Exploited
Page 59
I heard a soft intake of air on the other end. As if Hannah was sucking in a breath.
To let me down easily?
To tell me to go fuck off?
“Sure. You can be my boyfriend, Mason,” Hannah murmured, and I relaxed.
“Yeah?” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
“Yeah,” she agreed quietly but surely.
This was a definite.
We were a definite.
“Now that that’s established, your boyfriend will be by at eight o’clock.”
“Sounds good. I can’t wait to see you.” She sounded sincere. I knew she meant it.
She was all in.
Just like me.
After we hung up, I knew that I wanted to do something for Hannah. Something romantic and unexpected.
She was having a tough day at the office. She sounded tense.
I remembered my mother telling me, when I was fifteen and dating Sandy Wallis, that girls always liked flowers. It let them know you were thinking about them.
I had been deficient in the flowers department. The wilted bouquet I had given Hannah on our first date definitely didn’t count.
So I would have the biggest bunch of flowers I could afford sent to her at work as a surprise.
I knew that Hannah worked at the Western Railways main office downtown but wasn’t sure which floor. I opened a browser and found the number for Western Railways and dialed.
“Western Railways, Tamara speaking. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Tamara, I’m trying to find out what floor my girlfriend works on. I want to send her flowers. She’s having a rough day.”
“Aww, that’s so nice of you,” Tamara gushed. “What’s her name? It’s a small office, so I probably know her.”
“Hannah Whelan,” I told her. I pulled up a website for a local florist and found a bouquet that was perfect. Orchids and daisies instead of roses. They suited Hannah perfectly.
“Hmm, I don’t know a Hannah. Maybe she’s new. Let me have a look for you,” Tamara said.
“She works for Brandon Healey, if that helps,” I offered.
“Brandon Healey?” she asked, sounding confused.
“Yes, as his admin. He’s the CEO, right?”
“Yes, he is, but his administrative assistant is a man. Are you sure that’s who she works for?”
The voice was yelling at me again. So loudly, my head felt full. My heart started to beat quickly. “I’m sure that’s who she said she worked for, but maybe I got it wrong. Or she moved departments and didn’t tell me.”
I could hear Tamara clicking on her computer. “Well, I can tell you that we don’t have a Hannah Whelan who works for Western Railways.”
“Do you have any other offices?”
“Sir, there’s no Hannah Whelan in the company. I did a staff search and she didn’t come up. I’m not sure what to tell you—”
I hung up the phone.
Hannah didn’t work for Western Railways.
Why would Hannah lie about that?
Because she’s got something to hide. The voice taunted me. Derided me for being so blind.
Everyone has secrets. I knew that all too well.
So what were hers?
Chapter 18
Hannah
I called in to work. I lied. Said I was sick. No one would care. I was a nonentity. My presence wouldn’t be missed. Definitely not by Chuck Bennett. Nor anyone else.
Except Kyle. He’d notice. But that didn’t matter.
I had other things to do.
My other life was becoming increasingly demanding.
Last week I had set up a dummy chat room to replace the one that was compromised. The encryption was minimal, making discovery easy if the person knew what they were looking for.
And Mason Kohler knew exactly what he was looking for.
After discovering the information in the Freedom Overdrive file in Mason’s briefcase, I had sent an email to Toxicwrath.
From: 12080512alwcawunitynet
Subject: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:24
To: 06050900oneforallunitynet
We can discuss the new bike for sale, but I’m concerned about the location. Perhaps somewhere with fewer lights?
Let me know when you’ve chosen a spot.
Regards.
Toxicwrath responded almost immediately.
From: 06050900oneforallunitynet
Subject: Re: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:28
To: 12080512alwcawunitynet
What about Key West? That sounds nice. Talk to you soon.
Key West.
That had bothered me.
For very personal reasons.
Ones that I had purposefully not thought about in a long, long time.
—
“My aunt has this awesome place in Key West. We should go sometime,” Rose suggested.
I was hunched over the computer, typing away. I was working on a new piece of code. One that could do serious damage to the right people.
“Hannah, give that stuff a rest for a little while. You’ve been sitting there for over ten hours. It’s the weekend.” Rose got up from the bed and came to stand beside me, watching me.
“Huh?” I asked, not really hearing her. Rose put her hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it away, annoyed by the distraction. The truth was my roommate had been bugging me for a while. She had become pushy. Invasive. I wasn’t sure what her problem was, but I was focused on Freedom Overdrive. I had thought we were on the same page.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Spring break is coming up soon. Maybe we could—”
“Look, I want to finish this up. I’m so close to being done. Have you talked to the other Lomaxians? Are they going to help me?” I looked up at her, barely registering the hurt on her face. I didn’t really care what could have caused it.
Rose turned her attention to the window. “They think the move is risky. I’m not sure I’m okay putting my time and effort into something so high profile.”
I frowned. “But you assured me they’d be on board. That you were on board with this.”
Rose faced me again, her eyes serious. “I’m only looking out for you.”
I turned back to the computer, shutting her out. “I don’t need you to look out for me,” I said coldly.
