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No progress had been made in terms of cracking open the encrypted files. I didn’t know the first thing about computer programming, and I didn’t come up with anything useful despite my extensive online research.
No. What I needed was a professional. Someone who knew what they were doing.
But who?
I rubbed my temples, fending off the impending headache I sensed coming. “If only I knew someone who worked with computers for a living…” I muttered to myself.
And then I remembered.
Devin White. Jesse’s brother. Wasn’t he the head of cybersecurity at Pegasus Star? It hadn’t even occurred to me that maybe decrypting sensitive files like these would be right up his alley. If I reached out to him, would he be able to help me? If we cracked open these files and sent them to the police, maybe I’d finally start to gain some traction against the cartel.
It was worth a shot.
I exited my room and found Lance in the living room, seated on the black leather couch. The TV was turned onto the news channel, volume on its lowest setting. He wasn’t actively watching, instead scrolling through the news feed on his phone.
If I had to venture a guess, Lance was approximately ten to fifteen years younger than Jesse. Just as serious, but not as broad or commanding. He was a capable man, but I didn’t get the same sense of confidence from him than I did with Jesse. Lance was a yes man, not the man being said yes to.
He noticed me out of the corner of his eye and stood, pocketing his phone. “Miss Jones. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Um, yes. I was wondering if you could get a phone number for me.”
Lance arched a brow. “Of course. Who are you hoping to reach?”
“Devin White.”
He tilted his head, clearly confused by my request. “The boss’ brother?”
I nodded. “Yes, that’s him.”
“I guess I could get you his number, but may I ask what this is pertaining to?”
I held my breath. Lance would have a field day if he knew I was in possession of proof of the cartel’s illegal money laundering scheme. Once I had access to the files, I’d be putting myself in danger. I said as calmly as possible, “I was just having some issues with my laptop. Thought he could help me.”
“Oh, sure,” he said, buying into my lie. “I’ll write it down for you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
The second he gave me the number, I hurried back to my room and locked myself inside. That worked way better than I thought it would. A part of me felt bad for tricking him, but I figured there were more important matters to deal with. Hopefully Lance would understand.
I called the number he gave me but was immediately put through to a generic voicemail message. I tried a second and third time, only to have the same thing happen. Did I have the right number? Or was Devin out of the office?
I tried once more. This time, he answered on the first ring tone.
“This is a private number,” he snapped gruffly.
“Devin? This is Vivian Jones. Do you remember me?”
“I remember you. You’re Jesse’s girl.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Oh, uh… I mean, we weren’t—”
“You were under his protection, right?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes. Yes, that’s me.”
“What do you want?”
I almost scoffed, indignant. They may have been related, but it was clear Jesse and Devin adopted an entirely different set of manners. “I’m calling to ask a favor of you,” I said, getting straight to the point. “I have some files I need decrypted. Is that something you’d be able to do?”
