I jolt upright, and alarm bells buzz in my brain. “Brittney and Ben. You know them from—”
“I used to work for Brittney when the Shopocalypse hit. It was her company the hackers hit.”
How come I didn’t put two and two together? Of course, all of this was years ago, and the company that got hacked was acquired. I don’t recall its name and the details since I was only focused on the hackers.
“What was the company that TrophyShots attacked?” I ask to fill in my knowledge deficits.
“It wasn’t proven that TrophyShots had anything to do with it,” Sammie says. “The company was ScrapCloud, and I was the programmer for the Monkey-See feature where friends followed friends’ online purchases.”
“TrophyShots stole your code, and you were suspected of giving him access.”
“I didn’t give him access, but he must have gotten into my system and put in a back door.”
“Sneaky guy. And you took the fall for it?” I tamp down my eagerness for the information, because Mitch was very good at covering his tracks.
“I was so scared and confused. I thought the culprits were Stinky Sean and his Scrappers Motorcycle Club, but while I was in prison, I had ample time to think about it. Stinky Sean isn’t smart enough. He’s technical, you can hand him that, but he doesn’t have the people skills to do the social engineering.”
“But Mitch was the mastermind.” I know I’m leading her, but hey, as long as she provides me the clue.
She squeezes her eyes shut, shaking her head. “I was so stupid. I thought he was into me and a wannabe badass. He was always asking me to borrow jackets and vests from the Scrappers guys so he could pretend to be a biker. I hung around with them, going for rides, and they were such slobs, leaving their jackets and vests lying around in the clubhouse.”
“So that’s how he did it.” I whistle long and low. “He wore their jackets and vests so that security cameras would pick it up whenever he did something sneaky—like plant a bug or a video camera. Instead of wearing black ninja clothes or trying to look inconspicuous, he drew attention but to the wrong people.”
“Does that help your investigation?” A sly look crosses her face. “It looks like you owe me any reward money if you can nail him.”
I give her cheek a playful tweak. “Sure, partner.”
“Seriously? You’d share your reward with me?” She tips on her toes and wiggles her belly against my awakening erection.
“As long as you share your Christmas cottage with me. I’m glad we’ll tell Poppy the truth and you’ll earn it fair and square.”
“Me too. I feel like you’re not such a bad guy after all.” She glances at the clock and pouts out her lips. “Let me be the first to give you a very, Merry Christmas kiss.”
