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“Gianna has an apartment near campus. She hasn’t lived at home since she turned eighteen. The family does own a rental house on the north side of town. It’s been sitting vacant for a couple months—it’s worth investigating,” Tony offers.
“Good to know,” I say. “I’ll send Reaper out to scout the area and we’ll go from there. Either way, we’ll have answers tonight.”
* * *
“All clear east of the property. Over,” Punk says through my earpiece.
“We’re good to go from the west. Over,” Gauge’s voice comes next.
“Nothing to report from the road. All is quiet. Over,” Reaper adds.
I look through my scope, clearing the perimeter in my sights. The rental house on the outskirts of town is an ideal location for our hacker to set up shop. “North is clear. What do you see on the thermal scope, Chase? Over.”
“Infrared heat signature is off the charts. She’s definitely running a lot of heavy-duty machinery inside. I have one infrared body spot sitting in the front room—I suspect it’s our hacker. South side is clear. Punk, the suspect is on your side of the house, do you have visual? Over.”
“Negative. All curtains are drawn. Over.”
Dammit.I hear the slight hum of our drone overhead. “Ziggy, any luck picking up anything from the aerial view? Over.”
“Negative. Over.”
Fuck.I need to make an executive decision. We can either enter the house hoping Gianna is inside, or we can blow our whole cover if it’s anyone other.
“Move in,” I order. “Over.” I set off at a slow run, my feet barely making a sound, and my gun at the ready. I reach the house and slowly make my way to the back door. Gauge has split off and has rounded the house to join me. I test the doorknob and find it’s unlocked. For a smart girl, leaving her door unlocked is pretty idiotic.
“Status? Over,” I whisper through the comms.
“Chase and I are in position at the front door. Over,” Punk’s voice floats through our earpieces.
“Gauge and I are in position out back. Prepare to enter. GO!”
I rush inside with Gauge on my heels, checking each doorway we pass before moving forward. We enter the living space and find Chase and Punk with weapons trained on Gianna. She sits calmly in a chair with her hands up. Her dark eyes are wide and focused on the guns pointed at her.
“Don’t shoot,” she pleads, looking at me. “It’s about time you finally showed up.”
* * *
“Please state your name for the record.”
“Gianna Russo.”
“Let me see if I have this right,” I say. I look at Chase, who gives the thumbs-up to the video still being recorded, and I bring my attention back to Gianna. “You were approached by Lorenzo Bianchi nearly ten weeks ago while waiting tables at his restaurant. He pulled you aside and said your computer skills were needed to hack into the Mercy Ravens’ database. Bianchi said it was non-negotiable, and your family’s life depended on your success.”
Gianna nods. “Correct.”
“After four weeks of trying to gain entrance unsuccessfully, you told Bianchi you were unable to obtain access without specific passwords and codes—you needed someone on the inside to grant you admission. Less than two weeks later, you were given a number by Bianchi to a burner phone that was given to Leslie Williams, aka Candy. You were told to contact her and give directions as to how to install the mini drive, what intel she needed to collect, and where to collect it from. You were instructed to threaten her by whatever means necessary to get her to comply.”
“Yes,” Gianna says evenly.
Butch cracks his knuckles loudly, his eyes narrowed on Gianna.What’s gotten into him?I shake my head, returning my attention back to Gianna.
“With Williams’s help, you were able to break through our firewalls and had access to all our surveillance feeds. You had entry to our case files, access to our banking accounts, phone data, and live feeds into our personal properties. Bianchi asked you to search all areas of intel to gain any knowledge of the target—which you have identified as Josephine Holland. You were aware she was attending counseling for her PTSD and hacked into the therapy centers database to gain access to private medical files regarding Holland. You were reporting all personal data to Bianchi at his request for fear of your family being harmed if you did not cooperate.”
Gianna closes her eyes and nods her head, solemnly.
“Please let it be noted the suspect is nodding her head ‘yes.’ Miss Russo, when we discovered our surveillance system had been hacked, you had to find another way to gain information on the target, and you started to track our banking accounts to see what activity was occurring. You noticed purchases occurring in regards to our upcoming wedding. You notified Bianchi, who ordered you to deliberately sabotage orders and appointments. Is this correct?”
Gianna licks her lips. “Yes. I was told to do anything to disrupt the peace and create disharmony.”
