Chapter 4: Enough Information

“This is… How could you have… No! This isn’t possible!” Lucas shouted. He was holding his head, looking at the screen in shock, making me chuckle. 

He’s cute.

“Anything and everything is possible if you have a brain… And a computer…” I shrugged. 

 I love being here already!

“But this is still impossible!” He shrieked as he kept staring at the screen in front of him. 

It is’t, buddy. It really isn’t.

So, I passed the lie-detector test… And it wasn’t as exciting as I thought… 

I also found out that I don’t actually like salad.

The things you’d find out when you’re hooked up to a lie-detecting machine…

Well, salad is still healthy… 

Go salad!

Anyways, Lucas then gave me a tour of the mansion we were in. And I even got to meet a lot of other people who stay here. 

And then I met the geeks. 

Let me just tell you, they might keep saying that they are a part of the mafia but they only have two guys in their IT department. 

Only two! 

Only two people are responsible to gather all the information about all their missions and to handle all their communications and stuff! 

Crazy, right?

And there are a lot of people who live here!

And if what Archer told me was true, there were more people, who were a part of their little gang, who live elsewhere. 

And they still have only two hackers! 

How are they all still alive! 

This seriously makes me believe that they’re just some small group of wanna-bes who call themselves mafia just to sound a bit intimidating…

Ha! They were just like little babies pretending to be grown human beings.

Anyways, so after the whole tour, Lucas took it upon himself to teach me how to hack.

Babies, I tell ya!

Well, let’s just say that I got annoyed by him treating me like a beginner and so I decided to hack his computer… And he hasn’t been able to undo the damage… 

And it’s been an hour… 

I wonder how all these people are still alive… 

It’s either that the police department is also lacking some real hackers or that these people don’t actually do anything that matters… 

They are just babies in front of what the mafia members are supposed to be!

Babies!

“Do you want my help now or are you going to spend another hour trying to do something about it all?” I asked Lucas. 

His screen was still showing that stupid video of a dog chasing his tail that I found on the web. 

Even after seeing that video for an hour, it’s still funny! Mostly because of the oversized baby sitting in front of the screen, trying to do something about it.

“I can remove this! I know that I can!” Lucas grumbled. I smirked, shrugging my shoulders as I looked back to my screen. 

Now, what should I do? 

“Luke, I need the information I requested.” Archer spoke as soon as he entered the room. “It’s urgent!” He added as he didn’t even look up from his phone. 

“The information about your dad’s new security guard? Ricardo De León?” Lucas asked with a frown. 

“Yeah. What else would I want right now?” Archer huffed, finally looking up at Lucas. 

“I didn’t get the time to check for his details yet.” Lucas told him. 

“What?” Archer’s eyebrows went up. 

I quickly turned to my screen. I started searching for the information of the man Lucas had mentioned. 

“I was busy with other stuff! Like I told you before, we really are short staffed at the IT department!” Lucas defended himself. 

“I’m going to visit my father right now! I need that information right now!” Archer groaned. 

“It’s not my fault that-” Lucas started but Archer cut him off. 

“Lucas, you know how my father wouldn’t be able to meet up with me for a while after this! I need to make sure that he’ll be fine!” Archer snapped.

Archer looked like he was about to explode like a volcano.

“I-” Lucas started but I cut him off.

I couldn’t let Lucas get the heat here. Especially when I could see how much work he’s been doing. 

I still can’t believe that they all were still alive with just two people working their asses off to get all the intel about everything. 

“I have emailed you all the details. There’s nothing suspicious about this guy. Your father will be safe with him.” I told Archer. 

Lucas and Archer turned to me with narrowed eyes. 

“Ricardo De León. He’s been working under your father for years. All his details check out.” I explained. 

“I still emailed you all his details and his phone records along with all the places he was spotted at in the past two months.” I added. 

“Where did you get my email from?” Archer frowned at me. 

“I know your name and who you are. That’s more than enough information needed for me to find out the rest.” I shrugged. 

“Wow!” Lucas’s eyes were wide now. “Mia, I knew that we had to get you on the team!” He exclaimed. 

“She’s still not a part of the team.” Archer grunted. “She’s still under observation.” He told Lucas. He glared at me before turning and leaving. 

“You’re welcome!” I called after him, rolling my eyes when I didn’t hear a reply. 

“You’re awesome, new girl!” The other guy gushed. “How could you have found all that information out so fast?” He asked in amazement. 

“Do you guys never get even a thank you?” I asked them, ignoring the question I was asked. 

It’s not like I could answer that question anyway. 

I mean, wouldn’t it be weird if I told them that I started doing this for fun and discovered that I just needed a small lesson from my cousin and a few online courses to become so used to it all? 

I never knew that I would actually find something I was good at… 

And even when I found out that I was actually a good hacker, I knew that wasn’t something I could exactly put up on my resume…  

“It’s our job. Why would anyone thank us for doing our job?” Lucas shrugged. 

“Umm… Because they have common decency!” I pointed out. 

