AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He leaned back, scrubbed a hand over his smooth-shaven chin he still wasn’t used to, and let out a slow breath, a silent plea to the universe for something, anything, to break their way. But alas, the universe wasn’t inclined to grant his wish because a few days passed with nothing to show for it.
When he reported for work early Thursday morning, he considered not coming back the next Monday. What was the point if he wasn’t making progress? He missed Roman, and he wanted to go home. Should he suggest to Wander that he walk away? Isabella might suspect something was up, though, and that would endanger the investigation. Crap.
Isabella’s voice sliced through the silence, sharp and sudden. She stood in the hallway, right outside his office, making a call. “I’m tired of your excuses,” she snapped. “I need to see results.”
Her tone carried an edge, an unusual level of frustration. He tilted his head, straining to catch the conversation.
She spoke softer now, kinder. “I know. You’ve never let me down before. But this is… The stakes are high. Higher than ever before. I need this handled.”
A long silence.
“Okay. Keep me posted.”
She walked away.
Caleb chewed on his bottom lip, mind churning. Handle what? And who had been on the other end of that line? She hadn’t mentioned Whitman’s name, but then again, she was too smart for amateur mistakes like that. Caleb needed to know who she’d called. He needed access to her phone. But how? Isabella always had her phone with her.
Wait.
The phone was the key. It was about time he got serious about gaining access. So far, he’d let it go as it seemed too risky, but her phone was her life. Anything incriminating would be on there, not on her computer or the office network where anyone could see it. No, she’d have it somewhere on her phone. He needed access to the contents.
She had an iPhone, so most likely, she had an iCloud account. He knew her email address, so all he needed was her password. The only way to get that was to watch her type it in…or install a keystroke logger. She was too smart to click on obvious spam links, but maybe he could think of something better?
Caleb’s fingers danced over the keyboard with a ferocity that belied his calm exterior. He was in his element, the thrill of the chase surging through him like adrenaline. This was his chance at a breakthrough…and she’d never see it coming.
An hour later, he’d created a survey about Isabella’s recent experiences at the spa she’d gone to with her sisters, all nicely branded in the same style as the spa. He’d even registered a similar domain name and email address, so it wouldn’t stand out in any way. Now, all he had to do was text it to her, offer a gift card, and see if she would take the bait.
She did. It only took half an hour, and then she clicked on the link and filled out the survey. Caleb had even bought an actual gift certificate from the spa, so later, she wouldn’t know how someone had gotten access to her phone, and he sent it to her within a minute of her completing the survey. Wasn’t it interesting how even people who made as much money as Isabella did were still swayed by a fifty-dollar gift card?
Time to get to work. By clicking the link, Isabella had given him the tools to access her phone, including her iCloud.
“Come on,” he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowed in concentration. A final keystroke, a held breath, and then, triumph. Access granted. He was in.
Caleb exhaled slowly, a smirk playing on his lips. It had been almost too easy to infiltrate her defenses. He riffled through the call logs with precision, searching for the number that had sparked this whole endeavor. And there it was, stark against the screen—Joey DiMartino. The name didn’t ring a bell, but it might to Roman or Ryan and Alex. Still, Caleb would do his research.
Joey DiMartino wasn’t someone who liked leaving digital trails. That much was clear after a two-hour online search, but he’d still dropped crumbs here and there. He’d joined a Facebook group for alumni of his high school, right here in Boston, and that led to Caleb discovering more of his background. He was local. Had grown up on the infamous South Side. Wasn’t Connor, Wander’s friend, from the same area? Maybe he knew Joey.
Caleb found family members and did a cross-search for them, stilling when he hit the motherload on Joey’s father.
Oh. My. God.
Joey was part of the Italian mob, just like his dad and uncles. Caleb’s instincts screamed danger. Joey wasn’t some small-time crook. He was connected as well and as deeply as anyone could be. A shiver trickled down Caleb’s spine. They were messing with the mob now? Holy shit, this went so much deeper than he’d expected. Caleb was no stranger to risk. It was part of the job. But this? This was playing with fire on a whole new level.
“Fuck.” He breathed out, tension coiling tight in his gut. He needed to get this information to Wander as soon as possible, but he didn’t dare make a call from Isabella’s office, and sending a text or email was out of the question. It would have to wait until his lunch break when he would hopefully be able to sneak away and make the call.
In the meantime, he dug into Isabella’s iCloud. She wasn’t stupid enough to have everything spelled out there, and most of the files had an extra layer of encryption. Why would someone do that unless they had something to hide? The average person didn’t have that kind of security, so she was definitely hiding something. Not that it would keep him out, but he’d need more time to gain access to those files. However, he did find incriminating invoices and reports.
He ran a copy of her entire cloud and created a mirror account of it so he’d keep access. Unfortunately, he had actual work to do, the kind Isabella was paying him for, and if he didn’t want to arouse suspicion, he’d better get on with it.
When lunchtime came, Isabella needed him to do an urgent background check for a client and another one, and before Caleb knew it, it was time to go home, and he still hadn’t reported back. He sat uneasily on the T, constantly looking over his shoulder. Now that he knew who they were dealing with, everything had changed.
“Hey, Caleb, would you like?—”
“Can’t. I have an urgent call to make.” Caleb stormed into the house. “Sorry.”
Miguel waved him away. “Go. Do what you have to do. I’ll put your food on a plate in the fridge.”
Caleb’s thumb was already on the Call button.
