...

Damien

6AM

Henry: "Damien, we have a situation. You need to come to the office, NOW."

I receive the alarming text from Henry this morning that had me out of bed and in my car swerving through morning traffic that was slowly building up as the minutes passed. The morning bustle in the downtown business district did not surprise me.

My morning is wrought with worry and chaos as I walk into the office. I had a bad feeling settle over me as I walked and dodged workers through the hall of my office towards Henry's office.

I walked in and saw him tapping away at his keyboard frantically.

"There's been a data breach and one of the financial portfolios has been tapped." He says barely looking up at me.

Immediately I pull up a chair and watch the screen as he quickly points out where the hacker is.

"How did they get in?" I reach for the keyboard and pull up my own programs to check as Henry continues to block their entry.

"I..I don't know. I made sure to run the latest updates and patches so that this wouldn't happen. But somehow, they got through."

I run a tracer praying that they don't see it. But that was short lived.

A small window appears.

Ch1m3ra: I see you are using a tracer.

Your mediocre programmer tried that, and it didn't work.

I watch as Henry furiously mumbles as he reads the chat as well. I respond back.

Nemesis: Get the hell out of my system.

Ch1m3ra: Too late. I've been in here for quite some time.

Nemesis: What do you want?

......

I wait for a response. I'm so distracted with waiting for him to respond that I miss the small window that appears in the corner.

Henry fly's out of his chair in a panic.

"Shit!, they're in the financial accounts," He begins typing.

I join him in an effort to block the hacker, but it's useless.

Henry taps furiously away at the keyboard. I look at the screens frantically searching for where this hacker is in my system, but he is too fast. I'm getting frustrated by the second as there is no more taunting or communication on his end.

Suddenly, another window pops up and I see there is a transfer being made.

"Damn it!" Henry yells.

"How much?" I look at him suddenly feeling nauseous.

"A couple of a hundred thousand."

Oh Fuck!

The window disappears and a message pops up.

Thanks guys 😊 it was nice doing business with you.

And that's it... he was gone.

I stand and begin to pace. I'm livid that this happened. This really can't be happening. Not to me.

Not to me, Damn it!

"Damien, what are we going to do? If the shareholders find out about this, we are going to be in a shitload of trouble." Henry says looking at me. I turn to face him, and he is slowly getting pale.

I shake my head. No, they won't find out about this. I won't let this asshole get away with this.

"You stay here and try to track that hacker down with whatever tools you have. I have a phone call to make."

I pull out my phone and rapidly scroll through my contacts. I pause and stare at the name for a while. Then press dial. I walk to the door and here the mellow baritone voice of my friend Drew.

"This is Agent Harmon."

"Drew?"

"Damien? Dude it's been a while."

"Yea, I know. Listen...I need your help. Can we meet up?" I wait for his reply as I walk out the office and head to the elevators.

"Sure, is everything okay?" the concern in his tone humbles me because I am not okay.

We grew up together and went to college. He knew me as the laid-back type but an overachiever when it came to my business ventures.

"Not, really. I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

"Okay. Meet me at Sepharino's in 10 minutes."

"Deal. I'm heading there now."

I hang up and immediately call Henry.

He picks up on the second ring. "I managed a trace but its faint." He says.

"Good. Listen I'm meeting up with Drew."

"What? Why?" he sighs.

"I have no choice, Henry. These types of attacks for a company like this need to be reported to the Feds. Proper protocol needs to be taken because Ransomware is involved. I did not follow protocol. You know why?"

He remains silent for a while. I know he understands how delicate this is. I can't afford for the Feds to be meddling in my business affairs. They will have to look at all aspects of this and this gives them access to everything.

"Okay...okay." He says.

"I'll talk to you later. Don't say a word of this to anyone." I warn.

"Sure thing." He responds.

I hang up and step into my car. The quick ride downtown felt like an out of body experience as I am so worried and wound up. Pissed to say the least.

When we pull up to Sepharino's, I can tell he is already there as three very noticeable agents stand at the door observing their surroundings. I thank Archie as he opens my door and I step out. I give him the go ahead to find some parking and grab a bite to eat. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.

