White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(24)
CHAPTER TWELVE
After Kate’s first social engineering assignment went off without a hitch, they celebrated by spending the afternoon in bed and the evening enjoying a bottle of champagne in front of the fireplace. It was true that the kind receptionist and the world’s cutest baby had made for one of the most ideal scenarios for a successful hack, but she’d used the USB attack vector successfully two more times since then—one receptionist had a picture of a Hawaiian beach and the other a golden retriever. Ian had been able to bring on two new clients now that he could offer social engineering as part of his audit package, and that made Kate very happy. She might not be using her law degree anymore, and the food pantry was no longer hers to run, but she added value to Ian’s company and she enjoyed the work. And she hadn’t balked when Ian insisted on paying her because her first paycheck, and every paycheck after that, had been donated anonymously to the Main Street Food Pantry.
It wasn’t quite the same as being there, but it was still a contribution, and surely that counted for something.
She’d hired a housekeeper, a nice woman named Renee who would come a few days a week to clean, do the laundry, and buy the groceries on the list Kate left for her. Cooking was the one thing she had no desire to give up, and at the end of each day she looked forward to pouring a glass of wine, rolling up her sleeves, and making dinner. She was currently working her way through a series of Thai recipes, which pleased Ian immensely.
He had insisted on accompanying her on all of her previous social engineering assignments, but lately he’d needed to spend more time with the task force, so she’d convinced him she could start going on assignments alone. He’d reluctantly agreed. She thought it might actually be easier without him watching her because she wouldn’t have to pretend they didn’t know each other. Besides, having an audience to her potential failure, even if that audience was her husband, made her slightly nervous.
Her phone pinged with an incoming text as she was pulling into the parking lot fifteen minutes before her appointment.
Ian: I might have forgotten the new housekeeper was starting today.
Kate: Oh God. How naked were you?
Ian: Everything was just swinging in the breeze when I walked into the kitchen.
Kate: Now she’ll be with us forever.
Ian: My naked body does have that effect on women.
Kate: It’s why I’m with you.
Ian: I thought you were with me because of my hair?
Kate: Your hair is just a bonus.
Ian: Are you in the parking lot?
Kate: Just arrived. I’m sitting in the car until it’s time to go in.
Ian: Don’t be nervous. You can always retreat and try again if it doesn’t feel right.
Kate: Okay. Wish me luck!
Ian: You’ll do great. Go get ’em, sweetness.
It had taken Kate over a week to complete the pretexting for this particular assignment. She’d started by identifying her target—Garrett Linder, the VP of marketing. Then Ian hacked the DMV to determine the make, model, and license plate number of his car. For several days in a row, when Garrett pulled out of his work parking lot, Kate followed him. She knew an amazing number of things about him by then: phone number, personal e-mail address, college major and GPA, social media accounts and passwords, hobbies, and his favorite genre of music. He was divorced but in a new relationship, and he liked to stop at a small upscale bar every night on the way home where he appeared to know the bartender personally. He never stayed for more than two drinks.
One night soon after, she was sitting at the bar when Garrett came in. Pretending to be engrossed in her phone, she let her hair fall across her face and never looked directly at him as she sipped the glass of wine she’d been nursing for the past forty-five minutes. She was close enough to his stool that she heard him order a gin and tonic and watched as the bartender reached for the Hendrick’s.
The next night, Kate and Ian waited in the parking lot until she saw Garrett walk through the front door of the bar. Ten minutes later, she went inside and sat down at the bar, leaving an empty stool between them. She was wearing her wedding ring because Ian wanted there to be no doubt about her marital status or for her to inadvertently send the wrong signal. “Gin and tonic,” she said when the bartender asked for her order. “Hendrick’s, please.”
Garrett glanced over at her and raised his glass. “A fellow gin connoisseur.”
She smiled at him. “If you’re not going to drink Hendrick’s, why bother?” The bartender set the drink down in front of her and she took a sip. “After the day I’ve had, I deserve it.”
“Tough one?”
She took a long drink and sighed. “Mostly frustrating.”
“What do you do?”
“I was an account executive, but my employer implemented some budget cuts and laid off almost the entire department. Now I’m temping as a receptionist until I can find another position.”
“I’m in marketing too.” He dug out a business card and slid it across the bar to her.
She pretended to read the words because she already knew what they said. Then she turned to him and smiled. “I really wanted to apply for a job there, but I didn’t see any openings on the website.”
“We do a lot of promoting from within, but we still hire from the outside.”