Hack Imperfect Read online

  ‘Yeah, a guy called Jimi Ferraro, but he wasn’t the one who was coming after us. That was a team run by the CEO, Brandon Willis, the fucker.’

  ‘Not your favourite person in the world, then?’ Amanda quipped.

  ‘I’ll kill the little shit if I ever get my hands on him,’ Carson said. Amanda could see the fire behind his eyes and felt sure that he actually would kill the man if he ever managed to confront him.

  ‘To be sure. Well, let me see what I can do; I’m pretty sure I can stop them from hunting you down.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Carson said, sounding a little flippant. It was as if he didn’t think it could work.

  ‘Amanda knows what she’s doing, you’ve just got to trust her,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘I’ve been on the run for over a year, Nessy. Every time I’ve trusted someone, I’ve had to disappear all over again.’

  ‘Not this time,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ he answered.

  ‘Do you know for sure they’re still interested in you both? When was the last time they came for you?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘Months ago, Red, but I guarantee you, they’ll still be after me.’

  ‘I think we need to test that out before I go knocking down some doors,’ Amanda said, not keen on the idea of going storming into a building to threaten a CEO if they had no further interest in either of these two.

  ‘Okay, sure, then why not tip them off as to my whereabouts. There’s a reward out for me. Or, at least, there was in those early days. Then we’ll see if they turn up. If they do, I can kick Brandon’s ass.

  ‘We’re not kicking anyone’s arse right now. I just want to see if they’re still interested in you. So, can we clear this building out and bring them here? We’ll watch from a nearby building and see who turns up.’

  ‘I can clear it out, shouldn’t be too difficult,’ Brandon said.

  ‘Okay, let’s do this: we’ll help you get them out and then retreat to a safe distance before I send them the tip-off.’

  ***

  ‘It’s been what, over an hour now?’ Carson said.

  Amanda sat on the edge of the rooftop, on the small knee-high wall that ringed the space. From where she was, she had a reasonably good view of the house they had found Carson in a few hours previous. As it had turned out, it was not too difficult to get the other squatters out the building. You only had to hint that the police were on their way to raid it and everyone suddenly had somewhere else they had to be.

  They checked it through a couple of times to make sure there was nothing incriminating in the building before retreating here.

  Vanessa had gone to the nearby shop to pick up a few things to eat, leaving Amanda and Carson on watch.

  ‘Yeah, I reported you an hour ago,’ Amanda said.

  ‘What’s taking them so long?’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ Amanda answered honestly. ‘But, an hour’s not that long. Depends on what they’re planning to do. If anything.’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘You know, they might have forgotten about you. They might not be interested in you anymore,’ Amanda suggested.

  ‘I doubt it,’ Carson answered her.

  ‘Hey guys, I got some food,’ Vanessa called out as she appeared on the rooftop again from the fire escape they had used to get up here.

  ‘You took your time,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Sorry, there was a queue at the deli,’ she said as she stepped up to Amanda and offered her the sandwich she had ordered.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said, taking it as Vanessa moved on to Carson. He still had his laptop on his lap and closed it to take the food from Vanessa.

  ‘So, any movement?’ Vanessa asked.

  ‘Nothing yet,’ Amanda said.

  ‘How long is this going to take?’

  ‘I was just talking to Carson about that,’ Amanda said. ‘The answer is: we don’t know. I’m hoping they don’t turn up at all and we can all just go on with our lives, really.’

  ‘Fat chance of that,’ Carson said.

  Vanessa gave Amanda a look. Amanda raised her eyebrows in return. Carson seemed a little angry, as he had every right to be, of course, given that this Willis Financial, or, at least, the mercenary group they used had killed some of his friends.

  They sat quietly, eating their food. Afterwards, Vanessa disappeared to use the bathroom, and then a short time after that, once Vanessa had returned, so did Carson.

  Amanda sat tight the whole time, watching the house just two blocks away, but so far, it was quiet.

  ‘He’s angrier than I remember him, Vanessa said.

