but I can’t forget that this is his life, and he is watching it crumble before his eyes.

“That’s the idea.” I pull out my laptop and connect it to the router. The network boots up slowly, like it’s too tired of the PlayStation, too, and I begin running a trace through my backdoor software. I can feel Leonard’s gaze on me, waiting, but I focus on the screen.

After what seems like an eternity, I pinpoint the ping’s origin. My heart sinks as I recognize the source. I don’t know whether to laugh or scream.

“It’s from your company.” The words come out strained, full of confusion and frustration that almost spills out of me in waves. It doesn’t make sense. Why would someone from within Leonard’s own company be going to such lengths to frame me?

Leonard leans over, staring at the screen, his expression a mix of shock and anger. “This can’t be right. I would know if there was someone inside working against us.”

“Unless it’s someone very high up or very well hidden,” I mutter, my mind racing through the possibilities. The company’s secure, but I know better than anyone that no system is unbreakable.

Spike crosses his arms, watching us both with a smug expression. “So, let me get this straight. Some big-shot tech company is hacking through my crappy Wi-Fi?”

“Not hacking, exactly. More like using it as a disguise,” I say, rubbing my temples. “They’re trying to make it look like I’m the one behind this breach. And if the FBI finds out…”

Spike’s face darkens as he realizes the gravity of what I’m saying. “So, what now?”

I look at Leonard, who’s still staring at the screen in disbelief. “Now,” I say, steeling myself, “we figure out who’s behind this inside your company. Because if they’ve gone to these lengths, they’re not just trying to sabotage us—they’re trying to destroy me.”

And that thought is scary enough to consider leaving the country.