“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: [email protected]
Subject: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:24
To: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
Subject: Re: New drop-off
Date: March 30, 2016 01:28
To: [email protected]
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.
I had stared at the email wondering why Key West.
What did it mean to him?
It could mean so many different things.
I had found the chat room and relayed what I had discovered at Mason’s.
Toxicwrath was pleased with my results.
I wanted to feel proud of my success, but I couldn’t summon the emotion.
Toxicwrath and I concocted a plan that was a lot like playing tag. Only we planned to never get caught.
We’d feed Mason the information he thought he wanted.
Only it was wrong. So very, very wrong.
Now we were laying the groundwork for the biggest exploit I had ever attempted.
Toxicwrath gave me some background on Virtuant. He knew detailed information about the CEO, Douglas Howard. According to the media, he was one of the youngest CEOs in history, having risen within the organization very quickly, before finally being appointed to the top position at the age of twenty-nine.
From the hundreds of pictures on the Internet, I could tell that Douglas Howard was an attractive man with classic all-American good looks. He seemed more at home on a sailboat than in a boardroom. From all accounts he was well liked and extremely smart. He had made his name creating the groundbreaking app ParentSmartz, which gave paranoid helicopter parents the tools to track their child’s movements in real time with interactive monitoring. It opened the door for dozens of GPS-based applications that were meant to keep kids safe.
22:01
Toxicwrath was very clear about this. I wanted details before I made the leap. I had laid the groundwork for the hashing attack. We were lucky that Virtuant used such an easy system to crack. Stealing the passwords wouldn’t be difficult. I had already engineered a dictionary attack and the salting would be ready to go any day.
I was testing the process in a sandbox Toxicwrath had set up. There would be no mistakes.
But I still had major issues with not knowing the par
ticulars.
22:02
Then Toxicwrath had sent me links to stories about hacking groups that stole technology and sold it on the black market. Another link gave me an article about a young techie whose app, which had just found several major corporate funders, was destroyed by an anonymous cracker.
Link after link detailed shady and nefarious behavior of hackers stealing and destroying people’s hard work. Hackers pilfering technology for personal gain.
22:11
22:12
I had been dumbfounded.
22:12
22:13
22:14
Then the hammer dropped. The truth I had been waiting for. What I needed to trust him.
22:15
I had been in total shock. This was very personal for Toxicwrath.
I needed just a little more.
22:15
I had some hesitation. I wouldn’t attach myself to a project that would hang me out to dry. If Toxicwrath was on a possibly self-destructive vendetta, he’d have to do this one alone.
I couldn’t risk it.
I had Charlotte to think about.
22:16
Toxicwrath was using my ego to gain compliance. I knew exactly what game he was playing.
22:18
22:20
The queen.
I liked that.
Knowing the truth about the Virtuant CEO made going forward with the hashing attack that much easier. I had my plans for vengeance; Toxicwrath had his. I could respect that.
And he needed me.
He couldn’t do it alone.
We both knew who did the heavy lifting in these attacks. I had made a name for myself by being meticulous. By planning things perfectly.
I was the queen….
Toxicwrath set up an untraceable bank account in the Cayman Islands. We’d use the hashing to get the passwords, but that wasn’t all. The hashing attack was just the tip of the iceberg. My partner was after more than a few million user passwords. He wanted top secret information Douglas Howard kept on a private server on the Virtuant mainframe.
We’d sell the passwords to contacts Toxicwrath had on the deep Web as an added bonus.
He said it was a new project Douglas had invested millions in creating.
It was apparently very important to my secretive partner.
23:03
23:04
23:05
23:06
23:06
I thought about the money. I had a brief moment where I thought about keeping it for myself.
It would solve so many problems.
Charlotte’s bills were mounting. My mother had taken a second job and I was supplementing as best I could.
It would be so easy to go down that path. Hacking for money. A little information here. Selling some passwords there.
I wouldn’t have to worry about Charlotte. About Mom. About paying my bills.
I could quit Holt IT. I wouldn’t have to look at Chuck Bennett’s smug face a day longer.
I could wear the black hat proudly.
But I couldn’t. That’s not why Freedom Overdrive existed. I wasn’t in it for the money. It was important to remember that.
Instead I gave Toxicwrath the name of the cancer research foundation that Mason donated to every month in honor of his dead brother.
00:15
00:16
I wasn’t sure what Toxicwrath was waiting for. He had been so quick to jump on this one, but now he was putting on the brakes. I was feeling antsy.