  ‘He’s been dealing with a lot,’ Amanda said. ‘I’m not surprised. He’s had his life taken away, his friends killed. I know he brought it on himself by hacking these guys, which is illegal, but he doesn’t deserve to be hunted like an animal by a private security force.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t. But you’re right, I’ve not been thinking about what he’s had to endure. I suppose I got lucky, really.’

  ‘Perhaps, in some ways. You’ve had your own issues to deal with, though.’

  Vanessa nodded. ‘I certainly have,’ she said.

  Amanda turned and looked back at the house to see a van pull up outside and several men in black jump out carrying guns. They moved in towards the house.

  ‘Oooh, here we go,’ Amanda said. ‘Looks like Carson was right, they are still interested in you guys, after all.’

  ‘I knew they would be,’ Vanessa said.

  Amanda watched them breach the door and head inside. She didn’t need to do anything else as the test was actually complete, but it was interesting to watch what happened.

  Moments passed, and suddenly Amanda heard the distinct popping of rapid gunfire coming from that direction. She frowned. No one should be firing over there. It fell silent again, but the gunshots had been quite clear, and she felt sure they’d come from the house.

  ‘Did they just shoot a gun?’

  ‘I think they did…’ Amanda said.

  ‘Did we leave anyone in there?’

  ‘I’m certain we didn’t.’

  ‘Then, who are they…’ Vanessa said, looking around the rooftop. Her head whipped back to Amanda, her eyes wide. ‘You don’t think…?’

  ‘Shite,’ Amanda said to herself. ‘He has, hasn’t he, the idiot!’ knowing full well that Carson was angry enough to try something stupid like this. Amanda looked back towards the house to see the men in tactical gear hustling out of the house, moving double time.

  ‘They’re in a rush to get out of there,’ Amanda said to herself before looking back to Vanessa. ‘I’ll Port us over there.’

  ‘Aah, crap. Okay, sure,’ she said, taking a breath and holding it. Amanda knew Vanessa wasn’t a fan of Porting. It was disorientating and could make you feel quite sick if you didn’t like it.

  Weaving her Magic, Amanda Ported herself and Vanessa into the house with a whip crack of displaced air.

  They’d appeared upstairs in the house, in Carson’s room, but it was empty. Vanessa let out a breath and looked a little queasy. Outside, the wheels of the van squealed as the driver gunned its engine and accelerated away.

  ‘Come on, they’re gone, let’s find him,’ Amanda said and darted from the room. It didn’t take long for them to find Carson. He was downstairs, laid out on the kitchen floor, not too far from the back door he’d obviously used to get in here. Bullet wounds riddled his torso, and he was quite dead.

  He had a gun in his hand, and there were other blood splatters that Amanda felt sure weren’t his.

  ‘Looks like he didn’t go down without a fight,’ Amanda said, as Vanessa crouched down next to him.

  ‘I think he was desperate for revenge,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘So it seems, but we did learn one thing. We need to deal with this CEO, as I doubt he’s going to let you, the last loose end, off the hook now.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘I’m
going to go and have a friendly chat with him,’ she said, smiling.

  Tie it off

  Amanda sipped on her cup of coffee a little way up the street from the New York offices of Willis Financial, her attention focused on her second set of senses that she had placed in the office of Brandon Willis. He’d been working all day, meeting people, writing emails and being chauvinistic to his secretary. Nothing she didn’t expect, really. She was a little surprised that the blonde secretary put up with the pats on her bum, but then, maybe he was paying her a lot, or there was more going on there than she knew.

  She found it quite distasteful, whatever it was.

  As she watched and listened through the day, pretending to read the paper or watch the people walk past her, she’d heard him say that he had a meeting with Mr Ferraro later today, around now, in fact. It was swiftly moving towards evening time with people already making their way home. A perfect time for a meeting with the Mafia, she guessed.

  She didn’t wait much longer before the door to his office opened and Mafia made man Jimi Ferraro walked in.

  He was a short guy with dark hair wearing a suit, nothing noteworthy about him at all, really. His companion, however, who Amanda guessed was some kind of bodyguard, was another matter. He was big and brooding and was clearly taking his job seriously.

