Hacker For Hire (Ted Higuera Series Book 2) (9 page)

Ted
lay back in the hospital bed and looked at the ceiling. The antiseptic smell
assaulted his nostrils. He had no interest in the old-fashioned analog TV
hanging on the wall. His jaw hurt, his ribs ached and the ringing inside his
head drove him crazy. He just wanted to get out of there.

He
wanted to rip the IV tube out of his arm. Each drip of the IV sounded like
dollar signs.
I’ll never be able to pay for this
. His health insurance
at work hadn’t kicked in yet. Would it be covered by Workman’s Comp? After all,
he was delivering a report for his boss when he got jumped.

The
bandage around his head was a humiliating reminder of the beating, but worse
yet, the incessant drool from the corner of his mouth made him feel like a baby.
He didn’t mind the pain in his rib cage so much. Yeah, it hurt like hell, but
four years of college football had left him used to pain. What really hurt was
that those
babosos
beat him up for nothing, just because he was Mexican.

What
could he have done differently? Was there a lesson to be learned in this? Was
this cosmic justice? Is this what he got for working for a crumb-bag like
Caglione?

“We’re
going to release you today, Mr. Higuera.” The skinny nurse took his vital signs.
Her accent sounded Eastern European. “Do you have someone come to pick you up?”

“Yeah,
Sarah’s coming to get me.” Ted spoke through clinched teeth.

Chris
offered to let Ted stay with them for a few days while he recovered, but Ted
just wanted to be alone with his humiliation. He wanted to go back to his
apartment, crawl under the covers, cuddle with Oscar and forget that this had
ever happened. He’d be eating out of a straw for a while, he’d have a hard time
getting around. He didn’t want Chris or anyone else to see him helpless.

“How
are you doing today?” A tall woman stepped through the door as the nurse left.

“You’re.
. . “

“Catrina
Flaherty. I thought I’d come by and check on you. You took a pretty bad beating.”

“You
saved my life.”
Ouch.
He forgot to clinch his teeth when he spoke. “You’re
the angel.”

She
laughed. “I hardly think I qualify as an angel.” Catrina took off her Navy blue
wool coat, neatly folded it, and placed it, along with her purse, on the chair
at Ted’s bedside. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Ted
took a closer look at her. She must be in her mid-forties. She wasn’t heavy by
any means, but she was solid. Short blonde hair, gray eyes, a great set of
hooters. She was one hot mama despite her age.

“I
think you’re really hot.” He guffawed slightly. “Oops! Did I say that out
loud?”

“It
must be the drugs. I’d hate to hear what you really think when you’re sober.”

There
was something about her that made Ted want to trust her. She seemed
sympathetic, but she also seemed confident, in charge. “How’d you find me here?”

“I
had to visit one of my clients. I thought I’d drop by while I was here.” Her
voice had a husky tone to it. Like someone who had spent a lifetime sucking on
cigarettes.

“Clients,
are you a lawyer?” This time he remembered to keep his teeth clinched while he
talked.

“Not
exactly.” Catrina had little dimples when she smiled. Her eyes sparkled.

He
liked that.

“The
police apprehended one of your attackers. He has a long rap sheet. His name is
Phil Sturdevan. Among his many other accomplishments, he joined the Aryan
Brotherhood at Walla Walla.”

Neo-Nazis.
Racists. “The son of a bitch had swastikas tattooed on his eyelids.” Ted’s
anger focused his mind.
Who the hell do they think they are?
“How come
you’re so interested in this? How do you know about his rap sheet?” He sat up
straighter in bed. His ribcage felt like it was going to explode.

“I
guess I really didn’t introduce myself.” Catrina reached into her pocket and
produced a business card, which she handed to Ted. “I own Flaherty and
Associates, Private Investigations.”

Ted
looked at the card, then looked back at Catrina. She wore crisp Navy slacks and
a cream-colored blouse under a Navy sweater. Gold earrings matched the gold
chain around her neck.

“I
guess I should introduce myself too. I’m Ted Higuera.” Ted held out his hand. His
heart leapt as she made contact. “I’m sorry. I haven’t said ‘thank you’ yet.
Thanks for saving my ass.”

