Hacker Betrayed (White Hat Security Book 11), page 14
“I said I would give you the money,” Jordan grumbled. “It’s only ten million.”
Ashlyn shook her head. “You already gave me ten million, and I’ve barely paid you back. How can you possibly want to keep handing me money when we don’t know where it will go? I’m a failure at business. I think it’s time I accept that.”
“To me, it seems like you have a person who wants you to fail,” I countered. “I have a team of hackers and a finance person who would love a numbers challenge. What I don’t understand is why Lydia would try to kill you.”
“I don’t know. Every so often, she shows up to my work, but otherwise, I only see her at Mom and Dad’s, which I don’t go to very often.”
“At least we know the drink wasn’t for Mia,” Paxton added with a look at me. “But we still don’t know who tried to kill you in the past. Plus we added another puzzle.”
“Ashlyn, tomorrow I’ll bring a couple of people over from work to start with your books. When we have the evidence against Lydia, we can take her down. I won’t let her get away with whatever she is planning.”
I planned to have Brock track my sister and make sure she was gone, because the second we had the information I needed, I would fly anywhere in the world and take her down.
CHAPTER 15
Mia
Patty’s fingers flew over the keyboard of the laptop she was using. Jessica, my boss's wife, had paper scattered across the table in my sister’s office. I was no help when it came to hacking or forensic accounting. My task would come next. When they found the link from Ashlyn’s company to Lydia, I could jump on the Blackwood plane and track my sister down.
Paxton dropped me off at my sister’s warehouse before heading into the clinic for a long day of his own. He had a staff meeting scheduled first thing. He said his sister planned to meet with him to discuss handling the business split.
Brock had contacted the chief of police, and the tech department was able to deconstruct the video. Unsurprisingly, Dr. Cliff was the man shown. Paxton’s mentor refused to give any information up. Felicity hadn’t said a word either. The only people who talked were the cop and the coroner, the latter who Felicity had incriminating evidence over, and they both lost their jobs.
“You have a lot of spyware on your computer,” Patty announced without looking up. “I disabled the camera and mic, so at least they can’t hear us. The only thing is the person heard today was when we came in. So whoever hacked your system knows we are on to them.”
My heart broke when the tears streamed down Ashlyn’s face. She’d been in the office before we arrived and had everything laid out. When I asked for Jessica’s help, she gave me a list of items she would need from Ashlyn.
“So that’s how the person knew my plan to see if my CFO was embezzling,” Ashlyn said as she waved toward the stack of documents. She sighed as she dropped down in her chair. “I should close my doors and admit I failed. The vendors are about to pull out, and I’m not going to have the capital to purchase the items for Christmas. This business was mine and my grandma’s dream. She’d roll over in her grave if she knew the mess I created.”
“I think Grandma would be proud of your line. Look at your following on social media. People love your designs.” She had millions of followers on Instagram. “I’m sure we can find you investors after taking down the person trying to make you fail.”
Patty looked up from the laptop. “I’ll invest. For some reason, people like to wear what I have on. Many of your looks will work for me. See, it’s a win-win: I invest and wear the clothes, and your sales skyrocket. Which in return lines my pocket.” Patty and Sam’s wedding photo was on the cover of the gossip magazines. Many have copied her look.
“I’m all for investing when I see something I like. I’ll back your company too,” Jessica added.
I didn’t have anywhere close to the funds Jessica and Patty had, but I wanted to help my sister. “I can invest a little, but I don’t have capital like these two.”
“You’re all being way too kind. I’m not sure how I’ll ever repay everyone,” Ashlyn replied, dabbing her cheek with a Kleenex. She’d thrown her arms around me when I walked into her office this morning and burst into tears.
Neither Mom nor Dad had called or asked if I was okay. Sebastian, on the other hand, blew up my phone until I answered his call. He asked around, but nobody saw Lydia do anything. He also confirmed she took the family's jet to Mexico.
The lights in the room flickered off, and a second later, they came back on.
