Then they became threatening.
The final email left me frozen.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Pants on fire
Date: April 12, 2016 21:25
To: [email protected]
The world will know. You’ve made a dangerous enemy.
Liars and deceivers will be punished.
I quickly copied the Virtuant file to an encrypted drive before destroying all traces of it on my computer.
I should have listened to my instincts about Toxicwrath. I had known something wasn’t right about the exploit, but I had allowed myself to be swept up in the righteousness of it all.
Now I’d pay.
I had to go into damage-control mode, and fast.
And that started with finding out who exactly Toxicwrath was. To protect myself I’d have to find him. I’d expose him before he could expose me.
I sat down at my computer and fired up a VPN tunnel. It was time to go deep and dirty.
I banished all thoughts of Mason from my mind. I couldn’t afford to lose focus. Not now.
Toxicwrath would soon learn he couldn’t mess with Freedom Overdrive and survive.
Then my phone rang. The sound was piercing in the quiet.
I thought about ignoring it. I had to deal with Toxicwrath. Time was of the essence. But when I saw it was a private number, I answered it.
Could it be him?
“Hello?”
“Hannah? It’s Mom.”
The tremble in her voice, the fear in her tone, took me back to seven years ago. To that fateful day when our world changed.
“What number are you calling from?” My head was spinning. I was scared of exposure. Worried about what my cyberpartner would do now that he felt betrayed. Frantic over Mason’s possible discoveries.
And now I was terrified of whatever my mother was about to tell me.
“I’m calling from one of the office lines at the Appleton Center.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Charlotte. She had another seizure. She’s in a coma. They’re not sure if she’s going to make it. The pressure on her brain—” My mother started sobbing.
And just like that I hit rock bottom, shattered into pieces on the floor.
Not now!
Not Charlotte!
“When?” was all I could ask. My brain was about to overload. I stared at the bright glow of my computer screen, not seeing anything.
“A couple of hours ago. I didn’t want to call you until I knew something…”
Not Char.
Not my sister.
After everything tonight, it was the final straw.
I felt dead inside.
Numb.
I had completely shut down.
“I’ll be right there.”
I couldn’t think about Toxicwrath or Mason. Because Char always came first.
Always.
“Hurry, Hannah. We can’t lose her,” Mom cried.
“Hang on, Mom. I’m leaving the house now.”
I hung up the phone and stared at my computer screen. Without another thought I typed a string of numbers into the command line. Within seconds the screen went blue, the system crashing.
Everything on the hard drive was wiped clean.
I picked up the external hard drive containing the tracking program and quickly walked back to the bedroom and put it in a shoebox at the back of my closet. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it in the house. First thing in the morning I’d open a safe-deposit box and leave it there. For now it would have to stay where it was.
I had to get to Char.
I couldn’t waste any time.
I couldn’t lose her.
She was all I had left.
My phone pinged with a text.
I opened it, my heart thudding painfully in my chest.
The message came from a blocked number.
There weren’t any words.
Only three symbols.
Chapter 27
Mason
She didn’t answer the door. I hadn’t really expected her to. She was avoiding me now.
And trying to protect her many secrets.
I drove back to the office after leaving Hannah’s, not wanting to go home with only my endless doubts for company.
Hannah had put a root kit on my computer. What had she been looking for?
Why had she done it?
Was that why she had broken up with me? She’d gotten whatever she wanted from me and didn’t need me anymore?
I should have known better. My instincts were never wrong.
I sat in the parking lot at the field office, not wanting to get out of my car.
It was almost nine-thirty at night, but there were still people inside. Agents didn’t work normal hours like everyone else.
I couldn’t face anyone right now.
Not with the truth staring me in the face.
Hannah Whelan wasn’t who I thought she was.
I pulled out my phone and tapped out a text to her.
Call me.
I erased it and tried again.
We need to talk.
That sounded idiotic.
Was any of it real?
There was a knock on the driver’s-side window, and I put my phone back in my pocket without sending the text.
I rolled down the window to find Perry standing there, a strange look on his face.
“I was going to call you when I saw your car out front.” Perry stepped aside as I got out.
“Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you have called it a day hours ago?” I asked him as we walked toward the front of the building.
“This case is driving me crazy, Mason. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
All I could think about was Hannah. I knew that Jacob was going to notify Derek about my compromised computer. Tomorrow I’d be raked over the coals. There might even be an internal investigation. I had to prepare myself for that.
Because of Hannah.
And for what purpose? That was what I couldn’t figure out.
Who was Hannah Whelan?
“You still need to take a break, Perry. Sleep and food are good things.”
