“I’m planning to. I don’t want to do this anymore. All I need to do is figure out how to leave without raising suspicions. Maybe I can fake an illness or something. Hack my own medical records and change them in case they check.”

“So you’ll consider coming back with the group if things don’t work out with this guy?”

“I will definitely think about it,” I finally say. “What is the group working on these days? Still hacking government websites?”

“No,” he answers. “It’s too risky and the reward is small. We choose our targets much more carefully now. I’m sure you heard about the last place we hit.”

He waits to see if I can guess.

My mouth drops open. “You’re behind the hack on the Ashley Madison website? I suspected that was you the moment I saw it on the news.”

He smiles, and I remember a time when Erik rocked my world. Things are different now though. I will always have the deepest respect and affection for Erik, but my heart firmly belongs only to Sam.

“The men using that site had it coming,” he answers. “And I gave them plenty of time and opportunity to pay up so their names wouldn’t be leaked.”

“You blackmailed them?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“We have to make a living somehow,” he says with a laugh. “It can’t all be about social justice. We like to think of ourselves as modern day Robin Hoods. We were able to furnish an entire school in Africa with books from the hush money we received from one man alone.”

“Who was he?”

“A television evangelist that shall remain nameless,” he answers. “Our motto is to take from the idiots and give to those less fortunate. It all works out in the end.”

“I have to admit that you make a very compelling case,” I say.

“And you haven’t even heard our plans for Black Friday this year. Denial of service attacks on all major retailers. We’ll shut all the online stores down for the weekend. Force people to buy from the small local retailers. We’re renting a chalet in Park City Utah for the week so we can snowboard during the day and destroy computer systems at night.”

“I like the way you think.”

“And we need you. The door is always open.”

***

I make a trip to the bagel shop as soon as it opens and return with bags of bagels, croissants, and cream cheese.

“Breakfast is here!” I yell out when I walk in the door.

Erik hurries over to take the bags from me and helps me unload them in the kitchen.

“The guys have noticed something weird about the tapes,” he says. “They thought I should mention it to you before they go any further.”

I stop taking the bagels out of the bag and turn to look at him.

“What do you mean?”