The Hack, page 16
CHAPTER 31
She dragged the files into the time bomb and locked it.
She could barely believe it. She’d spent years dreaming of this moment and it was finally here. She put her hand on the laptop to close it when she remembered the final search she was running. She opened the results, surprised to see there were only two emails—one that had come from Elio Rossi’s business account.
Gregory,
Derek Lam has changed his mind and agreed to the plan to resolve the breach in confidentiality.
ER
The hairs on the back of her spine stood up. She read it again, feeling like the wind had been knocked from her lungs.
The missing pieces of the puzzle collided in her mind. She’d read a very similar email to that before, but it had come from a private address.
Gregory,
As per our discussion, please let me know if you need me to move forward with our plan. It is better to eliminate this problem before it becomes one. Time is of the essence.
ER
The email had been sent just before her mother’s death. With shaky hands, she clicked on the second email.
Gregory,
The matter has been resolved.
ER
She looked at the date. It was the day her mother had died.
Raya’s mind reeled. The email to Derek Lam had said Rossi’s plan, not Thomas Rossi’s plan.
Raya inhaled a shaky breath, reading the email again.
Elio Rossi, Ari’s father, had killed her mother.
She stared at the laptop, unable to move. The emails weren’t proof, but now everything made sense. Justin must’ve worked this out, and that’s why Elio’s photograph was on the laptop and he’d said not to trust anyone.
“No,” Raya whispered, her voice breaking, knowing this would kill Ari.
Her eyes dropped to her wrist. She had seven minutes to get to the Ferris wheel. She tucked her laptop into her backpack and ran out the door.
Raya weaved through the pedestrians on the sidewalk as she ran to the pier. Her eyes dropped to her watch. She was supposed to meet Ari now, but the Ferris wheel still loomed in the distance.
Seeing the red entrance to the pier ahead, she ran faster, trying to make up time. The Ferris wheel’s orange and red lights guided her toward Ari, but the dark night made it difficult to see people’s faces properly.
Raya didn’t stop as she entered the park. She ran, dodging between people, making her way as fast as possible. She was three minutes late, despite sprinting all the way to the pier. A line was formed at the Ferris wheel and Raya was grateful for the crowd. If anyone was planning to kill them here, they’d have to do it in front of the bystanders.
Raya ran past the line, searching for Ari but couldn’t see him. She ran around the Ferris wheel, swallowing the lump in her throat when she realized he wasn’t there.
Her chest heaved.
Ari, where are you?
She checked her watch. He was six minutes late.
Raya grabbed her phone from her pocket, dialing his number, but he didn’t answer. She checked her messages, worried she might’ve missed one from him while she’d been running to the pier, but there was nothing.
Raya walked around the Ferris wheel slower this time, thinking maybe they’d just missed each other.
She called him again. “Ari, pick up! Pick up!” she urged but the call rang out yet again.
Raya fought to keep her emotions in check as her stomach churned. Maybe he hadn’t been able to lose the SUV. Maybe . . . She shook her head—she would not let her thoughts go there.
Raya looked over her shoulder, almost screaming his name when she saw him. She ran toward him, noting the bleeding wound on his cheek.
“Raya!” Ari yelled as he held out his arms. She ran into them and he hugged her, squeezing her tight. “Are you okay?”
She looked up, nodding. “Are you? What happened?”
He shook his head, taking her hand. “I’ll explain later, let’s get out of—”
Ari’s eyes went wide and Raya turned around to see Gregory Higgins no more than a few feet from them.
Higgins didn’t move, nor did they.
“We need to talk,” Higgins said.
“There is nothing to talk about,” Ari said. “And if you kill us, your dirty secrets, along with those of my uncle and Derek Lam, will be uploaded to the internet for the entire world to see. It’s already in motion, you can’t stop it now.”
The slight crease of Higgins’s forehead at the mention of Ari’s uncle further solidified Raya’s conclusion about Elio Rossi. “But you don’t have all of the information, Aureliano. No one falsified information. Your father injected a lot of money into my business and we developed an entirely new product that we were testing simultaneously. One product performed marvelously; the other had to be killed off. You didn’t find falsified reports—you found two separate reports.”
Raya looked to Ari. Surely he wouldn’t believe this story.
“I don’t believe you,” Ari said. “I think you’re a liar and a murderer. You killed Diane Lewis, and then you killed two hackers and came for Raya because they all knew too much,” Ari said, his words clipped. “If it was as simple as having two products, why would you be killing people?”
“Ari,” a voice said and Raya snapped her head to look beside them. Thomas Rossi stood with his hands up, like he was surrendering.
“Don’t speak to me,” Ari said. “I know what you did! You’ve destroyed the Rossi name—everything my father built. You’re going to rot in prison with him!” Ari said, gesturing toward Higgins.
Thomas shook his head. “You don’t know the truth. I swear, I wasn’t—”
The sound of his voice was cut off by the exploding fireworks, lighting up the sky. Everything happened so quickly. Thomas Rossi walked toward them and Ari raised his gun.
“Ari!” she yelled above the fireworks. “Not here, don’t do this!” She was thinking clearly enough to know that he couldn’t fire that gun in here—he’d be arrested in minutes.
