Page 34 of Devil's Due

I raise the fingers of one hand then lower them to their original position. “Unless she’s robbing someone from behind her computer.”

“How can she do that shit?” Cad asks. “Hard enough for me, and I’ve got good eyesight.”

I shrug, don’t know, hadn’t asked.

“It’s possible,” Demon says. “Even blackmail can be done remotely.”

“Or she’s totally innocent and has been caught up in shit not of her own making.”

“So she goes into hiding. Hard to do on her own.”

“She’s an expert with computers. Maybe she set up her new identity?”

Cad’s shaking his head. “Cara said the way the entries were done was good enough to throw most people off the scent. She suggested there’d need to be official sanction to alter the database like that.”

“She’s had help.” I think for a moment. “Witness protection?”

“That would make sense.” Prez raps his knuckles this time. “And if that hit and run wasn’t a fuckin’ accident, all her carefully laid plans have come undone.”

“If that’s the case and if she’s sensible, she’ll be talking to her handler. Moving on.”

“Did she suspect it wasn’t an accident?”

I go back over our conversations in my head. “No, she didn’t seem at all suspicious. Was more fuckin’ concerned about the dog. Don’t think she saw herself as a target.” Which is a worry in itself. If she’s in danger, she doesn’t know it. Damn, I need to warn her. Then she can contact whoever made arrangements for her and do it all over again. I frown, thinking how she explained she was so used to bruises. Now, with just a white stick to help her around, she’ll be picking up a load more of them if she has to start all over again.

But she had dismissed me fast yesterday. Maybe she might not have seen the car as deliberate, but something else has spooked her. Max.Jeez.“For fuck’s sake.” I slam my fist onto my leg. “The vet is tracing the microchip. Of course that won’t be fucking registered to her current name. If, and it’s a big if, that accident was simply carelessness, that he’s checking the dog’s identity will be raising a red flag somewhere. She’s fucked whichever way you look at it.”

“I hadn’t even thought about something like that.” Cad’s shaking his head now, his eyes sharp. “Of course all service dogs are chipped.”

There’s more too. “She was reticent about filling out forms for the dog’s insurance.”

“It’s possible that’s one detail that was missed. Her new identity was set up to be watertight, from what you say, it didn’t occur to them to set one up for her fuckin’ pet.”

Not a pet.But I don’t correct him.

“She’s a fuckin’ wise girl if that’s the case. Careful, as she should be. I bet she’d never thought about it until she was asked for the details.”

I nod. It was at that point her demeanour had changed.

“She’ll know better than to start filling in forms. You know what those companies are like, they’ll want to know every detail. Including where she is.” Cad sighs. “Companies like to think they’re secure, but you’ll no doubt have heard about all the high-profile data leaks. Most times, when there’s a breach people just patch over the hole and get on with it. Young kids try to get into databases for fun. Someone like me? If I’m just looking for info, no one knows I’ve even been there.”

“You saying if she puts in a claim then they’ll find her?”

“Her dog’s hurt, everyone will expect her to claim.” Cad pauses, then looks from me to the prez. “People go into Wit Sec for one of two reasons. Either because they need a permanent change, they’ve been a witness in a high-profile case and they never can return to their old life. Or, they are moved temporarily until a trial is over. If the latter, whoever sorted out her new identity may not have thought of all the details.”

“If she’s a programmer, maybe you’re wrong, Cad. Maybe she does have the skills to do it herself?” Maybe that’s why she wanted to get rid of me. A flicker of hope that she might be helping herself.

But Cad knocks that on the head. “Not necessarily. She might know code, but unless she’s committed a computer crime which is why she’s in the system—” he breaks off as I give a violent shake of my head.

“In that case,” he resumes, “she’s probably never used her knowledge nefariously. People like Mouse, Cara and I spend a large part of our time on underground forums learning tricks and how to look for weaknesses. Doesn’t mean she can.”

“We’ve got one fuck of too many 'don’t knows' here, and a brother who’s been seen with her wearing our cut.” Demon uses a prez’s stare on me. “That’s what I’m concerned about. I want to know what’s at the bottom of this to know whether there could be any blowback on us.”

Drummer would have done the same thing in Tucson. Make sure a member didn’t step in shit and then brought it back to the club.

“Of course, all this conjecture about Wit Sec might be completely the wrong tree we’re barking at. Could be she’s trying to escape an abusive ex, in which case, her preparation could be flimsy.”

My turn to eye Demon. He’s correct. But there’s the worry that my cut might have signalled to someone that the Satan’s Devils are involved. I understand why he’s worrying. And fuck, here am I, not even a Pueblo member. Anything I’ve inadvertently put wrong, it’s down to me to right. “What do you want from me, Prez?”

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