“This is illegal business, new girl. Mafia members aren’t exactly the kindest people on earth.” The other guy chuckled, shaking his head. 

I really need to learn his name! 

Eh! I’ll do it later.

“Well, I still would be a bit more helpful if they thank me, old guy.” I rolled my eyes. 

“Mia, you’re going to have to get used to Archer. The others actually are a bit more decent.” Lucas told me. 

“Like your sister?” I smiled. 

“She’s… She’s the she-devil!” He grumbled, pouting like a child. 

I chuckled, spinning in my chair. 

“If you guys are usually so busy then why are we sitting here and talking so freely?” I asked. 

“Oh god! You’re right.” Lucas said as he turned back to his screen. “How do I remove this?!” He cried out. 

I chuckled, quickly removing the video from his screen and restoring the system to its previous glory. 

“Just don’t try to ever teach me anything until it’s actually interesting.” I warned him. 

“Got it.” He mumbled as he got back to work. 

I spinned around in my chair, trying to somehow entertain myself. 

“So, am I like an intern?” I asked when I realised that spinning in a chair is not exactly entertaining. 

“Umm… If you are, can you get me a cup of coffee?” The other guys asked, not looking up from his screen as he continued to type. 

“I’m not doing that.” I told him. 

“You’re not an intern, Mia.” Lucas sighed, looking at me. “I wanted you to join us. Our job isn’t as dangerous but we’re still a part of the mafia.” He informed me. 

“Mafia. Yeah, sure.” I chuckled. 

If this is the mafia then me sitting in my room, hacking for whoever could pay me for it was the whole world of cyber crime! 

They are so fixed on this word! 

They are like little kids who think that they can actually fly after wearing a cape!

This is ridiculous! 

“This is our temporary base, little girl. You wouldn’t chuckle when you see the main base.” The other guy in the room told me, glancing at me. 

“I’ll be the one to decide what I’ll think.” I told him. 

“Anyways, like I was saying, I want you to join us, Mia.” Lucas told me. “But since this is serious business, Archer wants to make sure that you’re not going to cause any trouble or anything.” He shrugged. 

Trouble?! 

Well, I know this isn’t high school! It’s not like I can cause any trouble while sitting in a room full of nothing but computers! 

Well, to be completely fair, I can still cause trouble while sitting in a room full of… 

I’m not helping my case even in my own head. 

Moving on… 

“So what am I supposed to do until then?” I asked, spinning in my chair. 

“Maybe you can help me.” Lucas sighed as he took a few files from his chair and came over to my seat. 

“We already saw how good you are at finding information about people.” He said. “These are the information about some of our new recruits. Verify them all.” He told me as he placed all the files on my table. 

I picked up the first file from the huge pile. 

“Just this?” I asked. 

This is child’s play! 

I thought that the people who call themselves mafia members would have something more interesting to do… 

“This is the beginning.” He shrugged as he sat down in his seat. 

“Being in the mafia isn’t always as fun as it sounds.” The other commented as he sent me a smirk. 

“I’m starting to realise that now…” I said as I looked at the pile of files. 

“You need to finish that as soon as possible. I’ll give you something else to do after this.” Lucas told me. “Your efficiency is being noted here.” He reminded me. 

I huffed in annoyance as I got to work opening the first file and searching for the guy. 

For a few minutes, the room was silent with just the sound of computer keys being pressed floating around as the three of us worked.

“How much will this job pay again?” I asked as I got to the third file. 

I was feeling more than bored already! 

“Enough to make you rich.” The other guys grinned. 

“Considering that my parents are millionaires, I’ll say that I’m already rich.” I sassed. 

“This job is not just boring work. I promise.” Lucas sighed. 

“It doesn’t feel that way at the moment.” I grumbled. 

“It’ll get better. Believe me.” He stated. 

I rolled my eyes as I continued to verify all the details. 

“What do I do with the ones who have given the wrong information?” I asked Lucas when I came across a file with an error.

“What is it?” He asked. 

“Someone lied about their parents.” I told him. “And their last name.” I added. 

This dude probably didn’t know about the verification thing… 

Poor soul… 

I caught him! 

“How did you find him then?” The other asked. 

“Face. Photograph.” I showed him the photograph attached in the file. “Social media is really helpful in these kinds of things.” I shrugged. 

“Just put such files in a separate pile and leave notes about what’s wrong.” Lucas reported. 

“Then what?” I asked. 

“Then my sister will pay them a visit and ask a few questions.” He shrugged. 

Oh god! 

“Cool!” I grinned. 

“You think that’s cool?” The other guy asked me. “You don’t think that’s barbaric or anything?” He frowned. 

“I was a high school bully. What do you think I’ll say to that?” I scoffed. 

“I really see new people everyday.” He shook his head. 

Maybe this won’t be so boring… 

I seriously hope it’s not!

Otherwise I’ll be leaving this place sooner than expected!

But it’s still better than seeing all the faces of my fake friends anyway!