“That happens all the time. The warehouse is old, but it works for what I need,” Ashlyn said.
“Someone logs into your computer around midnight each night,” Patty said, her lips curling into a devilish smile. “And the person left me a nice digital footprint.”
“Jessica, you figure anything out?”
Jessica nodded. “The person thought they could move the money around enough that I wouldn’t find the trail. Over four years, around twenty-seven million dollars was skimmed off the top and into a shell account. I’ll have to hand it over to Brock to figure out who the account belongs to.”
Patty closed the lid of the laptop she was on and pulled a computer from her bag. “I might have a trail on the person. Give me a second.” I hovered over Patty as she typed shit I didn’t understand on the command line of her computer.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see a message.
Lucas: Hey, mom! Where are you?
Me: I’m at your aunt Ashlyn’s warehouse. Aren’t you supposed to be in school?
Lucas: Zack sweet-talked my teachers into letting me do my work from home. I’m at Paxton’s place. I wanted to surprise you, but Zack made me text.
Holy shit, I was in shock. I told Zack everything was clear yesterday morning, but I didn’t want Lucas to fall behind, and now everything was taken care of? Amazing.
Me: I’ll be home soon.
Lucas: Love you, mom.
I scrolled down my contacts to Paxton’s name. I didn’t expect him to reply immediately.
Me: Lucas is at your house. I’ll explain later.
Paxton: Cameras alerted me, and Brock called.
Me: Why aren’t you in surgery?
Paxton: I had a meeting. When I found out about Lucas, I bumped the surgery.
Me: You didn’t have to.
Except his gesture warmed my heart.
Paxton: I wanted to. Once I finish the meeting, I plan to head to the house. You can take your time.
Patty’s voice pulled me away from my phone. “Damn, I’m good! Like really good. Brock and Sophie aren’t even close to as good as me.”
Jessica peered over her reading glasses. “Let’s not rub your hacking skills in my husband's face. You know how much it hurts his little hacker ego. Then I’m the one who has to suffer while he figures out how you accomplished whatever you just did.”
Jessica was one hundred percent right about Brock’s broken ego when he heard of some of Patty’s hacks. The man would lock himself in his lair, aka the office, for hours typing away at code.
Patty smiled. A strand of her purple hair fell from her messy bun. “I’ll send my brother-in-law some candy, but no way am I keeping this shit from him. He sure as hell doesn’t keep his hack hidden from me. He and Neal planted bugs in my network when they came for my wedding. You realize how unromantic it is when Baby Shark starts playing while you and your husband are having sex? Or how they programmed all my channels to the news? They know I hate watching that shit. Most of the time, it lies about how I’m running my country. And those two assholes gave secret coding lessons to my daughter. She’s six. I love my little girl, but she’s the devil. She’s perfected her glitter bomb and added in the programming she’s learned. My life will be hell. I pay a hundred thousand dollars in hazard pay to my nanny. Now, are you all done stealing my thunder?”
“Are you going to explain why you think you are the best?” Jessica asked. “Or do you want me to use my twin power and read your mind?”
“Growing up, Dali—sorry, Mia and Sebastian had the twin power thing too,” Ashlyn said. “They were super close.”
When I was eighteen, I spent time with Ashlyn, but I should have paid more attention. My sister seemed so lonely.
“I know this is all hard,” I sighed. “Once we get this person behind bars, maybe we can start having lunch together or hanging out.”
Patty stuck her lip out. “I miss girl time. It’s not the same over FaceTime. Sam’s going to have a hard time getting me back on the plane. As for your statement about the thief. Do we have to put the person behind bars? At your parents' party the other night, I secured ten barrels of acid. I haven’t figured out how to transport them back to Shialia, but Kat worked out her bulk discount.” Patty winced. “I think Kat will fit in well with your mafia family. The man she dealt with was in his eighties, and she threatened to take a bat to his good leg. Before I could apologize for what she said, the man barked out a laugh, gave her a discount, and invited her to his family's Sunday dinner.”
