Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) by W. Richard Lawrence Page A

Mike see them? He was asleep, right?
    But what if someone was in there?
    She turned on the light. The apartment looked okay. She quickly shut off the lights again and felt her way to the bathroom. Paranoia was getting to her, but she didn’t care. She turned on the water to make noise as she pulled her laptop out of her pack, then leaned against the bathroom wall. Not the best place to work, but it was well hidden.
    First things first. She checked the tracking number for her passport. It had been delivered today to her Estes Park PO box.
    Great.
    One more nail for Levy’s coffin .
    Everything was in place. Her excitement grew. In three days, she’d be on her way. She would be free, and Levy would be poorer, much poorer. That would teach him to blackmail someone smarter than he.
    Enough daydreaming.
    Sara plugged in the hard drive and backed up everything from Levy’s computer to an off-site server. As the process ran, Sara rested her head against the wall and thought about what her life would be like living in Italy.
    Why not Italy? I’m half Italian .
    She got up and went to the kitchen as she waited for the backup to finish. Returning with a small snack, she found the task complete. Taking a seat again, she went into Levy’s files. She needed his bank information. He kept it in an encrypted password-protected file. It took quite some time to crack his encryption, but she had the right tools. She retrieved the information and stored it in a secure location.
    One last task and she could go to bed. Bringing up the credit card program, she entered Levy’s banking information in a special file. After compiling the new version of the program, she loaded it on one of the special credit cards, which she placed in the side pocket of her pack. She’d wait to install the program until the day before she ran, giving herself the maximum amount of time before Levy learned the full extent of her plan.

Chapter 18
    K ai paced back and forth in the hall. It was after nine in the morning. Levy should be here by now. The news she had for him wasn’t good. She was sure he’d blame her. Maintaining security in this building was her job, one of the conditions for cheap rent in the downstairs apartment.
    Wiping her palms on her pants, she took another glance down the hall. Did she have to tell him? At this point, she was the only one who knew about the problem.
    No, somehow he’d find out. He always did. And then she’d pay a larger price for not informing him. She really didn’t have any other option.
    She halted in mid-step. Voices were coming from the floor below. Mike and Levy were talking about New York.
    Positioning herself to the side of his office door, she waited for Levy to notice her.
    “Why are you here? It better not be more bad news.” Levy did not slow down as he walked past her.
    “I found something this morning.”
    He hesitated for less than half a second. “Is it about Sara?”
    “No, it’s about your computer.”
    A short hesitation. “Come.”
    Levy moved through the office doorway. Mike allowed Kai to enter ahead of him.
    Levy advanced to his desk and examined his computer before taking his seat. “What about my computer?”
    “I found an indication that someone may have tapped into it last night.” Kai intertwined her fingers to keep them still. Mike took a seat on the couch.
    “Not possible. My router is shut down at night, and the computer is powered down. You said that would make it impossible for anyone to hack in.”
    Kai twisted the sweaty fingers of her left hand with her right. “That method does keep someone from hacking in from the outside. However, your computer was accessed from in here.”
    Levy rose and scanned the room before moving around to the front of his desk. With each inch of ground he covered, Kai’s fear ratcheted higher. He stopped halfway between his desk and where she stood.
    “What makes you think someone accessed my computer from in here?”
    Kai’s mouth was as dry as