AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seven
Maceo
Josephine’s counselor, Heather Fisker, stares at the monitors on the wall showcasing all the electronic notes on Josephine’s therapy sessions breached on the clinic’s database. Heather walks the room with a trembling hand covering her mouth.
I asked Josephine if she wanted to be present for this meeting, but she said no. She told me her emotions were too raw to be civil this soon. Josephine knows her limits, and I need to respect her wishes. I screwed up when I brought her parents back into her life before she was ready, and I’m not going to make the same mistake by forcing her to confront Heather.
Even though Heather had nothing to do with the infringement, Josephine associates the violation with her counselor. If we were able to wait a day, maybe Jo’s answer would be different, but this can’t wait. The longer we hold off on investigating, the longer it will take to track our hacker.
Heather clears her throat. “Were any of my other patients’ files compromised?”
Chase takes the lead. “As far as we can see, it’s only Jo’s information that’s been violated, but that’s not to say others aren’t at risk. Jo was the target, and your database security is weak. It took me less than five minutes to break through your firewalls and access this information. The hacker was no different, but he got a little sloppy and left an encrypted trail which we’re currently tracking.”
Heather falls into one of the office chairs and hangs her head in her hands. “This is serious. If any of my other patients have fallen victim to this breach in personal information… This is the kind of thing that could potentially be harmful to several of my patients. Most of my PTSD patients are barely hanging on as is—this could throw many over the edge. What am I going to do?”
“Nothing. You’re going to continue to treat your patients as you have been—Chase already implemented extra securities into your system for all your other patients. If you must continue with electronically documenting sessions, save it to a flash drive and not your database. We will be giving you false information about your appointments with Josephine, and you’ll enter the material into the system. We’re hoping to entrap this hacker,” I say.
Heather looks up at us. “Shouldn’t we go to the police with this information?”
Gauge pipes in. “And have you reveal that several of your patients, as well as many other’s being treated by your facility, have possibly been exposed to a breach in personal information? The police would be legally bound to inform all of your clients. As far as we can see, no one besides Jo’s has been hacked. Not to mention, we would deny any knowledge that would link us to hacking into your system to see it was possible.”
Heather looks at the monitors and shakes her head. “How did your crew discover the breach?”
“Josephine was suspicious after Lorenzo Bianchi let it slip he knew she wasn’t sleeping and having night terrors.”
Heather’s hazel eyes go wide with fear. “Bianchi? As in the Italian mob boss?” Heather looks green, like she may get sick. Gauge places wastebasket by her—none of us want to clean that mess.
“We suspect he’s involved,” Chase says.
Heather’s face crumples in confusion. “Involved? In what way?”
“Well, he has an interest in Jo,” Chase explains.
“It’s not an ‘interest,’” I correct, my voice tight with restraining anger. “It’s a fucking obsession.” I want to hit something, preferably Bianchi’s face.
Heather looks shaken. “How is Jo handling this?”
My jaw ticks. “About as well as you can imagine. She’s refusing any more therapy sessions with you and has firmly stated she will not talk to another therapist until we’ve caught the hacker. All of this makes Josephine feel violated all over again.”
Heather folds her arms over her chest and looks me square in the eye. “I understand her feelings, but her anger is misplaced. Her anger should be on the hacker and Bianchi, not me. I did nothing wrong. I followed company policy and used the clinic’s database for recording all notes on my patients.”
“We understand,” I say, “but Jo is unable to reason when it’s her emotional turmoil scattered all over the dark net.”
“Atlas, it’s imperative for Jo to continue her therapy, if not with me, then with someone else. She could regress or worse. Being active in her emotional healing is critical since her attack was only weeks ago,” Heather stresses.
I nod, because I know she’s right, and I respect her experience with treating many PTSD patients. “She’s not saying no to counseling, just to you, and preferably to start after the hacker is found. Her mental health notes being electronically documented is a hard pass for her.”
Heather straightens her shoulders. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“The only thing that’s going to bring Jo peace of mind is if we can identify and locate the hacker. I need you to continue your sessions with Jo, sans the counseling, and input the info we give you. Please don’t engage her in therapy. I know my woman, and it will set her off, make her storm out, and blow any chance of us nailing the bastard. Can we count on you?”
She gives me a tight smile. “Absolutely.”
* * *
It’s late by the time the guys and I call it quits for the night. If we’re lucky, we can get a couple of hours of sleep before the sun comes up.
We shuffle out of the tech room and look around the main floor, stunned. The entire place has been furnished, complete from floor to ceiling.
