FF: Web of Lies - COMPLETED on p80 - Page 39

Originally posted by: PalyGirl

Yes, I tried the "Paste from Word" icon in the reply toolbar, too. I still get the odd characters instead of quotes and double-quotes.

Hopefully, IF will fix it soon!

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning Dilshad accompanies Zoya to her office. She looks at the empty front desk.

"Zoya, where is your receptionist?" Dilshad asks. "I thought you hired someone."

Zoya nods. "We did, Phupee. I don't know where she is." She looks around and sees Dev at his workstation. "Dev, where's Surita?"

Dev doesnt bother to look up. Still, his resentment is clear, even from across the room. "Do I look like her mother? Maybe she's in the washroom." He sees Dilshad and gives Zoya a malicious smile. "I know it takes you hours to slap on the war paint. Do you girls come here to work or to pick up guys?"

Dilshad gasps in outrage. Zoya takes her arm and tries to direct her towards the door.

"Thank you for bringing me to work, Phupee." She glares daggers at Dev over Dilshad's shoulder. "I'm sorry to take you out of your way like this."

Dilshad frees herself from Zoya and crosses to Dev. He looks at her defiantly but she meets his eyes with a quelling glare. His dark amusement fades under her unrelenting gaze. Finally he mumbles something that sounds like "I'm sorry" and ducks into his cubicle, almost crouching down to avoid Dilshad's disapproval. She nods and smiles in satisfaction.

"Wow, how do you do that?" Zoya whispers, wide-eyed, when Dilshad returns to her side.

"Never mind that." Dilshad gives Zoya the same direct gaze. "Now, I want you and Asad to stop fighting. You two didn't say a single word to each other all night or at breakfast this morning. How will things work if you two continue to act like this?"

Zoya ducks her head but, unlike Dev, she doesn't have a partition to hide behind.

"He started it," she mumbles.

"Stand up straight," Dilshad orders. "You'll ruin your spine slouching like that."

Zoya automatically straightens. She sees Dev sit up in his seat, too, his posture suddenly perfect. Dilshad crosses her arms.

"I don't know what you and Asad are fighting about and it doesn't matter," she scolds gently. "You've had your tiff and you've had time to be angry. Now I want you both to act like mature adults and put this behind you. Alright?"

Zoya nods. "Yes, Phupee."

Dilshad smiles. "Does that mean I should have Asad pick you up at eleven?"

Zoya sighs. "Yes, Phupee."

"Good." Dilshad nods and kisses her forehead. "Now where's Malak? Is he working today?"

"He sent me a text saying he'd be a little late this morning."

Dilshad looks concerned. "I hope he's alright. He's had three very nasty accidents in the last week alone."

Zoya nods. "I offered to let him stay with us but..."

Dilshad nods knowingly. "But he doesn't want to be an imposition."

Zoya looks away. "That, too," she mutters.

Dilshad tilts her head to study Zoya. Her mouth rounds into a circle as comprehension lights in her eyes.

"Zoya, is Malak the reason you and Asad fought?" Dilshad lowers her voice so Dev cannot hear them. "I know Asad wasn't very welcoming to Malak that first night."

"Or any time since." Zoya also lowers her voice.

"Zoya, please try to understand Asad." Dilshad places her hand on Zoya's arm. "He takes his responsibilities very seriously. After my shooting and your terrible time in Guspind, he's more careful than ever."

Zoya looks away. "Malak's my friend, Phupee. Hes wouldn't hurt me or any of us. Why can't Mr. Khan trust my judgment?"

"This has nothing to do with trust, Zoya. It's about knowing the worst of human nature." Dilshad cups her cheek to bring Zoya back to face her. "Asad learned the hard way that anyone, even relatives and friends, can turn on us. Anyone outside our family is a threat in his eyes. That will never change. He'll always stay vigilant to keep us safe. How can you fault him for that?"

Dilshad's explanation is an echo of Zoya's argument to defend Malak's actions to Asad. Zoya opens her mouth but closes it when she cannot come up with a logical rebuttal. Still, she crosses her arms defiantly.

