Page 159 of To Have and to Stalk
Use their delusion against them.
Ask questions, pretend to be dumb, stall. Stall so you can find a way out. Stall so the police can get there.
“What are you, some kind of corporate spy?” I continued, even though it didn’t make sense. Sure, there wereplentyofdepartments in academia that could easily be targeted by a corporation, or even other countries.
But our work was open source.
There was no reason to steal it, because we gave it away freely.
Graham laughed, a crazed, manic-sounding thing. “Corporate spy? You’re so fucking naive. It’s why you were such an easy target.”
While he talked, I searched for something I could use. A weapon—anything. He’d smashed my phone, so no luck calling the police.
“Why me?” I asked. “Why target me? I’m just an astrophysicist.”
It would have made sense for him to have gone after Lithie. She worked with the world’s worst criminals. She was a constant target.
Andshe had clearance.
“Your stupid little star shit uses a supercomputer,” he said. “And since you’re all too busy with your heads in the literal fucking clouds, it was the perfect setup to launder money.”
“GCS?” I said. “That was you?”
It hit me all at once. The way Graham and I met, us being locked together in my office. He wasn’t meeting an investor…everything was always about this.
“Graham’s Crypto Scheme,” he said, sounding smug.
“That’s…” I made a face. “That’s such a stupid name.”
His smile dropped, and he jabbed the gun at me. “Open the goddamn thing and stop stalling.”
I rolled my lips and took a step to the computer, running out of ideas. As I bent over the keyboard, I felt his body heat behind me, then his lips at my ear.
“You weren’t supposed to break up with me.” He dragged the gun across my cheek. “I would have given you the best life.”
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” I said, eyeing the steel gun out of the corner of my eye. “I’m getting a real picture here.”
I keyed in my log-in, trying to go as slow as possible, putting the pieces together.
The weird parameters running in the background.
My computer freezing.
He was right—the system already used a ton of computing power. I used it every day and barely noticed anything wrong. It definitely wouldn’t pop up on an audit.
If we’d stayed together, he could have kept this running for…ever, maybe.
“Huh,” I mused, eyes on the keyboard. “So, since we broke up, you haven’t been able to launder any money?”
I felt him tense at my back and stand up. Sensing he was distracted, I stood up, too, not finishing my log-in. Graham rubbed the gun at his temple, messing up his hair, eyes wide and frantic.
“That was months ago,” I continued. “How much money have you lost? Are people mad at you?”
His glare shot to mine.
“You know what, Graham, I’ll give it over. Sign it all away right now. Let you use my credentials indefinitely.”
“Good—”