Ashlyn leaned forward and pointed at the screen. “I like hearing these stories, but can you let me in on what you found?”
“Sorry, we sometimes get off track.” Patty turned back to the screen and typed in a coordinate. She had the same software on her computer we used at Blackwood. The software would tap into a set of satellites run by Nova Satellite Security out of Houston. Antonio and Brock paid a hell of a lot of money for their system access. The Black brothers were friends with them, but didn’t cut them a discount. “Give it a second, and I’ll have the aerial view of the location.”
“Just like that,” Ashlyn asked. “Jordan and I tried to hire a hacker, but they didn’t get us any information.”
Patty snorted, a sound only close friends of the queen experienced. “Oh, did you miss the part earlier, when I declared myself the best hacker in the world?”
“Technically, you didn’t make that declaration, sis. I’m not sure how yours and your husband’s ego fit under the same roof,” Jessica grumbled.
The image came into view. My stomach dropped as I stared at the house I had lived in for a few years. A Calhoun was behind my sister's company falling apart.
Jordan seemed like he cared about my sister. Why would he make the offer to help her and steal from her simultaneously?
I wanted to see my son, but I had to take a trip to Mexico and take out the fucker who took advantage of my sister first.
“What am I looking at?” Ashlyn asked.
Patty must have figured out who the place belonged to because she looked over her shoulder at me. “You want to tell her or me?”
Jessica pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. “Shit. How did I not notice that?” She twisted her cellphone for us to see. A list of shell companies Brock compiled from his research on Donovan and his family was on the screen.
I wasn’t sure Donovan wasn’t behind this with his brother.
Ashlyn hung her head. “That’s Jordan’s family’s house in Mexico, isn’t it?”
“Jordan might not be behind the operation,” I ventured. “This could all be Donovan’s doing for hiding his son from him. Either way, I promise to get to the bottom of this.”
“I trusted him…and loved him.”
Oh shit, I hadn’t seen that one coming. Ashlyn burst into tears, and I wrapped my sister in a hug. “I’ll make them pay. Maybe we can use some of the acid Patty bought after all.”
“How sick is it that I don’t want you to kill him?” Ashlyn hiccupped. “All I wanted was to prove myself so he would fall for me. Except I was so dumb. The man I followed around like a puppy dog since I was in fourth grade betrayed me. I’m still a virgin because I wanted him to be my first.”
My sister was beautiful, and I had no doubt she would be successful. “He doesn’t deserve you. And once I get back from my little trip, I have a few men at work I can introduce you to.”
“Or you can fly to Shialia with me. Most of my guards are single.” Patty tilted her head back to the computer. “And if Mia doesn’t kill him, I’ll make sure his life is living hell. All it will take is a few key inconveniences. Let’s start with the no-fly list so he can’t leave Mexico.”
All signs pointed to Jordan, but nothing was what it seemed to the world so far, and I couldn’t be sure this was the end. “Let’s hold off on anything else.”
Jessica cracked her neck. “I’ll have Brock get the jet and a team ready. You’re not going alone, Mia. Don’t even say this is a family matter. We are family, and I’m not letting you go at it alone.”
The trip to Mexico would raise many demons I’d buried deep down. The place had an army surrounding the house. I wasn’t dumb enough to think I could handle the trip alone. “Let me drive my sister home. Tell Brock I’ll meet him at the airport.”
Patty placed her laptop in her bag and hugged my sister. “Since we know what is going on, I will take your laptop, clean it, and work on hacking the shell company to get your money back.” She paused for a second. “I’ll send you the coordinates of the acid, but you have to promise to let me come watch.”
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” I replied firmly. “Thank you for the help, ladies.”
I hugged them both goodbye. A young man poked his head into Ashlyn’s office as we grabbed our bags. “Sorry to bother you, boss, but we got a shipment in. I figured you would want to know.”
“Hell yes!” Ashlyn’s face fell for a second. “We have to leave, don’t we?”