She
gave him a funny look.

He
tried to smile. It hurt. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. “So
what were you doing at that strip club anyway?”

“Do
you mind if I sit?” Catrina pulled the chair closer to Ted’s bed. “I was
working on a case. I do a lot of divorce work. I was tailing a wayward husband.
His wife thinks he’s cheating on her. My partner and I just happened to be at
the right place at the right time.”

“Women
pay you to follow their husbands around?”

“That’s
part of my business. I do a lot of work on women’s issues. Battered wives, divorces,
sexual harassment, custody cases. That sort of stuff.”

Ted
pulled himself up a little bit in his bed. He winced as his rib’s shrieked in
pain. He hated the gown, hated being helpless in front of this good-looking
woman. He had to get out of here.

“I
don’t get it. You follow cheating husbands and you take on eight racist thugs?
What are you, Wonder Woman or something?”

Catrina
laughed. “I used to be a cop. I knew the odds pretty well. I’d already called 911;
a car was on the way. I needed to get those jerks to stop beating on you,
before they killed you. I figured that we wouldn’t be exposed long enough to
get into any real trouble.”

Ted
took a deep breath. He winced, it burned like hell. “I couldn’t see much of
what happened. I just saw you drop one of those guys. He must have been twice
your size.”

“I
got lucky.” She smiled at Ted. “You held your own pretty well, too. So, how’re
you feeling?”

“To
be honest, it hurts like hell. I have a dislocated jaw, a concussion and two
cracked ribs.”

“I’m
sorry I couldn’t have stopped them sooner. What are you going to do now?”

“I’ve
got to get out of here so I can go back to work. I just started a new job, I
don’t have health insurance yet. I can’t afford to miss a lot of time. I still
have to pay the rent.”

Catrina
stood and reached for her coat. “What do you do?”

“I’m
a security analyst for YTS Security.” Ted admired her knockers as she put her
coat back on and sat down again.

“What
was a security analyst doing at the Dirty Bird?”

“I
was delivering the results of our tests to Mr. Caglione.’

“You
were working for Caglione? He’s bad news.”

“I
don’t think my mother would approve.” Ted felt the temperature rise in his
cheeks. “My company got a contract to do the Caglione job and I was the bottom
man on the totem pole. No one else wanted to touch it.”

“What
kind of contract was it?”

“I’m
a hacker-for-hire. I had to try to hack into Caglione’s network. See if I could
get in; see if I could get to confidential data. It’s pretty standard stuff.”

“Well,
Mr. Higuera, you certainly seem to have a marketable talent.” Catrina smiled
and leaned back in the chair. “I may need to get to know you a little better.”

****

The ballroom at
the Olympic Hotel reeked class. High ceilings and Art Deco décor seemed
suitable for a gala event, even if the evening’s topic was depressing. A huge
crystal chandelier dominated the room, sending sparkly light throughout the
space.

Catrina wasn’t
really into the social scene, but as a member of the board of directors of
Jackie’s House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, she was required to
attend this annual event. Once a year, she dressed up and rubbed elbows with
the rich and famous.

She had been a
cause
célèbre
herself a few years ago. Her sexual harassment lawsuit
against the Port of Seattle Police Department had been ground-breaking.
Eventually expanding to a class action suit encompassing seven other PoSPD
employees, she received a three-million dollar settlement. After extensive
counseling and soul-searching, the money allowed her to pay off her one-hundred-year-old
Capitol Hill home and found her agency. Now, she was a role model for other
abused women. It was her responsibility to pay her good fortune forward.

Catrina had no
problem wearing heels, the sturdy leather boots she normally wore made her feel
empowered. At five-nine, four-inch heels gave her the feeling that she was
looming over people. It was the frilly dress shoes with stiletto heels that
bothered her. How could she kick ass in these sissy shoes?

Her low-cut black
satin cocktail dress showed off her long legs and full bust. Twenty years ago,
she would have been the belle of the ball. Now she felt like the matron.