Dilshad sighs. "Zoya, Asad's only goal is to keep us safe. I know he sometimes goes too far but his heart is always in the right place." She pats Zoya's cheek. "You, of all people, should understand that."

Zoya sighs but drops her arms. "I'll try, Phupee."

Dilshad smiles. "So you'll make up with Asad today?"

Zoya nods silently.

Dilshad looks pleased. "Good. Now, I have to go. Things are very busy at the orphanage. Suddenly we have more volunteers than we know what to do with."

"It's because of the rumors about Rohan Saxena. They think that being a volunteer gives them a better chance to get tickets to the charity dinner." Zoya grins. "Not everybody is lucky enough to live with the patroness, are they?"

"Zoya, not another word." Dilshad puts up her hand. "You are not to discuss that matter. Understood?"

"Yes, Phupee," she agrees but her grin doesn't fade.

Dilshad pats her cheek and leaves. Zoya goes to her workstation and looks at Dev. He keeps his head down and doesn't meet her gaze, still under the effect of Dilshad's silent rebuke. Zoya boots up her computer and begins working on her clients. She doesn't look up until the front door opens.

Malak comes in, moving slowly and clumsily with his crutch and bruised knee. He's sluggish and has dark circles under his eyes. Zoya hurries to his side.

"Malak! How are you?" She puts her hand on his lower back to help him.

He hugs her to his side. "I'm okay, Zoya."

"Are you sure? You look exhausted."

He eases away from her. "I'm fine. My stomach is still acting up a little, that's all."

"Malak, you have to be more careful about what you eat. Give yourself time to adjust to the local conditions." she scolds gently, unconsciously repeating Asad's previous advice.

"I am, Zoya," Malak insists. "I eat cooked foods from good quality restaurants or at my hotel. I only drink bottled water or hot coffee and haven't touched any street foods."

"Come stay with us for a few days," she pleads. "Just until you feel better."

Malak shakes his head. "Thank you but I prefer to stay at my hotel."

"Why?" Zoya demands. "Phupee and I will take care of you. You'll have home-cooked meals, fabulous company and lots of fun. Why not stay with us?"

"No thank you." Malak speaks through gritted teeth. "I have no desire to stay under Asad Ahmed Khan's roof, no matter how wonderful the rest of the company."

She stares at him. Malak's expression is direct and firm. Finally she nods.

"Fine." She sighs. "How else can I help? What can I do in the office? My new sites are all prepped but I don't want to hit them until we've secured the network."

"About that." He stops in his office doorway. "I didn't trace your hits yesterday. Kesavan and I had to meet with the clients we didn't successfully hack. It took all afternoon."

Zoya winces. "How was it? Will they give us another chance?"

Malak's mouth tightens and he looks away. "No, we lost their business. We have to get our act together before this problem damages our reputation."

Zoya puts her hand on his arm. "Malak, let me help you run the traces. Don't worry about the money. I'll do it for free. My gift to you."

Malak considers for a moment. He's about to speak when Surita calls from behind him.

"Here's your morning cappuccino, Mr. Hussein." She holds out the cup to him. "I added an extra shot and lots of sugar to get you going."

"Thank you, Surita." Malak takes the cup as though it contains heavenly nectar. "I've been looking forward to this all morning."

Surita smiles. "Drink up. Ill make you another cup."

"Malak, should I work on the traces?" Zoya asks again.

He shakes his head as he takes a deep drink of his coffee. "No need. I'll do it right now. Just hang tight for a little while. I should have you back up and working your magic within the hour."

"Okay." She smiles at him and goes back into the main work area. The front door opens and Kesavan and Tej enter.

"Good morning," she says cheerfully.

Kesavan nods in response but his expression is tight and serious. Tej is expressionless as always. They shut themselves into Kesavan's office. Zoya goes back to her desk. Dev is busy texting on his cell phone and ignores her.

"Zoya, may I borrow your cell phone?" Surita asks. "I forgot to charge mine last night and I need to call my mother. Do you mind?"

Zoya frowns at her. "What happened to the land line?"

Surita shrugs. "I don't know. I went down to the maintenance room but it looked okay to me. Ill have to call the phone company, too."