But Ari didn’t need to fire the gun.
Raya didn’t hear the shot over the popping of the fireworks, but she saw the moment it landed in Thomas Rossi’s chest and his body recoiled before he fell to the ground. Raya looked to Ari, who looked on with wide eyes.
“Run!” Raya said, grabbing his arm but they didn’t have a chance to run before they were swarmed by men and tackled to the ground.
“You’re safe, we’re not here for you. Stay still,” one of the men yelled over the fireworks.
Raya lifted her head to see the letters FBI on the back of one of the men’s jackets. She stopped fighting and rested her head on the ground, looking to the fireworks lighting up the sky.
This is for you, Mom. Rest in peace.
CHAPTER 32
Ari grunted, fighting against the two men holding him. “We’re FBI! We’re here for Higgins!” a voice said from behind him. “If you stop fighting us, we’ll let you go!”
Ari searched for Raya, exhaling a shaky breath when he saw she was safe. She was lying on the ground, her eyes on the fireworks—her mind looked like it was a million miles away from this mess.
Ari stopped fighting and surrendered. He had a million questions but while the popping of the fireworks continued, it was impossible to have a conversation.
Ari’s eyes landed on his uncle next. “You’ll want him too,” he yelled to the man beside him, watching the team of medics surrounding Thomas Rossi. If he’d been thinking more clearly, he would’ve asked why Higgins had shot his uncle if they were in on this together, but that question didn’t register in his mind. Ari was too angry, too full of loathing.
Part of Ari wanted to tell the medics just to forget about his uncle—to leave him and walk away because he deserved to die. But Thomas didn’t need to die because Ari had the material he needed to take back the Rossi empire. It was time for a clean slate, a fresh start.
The FBI also had men working to control the crowd around them. Ari wondered if he’d be recognized, and what would be reported in the paper in the following days. He couldn’t worry about that now, though. Raya was safe, he was safe, and Higgins had been handcuffed and dragged away by the FBI. That was enough for now.
“You can sit up,” the agent kneeling beside him said.
Ari pressed his palms into the grass and pushed himself up. He looked at the agent’s face for the first time. “How did you know we were here?”
“We received a tip from the CIA and we’ve been following Gregory Higgins for the past forty-eight hours,” he said.
Ari nodded, wondering exactly how much trouble he and Raya were going to be in for illegally hacking the systems.
“Can I talk to her?” he asked, tilting his head toward Raya.
“A few minutes, and then we want to talk to you both about what you found,” the agent said with a nod.
“I want a lawyer present,” Ari said.
The agent frowned but nodded.
Ari would deal with that later, but right now he wanted to make sure Raya was okay.
He walked toward her and drew her in, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed the crown of her head. “Are you okay?”
She blew out a long breath. “Surprisingly, yes.” She put her arms around Ari, hugging him tight.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the FBI, Raya, but I’ll make sure we have good lawyers,” Ari said. He would pay for the best legal team he could find for them both.
She pulled back, watching on as Thomas Rossi was lifted onto a gurney. “Ari, you need to speak to him now . . . in case he doesn’t make it.”
“I don’t need to speak to him. I don’t care if he lives or dies,” Ari said coldly.
He saw the war raging in Raya’s eyes. He placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head to look up at him. “Why are you concerned? He deserves to die, Raya.”
She looked pained and he couldn’t understand why. “Raya, what’s going on?”
“He didn’t do it, Ari,” she said with a choked voice. “He didn’t orchestrate my mother’s death.”
Ari’s eyebrows wove together. “What are you talking about? It was Rossi’s plan, we read it in the email.”
She pressed her lips together and he saw she couldn’t look at him. His stomach churned. “Raya,” he said her name like it was a warning.
She finally looked up at him. “I’m sorry, Ari, but it was your father’s plan.”
His jaw fell open and fury raced through his veins. “No! No!” he yelled. “Don’t say that! No!” He stepped back as agents rushed in, sensing the tension between them.
The agent grabbed Ari’s hands, securing them behind his back.
Ari couldn’t look at her, and he couldn’t look away.
Why are you doing this, Raya? Why?!
“No!” Ari yelled again as hands tugged him away. Ari was so blindsided that he couldn’t think straight, he didn’t even fight the agents when they put him in a car.
“I want to call my lawyer,” Ari said.
Ari didn’t say another word as they drove. He looked out the window, but he didn’t see anything. His mind was spinning so fast he felt like the world had tilted on its side.
When the car door opened Ari didn’t make a move to get out. But the agent holding the door open grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the car. He was led into an office building and told to sit. He gave them his lawyer’s details, but that was all he said.
A cup of coffee was brought in, but Ari didn’t touch it.
He didn’t know how long he sat there, numb, but when his lawyer walked in he lifted his head.
“Hey, Ari,” Steven said. Steven had worked for them for as long as Ari could remember. Steven had been his father’s best friend and the one person who had always had Ari’s back when it came to Thomas Rossi. Steven had constantly fought for Ari’s place on the board, and in this moment, there was no one Ari wanted to fight for him, or his father’s reputation, more.
