by Kimbra Swain
“You think she shouldn’t be?” she countered.
“I don’t know, Chat. I just want things to go back to normal,” he said.
“This was a bad move. I’d never thought she might leave Malone, but this. This was too much. You and your brother have gone too far just because of a guy,” she said.
“This is because of Abrego and LeBlanc, not Elliot,” he said.
“Keep telling yourself that. She had both of them handled in that restaurant. She needs to be continuing her efforts to destroy Abrego like she did Pyramid, but you idiots pulled this stunt. I don’t know if she will ever forgive you,” Charity said.
“I hope she does,” he mumbled and stood up. “I’m going to go talk to Sebastian. Maybe we can come up with a way to fix it.”
“You want to fix it? Go get Jamey,” Charity said.
He kissed her, then walked out.
I waited a minute then said, “Pack me a bag.”
“You are leaving?” she asked.
“They need to know what it’s like without me around here,” I said. “And I need to find Jamey. You’ve got to help me get out of here.”
“I already packed a bag. It’s under the bed,” she said.
“I love you,” I said.
“See, you said it to me. Easy peasy.”
“Not the same,” I replied.
“How do you want to do it?” she asked.
I explained to her my plan. She cringed at the thought of deceiving Damien, but I assured her that I knew my brother. He was in love with her, and from his tone, he wasn’t entirely happy with what was going on. Sebastian, as usual, was calling the shots.
Around midnight, she came into the room and informed me that they were both asleep. I always kept a sleep aid in my room, because sometime when I stayed in the office overnight, I couldn’t sleep with the city outside. A couple of pills each in their coffee was inducing happy, sleepy time.
I dressed quickly in jeans and a sweater. I added a coat because Charity said it was cold. Grabbing the bag, I rushed out of the office with Charity past a sleeping Damien on my office couch. We hit the main hallway running. For once, I was upset that the building was so tall. Thirty flights of stairs were daunting, so we took the chance on the elevator. When it opened into the main lobby, the security guard stood.
“Miss Malone, your brother said you were not to leave the building,” he seemed unsure of himself. Forgive me, but I took advantage of it.
“You are fired,” I said. His face went blank and his jaw slackened. As we hit the front doors of the building, I mumbled to Charity, “Make sure he’s not fired.”
“Sebastian,” she said.
“I know. That’s far enough. You go back in or go home. Home is probably better,” I said.
“Be safe. I know you won’t be able to call me, but if you can, I need to know you are okay,” she said. I hugged her and nodded. Turning down the street, I hugged the darkness of the buildings and slipped around the corner. As soon as I came across a cab, I hailed it. I had the driver take me to Jamey’s building. When we pulled up, I saw a Malone SUV across the street. I knew they were watching him. I instructed the driver to take me around to the back. He dropped me off the curb. I paid him in cash. Charity put a large wad of cash in the bag so I was set for a little while.
It was freezing. I was glad I had the coat. I stalked around the side of the building pulling the hood over my head. Jamey’s car was parked in his spot, and I waited. He would come down eventually so I posed as a homeless person huddled up next to his car and the wall of the deck. It was several hours before dawn. Staying alert, I tried to calm myself, wait and plan my next move.
Thirty-One
JAMEY
I grabbed all the cash I had left in my safe, stuffing it into my wallet. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I didn’t know if I’d ever return to this condo. If I could get to Alexa, I hoped to convince her to leave all of this shit behind. It was a long shot, but it was one I had to take.
Riding the elevator down to the lobby, I tried dialing her phone again. No signal in the elevator. Stepping out into the basement which was actually the access to the parking deck, I could see a figure huddled up next to my car. The homeless in this town would find any place they could to keep warm. As I got closer, it was clear that the person was female. I hated it for her, but I’d need her to move, so I could leave.
“Excuse me, Miss. I need to move my car,” I said approaching the car carefully. I didn’t want to be ambushed either.
Turning her head to look at me, long golden locks fell out of her hoodie, and bright green eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Oh, dear god,” I said rushing to her. She tried to stand as I hoisted her up. “Alexa.” I buried my face on her shoulder. She held on to me tight, shivering from the cold.
“I’m so glad I’m not homeless,” she chattered.
Leaning back to look into her face, I asked, “Why are you sleeping in a parking deck?”
“They didn’t know I left. I’m hiding. There is a Malone SUV out front, and I knew I couldn’t go up to your room without alerting my brothers. I’m sure by now they’ve discovered that I’m missing,” she said.
“Get in the car. I’ll turn on the heat,” I said, leading her to the passenger side.
“That’s fine, but don’t go anywhere yet. We need to talk,” she said.
After opening the door for her, I rushed around to the other side. I cranked up the car and blasted the heat, which came out cold at first. I took her hands, rubbing them with mine. Her fingers were like ice. “Okay, talk,” I said.
She reached up and touched the bruised eye that I developed overnight. “I’m sorry for this,” she said.
“You can’t help that they are assholes,” I said.
