Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) (19 page)

Chapter 40

K
ai slowly made her way to Levy’s office. As she passed the door leading to the back alley, she noticed it was open. Every fiber of her being told her to run, to forget about talking to Levy. His money was missing—again. She should get out and save herself. Levy would kill someone today. Why hang around and let it be her?

But if she ran, where could she go that would be safe? If she left, Levy would think she was the one who took it. No, if she hoped to have a chance of making it through this day, she had to stick around. She had to tell him she wasn’t the one responsible, and she could prove it. If he’d listen. Kai knew whose fault it was. She felt sorry for him.

Her footsteps echoed as she passed through the hall and headed up the stairs. Levy’s office door stood open. He sat at his computer, working. She tapped on the doorframe.

Levy glanced up at her. “Yes?”

Kai took a few steps into the office, avoiding the death rug in the center of the floor. She didn’t want to end up in the city landfill, rolled up like Ryan.

“Sir, I was going over last night’s deposits from Jasper’s. I found a problem, I think.”

“You think?” Now his full attention was on Kai. “What do you mean
you think
?”

Kai raised one hand to fend off the expected outburst. “Did you happen to move any money yesterday out of the Abuja account?”

Levy leapt to his feet, fists pushed into the desktop. “No. Are you telling me, you lost my money again?”

Kai instinctively backed up. “I didn’t, but—”

“But what? How much is missing?” He yelled each question at her.

“Everything that was there as of yesterday, over six million dollars.” Kai jumped as Levy’s arm swung to the side, shoving his monitor across the desk and onto the floor.

“How? How did you lose my money?” His face flushed bright red. His glare burned into her.

Kai raised both arms in defense. “They used your password, logged in as you. Just like last time.”

“Last time!” His head pivoted toward his computer. “Sara. That little—when I find her, I’m going to make her suffer like no one ever has. She’ll beg for death.” Levy breathed hard for several seconds, his attention shifting between the dead monitor and Kai.

She stood as still as a statue. Was she in the clear? Would she live to see tomorrow or the next hour?

“How’d she get my new password and account number?”

“Not sure. Most likely, she hacked into your computer.”

Levy glanced at the monitor again before grabbing his phone and punching in a few numbers. “Seth, get your rear to my office.”

He glared at Kai as he waited. “Get over here, and find out how she got in.”

She glanced down at the cracked monitor. “I’ll need to get a working display.”

“Then get it.”

By the time Kai made it back with one of Sara’s monitors, Seth was standing on the death rug, being grilled by Levy.

She moved past him and over to the desk, connecting the monitor while Levy yelled and made demands.

“You guaranteed no one could hack into my computer. So, how did Sara get in?”

Seth—or “Sloth”, as Kai thought of him—stood with his hands in his pockets. His belly hung over his waistband, and food stains covered his T-shirt. He was an adequate programmer, but he went too much by the book. And he was a slob. Worst of all, he had complete confidence that he was the best programmer around.

He arrogantly replied, “Mr. Levy, I installed the top of the line anti-piracy software on your system. It would take months for anyone to break through it. Sara had to have gotten her information some other way.”

Kai internally shook her head.
You don’t talk to Levy that way, ever
. But Sloth’s information was useful. If Sara broke in after the installation of the anti-piracy software, it meant she had to have placed a backdoor on Levy’s computer before the software was installed.

Kai ran a checksum on the operating system kernel files, then remotely logged into a different system in the building with the same operating system and did the same test. They didn’t match. She checked the file sizes; a few of Levy’s files were larger, enough larger to hide a program.

“Found it.” Kai stared at the results on her screen.

Levy turned away from Sloth and moved to stand behind her. “What do you have?”

Seth took a few steps closer as well.

“She hid a backdoor within the kernel. She must have done it when she broke into your office before she left.”

“That’s not my fault. If the system was corrupted when I took it over, it’s her fault.” Seth pointed at Kai.

Levy slowly turned his attention back to Seth. “You failed to fix the problem. Your laziness cost me far more than your life is worth.” Levy pulled out his phone. “Vance, get up here right away. I have someone for you to take care of.”

Seth nervously glanced toward the door. “You aren’t putting me in that chair. She’s the one that lost your money, not me.”

Levy reached for his gun.

Seth rushed for the door.

The room filled with a loud boom.

***

His left leg gave out as the bullet passed through just above the knee, and he stumbled. Seth collapsed on the floor, screaming in pain.

