Devin snorted. “Child’s play.”
“Does that mean you’ll do it?”
“Didn’t say that.”
I groaned. “Devin, please. I know you’re probably a really busy man, but this is important. A matter of life and death.”
“I work in security.Everything’sa matter of life and death. What’s in it for me?”
My mind blanked. “What’s in it for you? I don’t know.”
“You called me on my day off asking me to do work, but you don’t have anything to offer in return?”
“How about a job well done and a pat on the back.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait!” I exclaimed. “Please, wait. I don’t know who else to ask. You might be my only hope.” I unconsciously placed a hand over my stomach. “Please.”
After a long silence, Devin finally sighed. “Fine. Give me your email address. I’m going to send you a link that’ll give you access to a shell that’ll give me access to your laptop. I’ll be able to see the files in question.”
“Can’t I just send them to you in an attachment?”
Devin made a sound that was half-way between a laugh and a choke. “Absolutely not. That wouldn’t be secure in the slightest. If these files are sensitive, we can’t risk leaving a trail. Got it? Or do you need me to explain again?”
I huffed. It was nice to know that Jesse’s cockiness wasn’tthisbad. “No, I’ve got it. How long do you think this is going to take?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“A number of things. How many files, the kind of encryption language that was used, the size of the files, and so on. Why? Are you in a particular hurry?”
“Yes, actually. I was hoping you could get them done in a couple of hours.”
“This isn’t the movies. I don’t just type random things into my keyboard andboom. Hacked. I might need a day—”
“That’s not so bad.”
“—to a month.”
“A month?” I gasped. “I don’t have a month.”
“Look, you’re just going to have to be patient. It’s the way these sorts of things work, alright?”
I sighed. I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Devin was the only one I could turn to. “Alright,” I said. “But if you do manage to break through the encryption—”
“When,” he corrected.
“Yes. When you do, can you send the information inside to someone for me?”
“Sure. Who?”
“Detective Anderson Monroe with the Chicago PD,” I said. “He’ll know what to do.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“No, that’s—”