Chapter One -- Part One

I shifted the bag hanging off of my shoulder and opened the glass doors to New York City's Verizon Wireless headquarters. Like every other building I typically found myself in these days, it had the high, well lit ceilings of fortune; entry rooms that felt so spacious...but so crowded as people moved in and out like a fish colony in migration season.

Only, I knew who each and every one of these people were, and their identities could be mine in just a simple click. That's why I'd arrived.

With my chin up and my eyes focused, I approached the security guard at the far desk; all of these offices had one of those. The ones who pretended they watched everyone, made them feel scared they'd make the wrong move but also feel safe because they felt confident everyone else was under the same scrutiny. Which, I had also proved to be absolutely incorrect.

"Good morning," the guard greeted warmly, and I felt bile coat the inside of my throat. I could feel his eyes on my chest. I'd worn this specifically to produce this reaction, but that didn't make it feel any better. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

I painted my best smile onto my lips. "Actually, there is. You see, I've got an appointment with your boss."

He blinked. "Your name, miss?" I would have laughed; the way his formality changed was palpable. 

"Aurora Langley." Most people didn't have the balls to plaster their name so clearly for all to see when robbing people in power...but what I had to offer proved far too embarrassing for them to go to anyone with.

His eyes scanned the list -- the schedule I'd edited before the office had opened yesterday -- and he nodded. "Of course, Miss Langley. Come this way." He gestured past the desk to the elevator, and he gave me another smile as he pressed the button for the elevator.

"Have a good day, Miss."

I just gave him a nod and let out a sigh of relief as the doors shut.

*

"I thought I said I wasn't to be disturbed," John Stratton growled from his desk, but I continued on my way in. 

"Sir, you're going to want to hear what I have to say," I said and plopped my bag on his desk -- on top of what he was working on. His chair clattered to the ground as he rose, and he looked about ready to throw a punch or three.

"Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?"

I smiled slightly. "You're asking all the wrong questions, Mr. Stratton. You should be asking how I know your social security number. Or how I know you were born in San Fransisco even though your birth certificate says Austin."

He paled. "How --"

"I know much more about you...and about your customers, Mr. Stratton." I opened my bag and pulled out my laptop. "Your security systems are extremely lacking."

"Excuse me?"

I chuckled. "Really, you ought to fire Mr. Myles. Not only is he a terrible technician, but he's also stealing approximately ten thousand dollars from you...monthly." I sat down in one of his cushy looking chairs and was pleasantly surprised to find it actually was comfortable. Maybe I'd go easy on this guy. I opened my laptop and turned it around so he could see the massive amounts of streaming data.

"What's that?"

"Your entire network of customers, Mr. Stratton."

He crossed his arms. "It sounds an awful lot like you're making an attempt at blackmail, Miss. I've heard of you, and --"

"Then you know precisely what I'm capable of," I replied brightly. "Call the police, and I'll have all of this streaming on the internet before you even finish the phone call." He started to reach for the phone. "If that's not enough for you, Mr. Stratton, I can forward your wife the details of your affairs...all three of them."

He froze. "What do you want?"

I really only needed ten or so to continue to get by as I'd been... But, goddamn Lennard Myles. "Twenty thousand dollars."

"In return for what?"

I shrugged. "My services. I'll make your servers absolutely untouchable by anyone, and as soon as I have the money, I will destroy all of the records I have on my laptop."

"How do I know you don't have another copy somewhere? Or you won't use your own codes to break in again?"

I smiled slightly. "You'll just have to talk to your co-workers, I suppose."