I make my way to the entrance of the quaint Italian diner and greet the two agents by the door. I am not stopped or questioned. It's a good thing because regardless of being well known it helps that I know their boss.

I'm shortly greeted by a server with a pretty smile.

I immediately see Drew in the far corner then thank her as she leads me towards his table.

He stands and extends his hand then pulls me in for a hug.

"It's been a while,' he says as he takes his seat.

"It sure has," I agree and pull up my chair.

Before I begin to talk, a waitress approaches us with a pitcher of water and pours us two glasses then leaves us two menus.

I wait for her to leave as I begin.

"I need your help.'

He remains quiet and observes me. "What's wrong?" he asks leaning closer.

"My company has been hacked and they stole a large sum of money."

"Ransomware?"

"No, a straight up hack. I was online while I watched it go down. Henry and I tried to stop him but it was useless."

"Then why not go to the Authorities? Why come to me?" he leans in even closer.

I can tell he is a little perplexed as I continue.

"Bro, you know I can't go to the authorities. To involve them means they will dig into things I can't afford for them to be in. And besides if my investors get wind of this, they will pull their money out and go elsewhere. I can't afford for that to happen."

He remains quiet for a while as I impatiently wait for him to say something. Anything.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need your resources to track down the hacker."

"What makes you think my hackers can track this one?"

"Because this hacker is good, but I have a gut feeling he or they are no match for yours."

He shakes his head and exhales.

"What you are asking for is too much, Damien. This is my job. The Feds don't play with these things."

"I know but you must have a friend or someone that owes you a favor. Or that does these types of things on the side."

He shakes his head.

"Please, Drew. I wouldn't ask unless it was an emergency."

"How much did they take?"

"$650,000"

"Shit, Damien! I gave you the tools for an iron-clad security system."

"I know. I know. Somehow they got through. But I need to get this money back before the investors notice the money is gone."

He remains quiet for a while. He exhales, then take his phone out of his breast pocket. I remain silent as he goes into a combative dialogue over the phone with someone. The call takes nothing but 2 minutes before he hangs up. Then he looks up at me.

"Do you have a lead on who this hacker could be? Has Henry been trying to track him down?"

"Yea, but we have had no luck. That's why I need to bring in the big guns."

He remained silent for a while. Then he leaned forward. I could tell that he was conflicted with this. He was sticking his neck out for me. This can cost him a lot going under the tables with something like this. But I needed the help. More or less, I needed his resources to sniff out this hacker.

"Okay." He nods.

I wait for him to continue.

"I will handle this. I'll bring in Dean; he is the best of the best out there that owes me a huge favor." He says.

Relief washed over me as he said that I was not entirely satisfied.

"I need another favor," I lean closer. "I want to be there when you bust this hacker. I need to know why he chose me as his target."

He shakes his head. "No, absolutely not."

"Come on, Drew, please."

"No, Damien..."

"Just hear me out, okay?"

He remains silent as I continue, "I at least should get the right to face the person that wants to take me down with my company." I'm livid at this point, and he knows it. He remains silent, staring at me.

His gaze and worried face look conflicted and at odds with his mental argument.

"Alright." He sighs. "But don't let me regret this decision, Frost." I sit quietly and listen to him as he tells me his plans. I thank him as we stand and walk out to where his car is waiting for him.

I stand outside of the restaurant with him, talking for a while as our cars pull up. He reaches out to shake my hand and then pulls me in for a hug.

"I will call you when Dean contacts me."

I give a single nod. "In the meantime, I will continue to track down the hacker."

With that, he nods and then turns around to get in his car. I stand by and watch as he drives away. By then I soon follow and climb into my own car and leave as well. I sit back in my leather seat and quickly scroll through my text messages to see if Henry was able to fix the issue or at least have a temporary fix.

But he does not.

"Mr. Frost, we are here," I am so caught up in my own mindspace, that I don't even realize when we are back at my office. I look up and wave off Archie from getting out to open my door.

"I'll call you when I am ready to leave, Archie."

"Sure thing, Mr. frost."

              ___________________________________________________________________

Peyton

I pace frantically in my livingroom immediately after erasing my tracks and killing my connection to Frost Corps main database and server. My nerves and my emotions are all over the place after doing what I did.

