The Hacker

"But what's so wrong with wanting to help?" (33)

Brynne scrolled through her contacts and hovered over Carla's name. It had been maybe two months since she spoke to her or even answered her messages. Would Carla be mad at her?

She chewed on her lip before taking a deep breath and called her.

She answered on the fourth ring. "Hello, Brynne?"

"Hey, Carla. I'm sorry I haven't been answering your messages..."

Carla exhaled. "I'm just glad you're okay. What's going on with you?"

"I don't even know. How have you been?"

"Not too bad. I'm just trying my best to improve my designs so I can actually make my own clothes and not just be a part time stylist,"

"That's great, I can't wait to see them."

"Did you and Micah break up? Is that why you sound like this?"

"We didn't but it feels like it. I'm trying my best to help him but why can't he see that? It's really frustrating," She sighed and threw her arm over her eyes.

"Maybe he doesn't need your help, Brynne. Micah is a grown man. If he says he's got it, then trust that he's got it. Otherwise, he'll start to feel less like your man and more like your son,"

Brynne let that sink into her skin for a minute. "But what's so wrong with wanting to help? I love him so much and I can't bear to see him get framed,"

"What good is all of that if you end up losing him?"

Wow, Brynne stared up at the ceiling. Carla was right. She was always right.

"I miss you so much,"

"I'll visit soon, I promise,"

_____________________

Henry Martin, a sixty-three year old man who nowadays enjoyed watering his backyard garden, was once a man of importance... although, that felt a like a lifetime ago.

Now, he spent his days wandering around his home enjoying the peace and stillness it brought to him.

—but his peace was short-lived as a car pulled up to his gate as he was watering his front lawn. He no longer had body guards with him but that didn't mean he couldn't defend himself. His hand immediately went towards his back where he kept a pistol tucked away on his belt.

Out of the car came a man and a woman. "Hello, Security Advisor Martin, my name is Amira Bradshaw. This is Kai Harris. Can we speak with you for a moment?"

Henry loosened his grip on the pistol and shook his head. "I'm not the Security Advisor,"

"To us, you are. Please, it'll only be a moment,"

"What's this about?"

"We need your help to catch the London bomber,"

"I can't help you, I'm sorry," he turned around to leave.

"The bomber is Alexander!" Kai decided to cut right to the chase. "You knew him for years and you even let him off easy after his indiscretions. This time you need to really help put him away,"

Henry stood there— his back facing them as he felt the weight of their words.

"Close my gate after you come in," he told them and walked towards his house.

Amira and Kai quickly followed his instructions and made their way behind him. Once inside the house, Henry got straight to the point.

"You'll need a seat for this one so you might as well take it now," he gestured towards the couch before continuing. "Listen, I know I should have been more firm when it came to Alexander. I know that now but ten years ago I was desperate, so I accepted his terms."

"His terms?" Amira asked.

"Yes, it was his idea."

"His idea for what?"

"Ten years ago, I was being blackmailed about an affair I had. Alexander told me if there was a bigger scandal then mine wouldn't matter,"

"So his arrest was fabricated?"

"No, it was real. He suggested I make a deal with him. A favor for a favor."

Kai stood and started to pace around. "So because of your dumb decision... Xavier, Alexander— whoever— has had ten years to conjure up this massive plan to take your position and now your name is basically tarnished."

Henry stared at him— accepting his blunt words. He didn't have the right to refute his statement.

"Why didn't you just confront your scandal? Didn't you think it was weird he would want to turn himself in for a crime much bigger?" Amira wanted to know.

"At the time, no. He told me it was the least he could do for introducing me to her,"

"What?" Amira and Kai said in unison.

"Alexander introduced me to that woman," Henry affirmed.

"This was planned," Kai said after some time. "After years of planning, he finally won."

"All of this just to advance in his career? I don't think so..." Amira rubbed her chin. "No one has that much time on their hands,"

"Then what?"

"Mr. Martin, will you please tell us the name of the woman you were seeing?"

"What good will that do now?" He stood. "There's no sense in bringing back the past,"

"It may not be significant to you... but it could help up figure this whole thing out. Please, sir. Countless more people will suffer at the hands of this man,"

Henry took in her words along with a deep breath and nodded.

_______________________

Marcus and Archie quietly left the room while the men continued to argue about the ethics of the situation. They had to catch Alexander before he entered that room. They had to stop him before he implemented any ridiculous plans. Archie had sent a text to his boss requesting backup and a sniper... just in case.

If they couldn't beat him with the law they had to stop him the old fashioned way. Outside of the room, they paced around thinking about the possible entrances and exits he could take.

Archie took out his phone to call his boss but there was no answer. "Fuck, now is not the time." He called again.

"Let's go out the front. We'll get a better view of his car," Marcus suggested.

Archie nodded and both of them made their way downstairs towards the entrance. As soon as they opened the doors to go outside, Marcus spotted a man across the street. At first glance, he seemed normal but when he glanced again, the man was just standing there staring at the building then walked away once he saw Marcus.

That's a little suspicious... he thought. But then realization held him by the throat.

"Oh fuck," he grabbed Archie's arm. "We gotta get everyone out of the building!"

"Wha—"

Before Archie could ask, the explosion threw them across the street and into the cars that were parked there. The car alarms blared and both men couldn't find the energy to move their bodies. It didn't take long before they both blacked out.

________________________

I've been writing this chapter for the longest time. It didn't feel right to me and the story wasn't flowing the way I wanted it to.

But here it is! A chapter nonetheless 😄

If you made it this far... Thank you for reading!