Levy absently observed him crying and holding his leg, then turned to Kai. “First, clear up my computer. Make sure no one, especially Sara, can ever hack in again. Then find my money. If you can’t, you will join Seth.”

Kai didn’t respond. She tried to focus her attention on the computer. Sloth’s crying and whimpering only added to her increasing fears. She knew she could fix the computer, but finding the money was a different story. Sara was too smart to make the same mistake twice.

Kai started thinking of running. If Levy was preoccupied with Sara, she might make it. She jumped as Levy’s voice startled her back to reality. “You find her?”

Mike stepped over Seth, and Russell followed.

Levy moved away from her and around to the front of his desk.

“I think so.” Mike smiled.

“Where?” Levy sounded skeptical.

Mike nodded toward Russell. “Tell him what you saw.”

Russell was fixated on Seth.

“Well?” Levy demanded.

Russell glanced up. “Yeah, I saw Sara yesterday.”

Levy took a step forward. “Yesterday—where?”

Russell kept glancing down at Seth. “On Downing Street near Thirtieth.”

“You sure it was her?” Levy’s excitement was evident.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. She was right next to the bus I was on, not more than three feet away.”

Mike stepped in. “It’s close to Derry Conway’s house, just a couple blocks away. He’s the third person on the list.”

“Finally. Call Jarred and Ben to come back immediately. Then get over to this Conway’s house. Make sure Sara’s there before you move in. I need her alive and able to talk. Is that clear?”

“That’s risky. It would be better to just finish her off along with Conway.”

“She’s got my money. I need her to talk before I kill her.”

“What do you want done with her friend? We can’t leave loose ends.”

“Bring him in, too. He might be useful.”

Levy peered over at Russell. “You work for
me
, right?”

Russell stared at Seth bleeding on the floor. “Ah—yes, sir.”

“Tell me what you saw here today.”

Russell hesitated before glancing up at Levy. “Nothing—just some employee counseling.”

Levy smiled. “I see you have a future. Now leave.”

The room remained silent, except for Seth’s cries, as the sound of Russell’s footsteps faded.

Levy shifted toward Mike. “Can he be trusted?”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“Good.”

Vance walked in as Mike left. Levy nodded toward Seth. “Take him downstairs.”

“You want me to finish him off? ‘Cause I don’t need to take him downstairs for that.” Vance was a big man, bigger and uglier than Mike. All Kai knew about him was he came from one of the former Soviet countries. Every time she saw him, she shuddered. There was an unspeakable evil in his presence.

“You’ll get your chance. But for now I want him kept alive.”

Chapter 41

T
hroughout the night, Derry kept returning to his bedroom window and peering into the backyard, gazing at the dark guesthouse. Sleep eluded him. This could be his last day with Sara. How would she feel toward him after Lamar questioned her? What if he found evidence of her guilt? She’d end up in jail.

With the sunrise came a glimmer of hope. Maybe the evidence in Estes would prove her innocence.

He got ready for the day.

Having time before he was to meet with Sara, Derry took a walk to the closest coffee shop. There he bought two large double espressos and some bagels. He hoped this would help get the day off to a good start.

Twenty minutes later, he knocked at Sara’s door. He grinned when she answered. Her hair stuck up in several spots, and she was wearing shorts and an old T-shirt. Not what one wears to the mountains in the fall.

“You about ready?”

She eyed the large cups. “Is one of those for me?” She was still half asleep.

“Yep.”

Sara grabbed the one he held out and took a long sip. As she turned back into the house, she mumbled something about needing a few more minutes.

The front door was left open and the morning air was chilly, so Derry moved into the living room, closing the door behind him.

Fifteen minutes later, the transformation was complete. Out stepped an awake, neatly dressed, beautiful woman.

“You sure you don’t mind taking me today?” She took one last sip before dropping the empty cup into the trash.

Derry felt the smile spread across his face. “What man in his right mind would miss a chance to spend the day with such a beautiful young lady?”

Sara looked genuinely pleased as she turned to grab her purse.

***

Once in Estes, Sara sent Derry into a small café to get her another cup of coffee while she headed to the post office. After she retrieved her passport and credit card, she felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders.

Walking across the parking lot, she joined up with Derry.

“Did you get the jump drive?” He handed her the coffee.

