Chapter 4 - Access
1545 Words
SOPHIE DID not sleep.
By six-thirty in the morning, her apartment was lit only by the glow of multiple screens. Telemetry logs filled one monitor while race footage replayed on another. She had spent hours reviewing the crash from every possible angle, and the conclusion remained the same.
The motorcycle had not failed mechanically.
Someone had interfered with it.
She paused the footage and stared at the telemetry spike again. The disruption lasted less than two seconds, but it was enough to destabilize the bike at high speed.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard as she traced the signal path deeper into the race infrastructure.
The architecture immediately raised concerns.
The encryption was sophisticated. The routing protocols were clean. Nothing about it resembled the sloppy systems usually attached to illegal operations.
Someone with real resources had built this network.
Sophie leaned back and rubbed her eyes. That was when she remembered Camille. More specifically, something Camille had said at the race.
One of the biggest investors involved in the circuit had ties to Keller Capital.
If Keller Capital had access to the racing infrastructure, then Keller Capital might have access to the answers she needed.
A few minutes later, she was dialing the number listed on the accelerator website.
The call was answered almost immediately. “Keller Global Accelerator. How may I help you?”
Sophie briefly introduced herself before explaining what she had discovered. She expected skepticism. Instead, the woman on the line grew noticeably quieter as Sophie described the telemetry interference and the potential security breach.
“Please hold, Miss Smith.” Several minutes passed. Then the woman returned. “Miss Smith?”
“Yes.”
“We'd like you to come into the office today.”
Sophie frowned. To speak with whom?”
A brief pause followed. “The CEO.”
That caught her attention. Sophie sat up straighter.
The woman continued, ‘He would like to discuss your findings personally.”
THE KELLER Capital headquarters occupied the upper floors of a glass tower overlooking Manhattan.
Everything about the building felt intentional. It was the kind of place designed to remind visitors exactly who held power.
A receptionist greeted Sophie before escorting her through a series of secured elevators. The further they went, the quieter everything became.
Finally, they reached an executive floor. The receptionist stopped outside a set of dark wooden doors.
Please wait here, Miss Smith.”
Sophie nodded.
The woman disappeared inside. A moment later, the door opened again. “Mr. Keller will see you now, Miss Smith.”
Sophie rose from her seat. The name should not have meant much.
It was just a name she had heard attached to investment funds, accelerator programs, and business publications. Yet something about the moment made her unexpectedly aware of her own pulse.
She stepped inside.
The office was spacious without being excessive. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city skyline. A conference table occupied one side of the room. The rest was understated luxury.
And standing near the windows was Lucien Keller.
For a moment, Sophie simply looked at him. He was taller than she expected. Dark suit, but no tie. Composed in a way that felt effortless rather than practiced.
When he turned toward her, his expression remained calm and observant. Like he was already assessing information before either of them spoke.
“Miss Smith.”
His voice was lower than she expected.
“Mr. Keller.”
He gestured toward a chair. “Please, have a seat.”
Sophie sat.
Lucien remained standing for a moment before taking the seat across from her. “I reviewed the summary you provided.”
Straight to business. She appreciated that.
“And?” she asked.
His dark blue eyes held her gaze. “And I believe you're right.”
The answer surprised her.
Lucien folded his hands on the table. “The telemetry systems were compromised. We found evidence of unauthorized access.” His gaze remained steady. “What concerns me is how sophisticated the intrusion appears to be.”
Sophie nodded. “That's exactly what bothered me.”
For the next thirty minutes, they reviewed telemetry logs, network structures, and signal routing paths.
Lucien kept up surprisingly well. He was not an engineer, but he clearly understood enough to ask intelligent questions.
More importantly, he listened.
By the end of the discussion, Sophie found herself forgetting she was speaking to the CEO of a multinational investment company.
He simply felt... capable.
Which was unexpectedly dangerous. Because capable people were difficult to ignore.
