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 the fuck 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 this just so 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.”
“And you’ve done this?”
“No, of course not!”
Geo snorted. “Why not if it’s so easy?”
“First, I don't have the setup I’d need for it. Second, you only do this if you have nothing to lose. I have everything to lose, my family depends on me.”
“But you have them programs written already, don't you?” he asked, his eyes sharp as he leaned on the desk and crossed his arms.
“No… I know how to, but no. I’ve never written them. They’d take a minute, and I wouldn’t want anyone else getting hands on them.”
“You have time… how many months till that kid drops? You have all kinds of time.”
“I’m not doing that for you.”
He chuckled then. “You think I’m’a let you just get hands on a computer and ask for help or somethin’? I ain’t stupid, Rue. This is all hypothetical, right? Here’s what we doin’, though. I’m’a get you a paper, and you gonna write down all that shit you just said about why what he was doin’ won’t work. I’m’a double check you an’ if you lyin’? It won’t be good for you, Rue. It’s gon’ suck, in fact. So how ‘bout you take this minute to say if you was just fuckin’ with my shit. I won’t go so hard on ya.”
“I’m not lying, I don't lie,” Sailor scowled at him.
“Nah? So you wasn’t tryna get out of shit by sayin’ your moms would die without you?” he asked with another snort of derision.
“I went there,” Davon spoke up. “She couldn’t move. I had to spoon-feed her after she freaked out thinkin’ I was gonna rob her. She could hardly breathe, and I hadda call Social Services when I left because Say wasn’t exaggerating. Her mom is dying, and she cain’t even get out of her bed on the couch.”
Geo was scowling at him as he spoke, but he looked back down at Sailor as soon as he finished. “You see her gramma too?”
“No… she told me her info, and I’m gonna call Social Services for her too.”
“Yeah. Aight. How ‘bout you go get on that, then? Mig, give him next week's shit. Keep your fuckin’ phone handy, boy. Be here fuckin quick if I need you, yeah?”
“Yeah, man, always,” Davon agreed with a nod of respect as Mig led him out the front door .
Sailor looked up at Geo nervously as she hugged herself, and he smirked down at her.
“Marc, get her some paper. Gabe, get up so she can sit down. Pencil, too, dipshit. Write it out, Rue. Be specific.”
Sailor swallowed hard but sat down and started writing. Geo took hold of the chair behind her and leaned over her, his mouth close to her neck. At first, she thought he was trying to make her nervous, but he was watching her write.
“What’s a proxy?” he demanded.
“Think of it like a P.O. Box when you don't want people to know where you live,” she mumbled, continuing to write. “But it’s for Internet and not mail. The more you have, the more people will chase their tails, from P.O. Box to P.O. Box, never finding a real address, you know? And you don't use them very long, you don't want them to be able to be traced, so you keep switching them out…”
“Just like your programs.”
“Exactly.”
“What’s API mean?”
“Programming interface… are you going to let me do this or ask questions?”
“You best watch how you speak,” he chuckled. “Remember what got you into this. What’s OS?”
“Operating System,” she huffed impatiently. “That’s, like, super basic. Everyone should know that.”
“Why the fuck should I know or care about that shit?” Geo demanded. “Computers ain’t my thing, never hadda mess with this shit.”
“Okay, boomer,” she mumbled.
“You just call me old?” he asked darkly, going still.
“You’re, like, twice my age at least! What are you, like 40?”
“Yeah, I think you need another lesson,” he rumbled, gripping her hair tightly.
“It’s an observation! You ARE older than me! By a lot! It’s not disrespectful for me to notice it!”
“It is when you shit talkin’ about it. What’s SC? ”
“Source Code.”
“Encryption?”
“It just turns information into coded information so no one else can read it, at least in theory.”
“Theory?”
“Some people can decrypt it if they have the right tools.”
“Are you the right tool?” he asked her, turning so his lips were against her temple.
“I could be if I had what I needed. It all costs money, the things needed to do all of that. There. Ask your expert or whoever if I’m right,” she demanded, tearing the page out of the binder and holding it back to him.
He took it and handed it to the man he’d called Gabe, who’d been in the chair. “Go up to the college, find whoever teaches that shit, and ask. Make sure whoever it is stays quiet about the questions. See if our little genius here is a liar or not.”
“Should I ask about the other things she was talking about too?” Gabe asked.
“Nah. Just check that. Carlos, ride with ‘m. Be back by morning.”
“Yeah, boss,” another man agreed, grabbing Gabe by the arm and leading him out.