You Don't Know Me Like That (14 page)

I
don't know how my dream life turned into a nightmare. I didn't know how, but I did know why. Jayla Cooper.

My daddy's security team had found out how the
Enquirer
had gotten their story. It had come in an email tip to Mr. Sternham, sent on the same day that they received the J. Love story. It hadn't come from my email address, but it was sent at the same time by an email address that no longer existed. As soon as my dad told me that, I knew that Jayla had to be involved. Alvin said she could access my parents' computer, so she must have found out about the money laundering charges and tipped off that reporter when she sent the J. Love story.

I didn't say anything to my dad—yet—because I still couldn't prove it was Jayla. Besides, it was my fault this chick was in our lives, so I needed to figure out how to clean it up. Since I wasn't about to ask Shay for help, I needed to do something. That's why I was sitting here in Starbucks, searching the web on how to track down hackers. It was a shame that Jayla had me too scared to do this at home. Just that thought made me even angrier.

After I had spent a while browsing, my cell phone rang.

“Hi, Maya, it's Alvin,” he said after I answered.

“Hey, Alvin,” I said.

“I was just calling to check on you. I know everything you're going through has you bummed out, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm as okay as I can be with all that's going on.”

“I hate that you're going through this. I know what a hassle something like this can be.”

“Yeah, well, I just wanted to say thank you for believing me and not thinking I was some kind of freak.”

“Oh, come on, Maya. You know you made all that up because you wanted to come hang out with me.”

I was about to get offended, but then he laughed. He actually made me smile for the first time that day.

“I'm sure you're a blast to hang out with, but I'm still trying to get to the bottom of everything. That's what I'm doing now. I'm in Starbucks now doing some research on how to catch this girl.” I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. “This stuff has taken over my life.”

“Well, that's actually what I was calling about. Did you find anything else out?” he asked.

“No. I just don't understand how she's still accessing my stuff when I changed all the passwords. Yesterday, she showed up at a party wearing the same dress I had on. But I was on my phone when I showed my friend the dress. So either she hacked my phone, too, or she has cameras in my house. It's driving me crazy.”

He hesitated like he was thinking. “You said you
showed
your friend the dress. Were you on Tango or something?” he asked.

“OoVoo.”

“Which is still online. All she has to do is log in to your ooVoo account, and she can watch your conversations.”

I wanted to scream. Right there, in Starbucks, let out the loudest scream I'd ever screamed.

“I can't believe this,” I cried. That's how she had known about J. Love and everything else. She had seen me on ooVoo with Kennedi! This was both creepy and disgusting.

“Yeah, it's like I said; once you leave the door open, your hacker has access to everything you do online. She can see it all through remote access. That's why people keep getting emails that you didn't send. They are coming from your email address, but it's because she's logging in as you. She can see video chats, emails, photos, everything. She might also have password Decryptor,” he continued. “Anything you change the password to, she can still see.”

“This is crazy.”

“When you don't protect your online presence, it's like leaving open the front door to your house and just letting someone walk in. And now, she knows her way around, and you might get a different lock, but she still knows how to get in.”

“That's messed up. So what can I do?”

“You can let her know you're onto her, and that may stop her, but it won't do anything about the damage that's already done.”

“Are you sure I can't take this to the police?”

“You can, but honestly, it's a cyber crime and will most likely go to the bottom of their list, because they'll say there's no damage done.”

“No damage done?”

“Trust me, I know the damage that can be done on the Internet; but to them, cyber crimes that don't involve any money just don't get a high priority. They'll think the fact that she's hacking your email or hijacking your computer is petty.”

I just didn't understand how anyone could think what I was going through was petty.

“I have a friend at the police station who I can call for you. He works in the cyber-crimes division. Maybe he can give us some more insight on what to do,” Alvin said.

“Every little bit helps. I would actually appreciate your looking into this,” I replied.

“Maya, if you can figure out a way to gain access to her laptop, you can go to What'sMyIPAddress.com, and it'll tell you what the address is for that computer. That's all you need as proof. And with proof you can prosecute.”

“Yeah, my best friend suggested that, too,” I said. “But there's no way I can get near her computer.”

“Do you know anyone who can?”

My mind raced back to Shay. “I do, but we fell out.”

“Now may be the time to make up.”

Why did all roads to busting Jayla keep coming back to Shay? It was looking more and more like I was going to have to suck it up and apologize to Shay face-to-face and pray that she helped me.

“Or, I can just hack your hacker back for you,” Alvin said.

I smiled, flattered that he would even offer to do something like that.

“Oh, I want to hack her all right. But not in cyberspace. I want to hack her upside her head.”

He laughed. “Okay, but look, you said you were working on a research paper. Shoot, all this research you're doing right now, that's your paper right now.”

I couldn't even focus on my paper right now, I was too upset.

“Thanks, that's an idea,” I said, blowing him off. I quickly caught myself. I didn't need to be getting upset with him. “Thanks for all your help, Alvin.”