Eventually, Lucien glanced at his watch. “You've given us a great deal to consider.”
“I assume you’ll investigate further,” Sophie said and closed her laptop.
“We will,” Lucien rose as well. “I'll walk you out.”
She started to protest before realizing he was already moving toward the door.
At the parking lot, Lucien handed her a security access card. “You will have temporary access while you investigate the breach.”
Sophie did not take it immediately. “That seems excessive.”
“Not really.” His gaze stayed steady. “You are competent. I prefer investing early in people worth keeping close.”
That should have felt manipulative. Instead, it felt structured and professional.
“And if I ask why?” she said.
“I can introduce you to accelerator investors if your project reaches the next phase,” he added.
Sophie’s lips parted. That was a very tempting offer.
Before she could respond, the distant roar of an engine echoed across the street. Instinctively, she turned. A motorcycle accelerated through traffic several blocks away.
The rider was already disappearing into the flow of vehicles before she could make out any details.
Yet something tightened in her chest.
MATTHEW was already waiting outside Sophie’s apartment that evening.
Leaning against his motorcycle, his arms crossed, and expression unreadable in a way she immediately recognized as controlled frustration.
“I knew it,” she said as she stepped out of her car. “You followed me.”
“You were at Keller’s office,” he said. Straight to it.
She closed her car door carefully. “You know him?”
He scoffed. “He invested in illegal racing, of course, I know him.”
“He’s helping me investigate the race systems,” she said, and that was the truth.
Matthew let out a short, sharp laugh. “That’s why he was looking at you like a prize.”
Sophie frowned. “What is your issue with him?”
Matthew ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding through his composure. “Guys like him understand everything you deal with,” he said. “Investors. Strategy. Structure. You walk into rooms like that and people listen.”
“And?” she asked quietly.
“And I fix engines for people who gamble their lives at midnight.”
The admission landed heavier than expected. Sophie studied him more carefully now. There was something underneath it.
Insecurity.
Real, unguarded insecurity.
“You’re assuming things,” she said.
“I’m a man,” he replied. “I know what I saw.”
She stepped closer. “You don’t get to decide I will leave you for someone else before I even make a choice.”
His jaw tightened. “You’re already inside his world,” he said.
“He offered access.”
“He offered influence.”
“That’s how opportunities work.”
“And what happens when he offers more?” The question hung there longer than it should have.
Sophie exhaled slowly. “What exactly are you afraid of?”
Matthew’s expression shifted slightly. Then, quieter, “I’m afraid of being the option you don’t need anymore.”
Silence hit immediately after. Sophie felt it like impact. She should have responded differently. Instead, exhaustion and frustration collided.
“At least he communicates like an adult,” she said.
The moment it left her mouth, she regretted it.
Matthew went completely still. A long silence stretched between them.
Finally, he looked away.
“I don’t even care because he’s richer,” he said flatly. “I hate him because when you talk to him,” he continued, voice steady but controlled, “you look understood.”
That stopped her completely.
Matthew exhaled once and reached for his helmet. “I should go.”
“Matthew—”
But he was already mounting the bike. And then he left.
THREE HOURS later, Sophie sat on her apartment floor surrounded by telemetry logs, forcing herself to focus on the data instead of Matthew’s expression earlier that night.
As she traced the corrupted telemetry layers again, something suddenly caught her attention. A coding structure buried deep inside the system looked painfully familiar.
Her fingers froze over the keyboard.
It was her prototype.
Not copied entirely, but integrated enough for her to recognize the architecture immediately.
Her stomach tightened.
Someone had stolen her work and embedded it into the race systems.
Pulse rising, Sophie traced the integration pathway backward through the network until every route converged into a single access point.
Then the address appeared on-screen.
MOORE CUSTOMS GARAGE NETWORK.
Sophie stared at the monitor, her chest tightening as the realization settled heavily into place.
Matthew hacked the bike.
- Writer
