Chapter 13 #2
I poured a cup of steaming hot coffee, added cream and two sugars, and walked back to my desk. Lieutenant Steele had invaded my house and my workspace, and it was time he knew how that felt.
Taking a large sip and twisting my hair in a bun above my head, I cracked my neck and got to work.
Minutes passed as I flew through all the recordings from today, only to find that our system had been hacked into, and we were getting a loop recording.
Knox Steele had some good hackers around.
While I set an alert to rebuild security and change every single password and key card to access the Wildcats—online and offline—I opened the footage from Lieutenant Steele’s precinct.
A sinister pleasure wound through every pore of my body as I lost myself in preparing the revenge.
With every hour that passed, I worked through the recordings and planned the very thing that would make a man like Knox Steele lose his mind.
I didn’t just want revenge for the act of simply breaking into my home, my workplace.
I needed him to feel shocked.
I needed him to feel helpless.
I needed him to feel overpowered.
I needed him to feel incompetent and overthrown.
I needed him to feel like a person who lost the fucking game.
I needed him to feel what I felt, only a hundred times harder.
I lost myself in plotting and planning, in researching and compiling evidence, one person, one case at a time.
I worked till my fingers started to cramp, till the midnight-blue sky of the city turned lighter, until the soft pinks and purples streaked across the sky, and the burning orange and yellow sunlight lit up my office.
My vision was blurry as I compiled the email addresses I needed and wrote the email.
With a smile that I knew rivaled what would have been Lieutenant Steele’s when he broke into Wildcats and my home, I attached the link to all the evidence and hit send with my right hand as I flipped him off with my left in a motherfucking salute to the cop.
And that was exactly how Lena found me, as she asked, her eyes wide with disbelief, “What the fuck are you doing?”
I put down my finger, and with as much calm as I could muster in my sleep-deprived state, said, “Knox Steele broke into the Wildcats HQ and my home.”
“What?” Her screech had two people running to my office. Naomi and Arya. Naomi held a cup of coffee in her hand, while Arya seemed to have run here mid-workout as sweat coated her entire body.
Immediately, Lena had her phone up to her ear. “Knox Steele broke into the Wildcats HQ and Tara’s home,” she said on the phone and to Naomi.
The mug she was holding slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “You’re cleaning that up, Naomi.”
Lena turned to Arya. “Please let the others know, and we’ll hold a meeting once I have all the details.”
She quickly nodded and ran off.
Lena walked over the crushed glass and took a seat right across from me. “How the fuck do you know that, and how are you so calm?”
Calm wasn’t how I would describe my current state. “I walked into my house to find four recording devices hidden in my bedroom. Shadow was fed, my dirty dishes were clean, my bed was made, and my fucking room was tidied up.”
Lena pursed her lips. “Did any of our cameras catch him?”
Right then, Dominic Park barged into my office. “What the fuck happened?”
He was a large, imposing man, but his eyes have always been kind. Right now, they were deep pools of worry and anger.
I gave him a nod in greeting, then turned to Lena and answered her question.
“Our cameras and security system were hacked into as well. The recordings are showing me a looped file, and I’m trying to figure out who exactly hacked into our system.
It will take me some time. I will have Shadow check through your apartments and see if he broke into any of your places. ”
Lena shook her head. “My place was fine. Not even a hint to indicate something was off. But better to check it out.”
Naomi rubbed her jaw, worry dotting every line on her face. “Mine was fine too. No evidence of a break-in.”
Dominic clutched the back of his head as he walked back and forth along the office. “Same for ours.”
Naomi and Lena both looked at me as I continued with my update. “I found four cameras with embedded recording devices here. I assume he would’ve clicked a million fucking pictures too. I would have, if I were him.”
“What are we gonna do? And why hasn’t the detective brought his entire force down here if he already saw our headquarters?
” Naomi had two deep grooves of worry between her eyebrows as she looked between the three of us.
Her fear and worry of being caught was palpable, and I knew her worry wasn’t for herself.
It was for the hundreds of women we helped, day in and day out.
For some insane reason, though, I wasn’t afraid of Knox Steele bringing his army of cops here.
I knew he wouldn’t. “He hasn’t brought anyone down here because he hasn’t caught us red-handed.
This”—I waved my hand around—“is all speculation. Having a setup isn’t a crime.
It’s suspicious, for sure. But Knox Steele would rather catch us in action than get the cops involved over speculation. ”
Naomi’s eyes widened. “Look around, Tara. Our entire HQ is evidence enough. It should’ve had him standing at our doors with at least a search warrant. What the fuck is stopping him from doing that?”
I stretched my arms and wound them behind my head. “Probably the same thing that made him break into my apartment. We’ll check your apartments, but my gut is telling me he’s after me.”
Lena typed furiously on her phone. “I’m telling my contact on the inside to keep me posted. I need to know if they’re going to be targeting us.”
She then raised her head and met my eyes. “And what are you going to do about Lt. Knox Steele targeting you?”
I smirked.
“Fuck,” Naomi mumbled at the same time, Lena growled, “You already did something, didn’t you?”
Dominic looked between the three of us, his eyebrows raised to his forehead.
I gave him a wink, which had him shaking his head. He did have a smile on his face though.
I turned to Lena and Naomi. “I showed him what happens if he messes with the Wildcats.”
I pulled open the email that I’d so carefully and diligently prepared through the night and showed it to them.
Naomi cursed while Lena moaned. “Tara, why?”
I shrugged, remembering the audacity of the man to break into my apartment and show off. “He challenged me. I answered back. From here on out, he’s my responsibility. I will not let anything happen to the Wildcats.”