AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It actually happened in a weird roundabout way. Definitely not what I expected I’d be doing in life,” he started speaking and the words dropped off his lips as if he wanted to get them out fast, so I didn’t interrupt. “I always planned to finish my business degree and follow in the family footsteps like most of the other Kensingtons did for generations. But one semester my brother received a C in Business Stats and our father cut our living allowance in half.”
He shook his head, distraught at the memories of having to live off less money. I didn’t know how much their father sent for living expenses, but likely more than most people lived off in a month. I saw his car. They had money.
“It came time to make up the extra money, but we were taking full course loads and in the sailing club, of course.”
I nodded right along with him as if we were all part of the sailing club. “Oh yes, of course. You have to be in the sailing club.”
Corbin’s grin turned devilish as if he heard my sarcasm, but he ignored me. “Anyway, we needed to make money and fast, so we pooled the rest of our resources and bought the best printer on the market and a laminator. Then I started making fake IDs for the underage freshmen at Harvard.”
“Did you get in serious trouble?”
He laughed. “They had to catch me first. Trust me, I was one of the best counterfeiters. I studied the game before I made a single ID and each of our clients signed a nondisclosure agreement. I didn’t run a shady organization. Cyrus and I drew up a business plan.”
I threw my head back and laughed because Corbin looked exactly like the type of man who had a nondisclosure agreement and a business plan for his counterfeiting organization in college. It wasn’t even a stretch to think of those things working together.
“We used to eat at this little diner in the mornings after we came back from a night out. One waitress often worked at our table. She always gave Cyrus extra blueberries on his waffles. They flirted nonstop, even though she had five years on Cyrus.” He paused, staring at the ceiling. “One day it became obvious she was in a terrible relationship and needed to get out.
“It took us days to get the story out of her. When we did, Cyrus and I brought her to our apartment after her shift one night and set her up with a fake ID and cash with a bus ticket to make a run for it. She’s in California now. After helping her, we realized we could do good with my skills. Not just help underage kids get into the bar, but real good for people in need.”
“That’s why you help women who are in trouble?” I asked, realizing a lot of my situation mirrored what he said. Is that why Corbin helped me? Because he didn’t turn away a needy woman?
He nodded. “Over the years, we’ve had five to ten people a year that we give money, fake identifications, and places to restart. Cyrus usually finds and vets them to guarantee they’re truly needy and will follow the rules. After we started helping people, it became a calling to learn the tricks, and I started hacking to become the best.”
“But if you give money away to people, how do you guys make money?”
Obviously, the Kensington family had money, but Corbin also hinted that he and his brother needed a legitimate reason to show how they made their cash.
“Cyrus is better with people than I am. He has a friendly personality, I suppose. He’s gotten us more than a few government contracts. Right now, I’m helping to design and improve current facial recognition software. I’ve also trained their people how to hack into other government systems and cameras—things for national security.”
He paused for a beat, shaking his head. “People think Ridge Jefferson is bad with his camera obsession, but the government is always watching. Videos, internet searches, credit and debit card purchases. You name it and someone somewhere has a record of it.”
“That’s freaky,” I said, digesting his words.
He tilted his head toward me and raised his eyebrows higher. “Yeah.”
“But how did you go from helping people with fake IDs to working for the government?” It was quite a big stretch, and did the government know what Corbin did in his free time? Creating fake identities was still illegal, even if he had good motives.
He shrugged. “I’m not actually sure. We fell into it really. Cyrus talked to someone who talked to someone who talked to someone else, and eventually we had a connection and put a bid in for government service. It’s how things work on our side of the world.”
Corbin didn’t mean the East Coast but elite society. One rich friend helping another.
“How do you find women to help?” He hadn’t said they were all women, but I read between the lines.
He shrugged again. “You’d be surprised how easy it is. A whisper here or a search on the internet there. It’s a method.”
He didn’t answer my question earlier, and now his silence on the matter weighed on me. “Why did you decide to help me?” I asked outright.
He paused, and for a moment I figured he’d ignore the question again, but he ran his open palm over my chin and cupped my face as if it was the most precious thing he’d ever held in his hands.
“I planned to turn you away because I figured All American Bank sent you. After we met, you had something in your eyes. You left to face the world and looked ready to kick its ass. You were scared but still stood up to me and walked out of the room with fire in your steps. Pure strength on your face.”
I didn’t comment, but we remembered that event differently. I didn’t feel as if I had any strength when I walked from the room. Nothing but pure terror flowed in my veins when I left. I had no hope of getting fifty thousand dollars and thought my plans were ruined.
“I had Drake follow you, and then I hacked into the police database and saw the pictures of the crime scene they didn’t release to the press. There was a chess piece, a white pawn, lying next to your boss’s head. I knew then that this was something major.”
“And you were right,” I said, my tongue licking my dry top lip.
“I was, but I was wrong as well.”