I committed a crime.

I stole money...A large sum of money.

I suddenly feel faint and shaky as the boldness of what I did settles in. I slump to my couch and stare a bit at piercing grey eyes from my coffee table. Accusing blue eyes as if they knew it was me that stole from him.

I tightened my eyes shut before reaching for the magazine and flipping it over.

I sit here in silence waiting. For what? Paranoia begins to set in as all the sounds in my apartment grew quiet. All except the sirens of police cars in the distance. All of a sudden, the cities noise zero's into just sirens. I feel overwhelmed and my stomach begins to hurt. My fingers grow clammy and I breakout into a cold sweat.

They are coming for me.

I am losing my shit and filled with fear and nearly jump out of my seat as my rings.

I try to calm my breaths as I pick it up and answer it.

"Hello."

"Did you get?" the familiar voice asks.

I swallow nervously. I can lie and say no. I still have enough time to return it. Butt I need to save my brother.

"Yes. I have it."

"You have an hour to wire it to my boss."

"An hour?" Its to late there is no going back now.

"Wait, I want to talk to my brother." I demand.

A space of silence passes between us.

I am losing it now as he fails to respond quickly. "He is a little indisposed right now."

"What? What do you mean.?"

He says nothing.

"Look, I want proof that he is alive. Don't hurt him. I have your money."

My tears begin to flood my vision.

Suddenly my phone buzzes and I open up the message that came through.

My stomach drops with the image. I can barely breathe as I see the nearly unrecognizable face of my brother. Beaten, swollen, and bloody.

"You know what you need to do to get him back right?" he says.

"Yes," I whisper.

"But how do I know you won't kill him after I give you the money."

"You won't."

I am left speechless with his answer.

"You have 40 minutes. Send the money." He hangs up.

The line is dead.

I immediately begin the transaction and make the transfer.

I watch the timer go as the transfer begins and I pace and watch it load... 30%.....40% ...47%...

It continues and continues as it reaches the end, and it hangs on 93%........Fear grips my throat. I pray the transmission isn't lost or fails. It can't fail. It's a secure wire.

It has to be....

97%.......99%....

I swallow as my gaze stares at the screen. But I don't see the 100%

My phone rings again.

I answer but barely get to say a word.

"You will hear from us soon."

Then the line goes dead.

"Wait...."

I looked at the call but it's blocked. I can't call it back. Doom and uncertainty begin to form in my chest. I have no clue what is happening now.

I immediately reach for my computer and pull up the closest wifi networks to get online. I get on a web portal and get on the dark web and lookup the wire transfer. My mind is in such a fog from fear and hunger, I am forgetting certain steps to get the answers I am looking for. I clack away aimlessly looking and searching until I find what I want.

The transfer went through to an offshore account. I can reverse it all if I'm quick enough, but my brother comes to my mind. He needs me. I'm anxious and have no idea what to do.

A sudden knock at the door has me jumping out of my skin. I place my laptop aside and stand. Alarmed I stare at the door. They found me. Or...it could be Jeremy. But I'm too afraid to answer.

"Who is it?" I say out loud.

I am ready to climb out of my windows at this point.

"Peyton dear, it's Ms. Eloise." The frail voice echoes through my door.

Relief spread over me as I rush to the door and open it.

I look out the door to see if anyone else is with her in the hall.

"Sweety, I made some stew and simply overdid it and made too much.," She smiled, raising a dish covered in foil paper for me to see.

The aroma smelled terrific. I would lie if I said I didn't have the stomach for food.

"Thank you so much, Ms. Eloise," I awkwardly reach for the hot dish.

"Very well dear. I will leave you be, just bring me the dish when you are done." She turns away slowly. "I will, Thank you again, Ms. Eloise."

I close my door and walk carefully with the hot dish to the kitchen. I uncover it and inhale the stew. Its mouthwatering aroma get the best of me and my eyes tear up. I can barely contain the tears that surface and begin to fall.

I get a plat and share out a little bit. I begin eating the hearty stew until my stomach feels heavy and my hunger is satisfied.

I make my way to the living room and sit down determined to just wait to see if they let Jeremy come home. I curl up on the couch and give in to the sleepiness settling over me.