  Vanessa wasn’t with her now. Amanda had taken her back to her house before coming here. There was no need for her to come on this part of the mission. It would be dangerous, and she wasn’t sure how useful Vanessa would be.

  Amanda finished her drink, left some money on the table, and walked up the street towards the office block where Willis was located. She walked into the building without any trouble and made her way to the elevator, knowing that Willis’ offices were on the twenty-fifth floor. There were other people in the lift with her, but she was the only one to exit on this floor. Having sent her senses in and around here earlier, she knew exactly where Brandon’s office was and how to get there.

  She walked through the lobby and saw the reception area through some glass doors. They were locked, but with little more than a thought, the bolt slid back without her breaking stride, allowing her to walk straight through towards the reception desk. The lady behind the desk looked up and frowned. She would probably normally have to press a button to open that door and was likely confused as to how Amanda had bypassed it. Her bewilderment gave Amanda a small thrill.

  ‘Hi,’ the woman recovered. ‘Welcome to Willis Financial, how many I help… um, hey, you can’t go through there,’ she said as Amanda pointedly ignored her and walked past the desk towards the doors beyond. ‘Hey, come back, you can’t get through it’s….’

  Amanda worked her Magic once more, and the door unlocked, allowing Amanda to open it without trouble. She glanced back once to the slack-jawed receptionist with a cheeky smile before making her way towards Brandon’s office.

  She was probably calling security now, which was fine with her, and sure enough, she hadn’t walked far before a couple of men in dark blue uniforms walked around the corner. One of them was holding a finger to his ear.

  ‘Oh, we got her, one moment,’ the man said into his radio before addressing Amanda. ‘Okay, miss, let’s not have any trouble. Please make your way back towards the reception.’

  ‘Hey guys, what’s the craic?’ she said. ‘Now, let’s not be silly here.’

  ‘We don’t want to hurt you, miss.’

  ‘I don’t think there’s any danger of that,’ Amanda said as the men approached. The lead guy had his hands out as if he was trying to guide her, but the man behind had his hand on his gun, which was still in his hip holster.

  Amanda just stood there, looking at them, making no move to do as they asked her. The lead man walked up to her and stopped.

  ‘Miss, please, turn around and walk back to the reception. If you don’t, I will use physical force; that’s my last warning.’

  ‘Understood,’ Amanda said, but didn’t move. The man looked somewhat dismayed and glanced back at his partner before looking back to Amanda.

  ‘Okay, I warned you,’ he said and reached for her.

  Amanda grabbed his hand and twisted it in just the right way. The man fell to the floor with a yelp, still in Amanda’s grip. The second guy immediately pulled his gun and moved to point it at Amanda.

  Keeping hold of the first man's hand, she ducked forward and kicked the gun from the second guard's grasp. She knew she was moving quicker than they were able to truly follow, allowing her to catch them unawares as she executed her moves.

  The gun went spinning away from the man to land somewhere amidst the deserted office desks in this modern, open plan office. It was after five thirty, and most people had left for the night, luckily.

  The guard looked a little stunned to see his weapon go cartwheeling out of his hand before looking back at Amanda.

  ‘It’s nothing personal, you understand,’ she said, before she punched him, knocking him into the wall and unconsciousness.

  Turning to look at the man she still held the hand of, she twisted his arm a little more and heard the crack of his bones. The man screamed briefly before she landed another punch on him, knocking him out cold, too.

  She left them there. She didn’t want to really hurt them as they were just security guards and might not know anything about what some aspects of this business actually did. In fact, she guessed that most of the people who worked here didn’t.

  Moving on, she soon reached the office of Brandon Willis to find the secretary sitting outside, staring at her computer screen while resting her chin in one hand. She looked bored.

  Amanda moved towards the door beside her that led to Mr Willis’ office, ignoring her. She looked up as Amanda moved closer, and as it became clear to her where Amanda was going, she stood up.

  ‘Excuse me, miss,’ she said, rising from her seat and rushing to meet Amanda at the door, but she was a second or so too late as Amanda had already opened the door, stepping into the office with the secretary rushing to try and stop her.