“No problem. Now, you hang on to my number, and if I can be of any help, you just let me know.” He paused. “And if you ever get lonely and need a date, I'll see if I can pencil you in.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” I couldn't help but smile as I hung up the phone.

Alvin was cool and all, but someone like me wouldn't be caught dead with someone like him. But I sure was thankful for all the information he was giving me, and hopefully, it would help me catch a crook.

I
don't think I'd ever been so nervous, especially because of some person. It wasn't Shay who actually scared me, but her dad. I prayed that he or her mother didn't answer the door.

I didn't even know if the story on the
Rumor Central
website about her parents had been true or not. (We did end up taking it down.) I just knew that I hadn't had anything to do with it. And I needed to convince Shay of that—then get her to help me.

I really hadn't wanted to come over here, but Kennedi was right; I needed to talk to Shay face-to-face. Sheridan had agreed and had reluctantly tagged along, and had even convinced Evian to come.

After I rang the doorbell a couple of times, the door was snatched open. Shay stood there, looking like some kind of ghetto princess in a Juicy Couture baby-doll T-shirt and some Daisy Duke shorts.

“You must have some kind of death wish,” she said, glaring at me.

Sheridan stepped up first. She had felt like I should do this alone. I wasn't stupid, though. I had told her that if she didn't go, I didn't go. Shay's daddy was from the hood; I wasn't going to have his boys shoot me execution style with no witnesses. Then, Sheridan had decided Shay might listen even better if Evian was with us.

“Just chill before you go off. I think you need to hear Maya out,” she said.

Shay looked at her like Sheridan was crazy. “There is nothing she can say that I want to hear.”

I pushed Sheridan aside. “I know we have our beef,” I began, “but I didn't do that. I wouldn't sell you out like that.”

“Yeah, just like you wouldn't sell Evian out,” Shay said, her voice full of sarcasm.

Evian raised an eyebrow like she agreed.

I glanced back at her. “I didn't sell Evian out. I sold her business out, but not
her
.”

“Can we just come in and talk?” Sheridan said.

“Are your parents here?” I asked.

Shay laughed, then turned up her lips. “Why? You can write about my parents, but you can't face them?”

“I didn't do that.”

“Can you just let us in?” Sheridan repeated before Shay could get worked up.

“Fine,” Shay said, stepping to the side.

We pushed past her. I was hesitant, because as much as I was trying to extend a peace offering, if she laid a hand on me, it was on.

Shay shut the door, and we followed her through the grand foyer, back into her den. She didn't offer us a seat, but we each took one anyway. There was an awkward silence for a minute before Sheridan said, “You know how Maya is. It took a lot for her to come here.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Shay said, raising an eyebrow to let us know that she was not moved.

I sat up. I wasn't going to let Sheridan fight my battles for me. I was going to say what I had to say, and if Shay couldn't deal with it, oh well.

“Look, Shay, I'm real sorry about the whole
Miami Divas
thing, but this, I had nothing to do with that story. If I did, I would own up to it,” I said. “I'm not going to do something like that then pretend that I don't know anything about it. I own my stuff.”

Evian cut her eyes at me. “She's right about that, Shay,” she said, even though she was acting like it pained her to agree with me.

Shay looked like she was taking in what I said. “Then, if you didn't do it, how did it get on your website?”

“I think Jayla did it.”

“Jayla? Who works with you?”

“Yep. Jayla Cooper who used to work for me.”

“Why would she do it?”

“I don't know, but ever since she came on board, stuff like this has been happening. Something is going on with her. People are getting emails from my account that I didn't send. Stuff is being posted on the
Rumor Central
website that I had nothing to do with. And right now, I'm trying to prove it was her.”

“Maybe someone else hacked into your account—
if
anyone even hacked into your account. Why are you assuming it's her? There's a lot of people who can't stand you,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I just know it was Jayla. We think she's accessing my computer remotely.”

Shay looked at me like I was making stuff up. “I never heard of anything like that.”

“Me either. Until now,” I said.

“So, why she'd do all of this?”

“Well, I don't know why the stuff was happening earlier. Now I think it's happening because we fired her, and it's like she's so mad that she's trying to take over my life.”

Shay turned up her nose. “I don't know why she would want to do that.”

I wasn't going to get into it with Shay, because I don't know, if the tables were turned, if I would believe her either. Even still, I was only going to give her a few more times to go off.

“So, I'm gonna ask again, why are you here?” Shay said. “What does this have to do with me? It doesn't change the fact that your stupid site put my parents on blast.”

“We're here because I need your help,” I managed to say.

Shay actually busted out laughing. “Ha! Isn't this karma? So what do you need my help for?”

“I need you to get close to Jayla. I'm trying to get to her computer,” I said.

Shay took her time, leaning in and picking up her Coke, then taking a sip before saying, “And I'm the only person who can do that?”

I nodded.

“She knows about your beef with Maya,” Sheridan said. “You're the only person who Jayla would trust.”

