3. Kennedy
Kennedy
“Do you still have the photo the hacker sent you?” Dec asked me, one eyebrow raised as he balanced my laptop on his knee.
I shook my head. “No, um… I deleted it because it creeped me out so much.”
“Right.” He turned to look at me, a question lingering in his eyes. “And it was just you sitting there?”
My cheeks warmed. “Yeah, I was just watching Netflix on my bed when they took the photo.”
“Weird. Usually these camera hacker types try to get potential victims in some sort of compromising position. Like jacking off to porn or something,” he said. “But at least they don’t have anything to blackmail you with, right?”
I swallowed hard and shifted nervously beside him. “Yeah. I guess it was more to scare me. Like, ‘ Look what I can do, whenever I want’ .”
“Creepy as fuck. But luckily for you, your dear old stepbrother is a total nerd who can fix all your issues,” Dec said, grinning as he turned his attention back to my screen.
I let out a light laugh and jostled his shoulder. “You’re not a nerd.”
“Hey, you never saw me in my first year of high school. Or the one after,” he said, raising a brow again. “Let’s just say there’s a reason I ended up being a software developer.”
“I wish I had seen you back then,” I said. “I just can’t picture you being a total geek.”
“Is that a compliment I hear?” Dec flexed one arm. “Are you saying I’m too sexy to be a nerd?”
“Oh, god.” I let out a groan. “As if your giant ego needs any more fodder.”
He jokingly pouted. “Wow. I’m sitting here at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning fixing your computer, and you can’t even swing me a compliment?”
“Fine, fine.” I threw my hands up. “All my friends still harass me about you, telling me how hot you are and begging me to set you up with them. So there you go. Now that you’re single again, you know exactly which group to sniff around.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Sorry, was that too soon?” I said, cringing.
Dec smiled and shook his head. “Nope. That’s the exact sort of stuff I need to hear right now. I need to get back in the saddle, as they say,” he replied. His expression suddenly turned serious, and he dipped his chin toward my laptop screen. “There we go. Got it.”
“You figured out how the hacker got in?”
“Yup. Malware on your device.”
I frowned. “How did it get on there?”
“Could’ve been from anything, really. A link you clicked. A website you visited. A file you downloaded.”
“Oh, wow. So literally anything .”
“Yup. Have you visited any new websites recently? Or downloaded anything?”
“Erm…” My pulse began to race as I recalled the erotic Scream fanfic I’d been reading before all this trouble started. “No new websites I can think of. And the only thing I’ve downloaded recently was a contract Freya sent me.”
“Well, like I said, it could’ve come from anywhere. The most important thing is that you know about it now, so we can deal with it.”
A shiver crept over my skin. “It’s so creepy how easy it is for these hackers to get into our stuff,” I said. “And it’s so creepy to think that he could be sitting there watching us through the camera right now.”
“He’s not.”
“How can you know for sure?” I raised a brow and jokingly jostled Dec again. “Unless you’re the evil hacker.”
He chuckled. “I know for sure because I removed his access twenty seconds ago,” he said. “So… ta-da. You’re safe again.”
My shoulders sagged as I let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks so much. I really owe you one.”
“Hey, you’re spending the rest of the day helping me move all my shit into the house, so I think we’re even,” he replied. “But from now on, keep a piece of tape over your camera, and be careful which sites you visit or download stuff from.”
I nodded slowly. “I have to visit the police station on Monday, so I might as well make a report about this while I’m there. Kill two birds with one stone.”
“Honestly, if I were you, I wouldn’t even waste my time reporting this to the cops.”
“Seriously?” My brows shot up. “This hacker had my phone number. Isn’t that a big deal?”
“Surprisingly… not really,” he replied. “I know it seems really scary, because getting a message like that makes you think someone’s targeting you personally. Right?”
“Right.”
“That’s the thing. It’s usually not targeted at all.
These hacker-blackmailer types cast a very wide net.
They’ll leave malware on a ton of random links.
When someone clicks… boom, they’ve got access to their device.
From there, they can pretty easily find out their name.
IP address can also give them a location.
And once they have that… look how easy it is to get more information. ”
He typed something and turned the screen again.
“Here we are,” he said. “The second result when I search for your name is a public records page, and you’re the third Kennedy Campbell on the list. See?
We can tell it’s you because it says Corwin Bay next to your name.
