Page 23 of Handcuffed Hussy
I was about to leave for the day when my tech guy called me back. "Hey, are you physic or something? I found one other user hacked into our guy's system about four days ago. I traced that IP address and traced it to some other activity on the backend of a clothing website. Want me to trace it further?"
My mind was spinning the moment he said clothing. Bailey worked at a high-end clothing store. Bailey was at Hessa's place a week ago and wouldn't tell me what she was doing there. There was no such thing as a coincidence. Bailey was connected to all of this. Did she hack into this guy's site for Hessa? Was she also hacking into her company's site? That was a hell of a lot more dangerous, let alone completely illegal. Why the hell would she do that?
"Jack?"
The tech guy's voice broke into my thoughts, bringing me back to the present. "No! Sorry, no, don't trace the IP. It's not connected. We got our guy, should have the warrant by tomorrow, so case is almost closed. Thanks for your hard work, man."
"Sure thing, boss, anytime."
I hung up and ran my hands through my hair, trying not to freak out. What the fuck was she thinking?
Only one way to get to the bottom of this: straight to the source.
I beat Bailey back to her place that night, choosing to wait on her doorstep until she got home from work. I couldn't rest until I sorted this out. Was she the sweet, sassy, vivacious woman I was falling for, or was she a manipulative, lying criminal? I couldn't continue to plan a future with her if she was breaking laws left and right. That's just not who I was and I couldn't be with someone who did that. My whole profession was about maintaining order by following the law.
Pacing back and forth on her tiny front patio, I was sick to my stomach thinking I could be so wrong about her. I wanted her to explain it away and prove that my tech guy had his information all wrong. I wanted to go back to that brief hopeful glimpse of happiness being possible for her and I. That bubble of excitement for the future I hadn't had until I'd let her in.
Her car pulled in and I nearly ran to the car to put a stop to this inner torment.
"Jack! I wasn't expecting to see you." She smiled up at me as she climbed out, leaning forward as if to kiss me. I backed away and walked to her front door, not able to respond. I couldn't pretend everything was fine until we'd cleared the air.
"Okay...we're going to have to work on proper greetings." She chuckled, but fell silent as she took in my serious expression. She opened her door and led us into her dark living room. I turned on her lamps, wanting to see her face clearly when we talked. I could tell a lot from a person's facial expressions, things they couldn't hide behind lies.
"Wanna tell me what's up or are we going to sit here glaring at each other all night?" She had a hint of a smile but I could tell she was getting pissed at my cold demeanor. Best to just jump in and get this over with.
"Have you been hacking into your company's computer system?"
Her eyes widened, and she looked away from me for a brief moment before answering. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I have it on good authority that you've been doing some hacking. Your company's site, Hessa's case...any of that ring a bell?" I was good at interrogating suspects at work, but I was finding I lost all finesse when it was someone I cared about. I didn't bother trying to trap her or intimidate, instead asking straight-forward questions and hoping she'd tell me the truth.
She jumped up and walked to the window, looking outside, not at me. "I didn't think we'd be having this discussion quite this soon."
"So youarea hacker?" I asked incredulously.
She huffed out a humorless laugh. "I guess you could say that." She turned from the window and met my gaze. "I found Hessa's guy and yes, I hacked into my company's site. I stopped that though the minute you and I got involved. I don't expect you to understand, but I had my reasons for doing it."
My stomach dropped and all hope that I was wrong about her fizzled. I'd spent all last night planning a real future with this woman and I didn't even know her. I had to give her credit for answering truthfully and bravely, but I couldn't get over the fact that she'd broken the law and seemed so blasé about it.
"Just--just give me a minute." I ran my hands through my hair and had a seat on her couch. I needed to think, so I didn't let my emotions get in the way of finding out what the hell she did and especially why. Maybe if I could understand her motivation then I could figure out exactly who she was.
"I can see why you did it in Hessa's case. You wanted to help her, right?" Bailey had come over to the couch but hadn't sat down yet. She nodded at me and I tried to ignore how shiny her eyes looked in the low lamp light. "But why your job? They have a whole team of tech people that could have detected you and landed you in jail. Why the hell would you take that risk?"
Bailey just looked at me as if deciding whether she wanted to tell me anything further. Then she sighed, her whole body drooping for a fraction of a second, and she sat down next to me.
"I'll tell you why I did it, but I'm not telling you because I feel like I need an excuse. I still feel justified in doing what I did. I just want you to perhaps see it from my point of view." She sat with her back ramrod straight and she confidently met my gaze. Her hands were twisting in her lap, the only clue that she was nervous.
I nodded my head, my heart dying to hear an explanation that would make what she did okay. The law was sacred. It was black and white. I'd always shunned people who thought the grey areas were okay. Of course, it made sense it would be Bailey pushing me to expand my definition of 'okay'. She had a way of not letting you rest easy, instead finding your personal buttons and pushing them. Repeatedly.
"Growing up, I didn't have much parental support or supervision. My mom tried her best, but she was working two jobs to raise me by herself. I fell in with the wrong crowd in middle school and she finally had enough. We moved to Huntington Beach so we could start over my freshman year of high school. I wasn't too happy to be leaving my friends and being in a new state. My very first day, I met Esa." Bailey chuckled, lost in the memory.
"We were so different! But it just worked. She calmed me down, and I added some spice to her life. I think I told you before that her parents took me in and made me their second daughter. God, they used to drag us to their charity events and make us volunteer at the homeless shelter all the time. Like a typical teenager, I acted like I hated it, but I secretly loved it. It made me feel good. It gave me perspective. It changed me. So when the Grants died suddenly one morning, it was like I grew up, all in one day. I was taking care of Esa, helping with the funeral, helping her pack up the house, making decisions. And one of the decisions I made was that I would continue their legacy by helping other people as often as I could. I'd never made a promise like that one. I would rather die than break that promise to the best people I ever knew."
Her eyes were filled with tears, one slipping out to slide down her cheek. My thumb was there to wipe it away before I could overthink my actions. I was still angry, but I was starting to see where her head was at.
She quickly swiped away the other tears as if she was embarrassed.
"So why the hacking? How did that start?" I still didn't get how you went from volunteering at a homeless shelter to hacking a huge retail site.