“Ms. Flaherty?” A middle-aged
brunette woman with a martini in one hand and a gold cocktail purse in the
other approached Catrina. “I was hoping to meet you here. I’m Alison Clarke.”

“Ms. Clarke, I
know about you.” Catrina extended her hand. “One of the first female CEOs of a
Fortune 100 company. Pleased to meet you.” Alison had a firm, cool handshake.

“The event is
lovely,” Alison said. “It just seems to get better every year.” Alison wore a
red cocktail dress that flattered her thin figure.

Girlish figure,
pretty face, CEO of a major corporation, I think I already hate her.
“This
is our fifth ball. It’s our major fundraiser for the year. I’m glad you could
come. Is Mr. Clarke here too?”

“He found some
golfing buddies to talk to. He’ll be with them for the rest of the night.” Taking
Catrina’s elbow, Alison moved her slowly away from the crowd.

“I’m glad he found
something to keep him occupied. This is a pretty high-estrogen event.” Catrina allowed
Alison to steer her to the edge of the ballroom.

“Like I said,”
Alison’s voice dropped, took on a conspiratorial tone. “I really wanted to meet
you. You have such an interesting reputation.”

“I really haven’t
done anything to deserve that.”

“I know about the
lawsuit, how you were kicked out of law enforcement. Your agency has tremendous
standing in the women’s scene. I’ve heard you talked about at all sorts of
networking events. They all say that if you have a problem, Catrina Flaherty is
the person you want on your side.”

What was this
woman after?
“I hardly think anyone would say that.”

“I’ve heard stories.”
Alison continued. “You helped a girl that was raped. After the rapist was
acquitted for lack of evidence, the police found him in an alley with a broken
kneecap and ruptured testicles. They say that he wouldn’t or couldn’t identify
his attacker to the police.”

Catrina felt ice
water running in her blood stream. She didn’t like where this was going.

“There were
rumors,” Alison went on. “That he wouldn’t identify his attacker because he was
embarrassed that he had been beaten up by a woman.”

“I really don’t
know anything about that.”

“I heard another
interesting rumor.”

Oh God. What else
does she know?

“I heard a story
about one of your clients who was going through a messy divorce. I heard that
her husband drained his business dry of cash and declared bankruptcy. Then
somehow, his wife, who knew nothing about finance, discovered that he had an
offshore account. It seems that mysteriously, someone transferred half of his
cash from that offshore account to a numbered account in the Bahamas. I always
thought it was interesting that she only took half his cash. I would have bled
him dry, wouldn’t you?”

Catrina gulped. “I
don’t know. It seems fair to me. She was entitled to half of his estate. It
wouldn’t have been fair for her to take everything.”

“That’s what I
like about you, Ms. Flaherty.” Alison tilted back her head when she laughed.
“You have an exaggerated sense of justice. I think this is going to be an
interesting evening.”

****

Donna Harrison didn’t
know if she was more angry or terrified. She had been tied up and gagged, with
a hood over her head for God knows how long. Her wrists throbbed. Her mouth was
dry. Who were these people? What did they want?

They clearly
weren’t Millennium Systems security staff. The security people would have just
called the cops. Donna’s lawyer would have posted bail and she would be home
with her family by now.

She was in deep
shit. She had to find a way to get out.

But get out of
where? The hood over her head kept her from seeing anything. She knew she was
sitting on a cold hard floor. Probably concrete. She was leaning on a wall. It
felt rough, not like the textured or smoothly painted wall of an office. A few
minutes ago, or was it hours ago, she heard what she thought was a diesel horn
on a truck. Then she heard machinery. What did that mean?

How long had she
been here? She had been hungry for some time now. Her bladder felt like it was
going to burst. She had to go to the bathroom soon or she’d wet herself.

“Good evening,
Mrs. Harrison.” There was that gravelly voice; it reminded her of a freight
train in the distance. It was the only voice she had heard during her ordeal,
although she had felt several pairs of hands shoving her around.

“I hope you
haven’t been too bored waiting for me. I had a little business to take care
of.”

That voice, it
couldn’t be real. Nobody really sounded like that. Was he faking it?

