Bleeding Edge: Elliot Security (Elliot Security Series Book 2) by Evie Mitchell (short story to read .txt) 📗

“Like Annabelle said, they were cocky. Anyone taking bets they’re using the exact same code?”

It took less than twenty minutes to get our first hit. Max found it, a small mortgage broker who’d been compromised. The code wasn’t exactly the same but it had similar characteristics.

“Emmie!” Sawyer called from his side of the room. I looked up, blinking to clear my vision. “I got one. And I’ve worked out why we both felt weird about the code.”

I stood, walking to look over his shoulder. “They’re using West Investment like it’s a bank. The code operates in small amounts, so in a bank, it would be harder to catch. In a place like West Investment, everything is rigorously controlled, and funds are strictly monitored to optimise savings. So how did they slip through?”

He tapped his screen. “This is Lalo Bank. The transactions are the same. The difference is, these are harder to identify when you have an everyday account.” He pulled up on his third monitor the West transactions. “See? They don’t deal in transactions that small.”

I nodded. It was obvious now, when comparing an actual bank account to how an investment account functioned. For something like West Investments? No way it could have hidden this long. The transactions stuck out like a sore thumb.

Sawyer rubbed a finger across his bottom lip. “You said this had been going on for years.”

“Three, I think. Longer maybe, but some of the accounts were closed, so I didn’t bother to access them.” I looked down at Sawyer. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know yet.” He waved a hand at me. “Go find a bug. I need to think this through.”

What we were doing was technically illegal. Lucky for us, AFP were working rapidly to get us warrants. As soon as we identified a bank we wanted in, they were putting applications up to get urgent permissions. The turnaround was short, but we were working in the background by calling institutions directly. Permissions from the owner in exchange for a free security check. About half thought we were scammers, the rest were grateful for the assistance.

Two days. Three days. On the fourth, we had a decent picture of the issue.

Sawyer stood up, looking around the office. “Someone call a meeting. We’ve got a war on our hands.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Emmie

“This is….” Luc trailed off, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the white board Sawyer and I had rolled down to the war room. On it, we had a spiderweb of interconnected lines showing the connection between God’s Patriots and the various financial institutions we’d managed to track.

“Overwhelming,” he finally said dropping his hands. “How did they think they’d get away with this?”

I shrugged, tucking myself into his side. He shifted, looping an arm around my shoulders as I hooked my thumb into one of his belt loops.

“Ma and Pa operations rarely have significant investment in cyber security. These guys were fat, little golden geese ready for the plucking.”

Sawyer made a quacking sound behind us. I ignored him.

“The program felt wrong because of the target, not the way it functioned. The banks and brokers charge fees, all of which add up to look like how this theft functions. West Investments takes a commission on their accounts– not a fee. It looked wrong because it should have been blatantly obvious there was an issue.” I looked up at Luc, watching as he followed each of the lines from one institution to the other. There was a list of organizations we were still to approach on the other side.

“This is major money.”

“It’s a hundred-billion-dollar industry,” Annabelle agreed, her arms crossed as she too checked the board. “This is a massive crime. Based on your estimates, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars.” She nodded at me. “Good work.”

I offered her a small shy smile. No matter the praise, Annabelle Norris would always freak me out.

“Okay.” She clapped her hands, turning back to the rest of the room. “Theories.”

“This was never about Emmie as an individual,” Kel offered from her seat at the side. She’d been watching us, a small frown wrinkling her forehead. “Emmie’s software was a risk to them. Considering the media attention, we got after her shooting and now with the trial, more people know about Elliot Securities and that is a risk.”

“Which means−” Jack took up her thought thread, “−this was always about the money. More people using our software, higher likelihood of us catching their con.”

“So, they threatened Emmie, tried to get her to leave. Threatened us as a distraction. They hacked our system, no doubt looking for the West files to corrupt them, and when that didn’t work, they aimed to throw Emmie under a bus?” Kel said.

We sat at the long table contemplating the scenario.

I looked at the board, quietly reading over the names once again. I froze, my entire body on alert. The name of one bank stood out.

“Oh my God,” I breathed. “I think I know what this is. They’re planning the end game.”

“The end–”

The door burst open and Addie stalked in, hand out to deflect the door as it smashed against the wall, bouncing back towards her. Cheeks flushed and eyes wild, she looked frantically around the room, her gaze finally locking on Luc.

“Luc…” She choked, her eyes filling. “Your house… there’s a fire…”

“A…what?”

“Jack called it in. Some kind of explosion. Fire and police are–”

Luc snatched my hand, pulling me from the table. We dashed up the stairs, scrambling for his car. My heart pounded in my ears as bile burned the back of my throat.

“We don’t know it was… Stay positive. It could be a coincidence,” Luc muttered, weaving in and out of traffic.

It’s them.

Three fire engines and five police cars blocked the street. Luc parked us haphazardly on the sidewalk three houses down. We ran down to the boundary fence, stopping when a policeman blocked our entrance.

Little remained. The roof had collapsed, the fire completely engulfing the