Chapter 5 Rosalie

• ROSALIE
• I never really went off to sleep. I simply did what sleeping people do, taking deep, consistent breaths, moving to get comfortable, and sighing.
• I’ve observed enough sleeping people to know how to copy them.
• So, when Felix falls asleep, I wake up and gingerly step out of bed, my heart beating like a grinder on full power. My one fear? He shouldn’t hear how nervous I am.
• I reach his bedside table and grab his phone, holding it against his sleeping face to unlock it. I risk waking him up — but he stays still, and with a sigh of relief, I start scanning the apps.
• My fingertips fly across the keys as random letters light up the screen.
• I’m looking through Felix’s phone for hidden cameras or other surveillance systems he might have set up around the house.
• I have to shut them down so I can’t be identified once I get what I need and run the fuck away from here.
• After a few minutes of deep rummaging — thankfully without incident — I turn off all the cameras and let myself relax a little without its watchful glare.
• I decide to search deeper, so I tiptoe out of his room and walk down the hallway.
• I open door after door. Finally, I found the study. This has to be where Felix stores all his secrets.
• The walls are covered with documents, with shelf after shelf full of books in various languages. My stomach turns as I take it all in — this is too much for me.
• Where should I even begin?
• There’s very little time and so much to do. I take a deep breath and force myself to focus.
• I know I need to hack into Felix’s computer. Sitting in front of the desk, I open up the laptop and begin what I must do.
• But, to do this, I need to call them.
• I grab my phone and use an encrypted number to call Incognito.
• “Long time,” she says as she picks up.
• I don’t know who she is, and the truth is, I never will.
• That’s how this anonymous hacking group works - a group of women, or perhaps a sole vigilante, teaching and guiding other women in need.
• No one knows about them, and you don’t choose them. They choose you.
• They chose me.
• Rule number one - they call you.
• I never asked how they knew to call me when I ran for my life from New York, for rule number two was simpler - you never ask or speak of the what, when, where, how, or why.
• It was a code of silence so intact that after all the help I got from them, I’d never want to dishonor it.
• “Hi,” I whisper. “I need your help hacking into a very secure system. Operations.”
• “Why?”
• “It’s for my safety. I wouldn’t ask the Illuminati if I didn’t believe it to be life.
• “Safety comes first,” she says. “Describe the computer.”
• I whisper all the details I can find. Where the master server is located, the model and make of the computer, the port placements, and the IP address.
• “Good,” she says in her monotone. “Run the port scan till you identify which services are running. Check if they are open to attack.”
• “I found one,” I gasp.
• “Which one?” she asks.
• “The SSH server.”
• “Go with the brutal attack. Fire up Ncrack and attack the SSH. That will be your entry point.”
• She waits silently while I follow her instructions word for word.
• Within half an hour, I have all the pieces arranged in front of me - parts of code, command lines, IPs.
• I enter them into the computer and wait as the screen flickers and then turns blue.
• “Give it time,” I say, not knowing what to do. “Please, give it time.” There’s so much at stake if I fail now. My safety, and perhaps life, rests on getting those route files for Redneck at my heels.
• “Yes,” I whisper shakily. “Yes.”
• She cuts the call.
• Once I’m in, I start my deep search through the file system and all the directories, trying to find anything that may interest me.
• I’m blown away by how much information is stored in Felix’s computer and confused. Look for a sign.
• Then, I see it. Images of graphs. Geographical graphs. That has to be it!
• My heart is racing now as adrenaline courses through my veins. Taking a USB stick from my pocket, I start downloading Felix’s most important files onto it.
• As soon as that is done, I pull out an extra memory card from my bag and copy them onto there, too — just in case anything goes wrong with the first storage device.
• Now that both copies are safe on backup devices, they’re ready for me to take away with me when I make my escape — which won’t be long now...
• Except, I come across a photograph. Felix, laughing amidst a group of children. Who were these kids?
• If photos could speak, I’d ask them so many questions. But alas, they do not.
• The kids look ... like they come from backgrounds different than ours. Their clothes are dirty, some with rags in them.
• They look impoverished. What was Felix’s role in this? Then I find receipts. Donations to orphanages. Large amounts beyond my comprehension.
• My dynamic with Felix is getting more and more complicated. The more I get to know him, the less I want to hurt him.
• Am I hurting him if I go through with this?
• Yes.
• What other option do I have?
• "Hai sempre delle opzioni, Rosalia," my mother used to say to me.
• You always have options.
• But in this case, with Redneck George in on my secret getaway, do I still have an option? What would that even look like?
• I sigh and flick the USB stick through my fingers, over and over and over again, lost in thought.
• I could run away again and go to a different state entirely. Find a new passport, maybe leave the country.
• I could join Incognito, find out where they are, and hideout somewhere with some of those girls.
• After all, there’s always rule number three - once you’re in, you’re always in.
• That’s it. I’ve decided. Doing the right thing is always harder, but it’s the right thing.
• Felix Carlisi has been nothing less than a gentleman to me.