Page 16 of Rue

“Day, I need out of here, please!”

“Sailor… if I’m not out there with you all made up and lookin’ like he wants, it’s gonna be my ass. I ain’t puttin’ my whole family on the line just to piss him off! There’s no workaround, just get through this! Have the kid and be good, and he’ll let you walk away after.”

Sailor wilted, more tears falling, but she stayed still as he put make-up on her. When he finished, he opened her bag and pulled out the dress and shoes he’d gotten out of her closet.

“I can’t…”

“Just put it on, Say,” he cut in angrily.

“It’s too small! The chest is too tight! I only wore it to Janine’s sister's wedding, and it was her old dress!”

“And it shows off the goods. Just wear it tonight, Say! Wear it out there while he’s got his crew all gathered up and let them see you all on point and shit, okay? Come on. Turn around and let me do your hair some too.”

Chapter 9

When Davon led her out of the room, holding her arm so she wouldn’t stumble in the heels, Mig looked her over, his eyebrows shooting up. “I see what you meant,” he chuckled, taking her other arm and leading her to the main room.

Geo looked over when they came in, surrounded by a large group of men he was talking to. One man was sitting at a desk on a computer, and they were all watching him as they spoke. Geo went quiet and stood up straight, then smirked at her.

Sailor felt her face redden, but she couldn’t cover herself, not with both men holding her arms like they were.

“That’s some change, yeah?” Geo chuckled as she got close enough that Mig stopped her. “Yeah. I want her dressin’ like that from now on. Teach her to put all that shit on her face too.”

Sailor glowered at him, then looked past him to the computer screen. Her mouth opened before she considered her words. “You’re an idiot!” she told the man sitting there. “You know that software is monitored, right? Even if you pirated it off some sight, it’s still being monitored for EXACTLY what you’re doing on it right now. You can’t use that or any of the big-name software like it to…”

“Shut that bitch up,” the man snorted. “I know what thefuck I’m doin’. This copy ain’t registered and…”

“And it STILL gets monitored! You think they don't know what it gets used for by people like you? They let idiots who know enough to get in trouble get their hands on thisjustso they can trace it! They get you, then they get your boss!”

Geo scowled but reached over and shut down what the man was doing.

“Geo, she don't know what she’s talkin’ about. I know what I’m doin’!”

“That’s, like, the HARDEST way to make money anyway,” Sailor went on, rolling her eyes. “Even if you get it exactly right, which you won’t, you still have to find a way to distribute without it coming back to you. If you’re going to use the internet to cheat and steal and all that, then at least do things the easy way!”

“You know the easy way?” Geo asked lightly.

Sailor hesitated, then scowled at him. “I’m not showing you.”

“You think I’d believe you? You’d just try’n get yourself caught so you could get away.”

“I should have let him keep going,” she grumped, tugging away from Davon and holding her shoulder so she could cover her chest with one arm. “You would have all gotten busted, he’s not even using a proxy. They have your IP already.”

“That shit s’posed to mean somethin’, Rue?” Geo asked, amused now. “Davon, you said she was smart. She some kinda hacker or some shit?”

“I know she’s written all kinds of programs and codes. I wouldn’t doubt her at all as far as what she was saying about what he was doing. I’m not in any of her advanced classes or programming or anything. She’s always been in advanced computer classes, coding and programming ‘n all that. She was into it before I met her. I know she has a program she wrote to write papers for her. She’s smart. If she says that’s an easy way to get caught, I don't doubt it at all. It makes sense. They give you enough rope to hang yourself, you know? If it was that easy,everyone would be doin’ it.”

“So what’s the easy way?” Geo asked with a smirk, looking Sailor over again.

“Easy for me, not you or anyone else. I’m not stealing money for you,” she told him flatly.

“Let’s jus’ say hypothetically. Gimme a thumbnail sketch.”

“I’d write a program that charged fees that are labeled something benign. Something super small, but a LOT of them… like no more than $3. I let that run on a bank server through a few proxies for a couple days but limited to a certain amount. Put it in a coded offshore, hidden. Open several of those and fill them all up just under the amount that would raise flags. Then you shuffle them, and while you shuffle, you shake them out. Drop some out into other accounts, move it all, and filter it into accounts you can use to put into your own account. The trick is to keep it moving, to make sure you don't go over certain amounts in any one account, and don't leave the program running on the same bank for more than a couple days so you can’t be tracked or traced. New program, new bank every 48 hours, and don't exceed the class A felony amount. Cap the amount, shuffle accounts, and sift as you shuffle. Let it trickle in.”

“Huh,” Geo grunted, his eyes glittering. “An’ could you run multiple programs on multiple banks at one time?”

“You don't want to let it get away from you, it would be too easy to lose track if you aren’t tracking carefully. It can add up faster than you think, and the banks will notice if too much is missing. One at a time will be enough, anyway. Soon, your accounts will make their own income with interest, which will also trickle down. You must resist the urge to drop it all into a usable account too soon. This is a long game, not a short game.”

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