Wrecked By A Wounded Biker

Chapter 11 - Breach

SOPHIE KNEW someone was watching her long before the warning appeared on her screen.

The signs had been subtle at first. Unusual traffic patterns. Failed login attempts originating from different locations. Small probes against her firewall that looked harmless individually but formed a very different picture when viewed together.

Whoever was targeting her understood cybersecurity. That made the situation significantly more dangerous.

She sat at her desk just after midnight, surrounded by multiple monitors displaying network activity logs. Rain tapped softly against her apartment windows while lines of data scrolled continuously across her screens.

Most people would have missed the attack entirely. Sophie didn't.

The moment the intrusion attempt escalated, her fingers moved across the keyboard.

The attacker tried to access a secured archive containing the financial records connected to the race sabotage investigation.

Sophie immediately isolated the intrusion point. The attacker adjusted. She blocked the new route. The attacker tried another.

For several minutes, it became a silent battle between two people who had never met but understood exactly what the other was capable of.

Sophie's pulse accelerated. Not from fear. From concentration.

The attacker was skilled. Very skilled. But not skilled enough.

She identified the breach vector, rerouted traffic, strengthened the firewall, and locked the system down before any meaningful access could be achieved.

For a moment, everything became quiet. The intrusion attempts stopped.

Sophie exhaled slowly and leaned back in her chair.

Then a new window appeared on her screen.

Her stomach tightened.

A single line of text appeared against a black background.

STOP DIGGING.

Nothing else followed.

Sophie stared at the screen for several seconds. Then she saved the logs.

Whoever had sent the message had just confirmed something important.

She was getting close.

BY THE following morning, Sophie found herself sitting inside Keller Capital's headquarters.

Lucien had insisted she come immediately after reading her email.

The building felt as impressive as it had during her first visit.

Glass walls reflected sunlight from every direction. Employees moved through the headquarters with quiet efficiency. Everything appeared organized, deliberate, and expensive.

An assistant escorted Sophie directly to the executive floor. Lucien was already waiting. The moment she entered his office, he stood from behind his desk.

"You look like you got approximately three hours of sleep."

Sophie dropped her laptop bag onto a nearby chair. "Three and a half."

Lucien nodded. "An important distinction."

"It is when you're being threatened by anonymous hackers."

His expression became serious immediately. "Show me."

Sophie opened her laptop and pulled up the logs. Lucien studied them carefully while she explained everything.

Unlike many executives she had worked with, he actually listened. He never interrupted unnecessarily. He never pretended to understand technical concepts he didn't understand. And he never assumed she was exaggerating.

By the time she finished, he leaned back in his chair. "They've become nervous."

Sophie nodded. "That's my conclusion too."

"Which means your investigation is working."

A small smile appeared on her face. "I knew there was a reason I liked talking to you."

Lucien's smile matched hers. "I'll pretend that's entirely professional."

The response surprised a laugh out of her. It was brief and genuine. And entirely unexpected.

Lucien seemed pleased by it. Not because he had impressed her. Because he had managed to make her laugh at all.

"Come with me," he said.

Sophie frowned. "Where?"

"I have something that may help."

A few minutes later, Lucien led her through a secured section of the building that required multiple authentication checkpoints.

Eventually they reached a workspace unlike anything Sophie had seen before. Large monitors lined one wall. Dedicated servers occupied another. Specialized forensic analysis software ran on several systems simultaneously.

The room looked less like an office and more like a cybersecurity command center. Sophie stopped walking.

"You're kidding."

Lucien smiled. "I rarely joke about technology."

"You have an entire digital forensics lab."

"We use it for internal investigations, acquisitions, security reviews, and regulatory compliance."

Sophie's eyes moved across the equipment. The hardware alone was worth a small fortune. "You just casually have this sitting upstairs?"

Lucien laughed.

"Some people buy sports cars." Sophie shook her head. "I suddenly understand why your company wins so many contracts."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should."

Lucien gestured toward one of the workstations. "It's yours."

She blinked. "What?"

"Use it."

"Lucien..."

"You're being targeted by individuals connected to an ongoing criminal investigation. You're helping expose activity that affects several organizations connected to my investment network. Frankly, helping you is in my best interest."

Sophie studied him carefully. "That's the corporate answer."

"It is."

"And the honest answer?"

For a moment, Lucien held her gaze. Then he smiled slightly. "The honest answer is that you're exceptionally good at what you do, and I would rather have you working here than alone in your apartment."