Shay smiled. She was eating this up. “So, Maya needs me to save her behind?” Shay didn't bother waiting for an answer as she scooted to the edge of her seat. “Well, look here, if I'm the only way Maya can get out of this mess . . . Maya is so screwed!!” She busted out laughing again as she stood and walked out of the den and back toward the front of the house. We quietly followed her. I wasn't about to beg.

She held the front door open. “It'll be a cold day before I help that backstabber. As far as I'm concerned, anything Maya Morgan gets, she more than deserves!”

Sheridan stepped up. “Shay . . .”

Shay held up her hand to stop her. “Good-bye.”

They could stay all they wanted, but I was out. Shay had shown her true colors, and as far as I was concerned, we didn't ever have to speak again.

I
finally sat down to try and figure out this research paper. Once again, I had waited to the last minute, although this time, I actually had a good reason. My life had become chaos.

I'd just opened my laptop when I noticed a text from Alvin.

Hey, Maya, it's Alvin. Call me ASAP.

I don't know why, but I felt a sense of urgency, and so I quickly dialed his number.

“Hey, Maya,” he answered.

“Hey, Alvin, what's going on?”

“I talked to my friend in the cyber crime unit,” he began. “It's like I suspected; if there's no money involved, meaning she's not trying to get your money, they're really not going to make it a priority.”

“Yeah, you told me that, which is why I didn't go to the cops.”

“That's actually not why I'm calling though. I gave my friend your name, because I wanted him to make a note of it in the system, and your name popped up—already in the system.”

I frowned. What in the world was he talking about? “What do you mean, already in the system?”

Alvin paused like he was trying to figure out what to say. “Okay, I don't quite know how to say this.”

“Just say it, Alvin.” My head was throbbing, and I didn't have time to play guessing games.

“It looks like there's been a police report filed. Against you.”

That made me sit straight up. “Against me? Saying what?”

“Yeah, Jayla Cooper filed a police report, saying that you've been harassing her. She's actually seeking a restraining order.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” I laughed. But I think it was so I wouldn't cry.

“I wish I was.”

“
She
has a restraining order against
me?
”

“She doesn't actually have one yet. She's trying to get one. And it looks like in order to do that, she had to file this police report first.”

“If this doesn't beat all. Why is she filing a report against me?” I got up and started pacing the floor in my bedroom. I needed to move, to do something to keep the anger inside me from building.

“The report just says you've been harassing her, making false claims.”

“So, I couldn't even file a police report if I wanted to,” I said.

“You could. But because she did it first, it could get messy.”

I just could not believe the way all of this was unfolding. I found my mind racing back to when I first met Jayla. It had been all too convenient. Her being at the mall just as I was being attacked. Her being my number one fan. My bringing her on board at the station. Yeah, Jayla Cooper had definitely been setting me up.

“I'm sorry to have to tell you that,” Alvin continued. “But I just wanted you to be aware. I know she's pushing your buttons, but she may be trying to provoke you, because if you hit or harass her, she could have you arrested.”

“She could have me arrested. That is so messed up!” This was un-freaking-believable.

“Maya, I don't know what your plans are to bring the girl down, but you need to get that proof. You need to find out her IP address. My contact said that's all we need, and her police report will be thrown out, and you can press charges against her.”

“I just don't need this. I finally sat down to try and figure out what to do for this stupid research paper due in a few days. Now I have the stress of this hanging over my head.”

“What research paper?”

“For my English class,” I replied.“We have to do an informative paper.” I sighed. “And I have no idea what to do.”

“Ummm, you've done more than enough research on your own situation. Why not do the paper on cyber crimes? Half your work is already done.”

He was right about that. Alvin had come through again.

“That's a great idea.” I heard the garage door open. “Hey, Alvin, thanks for calling me. My parents are coming in, so I'm going to need to go.”

“Have you told them what's going on?” he asked.

“I hadn't, but maybe it's time.”

“Okay, good luck. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up just as my parents walked in the door with huge grins. They both were in business attire, which was unusual for my mom.

“Hey, sweet pea,” my mom sang as they walked in.

“What are you in such a good mood for?” I asked.

She went to the cabinet and got out two wine glasses.

“Your dad and I are about to celebrate. Grab a Coke. You can join in.”

“Celebrate what?” I asked.

My dad loosened his tie. “Try as they might, no one can bring down a Morgan,” my dad said.

My mom walked over and poured both herself and my dad some wine that she'd just gotten out of the refrigerator.

“What's going on?” I asked.

“Your father has officially been cleared.”

“What?”

“I told you, Maya, sweetie, there was nothing to worry about,” my dad said. “My CFO admitted what he did in exchange for a lighter sentence. He told them I wasn't involved, so they finally dropped the charges.”

“So all is well in the Morgan household,” my mom said.

I watched them toast, clinking their glasses. If only they knew, all was far from well. At least for me. But I'd have to wait another day before telling them my drama. I couldn't burst their bubble right now. Somebody in the Morgan family needed to experience a little happiness.