C251 I Pushed Too Far

At the Wood Residence, silence settled over the dining room after everyone read the anonymous message on Ben's phone. No one spoke immediately. The words on the screen were simple, yet they carried an invisible pressure. "A debt is meant to be repaid." Ben stared at the message for a long time before finally sighing. "Dad..." he said honestly, scratching the back of his head. "I really don't understand what this message means."

Sarah, who had also been quietly thinking about it, suddenly looked at him with disbelief. "Brother..." she said while shaking her head. "Since when did you become so naïve? Did prison make you lose part of your brain?" Ben frowned. "What do you mean?" Sarah leaned back in her chair before answering calmly. "When you came back from prison, you told us that you promised Jack you would bail him out." Ben nodded. "Yes." "And did you?" Ben hesitated. "No... but he was released before I even got the chance."

Sarah spread her hands helplessly. "Exactly." She continued, "So when he asks about that promise, why are you panicking? Why can't you simply tell him the truth that he was released before you even had the opportunity to bail him out?" Ben's eyes widened. "You want me to reply to him?" Sarah raised an eyebrow. "If not, then what exactly are you planning to do?" Ben opened his mouth but found himself speechless. He had spent the whole afternoon worrying about the message, imagining countless possibilities, yet the simplest answer had never crossed his mind.

Kelvin smiled faintly. "Sarah makes a good point." Ben looked toward his father. "But... what if that's not what he meant?" Kelvin folded his arms thoughtfully. "Then replying honestly will still be better than remaining silent." Tracy nodded in agreement. "Sometimes silence creates more misunderstandings than the truth." Samantha also spoke softly. "Jack isn't the type of person who likes being ignored. If he sent the message expecting a reply and you remain silent, he may assume you're avoiding him." Ben sighed heavily. "I'll think about it."

Sarah immediately rolled her eyes. "You've been 'thinking about it' ever since you got that message." Everyone laughed softly, easing the tense atmosphere for a brief moment. Even Ben couldn't help smiling. "Fine," he admitted. "I'll reply tomorrow." Kelvin nodded with satisfaction. "Good." However, although the conversation had ended, an uneasy feeling still lingered in everyone's hearts. The message was simply too mysterious. Was Jack reminding Ben about his promise? Or was someone else using Jack's name? No one could answer that question.

At the Smith Residence... I remained seated in front of my computer. The room was completely silent except for the continuous tapping of my keyboard. Alicia had entrusted me with investigating Charlie Kinlore, and I had no intention of disappointing her. One search after another appeared on my monitor. Employment records. Financial statements. Business registrations. Property ownership. Family history. Every file connected to Charlie Kinlore. Yet something felt strangely wrong. The more information I uncovered... ...the more information seemed to disappear. "Impossible..." I muttered quietly.

A woman who had worked in senior management for years should have left behind countless records. Instead... Entire databases were missing. Archived files suddenly showed 'Record Not Found.' Several online reports that had appeared moments earlier vanished after I refreshed the page. Even public company documents suddenly became inaccessible. I frowned. "Someone is cleaning everything."

My fingers continued flying across the keyboard. I switched to another database. Nothing. Another server. Nothing again. Charlie Kinlore's digital footprint was being erased in real time. I leaned back in my chair. "If Charlie isn't the key..." My eyes narrowed. "...then maybe the Harris family is." Without wasting another second, I abandoned Charlie's files and opened a different program.

This time I searched for one name. Willy Harris. Immediately, dozens of possible locations appeared across the digital map. I smiled. "There you are." Using my tracking software, I began filtering the information. One location disappeared. Then another. The software compared phone signals... Financial activity... Satellite logs... Travel records... Little by little, the number of possible locations continued shrinking.

Twenty locations became fifteen. Fifteen became ten. Ten became six. I leaned closer to the monitor. "Come on..." Finally... Only three locations remained. My heart began beating faster. "I'm close..." Just as I prepared to narrow them down even further. The screen suddenly went black. Everything disappeared. For a split second, the room became completely silent. Then... The monitor flickered back to life.

I immediately typed Willy Harris's name again. No results found. I froze. "What?" I searched again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Every possible location had completely vanished. A cold chill ran down my spine. "They noticed me..." Luckily, before the screen went blank, I had already memorized the remaining three locations. Without wasting another second, I grabbed a notebook beside my keyboard and quickly wrote them down before I could forget.

The moment I finished writing, realization struck me. "No..." "They're tracking me." Every experienced hacker knew the first rule. The moment your target notices your intrusion... disconnect immediately. Remaining connected even a few extra seconds could expose your own location. Without hesitation, I reached behind the computer and pulled the power cable from the wall. The monitor instantly shut down. Silence filled the room.

Only then did I release the breath I had been holding. "If they're really monitoring their network..." "...then they may already be trying to trace my IP address." I rubbed my forehead. "I pushed too far." For several minutes I remained seated without moving. Eventually, I picked up my phone and typed a short message. "Wife... we have a problem." I pressed send. The message was delivered almost instantly.

Then I waited. One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Still no reply. I smiled bitterly. "She must already be asleep." Remembering how exhausted Alicia had looked when she left the company earlier that afternoon, I couldn't bring myself to disturb her further. Whatever this was... It could wait until morning. I placed my phone beside the bed, looked once more at the three handwritten locations on my notebook, and silently memorized them again.

Only then did I switch off the lights. Although I lay down... Sleep refused to come easily. For the first time in a long while... I felt like I had unknowingly stepped into the territory of someone far more dangerous than I had imagined.