Perry followed me into the elevator and I hit the button for the third floor.
“I’ve been going over Freedom Overdrive’s targets, trying to find a common thread. We know that they’re all corrupt. But what if the link is personal?”
“That would make sense,” I said tiredly, wishing Perry would shut up already.
“Take Stanford Pharmaceuticals. They upped prescription costs by four hundred percent in the last five years, making medication unaffordable for a lot of people. And Ryan Law. Did you know they cheated people out of legitimate settlements? What if that’s the connection? The victims.”
Stanford Pharmaceuticals. Ryan Law. The victims. Perry, for all his ignorance, might be onto something.
“I was reading about a case several years back that involved a contractor that laid a bunch of bad asphalt that led to the death and injury of dozens of people. Did you know Ryan Law used all sorts of blackmail and intimidation to get those families bringing suit against the town and contractor to drop their cases? It was really awful. A lot of those victims, the ones that survived, ended up with some pretty serious conditions. I couldn’t access medical files—you know, with HIPAA and all that—but what if those people used Stanford Pharmaceutical products?”
My ears were buzzing. I was listening to Perry but I was preoccupied.
With Hannah.
Always Hannah.
She had taken over my life and now I knew that wasn’t a good thing.
We got off the elevator and Perry kept talking. “I really think we need to look into a closer connection. Someone from the inside. Because this required a lot of skill—”
I sat down at my computer and opened my email. I had dozens from the hours since I had left. One stood out.
It was from an address I had never se
en before yet I recognized instantly.
[email protected]
06050900.
I knew those numbers.
They belonged to the second hacker signature I had found after the Ryan Law DDoS attack.
“Perry, I’ll come talk to you later. I’ve got stuff to do. But you’ve got some solid ideas,” I told my partner.
“Oh, okay. Well, how about I compile my theories and send them over to you?”
I nodded, distracted, not wanting to open the email until Perry was out of the way.
From: [email protected]
Subject: The Truth is out there
Date: April 12, 2016 21:45
To: Kohler, Mason
The time for cryptic warnings is over. It’s time for you to know the truth. See who you’ve been in bed with.
Literally.
There was an attachment. I hesitated opening it.
This had the feeling of doom.
Once I clicked the file, there would be no going back. Everything would explode. I was certain of it.
But of course I clicked on the attachment. I had to know.
There was a mine of information. Chat transcripts. Data copied from a personal computer.
A detailed time line of all of Freedom Overdrive’s movements over the last few months.
But that wasn’t all.
There was an IP trace. Freedom Overdrive’s IP.
How had this other hacker done what the FBI couldn’t?
Did it matter?
I was about to learn the identity of the person I had been hunting.
It was a local IP. Freedom Overdrive lived in Richmond.
He had been under my nose this whole damn time. It was almost insulting.
My mysterious benefactor went a step further, doing my work for me. He had given me an address.
210 Willow Park Lane.
I stared at the address, not able to believe what I was seeing.
210 Willow Park Lane.
Pretty blue eyes. Soft, dark hair. The sounds of pleasure when I touched her. The breathy moans as I fucked her.
Watching her with her sister and knowing she was exactly who I wanted to be with.
The lies.
Her job. Her sister being a gymnast.
The root kit.
It all added up.
And then shattered apart.
My brain—my heart—went into meltdown.
I stood up from my desk in a rush, knocking over my chair. The few other agents in the room stared at me as I backed away from my computer.
“Mason, are you okay?” Perry asked, standing up at his desk.
“Just leave me alone,” I rasped. I covered my face with my hands and let out an agonized cry.
All the lies.
All the times I had known something was off about her.
And I hadn’t listened.
Because she was perfect.
She didn’t push to know about my job. She gave me space when I needed it. She listened to stories about my brother. She gave me comfort when I craved it. She let me meet her family.
It was all so orchestrated.
I could see that now.
210 Willow Park Lane.
I rushed into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, splashing my face with cold water. Then I retched, my stomach turning inside out.
My knees were weak; I felt like I was going to pass out. I gripped the sink, trying to stay upright.
210 Willow Park Lane.
All this time I had been hunting a ghost, having no idea that the flesh-and-blood woman I was falling for was the one keeping me in the dark.
I took deep breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. I wouldn’t lose it. Not now.
Now that I had exactly what I had been searching for.
Her soft, sweet lips. The taste of her in my mouth. How safe I felt when I was with her.
I was a fucking fool.
Hannah Whelan was Freedom Overdrive.