And look what else it says when we expand the listing. ”
He clicked again, and my stomach dropped as I scanned the page.
“Oh my god,” I said. “This site has everything! Every address I’ve ever lived at, and everywhere I’ve worked. And not just my current number. My old high school one, too!”
“That was the phone you dropped in the pool, right? During my dad’s Fourth of July party?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head slowly, still staring. “This is seriously crazy. They’ve even got my middle school email address!”
“Your email address was really [email protected] when you were eleven?” Dec asked, amusement glimmering in his eyes.
I groaned. “I was trying to impress a boy in my class when I made it, okay?” I said. I jabbed a finger at the screen. “But seriously, how can a site like this exist?”
“Welcome to the American data privacy crisis. This isn’t possible in most other countries because their privacy laws are too strong.
But here, you can figure out almost anyone’s home address and phone number by simply Googling their name.
If you don’t want all your details out there, like if you’re a celebrity or something, you usually have to pay to get it scrubbed off the net. ”
“That’s crazy. I honestly had no idea.”
“Yeah, well… my point is, these hackers cast a wide net, like I said earlier,” Dec said.
“Once someone is infected, they can target them the same way they targeted you. But it’s not personal.
You’re just the unlucky person who happened to accidentally download their malware that day. See what I’m saying?”
I nodded. “So I don’t have a dedicated stalker, or anything like that.”
“Doubt it. I’d say there’s a 99% chance it’s some random guy sitting in a basement somewhere, trying to make money off unsuspecting people.”
I swallowed hard. “People actually pay them?”
“A lot of them do, because the hackers usually try to blackmail them with something embarrassing. So most people instantly freak out and pay up just to make sure nothing happens. But if you ignore them… they don’t actually do anything.
They just give up and move on to the next target, hoping they’ll be scared enough to pay. ”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “So if they contact me again to demand money, I can safely ignore it.”
“Yup. It’s always an empty threat. So they won’t do anything.” Dec glanced at me. “Did you try to call the number that messaged you? Or reply via text?”
“Yeah, I tried calling it, just to see if anyone would answer. But it was disconnected.”
“Probably just a burner phone the hacker uses.” He shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter now. He can’t access your stuff anymore.”
“Thanks again. I really do owe you one,” I said. “You’ve already got so much stuff going on, so me showing up at your door freaking out was probably the last thing you needed.”
He smiled and closed my laptop. “It’s fine. I was expecting you anyway, and besides, this has been a good distraction. That’s just what I need right now.”
I tentatively patted his arm. “How are you doing with the whole Kaylee thing, anyway?”
His expression turned grim. “Well, she cheated on me, so it’s definitely over. Stone-cold dead and buried.”
“Oh, shit. I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“It is what it is.” He waved a casual hand, though the stiffness in his tone betrayed his hurt and anger. “All I can really do is try my best to move on.”
“Well, if you ever need to talk, you know I’m right here.”
He gave me a faint smile. “Thanks. I’m always here for you too,” he said. Curiosity flickered in his eyes. “You’re still single, right? So we’re in the trenches together?”
“Yup. The dating market in Corwin Bay is rough. But it’s rough everywhere, from what I hear.”
Dec exhaled heavily and shook his head. “It shouldn’t be this hard, you know?
” he said. “Finding someone loyal. Who doesn’t lie, or leave when it gets inconvenient.
I mean, wouldn’t life be so much easier if the perfect person just showed up one day and said, ‘I’m yours.
Always will be.’ And they actually meant it? ”
“Definitely. Too bad that never happens.”
“Yeah.” He looked at me, giving me another faint smile. “Anyway, that’s enough negativity from me today. Let’s talk about you instead. You seem to be doing really well right now.”
“Apart from the hacker thing, and the fact that I still haven’t found a real job?” I said with a self-deprecating grin.
“Hey, if this podcast thing takes off like I think it will, you won’t even need to find a real job,” Dec replied, putting the last two words in air quotes. “Seriously, you’re smashing it. It’s really good.”
I raised a brow. “You listened to it?”
“Yup. Your mom sent me a link earlier. She and Dad are super proud of you. They keep saying how they think you and Freya might actually solve this thing in the end.”
“What about you?” I asked. “Do you think we’ll figure out who the Carver is?”
Dec’s brows pulled together for a moment. Then his lips spread in a slow smile. “Yeah. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”