The no-fly list Patty added Jordan to would buy us time. “Let’s check it out.”
I followed my sister down a winding staircase and through the empty warehouse to a small room in the back. On the ground were ten large boxes. “This is all that came?”
The young man shrugged. “At least it’s something.”
Ashlyn waved him off and grabbed the knife from the table. “I hope it’s the low-cut dress I’ve waited six months for.”
The door clicked as the man walked out of the room. Ashlyn pressed the blade to the top of the box top of the box and slide the sharp object along the seem, and a slow hiss escaped. I grasped Ashlyn’s wrist before she cut any deeper into the box. White smoke billowed from the top of the box. “Fuck, let’s get out of here.”
My fingers gripped the door handle, but the door wouldn’t budge. The cloud of smoke filled the small room. There wasn’t even a window to vent the air. My damn gun was in Ashlyn’s office, along with my purse and phone.
“I don’t feel good.” Ashlyn hunched over and coughed.
I stripped my shirt off and pressed the fabric to my nose, but it did nothing to stop the effect of my vision from blurring.
CHAPTER 16
Paxton
“Thank you for meeting me today.”
“I’m doing this for Mia and my son,” Donovan said. I called him after my arrest to see if he could tell me more about the Ellisons. Cara and my other siblings would be angry if they figured out I might have a lead and not disclose it to them.
I nodded. “I will do everything in my power to protect both of them. I’m not going to step back and say you can win Mia over. We are flying to Vegas for a friend's wedding. I plan to ask her to be my wife before we leave. I love her.”
Donovan ran a hand over his face. “I won’t get in the way. She deserves the world. Our time together is in the past. To be honest, she never looked at me the way she does at you. I’m her dark past. All I ask is not to be cut out of my son’s life. She opened the door to something I never thought I would want.”
I never thought to push Donovan out of Lucas’s life for a second. Having a mob boss at our house for the holidays would take getting used to, but Mia’s entire family was part of the mafia. My sister would probably make us all sign some type of legal document. The thought made me smile.
“I’m not going to speak for Mia. But I won’t stop you from seeing Lucas,” I explained. “If she says yes to marrying me, I would like you to be there in Vegas. So we can start all this out as a family.”
“I’ll consider it. Back to why I’m here. How close are you to your stepbrother?”
“Not very. He was gone when we moved into the mansion and never came around much.”
He worked at Ruben’s hedge fund and lived in a penthouse downtown. During the holidays, he jetted around the world. I saw him gracing the tabloids more than I saw him in person.
Nora thought her son could do no wrong. The woman said all the images of Javion were photoshopped because her boy wouldn’t treat women the way they portrayed him in the articles.
“He tends to think money can buy him out of everything.” Donovan tugged an envelope from his pocket and tossed it on my desk.
The key to my mother’s death was in the envelope. For years, I searched for answers. Nobody had them, and now they were waiting for me to open them.
As a plastic surgeon, I had a steady hand. Not much made me shake, but a small tremor went through my hand as I peeled back the envelope's flap.
A picture slid out, and I stared at my stepbrother. His face was bloody, and he was limping out of the car that killed my mother. He had a knife in his hand. I flipped to the second photo, where he was reaching into my mother’s car. This was enough evidence for me to take to the cops. “Why hold on to this?”
“When that accident happened, I was only eight or nine years old,” Donovan said, motioning to the photo.
“How long have you had this?” I growled.
“The accident was across from one of my father’s restaurants. When my dad stepped outside to call for help, your brother offered him money. He’d already killed your mom and sister so they couldn’t talk.”
This evidence would tear Nora apart, but Javion needed to pay for what he did. “So, he paid your family off? You realize the money train is gone once I turn him in.”
“Dad used him to launder money through the hedge fund,” Donovan shrugged. “Like I said before, I’m not my father, and I’ve cleaned up the business. After killing my father, I spent hours combing through the blackmail he had on everyone. You’d be surprised at the number of people who have dark secrets.”