“They are just trying to protect me; however, they’ve gone too far this time. Charity helped me get out by slipping them some sleeping pills in their coffee. I can’t ride out of this parking deck with you. The men in the SUV will know it’s me, but we need to get on the road. Dump this car somewhere. I have enough cash to buy another one. I have a fake ID with money in accounts in that name. After that, I need to buy a laptop and some equipment. I’m going to lock their sorry asses out of my company. In the meantime, I just want to be with you,” she said.
With those last words, I melted. At first, all these plans I thought I was just a means to an end, but apparently not. Instead of speaking, I leaned over pressing my lips to hers. She responded by wrapping her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. “That is the best way to warm up,” I smiled.
“Hmm, yes. But I’m still cold,” she teased.
Touching her lips with mine, I reached out with my tongue and traced them. Then plunged it into her mouth. She moaned in return.
When I pulled away, she looked at me intently.
“What now?” I asked.
“I need to get in the trunk,” she said.
“Oh, hell no,” I replied. “I’ve got a blanket in the trunk. You can lay down in the seat, and I’ll cover you up.”
“No, if a cop stops you, he will see me,” she said.
“They wouldn’t?” I replied.
“Yes, if they go long enough without finding me, they will call Shepherd,” she assured me.
“Alexa, I hate this idea,” I said.
“What’s the alternative?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not used to hiding my women,” I said. She raised her eyebrows at me.
“Who said I was one of your women?” she asked.
“Your lips just told me. And not one of, the only,” I said. “If we are going to do this, let’s do it.”
She climbed out of the car. As I got out, I noticed a bag sitting where she was. “This your bag?”
“Oh, god, yes! I forgot about it. Put it in the trunk with me,” she said.
I picked it up and popped the trunk open. I grabbed the blanket and helped her climb in. Covering her with the blanket, I put the bag at her feet. I kisse
d her again. “It will be okay,” she assured me. “Just drive north out of town. When we get out of the metro area, we will stop and buy a used car.”
Closing the lid on her made me ache inside. I never wanted to hide her, but I knew I had to get us both out of town. This was exactly what I had planned to do. She was just a few steps ahead of me as usual.
I climbed in the car, waiting for a moment. No, I couldn’t leave her in there. I jumped back out, opening the trunk.
“Get out,” I said.
“No,” she protested. “They can’t see me.”
“I get that, but I’m not driving around with you in the trunk. What if something happened? What if I had a wreck? No, Alexa, I won’t do it,” I said holding my ground.
“What’s going on here?” a man said behind me.
I turned around to see Garrett Shepherd pulling his gun on me. Throwing my hands up to keep from getting shot, I said, “It isn’t what you think!”
“They all say that. Back away from the car, Elliot!” he yelled at me.
“Shep, stop! This was my idea,” she proclaimed, climbing out. She stood between me and him. He immediately lowered his gun.
“Lexi, get out of the way,” he said firmly.
“Sebastian drugged me,” she said.
“What?”
“I figured he didn’t tell you that part. I ran from them. He’s lost his mind worried about Jamey and me,” she said.
“Seems to me he should be worried. You were in his trunk!” he said frustrated. “I came to question Elliot about your disappearance when I heard him talking out here.”
“It’s the only way I could think of to get away,” she said approaching him.
“Alexa, don’t get too close,” I begged. Knowing Shepherd, he would snatch her away from me.
“Shep, you aren’t going to do anything here. I’m fine. I’m where I want to be,” she said.
“You need to go back to Malone,” he said.
“I am Malone,” she replied. “They think they’ve locked me out, but I have a surprise for them. Please help me, Shep. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
“Sure of what? Him?” he asked.
“Me?” I echoed.
“Yes, you. Damn you both,” she smiled.
“What can I do?” Shepherd said putting his gun away.
“We gotta get out of here. I need to get out of town, buy some computer equipment and hack into my own company,” she declared.
“Where will you go?” he asked.
“Just out of town. I can’t tell you,” she said.
He growled and paced with his hands on his hips. “Okay, get in the back of the car. Not in the trunk. Give me five minutes, and I’ll follow after I tell the Malone guys to report back to Sebastian that Elliot left the building without you.”
“I owe you,” she said.
“No, Alexa, you don’t,” he said.
I knew then that Shepherd was a good man. More than anything, he loved her. I could completely understand that feeling. “I promise to take care of her,” I said.
“Oh, please,” she groaned climbing into the backseat of the car.
“You better, Elliot. I’d go to prison for her,” he said.
I grabbed the blanket out of the trunk, then slammed it shut. Shepherd took off back into the building. Throwing the blanket over her, I realized she was still shivering. “First stop is coffee,” I said.
“Sounds good. Thank you, Jamey,” she said.
“For what?”
“Making me get out the trunk. The thought of having an attack had already settled on me. I had already started to fight it,” she admitted.
“No more attacks!” I proclaimed. She laughed and covered her head with the blanket. I waited a couple of minutes then pulled out of the deck, driving at a casual pace. After a few blocks, I saw a dark blue unmarked cruiser following us. “I can see him behind us. No SUV.”
I hit the ramp for I-75 North. As I drove, I kept an eye on Shepherd. Once we reached Towne Center, I knew there was a computer store there. “There is an electronics store at the next exit. Do you want to stop?” I asked.
