Chapter 22 #3
“I found out one thing. One thing that actually helps us, I think. I hope.” I take a breath and think through how I’m going to explain this to them so it makes sense.
“You all know the way my company works.” Okay, Lex doesn’t, but I can explain it to him later.
Especially since the rest of them nod. “So, to actually hack into the secured files of everyone’s companies, they would’ve had to manually connect the correct server to the network of the office. And while I was, uh . . .”
I remind myself to keep it simple.
“I was looking at what they were doing, what actions they were trying to force my computer to complete, right? And I saw them spell it out. They were specifically looking for the Crawford server.”
That lands just as hard as I expected it to.
I nod at their stunned faces.
“As far as I know.” I draw out the conclusion, locking eyes with Harry.
“No one but those in the Turris know you’re even using ECS to store data.
Nothing about my company is public knowledge except the trademark and the fact that I own it.
My firewall isn’t even patented, and you sure as hell haven’t been telling anyone you’ve stored data with me. ”
“It’s one of us,” Iris says, as it dawns on her.
“I don’t think Gotcha is one of us, but I did tell everyone about them the same day I pitched ECS.”
“How the fuck did one of us find this hacker if you can’t? If the FBI can’t?” Harry demands, and looks at Baron. There’s fear in his eyes, yeah, but there’s also the kind of fire and brimstone anger that I never want aimed at me.
“I don’t know,” I answer, even though I’m pretty sure it was a rhetorical question. “But what I do know is that we need to figure out what the fuck we’re going to tell everyone at the meeting on Monday, because we have to play our cards right to find out who’s trying to get to your files.”
“And why,” Iris points out. “Maybe they want a specific property,” she says, looking at her father.
Every family would want at least one property from Harry, so that’s no real way to narrow it down.
The floor under Barclay Arena is his, as is the floor of Wall Street, the floor under the flagship Certon Hotel on Park Avenue, the floor under Broadway’s theatres, the floor under one of the most famous museums in the world, the floor under Ellsworth Center where our magazines, newspaper, and every other Ellsworth company operates from, and the floor of the Alton Law building.
Harrison Crawford owns us. That’s a fact all our families have had to accept for hundreds of years, it’s nothing new.
So what the fuck changed?
“There aren’t any deeds in the servers, that would be insane,” Harry growls. “I didn’t store anything personal with Eli, it’s all from Crawford Inc. It has to be something else.”
“What could they possibly want?” Beatrice asks.
No one has an answer.
But there’s one more thing I need to explain.
“You all know already.” My eyes shift to Beatrice and Iris. “Probably, I don’t know if you’ve told them.” Looking at Baron and Harrison, I don’t think they know what I’m talking about. “That I’m Angelwings66?”
“What?” Beatrice snaps.
“Seriously?” is Iris’s reaction, but she’s staring daggers at her father. “You tell me so much unnecessary shit but this you keep quiet?”
“Hey now,” Harrison protests.
And while they debate on how dumb they think their fathers are, Lex grabs my hand and squeezes tight.
He grounds me, and my lungs can expand fully for the first time in what feels like weeks.
“Whatever.” Iris ends the discussion with a huff and roll of her eyes before looking at me again. “Why is this important to what happened today?”
God, she’s terrifyingly smart.
“Because not many people know. The hacker who Eian had me talk to, from his family?” Nods all around.
“I went to help with his setup so he knows, but I don’t think he’s told Eian.
So my dad and Lyla know, Lex knows, the directors of the FBI and CIA know, and the four of you.
I think we can assume all those people aren’t involved in this because if Gotcha had known who I really am, then they would’ve used it to taunt me, try to blackmail me, or they would’ve refused the job altogether. ”
“That still leaves ten other people,” Beatrice points out.
“Yes, and we can probably narrow it down from there. I don’t think Tucker would do this, for example,” Baron says.
I shake my head, though I agree with him.
“I think every single person in the Turris is capable of this.” I’m met with stunned silence.
“We’re all ruthless in our own ways.” I shrug.
“And we’re all used to getting our way. Whatever this person wants, they’ve already gone to great lengths.
They almost killed my dad trying to get it. So . . .”
I let that linger between us, right on top of the cooling pizza.
After a long moment Harry nods to himself and looks at each of us in turn.
“We tell them everything but the fact that the hacker knew what they were looking for, and for now, you tell no one else that you’re Angelwings66. When your father is back we can fill him in, but for now we tell no one.”
Great.
More secrets.