The answer caught her off guard. Not because it was flirtatious. Because it was respectful. Direct and sincere.

Lucien never seemed intimidated by her intelligence.

More importantly, he never seemed threatened by it.

Most people either underestimated her or treated her accomplishments like something unusual.

Lucien simply accepted them.

The realization made working with him surprisingly easy. Hours passed quickly. They reviewed financial records, transaction chains, and forensic reports together. The conversation flowed naturally.

Whenever Sophie explained technical concepts, Lucien followed immediately.

Whenever Lucien discussed business structures, she understood his reasoning.

Neither had to simplify their thoughts for the other. The intellectual compatibility was impossible to ignore.

By late afternoon, Sophie realized she was actually enjoying herself.

That realization felt dangerous.

THE SOUND of laughter escaped her before she could stop it.

Lucien looked entirely too pleased with himself. "That wasn't even funny."

"It was a little funny." Sophie shook her head. "I regret encouraging this behavior."

"You encouraged it the moment you laughed."

Their conversation ended abruptly when the office door opened. Matthew stepped inside.

Sophie hadn't realized he had arrived. Lucien noticed him first.

The atmosphere changed immediately. The way air pressure changes before a storm.

Matthew's gaze moved from Lucien to Sophie. Then back to Lucien again. He had clearly witnessed enough of the conversation to understand they were enjoying themselves.

For reasons Sophie couldn't fully explain, that realization suddenly made her self-conscious.

Matthew remained near the doorway. His expression was neutral. Which was usually a bad sign.

"Sophie."

She stood. "Hey."

"I texted."

She checked her phone. Three unread messages.

"Sorry."

Matthew shrugged. "It's fine."

It was not fine. The fact that he said it in exactly that tone confirmed it.

Lucien rose from his chair. "Good to see you again."

Matthew offered a polite nod. "You too."

Neither man sounded particularly enthusiastic.

After a brief exchange, Sophie gathered her things and followed Matthew toward the elevators.

She could feel Lucien watching them leave. The awareness lingered longer than she expected.

The silence inside Matthew's truck lasted nearly ten minutes. Sophie recognized the pattern. He was thinking. Which usually meant trouble.

Finally, Matthew spoke. "You seem comfortable there."

Sophie glanced toward him. "At Keller Capital?"

"With him."

There it was. She had been waiting for it.

"Lucien is helping."

"I know."

"He gave us access to resources we wouldn't have otherwise."

Matthew nodded. "I noticed."

The response sounded remarkably similar to the one he'd given weeks earlier.

Sophie sighed. "Just say whatever you're trying not to say."

Matthew kept his eyes on the road. "He looks at you."

She blinked. "What?"

"He looks at you."

Sophie fought the urge to smile. "People generally do."

Matthew immediately glanced at her. "Not like that."

"There are several billion people on the planet. You're going to need to be more specific."

His jaw tightened. "You know exactly what I mean."

Unfortunately, she did. That was the problem. She looked out the window.

"I think you're imagining things."

Matthew laughed once. The sound contained no amusement whatsoever. "You're terrible at pretending."

"Pretending what?"

"That you don't understand what I'm talking about."

Sophie remained silent.

Matthew shook his head. "See? That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Maybe."

His grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "But that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

The truck fell quiet again. Neither seemed eager to continue the discussion. Because the truth was uncomfortable.

Matthew wasn't wrong. And Sophie knew it.

Later that evening, Sophie returned to the forensic reports they had been reviewing. One particular dataset continued bothering her.

The race sabotage timeline. Something about it felt incomplete.

She opened another file and began cross-referencing historical race records. Minutes later, her pulse accelerated. The deeper she looked, the worse it became.

Several crashes previously dismissed as mechanical failures shared the same warning signs. Telemetry anomalies. Signal interruptions. Remote interference. Patterns.

Sophie's stomach dropped. She immediately opened another report. The evidence aligned perfectly. The sabotage operation hadn't started with Matthew's race.

It had been happening for months. Maybe longer. Several riders had already been affected. Several crashes had already occurred.

And nobody had realized they were connected.

Sophie stared at the growing list of incidents. A chill ran down her spine. Because the investigation had just become much bigger.

And much deadlier.

Someone wasn't merely manipulating races.

Someone had been causing crashes long before Matthew ever entered the picture.