Chapter 957 The Fugitive
Having learned his hacking skills from Elise, Jamie managed to easily surpass any ordinary firewall, but he still could not match a world-class hacker. After a few tries, he successfully hacked into the company’s intranet and started going through all their abnormal transactions.
While everything went smoothly, Jamie’s intuition told him that the surprising ease was somewhat strange and unusual. Alert as he always was, he immediately sensed something wrong and walked toward the window. Following that, he hid behind the wall and peeked outside through the gap between the curtains. It was then he noticed a gray sedan parked right across the road with all its windows shut.
That car seems to have been there for quite a while. He then let go of the curtains and looked around the place warily with a preoccupied look on his face.
Jamie had chosen the unit he was currently staying in because he thought the area would be quiet and peaceful due to the uninhabited houses around the place. I’m sure whoever drove here with that car didn’t come here to visit, which means I’m being watched.
Just when Jamie was distracted by his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by a loud honk outside the building. Within seconds, he could tell from the noise that there was more than one car out there, believing they were all congregated in the same area. As soon as he understood what was going on, he quickly returned to his laptop and activated the self-destruction protocol before jumping out of the window in the bedroom.
The next second, several Mesdran police officers barged into the place and secured the perimeter around the unit. Then, Gale showed up and walked through the door with a senior officer. “Sir, the target has escaped.” One of the officers reported the situation.
Not long after that, Gale found the laptop and said, “This is our proof. Every laptop has a specific IP address that belongs to it, so I believe we can take it back for our experts to find out whether the target used this laptop to hack into our company’s intranet, right?”
The senior inspector tilted his head at two of his subordinates, telling them to start gathering the evidence they needed. However, before they could even get their hands on the laptop, a loud boom echoed throughout the place. The laptop blew up into pieces just as the explosion sent the two officers flying across the room. Besides the laptop, the server was also reduced to ashes due to the explosion, leaving nothing but dust in the air.
Needless to say, Gale was furious, yet there was nothing he could do other than watch the evidence he needed blowing up into pieces. After all the trouble he’d gone through to make Jamie fall for his trap, he couldn’t believe that the evidence he was so close to getting was now nothing but dust.
No! I will not stop until I take Jamie down! “Inspector, I believe you just witnessed what happened. There is only one reason that the target destroyed the evidence—he is guilty! For that, you must arrest Jamie Keller for illegal hacking and bring him to justice!”
Having received a huge sum of bribes from Gale, the inspector assured the former that the situation was under control. “Collect all the scrapes and bring them back. I want all the computer retailers in this city to find out the IP address of this used laptop. At the same time, Jamie Keller will become a wanted criminal who shall be nabbed!” As soon as the announcement was made, Jamie became a fugitive whom the law enforcement unit was after. Because of that, the entire unit was locked down and secured by the police.
In the meantime, Alicia, who had left Jamie’s residence, suddenly realized she left her cell phone behind and decided to double back to retrieve it. However, when she arrived at the door, she saw Gale coming out of the place with several police officers behind him. Then, she noticed the man’s unhappy look, which reminded her of the intense stalemate between him and Jamie in the hospital earlier. At the thought of that, she had a bad feeling that something was wrong and quickly walked up to Gale, asking, “What’s going on, Gale? Why are there so many cops here?”
“What are you doing here?” Gale knitted his eyebrows. “Jamie’s greed for power has driven him too far. He just hacked into our company’s intranet and transferred all the assets away, which is why we’re here to arrest him. Unfortunately, he got away.”
Upon learning that Jamie was safe, Alicia heaved a sigh of relief and started to defend Jamie. “I’m sure there must be some kind of misunderstanding in between. You know my relationship with Jamie. He won’t do such a thing.”
“What kind of misunderstanding could it be?!” Gale raised his voice, unknowingly intimidating Alicia. “Do you think we would have come all the way here if we didn’t have any evidence? You’re too gullible to see through this man. He’s been using you all this while. Trust me, he is more complicated than he seems, and you don’t know him at all.”
“No, Gale. I know he is a good man, and I trust him…”
“I’d hate to admit that, but the truth is as you can see. What do you want me to do about it?” Gale slowly began to lose his patience. “Go back now. Once I have this man arrested, you’ll understand everything.”
“But…”
“Alicia!” Before Alicia could finish her sentence, Gale rudely cut her short and acted like he was disappointed in her. “What’s wrong with you? I’m your cousin, so don’t you think you should trust me now when it matters the most? That man doesn’t deserve your trust. He is an ambitious hacker who just tried to steal our company’s assets worth billions. Do you know how much pressure I’m under right now? Stop making things more difficult than they already are, alright?!”
As soon as Gale finished his words, he shook off Alicia’s hand and walked away with the police officers, leaving his helpless cousin behind. When Alicia wanted to enter the house to find out what happened, she was stopped by the officers on duty and forced to stand outside with a panicky mind. After a brief contemplation, she decided to visit the Cuber Residence to meet Narissa. Upon arrival, she was led to the living room by the maids before she waited for ten minutes until Narissa showed up.
“Narissa.” Alicia stood up anxiously.
“As I’ve said before, just call me Narrie,” Narissa responded calmly.
“My apologies. I must have been so nervous that it slipped my mind,” Alicia immediately apologized. “Miss Cuber, can you do me a favor and talk to Gale? I’m sure he’ll listen to you.”
“What’s wrong?” Narissa asked.
Alicia went on to tell Narissa the whole story. “Gale seems to be biased toward Jamie, and he won’t listen to me, so please help me.”
After hearing the story, Narissa appeared rather calm, knowing Jamie must have made sure he left nothing behind since he was able to escape. Therefore, she was not worried about him at all, but instead, she got curious about Alicia’s reaction. “Do you trust Jamie? We’re talking about assets that are worth billions—the Heidelberg Family’s fortune in its entirety.” For some reason, Narissa wanted to sound Alicia out to see how she would react.
“Of course.” Alicia sounded firm. “I will do anything as long as I can help Jamie.”
“It seems that you love him a lot.” Narissa let out a sigh deep down. Well, Jamie is pretty lucky to have met a lady like her. Despite the thought of that, she still turned Alicia down and acted as if she didn’t care. “All I can say is that he must face the consequences of his actions. Furthermore, why should I help him? We’re not that close, so I’m sorry that I can’t be of help. Please leave.”
“Not close? Come on, he is my boyfriend, and it’s only a matter of time before we become a family. Nari—Miss Cuber, I just need you to tip the scale with a few words. Please! It’s not going to ruin your relationship with Gale. I’ll be sure to return the favor in the future if you agree to help! I promise I will never say no!” Alicia refused to give up.
“I don’t, and I won’t need your help. I believe I’ve made myself clear enough, so if you insist on staying, be my guest.” Narissa walked away heartlessly as soon as she finished her words.
After accepting the fact that Narissa wouldn’t help her, Alicia went back home with a heavy heart and was forced to think of another way to help Jamie. However, little did she know that the first thing Narissa did after returning to her room was to give Elise a call and tell her about Jamie’s situation. Deep down, Narissa reckoned she was better off staying away from Jamie and Alicia since she was not the one who would be with Jamie until the end.
It might be better if they treat me as a heartless woman.
