EPILOGUE
Cami breathed a sigh of relief as she walked over to her laptop. She placed a hand on its lid, feeling a rush of fondness for the state-of-the-art machine that was her most valuable possession by far.
“I’ve missed you,” she said, staring around the tiny apartment in the university residence, feeling as happy as if she’d been reunited with a long-lost friend.
She couldn’t believe what had happened in the past two days. She’d been arrested as a felon, co-opted by the FBI, and she’d chased down a killer and managed to outwit him at the last possible moment.
Connor had congratulated her afterward when they were wrapping up the case in the evening. And Fraser had too! The big boss had stopped in to tell her that she’d done well.
“That was a good result, Cami Lark,” he’d praised her.
She’d had a text from Jacenta, her probation officer. Jacenta had also congratulated her and confirmed the charges against her had been dropped.
And she’d enjoyed the ride back from the scene of Lucius’s arrest. With Connor still wrapping things up on site, Cami had ridden back in Ethan’s car. They’d had a good conversation. She felt there was a friendship developing between them. Maybe more.
A friendship with potential. With a spark.
Ethan had said that he hoped Cami was able to help with other cases. And in the future, there might be that possibility. Connor had hinted at it too. He’d said that she could expect a call from Fraser the next time they came across a tech case that could use her skills.
Most definitely, the FBI was not all bad. There were some good, fun people there. Ethan was an interesting guy. She liked his vision and his passion for his job. His own respect for Connor was even helping her understand him better.
But in the meantime, she was glad to be back here, in this apartment that was small and cozy, filled with the familiarity of home.
And there was one more urgent job she needed to do that she’d been putting off for far too long.
That conversation in the piercing studio felt like a hundred years ago, but although Cami’s life had changed, she knew that Bella’s mother was still being bullied.
Finally, with her phone and laptop at her fingertips, Cami had the resources to get into this bully’s phone.
Sitting on the bed, absorbed in her task, she worked fast. She let the program run and watched it, sending good vibes its way.
And it got in. She drew in an excited breath. She’d done it—partially, at any rate. Now, she did have limited access to Tony’s phone. She could see his texts and chat messages.
Cami raised her eyebrows.
Oh, this was lovely. This was definitely usable.
This idiot, who’d been so vicious and unfair to Bella’s mother, had been chatting nonstop on his private groups and friend networks. He’d criticized the company he worked for, criticized his bosses, and said terrible things about the management, especially the women in top management.
This was totally slanderous. The comments were clearly untrue, sexist, and derogatory, and they had been shared with quite a few people.
Well, she was about to share them with many more.
Cami took screen shots of all the comments, making sure to show the name of the bully who had written them and also to whom they had been sent.
Then she looked up the company’s top management, logged into an anonymous email account, and sent off the screen shots to them.
She smiled in satisfaction as the emails went on their way. Pretty soon—like, first thing tomorrow morning, she was sure a world of trouble would be heading this man’s way. Hopefully, he’d be fired on the spot and then Bella’s mother would have a chance to be happy and do her work in peace.
Before she closed her laptop, another thought occurred to her, so tempting and sudden that she could not resist it.
Now that she was with the FBI, and knew the login details to get into the case files, could she look at the old, cold cases? Would she be able to access the old files from her sister Jenna’s case, and see what had happened, and why the case had stalled, and what exactly had played out?
It was an idea too tempting to ignore. Before she could think too hard about it, Cami quickly logged in.
Here was the database. Here was the now-familiar screen.
And here were the warnings flashing up as she accessed the archives, warnings which she ignored.