—
Toxicwrath’s use of a place name I wished never to think about again left me feeling cold.
To let me down easily?
To tell me to go fuck off?
“Sure. You can be my boyfriend, Mason,” Hannah murmured, and I relaxed.
“Yeah?” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
“Yeah,” she agreed quietly but surely.
This was a definite.
We were a definite.
“Now that that’s established, your boyfriend will be by at eight o’clock.”
“Sounds good. I can’t wait to see you.” She sounded sincere. I knew she meant it.
She was all in.
Just like me.
After we hung up, I knew that I wanted to do something for Hannah. Something romantic and unexpected.
She was having a tough day at the office. She sounded tense.
I remembered my mother telling me, when I was fifteen and dating Sandy Wallis, that girls always liked flowers. It let them know you were thinking about them.
I had been deficient in the flowers department. The wilted bouquet I had given Hannah on our first date definitely didn’t count.
So I would have the biggest bunch of flowers I could afford sent to her at work as a surprise.
I knew that Hannah worked at the Western Railways main office downtown but wasn’t sure which floor. I opened a browser and found the number for Western Railways and dialed.
“Western Railways, Tamara speaking. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Tamara, I’m trying to find out what floor my girlfriend works on. I want to send her flowers. She’s having a rough day.”
“Aww, that’s so nice of you,” Tamara gushed. “What’s her name? It’s a small office, so I probably know her.”
“Hannah Whelan,” I told her. I pulled up a website for a local florist and found a bouquet that was perfect. Orchids and daisies instead of roses. They suited Hannah perfectly.
“Hmm, I don’t know a Hannah. Maybe she’s new. Let me have a look for you,” Tamara said.
“She works for Brandon Healey, if that helps,” I offered.
“Brandon Healey?” she asked, sounding confused.
“Yes, as his admin. He’s the CEO, right?”
“Yes, he is, but his administrative assistant is a man. Are you sure that’s who she works for?”
The voice was yelling at me again. So loudly, my head felt full. My heart started to beat quickly. “I’m sure that’s who she said she worked for, but maybe I got it wrong. Or she moved departments and didn’t tell me.”
I could hear Tamara clicking on her computer. “Well, I can tell you that we don’t have a Hannah Whelan who works for Western Railways.”
“Do you have any other offices?”
“Sir, there’s no Hannah Whelan in the company. I did a staff search and she didn’t come up. I’m not sure what to tell you—”
I hung up the phone.
Hannah didn’t work for Western Railways.
Why would Hannah lie about that?
Because she’s got something to hide. The voice taunted me. Derided me for being so blind.
Everyone has secrets. I knew that all too well.
So what were hers?
Chapter 18
Hannah
I called in to work. I lied. Said I was sick. No one would care. I was a nonentity. My presence wouldn’t be missed. Definitely not by Chuck Bennett. Nor anyone else.
Except Kyle. He’d notice. But that didn’t matter.
I had other things to do.
My other life was becoming increasingly demanding.
Last week I had set up a dummy chat room to replace the one that was compromised. The encryption was minimal, making discovery easy if the person knew what they were looking for.
And Mason Kohler knew exactly what he was looking for.
After discovering the information in the Freedom Overdrive file in Mason’s briefcase, I had sent an email to Toxicwrath.
From: 12080512alwcawunitynet
Subject: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:24
To: 06050900oneforallunitynet
We can discuss the new bike for sale, but I’m concerned about the location. Perhaps somewhere with fewer lights?
Let me know when you’ve chosen a spot.
Regards.
Toxicwrath responded almost immediately.
From: 06050900oneforallunitynet
Subject: Re: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:28
To: 12080512alwcawunitynet
What about Key West? That sounds nice. Talk to you soon.
Key West.
That had bothered me.
For very personal reasons.
Ones that I had purposefully not thought about in a long, long time.
—
“My aunt has this awesome place in Key West. We should go sometime,” Rose suggested.
I was hunched over the computer, typing away. I was working on a new piece of code. One that could do serious damage to the right people.
“Hannah, give that stuff a rest for a little while. You’ve been sitting there for over ten hours. It’s the weekend.” Rose got up from the bed and came to stand beside me, watching me.
“Huh?” I asked, not really hearing her. Rose put her hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it away, annoyed by the distraction. The truth was my roommate had been bugging me for a while. She had become pushy. Invasive. I wasn’t sure what her problem was, but I was focused on Freedom Overdrive. I had thought we were on the same page.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Spring break is coming up soon. Maybe we could—”
“Look, I want to finish this up. I’m so close to being done. Have you talked to the other Lomaxians? Are they going to help me?” I looked up at her, barely registering the hurt on her face. I didn’t really care what could have caused it.
Rose turned her attention to the window. “They think the move is risky. I’m not sure I’m okay putting my time and effort into something so high profile.”
I frowned. “But you assured me they’d be on board. That you were on board with this.”
Rose faced me again, her eyes serious. “I’m only looking out for you.”
I turned back to the computer, shutting her out. “I don’t need you to look out for me,” I said coldly.
—
Toxicwrath’s use of a place name I wished never to think about again left me feeling cold.