  The girl was nowhere near Amanda’s strength, though, meaning it was a futile effort.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir, she was too quick,’ the blonde said to Mr Willis, who looked up with a look of surprise and incredulity plastered to his face.

  ‘Who’s this?’ the CEO asked from the comfy seat he sat in towards the left side of the office. Jimi was sat there, too, his bodyguard standing close by.

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ his secretary said.

  ‘I just wanted to have a chat,’ Amanda said.

  ‘What? Who do you think you are? Get out,’ Brandon said.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Call security,’ Brandon said to his secretary, who nodded and left the room.

  Amanda smiled thinly. ‘They might take a while to respond,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Who the hell are you?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter who I am,’ Amanda answered. ‘I’m just here to deliver a message and make sure you do as I ask.’

  ‘Oh, really, is that right?’

  ‘Aye, to be sure,’ she said, watching as the CEO moved over to his desk and quickly rummage around before pulling out a gun.

  Amanda sighed. Why did it always end up in a fight like this? With a quick working of Magic, she dissolved the bullets in the gun to nothing, leaving it empty.

  ‘I think you should leave,’ Brandon said.

  ‘Mr Willis, would you prefer for my man here to take care of this intrusion for you?’

  Brandon glanced over at the Mafiosi, and then back at Amanda with a smirk on his face.

  ‘’Er, the security team aren’t answering, sir,’ the secretary said from outside the room.

  ‘That’s fine, Stephanie, don’t worry about it. You can go home for the night,’ Brandon said.

  ‘Err, okay, thanks,’ she said, and Amanda heard her quickly move away from the scene of the confrontation.

  ‘Jimi, if Solomon would like to deal
with our visitor, then please, go ahead,’ the CEO said.

  ‘It would be his pleasure, I’m sure,’ Jimi answered, before looking up at his bodyguard. ‘Would you mind?’

  ‘With pleasure, sir,’ the big man said. Amanda looked over and turned more fully to face him, and suddenly noticed that there was more to this bodyguard than met the eye. She could see the knot of Essentia within him. He wasn’t a Magus, though, so Amanda guessed she was about to face down a Scion.

  She wondered if he’d show his true self. She decided to give the Scion a taste of what he was about to let himself in for and sent a blast of Essentia at the creature. The energy flared golden yellow in Amanda’s Magical Sight, but would be invisible to the two humans in here, and maybe to the Scion as well.

  The strike hit home, and Solomon paused and frowned at her. Then he smiled and stepped forward. ‘So, it’s like that, is it, witch?’

  Amanda smiled back. The man suddenly grew in size as fur sprouted all over his body, which was filling out and changing shape. Bones cracked as the werewolf roared, and then a second later, leapt at her. Amanda dodged right as she enacted the Multitasking effect and split her mind into three.

  She blasted him with an Essentia Strike again while also throwing a blast of lightning at the creature.

  BOOM!

  The flash of light lit up the office and sent Solomon hurtling back into the far wall with a crunch.

  Rising up to her feet, she saw the were-creature howl as it fell to the floor. Amanda sent Essentia Strike after Essentia Strike at the thing, wearing down its Aegis as it got back up, its singed fur smoking from the electrical burn.

  A series of ear-splitting gunshots filled the room as the Mafia man fired at her. The bullets pinged off Amanda’s Aegis and buried themselves in the wall behind her.

  Looking over at the made man, she sent a hammer blow of kinetic energy at him that sent him crashing into the tables and chairs behind him with a yell.

  The werewolf dove at her from across the room. Amanda reacted on pure instinct, letting the martial arts training that Gentle Water had been drilling into her take over.

  She used the Scion’s weight against him, working with his momentum and rolling back before kicking out and loosing another Essentia blast through her foot that flared brightly in her vision. The Scion went flying and crunched into the back wall as Amanda rolled to her feet a short distance from the Scion. She could see his natural Aegis faltering, and sent another Essentia Strike at him, destroying his Aegis, followed by a second lightning bolt that smashed into the now unshielded Scion.