Page 10 of Their Cruel Love

Totally sick.In an omg creepy-sick way.I do not know him. This is not healthy.

Before I can overthink this even more, I text Seth with my own request. I’ve already in a vague way discussed what might ensue after today and am pretty sure I made his hacker heart happy too.

See you tomorrow around 3 PM. I end the texts with.Tell me if that’s a bad time but I need this tomorrow.

Seth arrives dead on three PM, and I buzz him into the building.

At the knock a few minutes later, I open my door. “Bearing gifts?”

“Yes.” He lifts a carry bag. “Where shall we do this, and do I get danger pay?”

“Let’s see where this ends up.” It is a point. I’m using him, even if he enjoys the mental exercise. “Follow me, my hacker guru.”

I lead him into the living room and realize he’s the first close friend I’ve had over since Milli. The champagne bottles are all gone, but the blue sofa and the view out over the Thames remain. The seagulls are here, also, along with their distant, sorrowful cries. The sorrow is probably just my interpretation.

“Just there.” I indicate the glass dining table and pull out a chair for him.

Seth’s long legs make me feel short, and I’ve often teased him about his resemblance to a crane. While he tips out thecontents of the bag and slowly sorts out a few plastic zip-locked bags, I smile at the ringlets of his black hair flopping over his eyes. I can imagine him as a painter living in a garret trying not to starve while creating masterpieces.

My reliance on so few friends is telling. I’ve been scared of the world for too long.

Maybe I needed this, and that is such a dark idea, considering the cause.

Seth catches me frowning. “Hey. We are going to figure this out. Milli will be somewhere and okay. People don’t just vanish on trips to Majorca or wherever.”

“You mean they don’t often. It happens. Also…” I draw a breath. He has to hear this. “Majorca. I told you that place, but she might be anywhere. People think she went off with some rich sugar daddy.”

“But you don’t know. You obviously think it’s this CNC frat group. So.” He taps one see-through bag which holds a tiny, half centimeter thick, almost-flat USB stick. “USB stick and several colored casings that will disguise it. If you cannot plug it into a laptop that’s turned on and then extract it ASAP, make sure the casing matches. It might buy time. I only need it plugged in for a few minutes, depending on the speed of the USB connection and the device.”

“Okay.” This was James Bond stuff, but I figured it was doable. “It’ll depend on my situation, of course.”

“Yes, but plug it in and leave it there if you have to. Once the device is turned on, this will upload a virus and then send data to the cloud. That cloud connection pushes the data to another and then another. Untraceable, so if it stays in the machine, we can still get some data.”

“Good.” I lay my forearms on the table. “What about it? The USB itself. Is that not traceable?”

“Not anymore. Normally, yes.” He grins. “Take it as the gold standard of anonymous. It’ll tell us everything. Only that cloud account can be traced and then…poof, the trail vanishes.”

I nod, mouth screwed up but pretty sure he’s got this. “Then all I have to do is smuggle it into this party and onto a relevant laptop.”

I know how I’m smuggling it—internally. As long as they don’t probe me there, and they won’t unless they want a sexual assault charge—I’m good.

“You are devious, and I do have to wonder why you’d have this shit ready to go.”

“My hobby.” He shrugs and leans back into the chair. “Some things are irresistible, and collecting all sorts of hacking tools is my artform.”

“Well. I’m sold. You have other stuff?” I will have to pay him, somehow. This can’t be cheap, and I tend to forget money. “I’ll pay you. You have bugs?”

“I sure do.” He begins to corral a few more bags. “This one here is…”

I listen intently, unsure if any of this will ever be used, but who knows, I might get lucky.

A text comes through while I’m listening, getting briefed on his gadgets, and it’s from the real estate friend. They’ve taken my query and run with it.

I reread the text, which directs me to an email and advises me to phone them to verify it is genuine. The last part is the best if I wanted to sell.

I have a buyer who is willing to go to 7.4 if you are willing to sell this month. I know you may not be interested but I thought it best to advise of the offer.

Seven point four million. That’s up from an offer last year on a neighboring apartment, by over a million.

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