My Johnson didn’t get right back to me. It was almost a day before we talked, and then he was very secretive. With what I’d found out, I didn’t blame him. Most all the mundane matters in my own life were less important now that I was paranoid about my latest hack. The hardest part for me was keeping up the illusion that nothing had happened. I wanted to get away for a while and let things cool down, but that would draw attention to me and I couldn’t have that.

I met up with him this morning. It was involved and in a way, the backtracking and deception was a real-life replay of my net running a week before. Anyhow, I have some extra zeros in my bank balance… and no minus sign in front of it. Real cash that will appear to have come from a legitimate job, tracking down a cheating husband. I have more work to do, but it’s nice to feel that the heat is dying down and my job is almost over. I just have to figure out the code. There’s no doubt left in me that he met his demise, just like I would if I wasn’t carful. If I don’t take this all seriously. It’s easy to treat it like a game sometimes, but once in a while you have a close call, and you have to slow down, focus and think. Each move now has to be careful and calculated. Precise. Mistakes will get you killed. The graphics are like a good addictive game, but the results are real-time. In the flesh. When the pixels fade, some guy in a suit has a gun to your head. Not the way I want to end up.

So I left our meeting just as carefully as I arrived. Always looking over my shoulder, but not in an obvious way. It’s taken the whole day to go and come back, but I have something to show for it. A payoff for my efforts. I was starting to think the Johnson wouldn’t come through, and then this. I debate if it’s worth it – worth the risk and all, but I think it is.