“Hey,” Ari said, his voice sounding distant.
“Sorry it took me so long. I had a meeting with the agents before I came in,” he said. “Can I take a seat?”
Ari shrugged. “Be my guest,” he said, forcing a small smile.
Steven placed his palms on the table and seemed to take a calming breath. “First of all, I had no idea you were such a brilliant computer hacker,” he said with a grin. “What you and Raya accomplished was really quite impressive. You should know the FBI are not looking to press any charges,” he said.
Ari forced a smile but he couldn’t shake the unease in his veins. He felt like he might be sick.
“Raya has given a statement to the FBI, Ari. She’s told them everything and given them supporting documentation.”
Ari raised an eyebrow. “She’s wrong,” he said. He knew that Steve was referring to the accusations against Ari’s father now.
When Steve paused and didn’t agree with Ari, Ari straightened like he’d been stung.
Steve didn’t react, nor did he leave. “I didn’t want to believe it, either. But the emails are very suggestive, and Higgins has confirmed it. All this time we thought Thomas was the bad guy, but—and it pains me to say this—it seems Thomas has been cleaning up the mess made by Elio. He said that the dirty business deals were already in place and he had no option but to follow through with them.”
Ari swore under his breath. “And you believe him?”
Steve opened his mouth to speak, but Ari didn’t give him the chance. “You can leave now. I’ll find another lawyer.”
Steve took some folded papers from his jacket pocket and put them on the table, sliding them toward Ari.
“He was my best friend, Ari. I don’t want to believe this any more than you do, but sometimes people do things that disappoint us,” he said. “Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
Ari looked away, shaking his head. He heard the moment Steve left the room and the door closed.
Looking to the papers still on the desk, he stood up so abruptly his chair fell backward and he began pacing, his eyes darting between the papers and the door.
Ari wasn’t sure how long he’d paced the room but at some point his legs started to ache. Whether it was exhaustion, or the fact that the shock of Raya’s accusations had begun to wear off, he didn’t know but he eventually picked up the papers. His hands shook as he unfolded them.
Ari held his breath, reading them. The emails between Gregory Higgins and his father. He read them over and over again. Then he read his uncle’s statement, and Higgins’s statement.
Ari swore under his breath, balling up the papers and throwing them against the wall as he swore. Ari dragged his palms over his face and went back to pacing.
He finally sat down, feeling utterly exhausted, physically and emotionally.
He had no idea what time it was, he couldn’t remember the last time he ate, and he was tired of staring at the white walls.
Ari knocked on the door and it opened. “I want to see Raya. Is she still here?”
The agent gave a small smile. “She refused to leave until she’d spoken to you. Come with me,” he said as they walked down a hallway. Ari had no idea where he was and he could barely remember getting into the car, let alone out of it.
He followed the agent but he saw Raya before the agent opened the door. Through the vertical blinds, he saw her slumped forward on the table, her head resting on her hands, her eyes closed. He wished someone had at least given her a pillow but when the agent opened the door, she lifted her head and he realized she hadn’t been asleep.
“Ari,” she said, her voice a whisper.
He gave her a small smile, but it felt forced. He felt like he had nothing to smile about, even though he knew that wasn’t true.
“Hi,” he said, nodding to the agent to close the door.
Ari took a seat beside Raya, and for the first time an uncomfortable silence hung between them. Ari hated it.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a shaky voice. “I didn’t want to believe it, I couldn’t.” He looked away, fighting to keep his emotions in check.
A gentle hand on his forearm brought his attention back to her. “I know. I wanted it to be your uncle . . .”
He nodded tightly. “When did you know?”
She sighed. “Only after I got out of the car. I ran a search through the deleted emails, looking for any mention of the Rossi name. Then I remembered I’d seen a very similar email before. I read them both, side-by-side, and it was then that I realized our mistake.”
“I can’t . . . I can’t reconcile it,” he said and she squeezed his arm.
“You don’t have to, not right now. You need time to process it first. Too much has happened tonight,” she said gently.
“I should speak to my uncle too,” Ari said. “Look, I still don’t think he’s a pillar of society, but I can’t blame him for everything.”
Raya gave a small smile. “When you’re ready,” she said with a shrug. “They said he’ll need surgery, but his injuries are not life threatening.”
Ari rubbed his tired eyes, looking to the door. “Can we get out of here? I sent my lawyer away. In hindsight that wasn’t a good move,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood—and the darkness in his soul.
“I don’t think your lawyer is far away,” Raya said. “But apparently we won’t be needing lawyers. I’ve been told that we’re going to have to pay for our crimes by providing our services. That’s all that’s been said.”
“They’re going to offer us jobs, or will this be community service work?” Ari said with a grin.
Raya chuckled. “Hopefully the former.”
Ari placed his hand over hers, his eyes locking on hers.
“We’re a good team, Raya.”
EPILOGUE
TWO WEEKS LATER
Ari drove the winding road—a road he’d driven every week for years but today it felt different. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel, letting the rumble of his car ease the coil of unease in his chest. Although it was cold, he loved this time of year at the lake. The tall trees with their wispy branches crowded in a dark sky seemed a startlingly accurate mirror of his troubled soul.
