White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(75)
He sounded a little unhinged, and Kate knew he would not let anything stand in the way of his goal.
“It seemed a little too coincidental. I mean, he’s not the first hacker who’s faked his death, but dying so soon after I doxed him and hacked his girlfriend made me wonder, you know? I admire the steps he was willing to take. That’s the thing that separates people like Ian and me from all the others. We’re willing to put in the work, to do what it takes.”
“Ian is nothing like you.”
Zach ignored her comment. “I thought about dropping the whole thing after that, but there was just so much money on the line. I have to hand it to you, you’re a phenomenal actress. I never once saw you break cover to smile or laugh. And the tears and the red eyes. No offense, but you really looked like shit.”
“How did you find us?” she asked, hating his smug arrogance and herself even more for asking after she told herself she wouldn’t. But she had to know.
“I know a few hackers who live in Minnesota and don’t ask questions if the price is right. They’d already helped me out by watching the lobby of Ian’s apartment building after the accident and nosing around at the auto storage facility. I decided to send one of them into the food pantry last summer, and that’s when I learned you’d quit. I found that information very interesting, so I asked my friend to become a regular client of the food pantry. The woman who took your place treated him with kindness and compassion, but he told me Helena was his favorite. He said he even considered her a friend. Can you believe that, Kate?”
Six months ago, she wouldn’t have. But now that she used the same manipulative and deceptive tactics to get people to do her bidding and tell her what she needed to know, she absolutely could. Ian had been right; it didn’t matter how secure a network was. People were the biggest vulnerability in every system.
“You’d be proud of Helena. She wouldn’t say a word about where you’d gone, no matter how many times my friend tried to trick it out of her. I knew you were from Indiana, but I didn’t think that’s where you would go. I sent someone to make sure, of course. But strangely, you were never seen dropping by your parents’ house. So without knowing which way you’d gone, I was pretty much dead in the water. And then one day a picture appeared on Helena’s desk. Did you know Bert bought her a photo printer for Christmas? She’s got photos of her grandchildren all over that desk. She also has one of you. In it, you and a woman who looks like an older version of you are enjoying a glass of wine at a table outdoors. It took another couple of visits for my friend to snap a picture of the picture. Once he sent it to me, I made it bigger and clearer. There was a wine bottle on the table, and I could see the crest of a Virginia vineyard on it. I thought to myself, ‘Now why would Kate and her mother be at a vineyard in Virginia? Were they visiting our nation’s capital? Or did Kate’s boyfriend—the dead hacker—relocate to DC for his job, taking the lovely Kate with him?’”
“This isn’t Scooby-Doo. I don’t need to hear how you pulled it off. I just wanted to know how you knew where to look.”
“Scooby-Doo. That’s clever. I used to love that show.” He took one hand off the steering wheel and jabbed it in the air to punctuate his words. “I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids.”
Kate didn’t want to hear anymore, but Zach was really on a roll now, and she could tell he wanted her to know exactly how he’d done it.
“I think you’ll really appreciate the amount of time and dedication I put into this. A new city meant I had to start from scratch. The vineyard was in Leesburg, but that was a dead end because that wasn’t where you lived. It took me a while to make my way through the surrounding cities, and I’d almost given up by the time Middleburg came up on my list. And can you even imagine how many Realtors’ sales pitches I had to sit through? I bet I’ve thrown away ten burner phones because they wouldn’t stop calling me. I was almost ready to give up when I found Linda. I told her repeatedly that privacy was very important to me, and finally one day she mentioned that I reminded her of a couple who’d recently bought a home in the area. Privacy had been very important to them too. It seemed I was getting a little warmer, so I persevered and I strung her along for so long I nearly had to buy a goddamn house. She insisted on giving me all kinds of referrals I never asked for: contractors, decorators, painters. That’s how I found Jade. Following her around almost became a full-time job. I must have tailed her to the home of every client she had. But there was one house with a gate, and I had a hunch about who might live behind it. I couldn’t be sure though, and it drove me nuts. Then one night I followed Jade from a client’s house to a restaurant. I was hungry anyway, so I decided I might as well get a table. And then you walked in the door and hugged Jade and sat down at the bar with her. Can you even imagine what that was like for me? I made sure you never saw me, and I followed you to the home with the gate. Don’t tell me you can’t appreciate dedication like that at least a little bit.”
They would never be able to hide from him. If Ian gave him the money—and Kate knew he would—Zach would be back for more. Maybe not right away, but eventually. All he would have to do is be patient. Talk to the right people. Bide his time.
Maybe his next target would be their child.
The only way to ensure they’d never have to worry about Zach Nielsen again was if he spent the rest of his life behind bars. And the only way to accomplish that was to somehow let Ian know she was in trouble so he could send help.