She’d almost forgotten that was the lie she told yesterday. “Yeah, yeah, no problem. You want to walk around town some before lunch?”

“Sounds good.”

The two walked and talked for the next two hours. She found her last day with Derry to be one of the most enjoyable days of her life. As the two took their seats at a pizzeria, she thought about this dream world she was in. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t last. No matter what she did on the outside, she was still the same on the inside, trash to be used and thrown away.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?” Was he reading her mind now?

“Oh, you just looked distant. You sure something’s not wrong? Is it to do with the last time you were up here and those men?”

He acted like he really cared. She was leaving in the morning, but Derry was making it harder to want to go.

Sara gazed into his eyes, not answering his question. “Why are you acting like this?”

Derry raised both hands out to his sides. “Hey, it’s just that I care. I want to make sure you’re okay.” He still had that cute little grin of his.

“You know my past. You know what kind of person I am. How can you sit there and act like it’s nothing?”

Losing the smile, Derry folded his hands together in front of him and set them on the table. “What someone else did to you is not your fault. You had no control over them or their actions.”

She wanted to believe him, but the shame she felt was inescapable. “How can you say that? What they did to me
is
what I am. They made me become part of their world. Acting like it never happened won’t change things.”

Derry glanced down for a few seconds. “Of course not, but you didn’t invite them into your room. You tried to fight them off. None of that was your fault.”

As he reached across the table to touch her hand, she quickly pulled it away. It wasn’t right. She was dirt. He shouldn’t be touching her.

“You need to forgive.”

“I need to forgive? Who? Them? Never.” She glared at him. He was crazy.

“If you can’t forgive them, you at least need to forgive yourself.”

What was he talking about?
“You just said I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not making sense.”

Derry pulled his hand back and leaned forward, resting on his elbows. “Remember when I told you about Tami?” His voice became softer.

“Yeah, your dead girlfriend. What does that have to do with me?”

Derry let out a long slow breath. “The night she was killed was the worst night of my life. My friend Chuck asked me to go with him as protection while he sold some stolen computers. Tami insisted on going with us. However, when we got there, I found out Chuck was selling drugs, not computers, and the buyers had no intention of paying. There was a fight, guns were pulled, things got out of hand. Tami got shot.”

“Who shot her?”

Derry shrugged. “It was never clear who actually shot her. It was an accident, I guess. She wasn’t even supposed to be there. I told her she would be safe, that I would protect her. But I didn’t. The point is, I had to do the hardest thing I had ever done in my life.”

“Bury her?”

“Forgive myself, so I could forgive the person who killed her.”

“You forgave her murderer?”

“Yes. And you have to do the same. You have to forgive yourself, then forgive those who hurt you. Forgive those who wouldn’t help you.”

“Never. What they did to me was not an accident. It didn’t just happen. I wasn’t just in the wrong place. They raped me,
over
and
over
again. I will never forgive them.” Her words were hard and cold. She pulled back, away from him.

“Jesus tells us we must forgive those who hurt us.”

“Your Jesus was a man. He could never understand what it was like for
me
.” Sara’s anger grew. Maybe she should leave him now. Just get up and walk out. She had what she came for. In two minutes, she could be on her way to a new life.

“He forgave those who spat on Him, who beat Him, those who told lies about Him, and those who murdered Him.”

“Then he was weak.”

“He was filled with love.”

“Love. Now that’s a joke. I’m sorry, but murderers and rapists don’t deserve anyone’s love. What they deserve is death. A long slow painful death.” Hatred oozed with every word.

“Love covers—”

“Nothing. I’ve been out there in that real world, where people are only out for themselves. Out there, love is a word used to control others, take advantage of them. To get what you want. Nothing more.”

Derry looked down at the table. “Love gives a person the will to die in the place of another.” He raised his gaze to meet hers. “Love made it possible for a sinless man to willingly die for the worst kind of murderers and rapists.”

Derry lived in an imaginary world. That was clear. No wonder being with him felt like a dream come true at times, but not now. Now, it felt like a nightmare.

“That’s a lie used to make the weak behave. True love is taking care of yourself first— surviving, not dying for wicked people.” Sara had had enough. She needed to get away from this man’s insanity.

Derry peered down at his plate. His words were so quiet they were barely loud enough for her to hear. “True love is risking your life for someone you don’t even know.”

Her mind flashed back to the day he saved her.

But his world couldn’t be real. If it was, then everything in her world was a lie.