Chapter Six #2
If I’m going to be spending the next 8 weeks—through the end of November—with Killian, then I’m going to need to start being far more careful about what I’m doing and what I’m seen doing.
It might be safe to assume that, from this morning onward, any sense of privacy I previously had will be compromised.
The next day, I go to the floor below Empire Journal’s primary office space and navigate to the IT wing. There’s a young, up and coming tech genius who owes me a favor, and if I want to conduct my affairs safely, I’ll need to call in that favor to get Tommy’s help.
I rap my knuckles on Tommy’s office door before letting myself in.
The kid’s fresh out of college—which he graduated two years early—and is already making a name for himself in the tech world.
His office is a study of chaos; half assembled pieces of tech littering every available surface, stacks of paper on the floor, a computer setup with five monitors, all of which are powered up.
He’s wearing headphones, as he always is, head vigorously bobbing in time with pulses of music.
He didn’t hear me come in—he never does—but as soon as his muted hazel eyes catch on me, he removes his headphones and shoots me a boyish grin.
“Lyra,” he greets. “How is the most beautiful journalist in the world?”
He’s been hitting on me since he got hired here a few months ago—after I recommended him—and I’ve been shooting him down. At this stage, we both know nothing will ever happen between us, but he’ll try just for the sake of teasing, and I’ll roll my eyes and tell him to take a hike.
“Tommy,” I reply. “How’s our favorite IT genius doing?”
His grin widens. “Splendidly. What can I do for ya today?”
I pick up a cracked open phone lingering on a desk by the door, examining the interior. “I need a favor.”
In the span of a heartbeat, Tommy goes from a flirt to a businessman who’s ready to cut to the heart of the issue. He sits up straighter and removes his hands from his keyboard. “What’s going on, babe?”
“Don’t call me babe, kid.” I wink to let him know I’m mostly teasing, then get to the heart of the problem.
“I’ve just been hired to do a profile on one Killian King.
When I interviewed with him yesterday, I got a vague sense that any more time with him might compromise my privacy.
” Understatement. “I need ways to limit how he might direct his team to monitor me.”
Tommy nods seriously. “Yeah. These C-suite guys don’t fuck around when they’re keeping outsiders in their vicinity—especially outsiders who work for newspapers.” He clears his throat. “How worried are you?”
Considering what I learned about Killian yesterday, namely that there are no boundaries he won’t cross… “I’m functioning under the assumption that he’ll have his IT guy break into every piece of my tech to see what I’m doing and ensure I’m not working on anything that’ll harm his boss.”
Tommy’s eyes narrow. “Are you planning to work on something that’ll harm his boss?”
Answering this honestly is risky. Saying yes might put Tommy in danger, but it’ll also tell him exactly what I need from him. I don’t know what to do because I’m not a tech person, but he is. Telling him the truth might also put him in the line of fire, though, so…
“I’ll be digging where I shouldn’t be.” That should be enough to make Tommy take me seriously, not enough to get him in trouble.
“Alright. First, I’m going to warn you: don’t fuck around with a man like Killian King.”
“Noted.”
He watches me for a few seconds. “Since you won’t listen to my advice, we’ll move on to the second thing.
If Killian is indeed planning on monitoring you, you need to let him think he’s succeeding.
From this moment onward, I’d consider all your personal tech compromised—and I’d leave it that way.
Your phone and laptop will be the decoys.
” He pauses to think for a moment. “Have you done anything incriminating on there?”
My mind flickers back to the research I’ve done to find any links between Killian and Silas.
The one reddit article I clicked on. I was using a secure server, but I don’t know how good Killian’s tech guy is.
My initial instinct is to ask Tommy to scrub it off, but I force myself to reconsider.
If I don’t have anything on my personal tech suggesting I’m digging into Killian, Killian might assume that I’ve got secondary tech I’m using to get the job done.
No, it’s better to let him see some smaller attempts at me poking around, but keep the real research locked up.
In truth, Killian might not even worry enough to have me monitored, but that’s not a risk I’ll take.
“Nothing catastrophic.”
“Good. Keep it that way. I’ll get you set up with a burner phone and laptop—drop by my office at the end of the day.
You’ll need to make new emails, socials, everything.
Don’t log into any account you have on your personal devices on the burners—don’t link anything.
The phone and laptop will have the best possible encryption.
Nothing you do on there will be trackable.
” Tommy pauses, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth.
“What is it?” I ask patiently.
“The tech I’m about to outfit you with doesn’t technically exist. You did me a huge favor by getting me hired here, so I’m glad to return it, but if these things fall into the wrong hands…
” he shakes his head. “It’ll be a problem for me.
So, I’m going to add a kill switch to everything I give you.
I need your word that, if you think somebody aside from you could access them, you’ll hit the kill switch. ”
I swallow, suddenly unnerved. I know Tommy is much smarter and darker than his appearance might suggest—I know damn well that him working here after graduating MIT at the top of his class is most likely a decoy to get people to ignore him while he works on more serious shit.
“You got it,” I say, nodding.
Tommy exhales. “I’ll get to work. Come back around here at about 8—I should have everything ready for you by then.”
“Thanks, Tommy.”
“No problem, beautiful. And, Lyra?”
I pause at the door, turning to look over my shoulder. “Be careful, please. I’ll make sure your digital footprint doesn’t exist, but I can’t do anything more for you. If you’re worried, if your gut’s telling you to be careful, listen.”
“I’m always careful,” I lie with a casual smile, and stroll out.