“Is he still following us?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “But I’m not sure where another one might be.”
“Go ahead and stop. I’ll tell him to go back saying he lost you or something,” she said.
As I pulled into a parking spot, I turned around to see if anyone was paying attention. “You can come out,” I said.
She pulled the blanket off, and for a moment, her hair was wild around her head before she quickly smoothed it down. Visions of wild hair, sweaty with hot sex and colliding bodies flashed through my head. I wanted her so bad now that even the slightest thing sent my imagination into deep desires of sticky sex.
“What’s wrong with you?” her voice broke through.
“Nothing. Let’s talk to Shepherd,” he replied.
“I know that look, Elliot,” she said playfully.
“What look?” he said.
“I’ve seen it on a lot of men,” she said.
“You’ve never seen it on me,” I replied.
The devil crossed her face in a smile. “Just did.”
“Where is he?” I asked as his phone buzzed. “Hello.”
“If you let anything happen to her, I’ll kill you myself,” Shepherd’s voice came through the phone.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I lost track of you,” Shepherd said, which by his tone was clearly a lie.
“Thank you, Shep,” I replied, then hung up the phone.
Thirty-Two
ALEXA
Using the cash I’d brought with me, I purchased two laptops, a router, several burner cell phones, multiple thumb drives and various cables. We jumped back in the car to head to our destination. My anxiety bubbled to the surface, and I pushed it back down.
“Alexa, you okay?” Jamey asked squeezing my hand.
“Just nervous about all of this,” I replied.
“I'll be gentle,” he smirked.
“That's the only part of this I'm not worried about,” I admitted. In fact, the sooner I worked off this frustration, the better off I’d be. However, the hack needed to come first.
While in college, I joined a social group of tech nerds. Only they weren't innocent societal misfits. They were hackers. I paired my mind for business with their skills, and we got into more systems just to see if we could rarely doing any major damage. However, cracking codes and systems became an addiction. Soon the nerds were chasing me to try to keep up with the skill I’d developed.
Little did I know the world I’d gotten myself into, but it didn’t matter because I was extremely good at it. Something about my keen business sense from my parents combined with my photographic memory, I could break into anything I wanted. I once went head to head with someone that was described as the best ever. I beat him. Then I hired him. Humphrey.
However, I never told Humphrey I was the one that beat him. Mainly because I did it to cause him doubt. I didn’t think he’d ever take a job at my company while he thought he was the best. Looking back, it was pretty damn manipulative, but I’d been doing that my whole career.
It was time to hack my own systems at Malone. I knew exactly who I was up against and how to beat him.
We kept going up I-75. I logged on to the internet with a fake cell phone account we picked up at the electronics store. I booked us a cabin near Lookout Mountain on the Georgia-Tennessee line.
After getting our key to the cabin, we found the little place nestled on the edge of a wonderful lookout. The interior of the cabin was surprisingly modern. It looked cozy, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it. I started setting up my equipment while Jamey brought in our bags. He watched me, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that if I didn’t hurry this up, he would delay my progress to engage in other activities.
“How can I help?” he asked.
“Honestly, be quiet and
don’t distract me,” I replied.
“I’m already distracting you,” he said quirking an eyebrow at me. For a moment, I paused to look at his face. He seemed very different from the arrogant man who not too long ago flat-out refused my help to save his company. Still handsome, just lighter.
“That you are,” I replied with a smile. “I would say watch and learn, but this takes years. So, watch and admire.”
“Oh, I’m admiring. I’m doing all kinds of admiring,” he grinned.
I took a deep breath and sat down on the picnic-style bench before my main laptop on the dining room table. I start by downloading a program I had hidden in cyberspace to engage in a DDoS attack against Malone’s main website. Javier mentioned how badly the servers lagged after the news hit that I’d taken over Bright. I hoped to make the servers lag again, then start the backdoor attack into the mainframe of the company. Fortunately, the last time I’d looked, Humphrey, The R34P3R hadn’t updated any of my original protocols. In fact, he told me they were fantastic. No need to break my own code since I already knew its ins and outs. My fight would be his fingers against mine. He would realize very quickly that I was moving in.
However, he wouldn’t know that he was fighting his boss, Alexandra Malone, a.k.a. PH03N1X, the only one who ever beat him. As I suspected, he caught on to the hack. I was already into security systems for the building.
“Watch,” I said. I clicked a few buttons on my secondary laptop which projected the image of the server room and IT lab at Malone on the flat screen television in the cabin. Humphrey typed away, giving orders to Javier who took another desktop. Both of them were trying to keep me out. My second target involved locking out all the financials of the company. I hated it for my employees because none of them would be able to use a credit card for a week or so after this hack.
Once I’d completed the attacks that I wanted to do, I decided to have a little fun with Humphrey. I commandeered the main monitor in the IT lab. The screen went black and green letters typed across it.
“Hello R34P3R, remember me?”
Jamey straddled the bench next to me. I stared at him for a moment. He was damn distracting. He smirked, and I wanted to slap him. I wanted to do a lot more than smack him.