I pulled my hand back, my fingers curling, clenching into a fist. I slammed it into the mirror above the sink with a guttural yell. I hit it again. And again. Shards of glass rained down. Blood dripped on the floor.
I was devastated.
I was grief stricken.
I was really fucking angry.
Hannah was Freedom Overdrive.
She’d made me look like an idiot.
She had taken my trust—my heart—and she had annihilated it. I hadn’t wanted to care about her. Fall for her. But I had.
I did.
Because she was everything I wanted. Everything I needed. All rolled up in a pretty package.
Hannah was Freedom Overdrive.
She had played me for the dumb-ass that I was. Part of me thought I deserved what I had gotten, not being able to see what was right in front of my face.
A devil hiding behind a beautiful face.
Hannah was Freedom Overdrive.
I stared at my fractured reflection in the broken mirror. I hated the man I saw there. An idiot.
A fool.
Because of Hannah Whelan.
But then I smiled.
It was painful. My hand throbbed. My heart ached.
The hurt was what I needed.
To remind me of who she was. Of what she had done. Of what I had to do.
I would deal with Hannah Whelan.
My broken heart—my ravaged soul—demanded it.
It’s Only the Beginning
The Shadow Partner
It was easy to watch someone.
To observe their habits. Their routines.
To trace their movements.
To know what they ate for dinner. Where they pumped gas. What movies they watched.
Thanks to the Internet, our lives had become an open book.
And when you wanted to keep track of someone, a few clicks of a mouse and their entire life was there for you to witness.
Their address. Their phone number. Their tax returns. Every tiny detail was available if you just knew where to look.
Medical records. Mortgage statements. Traffic tickets.
Security cameras that observed every single move.
For some of us it was so simple.
For people like me.
For people like her.
She could find out anything. She could be anyone.
She was a mystery to everyone else.
But not to me.
She and I were the same.
She watched others.
I watched her.
She took delight in breaking the unbreakable.
I would take pleasure in watching her lose.
For someone so intelligent, she was disappointingly oblivious.
I had expected more from her.
She thought she had it under control.
She didn’t.
I would ruin her.
I would take away everything.
Because I loved her.
Because I would destroy her.
First I would take her boyfriend. He would know the serpent he slept with.
Then I would take her reputation. Everyone would know the truth. She would have nowhere to hide.
After that her fame would crumble. She’d lose everything she had worked so hard for. With the click of a mouse, it would be over.
Then I would take her family. Her sister. Her mother. They wouldn’t be able to shield her from what I had in store.
Finally I would take her freedom. That would be the sweetest part.
In the throes of her devastation she would realize I was all she had. That in her betrayal she had made her only friend her greatest enemy.
She should have known better than to cross me.
I had built her up.
I would tear her down.
And I would drink her tears.
One by one.
Author’s Note
For the conclusion of Mason and Hannah’s story, look for A
ftermath, being released this fall. For more information, visit the author at penguinrandomhouse.com.
To my Grandmother. My first and biggest fan. I miss you.
Acknowledgments
To the usual suspects.
To Ian for all of your tech know-how and endless patience as I asked you to explain—in excruciating detail—about hashing, DDoS, exploits, root kits, you name it. You’re one smart cookie and I’m glad I have you to make sense of the gobbledygook.
To Gwyn for being you. We’ll work on your book next.
To my critique girls—Tonya, Stacey, Claire, and Kelsie. You rock!
To Michelle and Sue for your endless patience and amazing support. I’ve needed it so much this year and you’ve given it without condition. I’m so lucky to have you both in my corner.
And finally to my readers. I love you.
BY A. MEREDITH WALTERS
Zero Day
Exploited
Aftermath (coming soon)
Other Books
Butterfly Dreams
About the Author
A. MEREDITH WALTERS is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many novels, including Exploited, Butterfly Dreams, Bad Rep, Perfect Regret, Lead Me Not, and the Find You in the Dark series. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a counselor for troubled and abused children and teens. She currently lives in England with her husband and daughter.
ameredithwalters.com
Twitter: @authoramwalters
Read on for an excerpt from
Aftermath
A Zero Day Romance
by A. Meredith Walters
Available from Loveswept
Chapter 1
Hannah
“You’ll be fine. I know it. You’re going to wake up and everything will be okay,” I murmured, holding Charlotte’s cold hand to my cheek. The constant drone of the respirator set my nerves on edge.
My back was stiff and my head was pounding but I wouldn’t move.
Not yet.
I was scared that if I closed my eyes I would miss the moment when things changed. When she woke up.
Or when she—
No!
I couldn’t let myself think like that.
Exploited (Zero Day #1) Page 29