I was pleased with the dry-run hashing attack I had performed in the sandbox, the virtual container for testing programs. It had gone according to plan. The SQL injection was some of the best I had ever coded. I was feeling untouchable.
The high I got from an exploit was unlike anything I could describe.
And the sheer magnitude of this one had me almost trembling in anticipation. I didn’t want to wait three days. I was ready to go tonight.
We were using skills and methods I had never attempted before. The hashing attack was sophisticated. The layers involved were totally different from anything I had ever done.
I had never attempted the use of an SQL injection before, but I was confident in its execution.
And it seemed the target deserved to go down.
But I’d follow Toxicwrath’s lead. For now.
I had planned to spend the rest of the evening preparing. Retesting in the sandbox environments. I hadn’t bothered to shower and I was wearing my oldest, most comfortable pair of pajamas.
Then I called Mason, making an excuse about working late.
We ended up making a plan for him to come over later.
How had that happened?
He so easily slipped under my skin without my realizing it.
I found myself excited at the prospect of seeing him.
Now I was scrambling to clean up the house, even if I had told him I wouldn’t. I took a shower and picked out an attractive outfit to wear.
I was finding the process of getting ready enjoyable. I liked dressing up and looking pretty. I wanted to see the heated look in Mason’s eyes when he saw me. I longed for it. Craved it.
I thought about the way he touched me and my body became warm.
Toxicwrath hadn’t asked me why I had chosen the American Cancer Foundation as the recipient of the Virtuant money.
I was glad.
There were times I found myself fantasizing about a future with Mason. One where I didn’t feel the need to lie about trivial things. Even if I could never be completely open, I still thought about it.
The idea was tantalizing.
Maybe I could let him in a little bit at a time. Give him pieces that I had been holding back.
With Mason I could see myself falling.
So, so easily.
I was building a false fairy tale on a bed of lies.
And it was beautiful.
It threatened to tear me apart.
My doorbell rang, startling me as I brushed my hair.
I looked at the time on my phone and saw that it was only four. It couldn’t be Mason. Not yet.
I went to the front door and peered through the peephole, surprised and more than a little annoyed by who I saw there.
Kyle.
What in the hell was he doing here?
I thought about pretending I wasn’t home.
Kyle had never been to my house before. How had he even gotten my address?
Curiosity had me opening the door.
“Wow, you don’t look sick at all,” was the first thing Kyle said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked him, blocking him as he tried to angle his way inside
. He was being pushier than usual. He was always a little over the top but today, with my head on other things, I was not in the mood.
“You called in sick. I thought I’d come by and check on you. Make sure everything was all right.”
I frowned. “How do you know I called in sick?”
Kyle grinned. “I read the email Patty at reception sent to Chuck, letting him know you had called in.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You read the email?” I snorted. “How in the world did you do that? Were you peering over her shoulder?”
“I’ve been a busy boy, Master. Let me tell you all about it.” Kyle gently pushed his way past me and into my home.
“I didn’t invite you in,” I insisted, still holding the door open, watching my coworker warily as he walked into the living room.
“You’re a lousy housekeeper, you know that?” he asked, ignoring my statement completely. He picked up a tech magazine from the end table and flipped through it. “When was the last time you dusted?”
Kyle’s presence felt like an intrusion. He had been acting strangely since coming back to work after his “absence.” He had all but stopped his lame IT tricks. He had stopped bugging me for my hacking help. He had become unusually quiet. More isolated.
We continued to have lunch together and he’d drop by my desk in the morning, but otherwise he kept to himself. I wasn’t sure if I had done something to upset him, but I didn’t really want to ask.
The fewer people I had to worry about the better.
And this didn’t feel like a friendly visit. It felt like something else.
“Kyle, I’m not feeling the greatest. That’s why I called in. I don’t want to get you sick.” I closed the door and followed him as he snooped through my things. His boundaries were always questionable, but this was beyond the pale. I took the magazine from his hand and put it back on the table.
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest almost defensively, his head cocked to the side. “You look really pretty, Hannah.” There was a note of accusation to his voice. “I expected to find you convalescing on the couch if you were so ill.”
“I’m feeling a little better.” Why was I explaining myself to Kyle? I didn’t owe him explanations.
“Maybe you’d be up for going out and getting something to eat,” he offered with a note of challenge. I felt as if I had to tiptoe very carefully. I wasn’t sure why.
Exploited (Zero Day #1) Page 22