“I think it’s time
we had a little chat. Gentlemen, where are your manners? Get Mrs. Harrison a
chair.”

Donna heard feet
moving around, the rattle of a chair being moved.

“Please, sit
down.”

Rough hands
grabbed Donna under the armpits, lifted her to her feet. She was moved a short
distance and deposited on a chair. She sat, grateful for a more comfortable
place.

She tried to talk.
To ask who these people were, what they wanted, but the gag in her mouth made
it come out jumbled.

“Gentlemen, remove
the gag.”

The hood was
whipped off of her head. She saw an empty room. The men were all behind her,
out of sight. The bare room had windows high up on its walls, some sort of
warehouse.

Before she could
react, a blindfold was tied over her eyes, once again plunging her into a world
of darkness.

“I find that being
in the dark, not being able to see what’s happening, puts a subject on edge.
Makes them more likely to be honest with me. Don’t you agree, Mrs. Harrison?”

So that was it.
This was some sort of game to this fiend. He kept using her name. He wanted her
to know that he knew all about her, that he had power over her. That was his
edge. Well, Mrs. Harrison’s little girl could play that game too. They didn’t
dare really hurt her. She had too many friends, too many resources.

She felt the gag
being removed from her mouth. She spit, tried to salivate. Anything to moisten
her mouth.

“Water.”

“Of course. We
want you to be comfortable for our little chat. Gentlemen?”

Donna felt a glass
being held to her lips. She sipped, then gulped. It was good, fresh, cold
water.

“I need to use the
bathroom.”

“I don’t think so,
Mrs. Harrison. Let’s chat first shall we? Then, after you’ve told me everything
I want to know, you can go.”

She had to think
of a way to get out of here, to get home to Bill and the kids. Oh God, the
kids. Billy, Tammy. She needed to be home.

“I want my lawyer.
You can’t treat me like this. Anything you get from me will be tossed out of
court.”

Gravelly Voice
laughed. “I see that you don’t realize the game that we are playing yet. Mrs.
Harrison, we don’t care about courts. We have no intention of prosecuting a
case against you. We just want to know who you're working for. What they’re
after.”

Oh shit.
These
aren’t the cops? Of course not. No cops would dare bring her to an out-of-the-way
location like this. They wouldn’t dare blindfold and gag her. Then who were
these thugs? She felt he knees shaking.

Hold it together.
Her breath came faster. She had to keep her wits about her.

“Let’s get started,
Mrs. Harrison, I want you to talk to me. Let’s start with who hired you.”

“Fuck you.”

Donna expected a
smack to her face. She was met with silence.

“I am not a
patient man, Mrs. Harrison.” Gravelly voice spoke after a long pause. “I won’t
play around and waste my time. Either you answer my questions, or things are
going to get very unpleasant for you.”

Who was writing
this guy’s dialog?
It came right out of an old Humphrey Bogart movie. “Fuck
off and die, asshole.”

Donna heard a soft
click and footsteps, then felt someone’s presence right over her. She felt his
breath on her neck. Hands reached out and grabbed her cleaning woman’s uniform.
With a single pull, all of the buttons were popped off. She gasped for breath.

“I was hoping that
you would make this pleasurable for me.”

She felt something
hard and cold press its way between her skin and her bra. With a swipe, her
tormenter cut her bra free from her body. He pulled down her dress. Donna felt
cold night air on her bare skin.

“Any time you feel
like talking, we can stop this little game. But I have to say, I would prefer
it if you took a little more persuading. This can be so much fun.”

“You won’t get
away with this. Aich!” Donna screamed in pain. Something cold and sharp bit
into her nipple. Then it bit her other nipple. Both nipples throbbed in pain.

“Do you want to
talk, or do you need a little more persuasion?”

“You can’t do
this. I’ll sue your asses ‘til you’re blue in the face.”

She was beginning
to get used to whatever was biting her nipples. It was the initial shock of
having them clamped on that hurt.

“All right. Let’s
have a little more coercion here.”

Donna heard an
electrical sizzle, the pain coursed through her body. She lost control of her
bladder. She stiffened and arched her back, saw a flash of light, lost
consciousness.