"Here you go."

Zoya slips her phone out of her pocket and hold it out. Surita puts the cappuccino she's just prepared down beside Zoya's workstation.

"Thank you! Ill only be a few minutes." She walks to the front door. "I'm in the hallway if you need me."

Zoya nods, her attention on the steaming, fragrant cup of coffee at her elbow. She leans down and inhales deeply. Blowing on it to cool the liquid, she takes a small, cautious sip. Her nose wrinkles in distaste.

"Ewww, that's awful." She gets up from her chair to go to the service counter.

She pops open a can of Diet Coke and takes a deep, cleansing gulp. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she bangs the side of the cappuccino machine.

"What are you doing?" Dev demands, looking up from his cell phone.

"Something's wrong with the machine." She leans forward to inspect the hoses. "The coffee tastes off. I think some old grounds must be stuck in the filter."

Just then, Kesavan comes out of his office. His lips are pressed tightly together and his face is flushed with color. Tej, following silently behind as usual, remains calm and blank faced.

"Dev, please join me in Malak's office." Kesavan's words are polite but his tone is icy. "I want a full report of your network rebuild."

Kesavan walks into Malak's office but Tej stays behind. He looks towards Dev. Dev gets up from his workstation and nods, his mouth pulled into a grim line. Zoya looks at Tej but his expression is as impassive as always. Dev brushes past her to go to Malak's office. He shuts the door behind him and locks it with a sharp click.

Almost immediately, muffled sounds and scraping come from inside the office. Zoya's brow wrinkles in confusion. The building is too well-constructed for her to make out what they are saying. She turns back to the cappuccino machine and hears a hard thump. She whirls around to stare at Malak's door. It remains closed.

Zoya looks over to Tej. He's sitting at Surita's desk, arms crossed, eyes glittering, as though guarding the only exit out of the office.

She arches her eyebrows at him. "Considering a career change?"

Tej's stiff expression cracks into a malicious smile. There is a smugness about it that sets off alarms in her head. Remaining calm, Zoya goes back to her workstation. She stares at the cooling coffee and her mouth drops open. She shuts her eyes as the events of the past few days run through her mind.

She grits her teeth and shakes her head. "How could I have been so blind?" she mutters to herself.

Sitting in her chair, she brings up the Dilshad Construction website. "Okay, Zoya," she says to herself. "Let's see how good a security expert you really are."

She starts working with her usual speed and efficiency. Malak's office door opens. Zoya glances up then hurriedly returns her attention to her computer screen. Dev comes out while Tej rises from Surita's chair. Tej is calm but there is a glint in Dev's eyes that makes Zoya's city-honed self-protective alarms ratchet up to almost deafening.

Her fingers continue to fly over the keyboard as they close in on her.

***

Asad is at his desk in his office. His cell phone beeps to indicate a new message. He reads the message and frowns.

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN

"Great. As if I don't have enough problems," he mutters. "Now my cell phone is failing."

He shuts down and restarts his phone. A moment later the startup screen displays. He tries different functions and all appear to work properly.

"Now its working. Technology." He shakes his head. "It's more hindrance than help."

He goes back to the blueprint he was studying. Prasad rushes into his office, his face tight with anxiety.

"Mr. Khan, we have a problem," he says. "The system shut itself down."

Asad picks up his phone and presses the CALL button. He hears a clear dial tone. "No, my phone is working. I got a message that it was shutting down but I rebooted and it appears fine now."

"No, Mr. Khan." Prasad shakes his head. "That wasn't a message from your phone. It was a message from the company server."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone tried to hack our system. As a defense, the server is programmed to take itself off the internet at the first sign of a system breech."

"What?" Asad rises from his seat. "Do you know who tried to attack us?"

"Yes. Ms. Farooqui built in a security protocol called a spider web to capture anyone who attacks the Dilshad Construction network."

Asad has a flashback to the day he and Zoya took Malak to see office spaces.

"You have a real talent working for you, Asad," he says. "Your website has government-grade encryption. Zoya set it up so that even a Zoya-level hacker would have trouble breaking into your site."

Zoya grins. "It's even better than government-grade. I built a spider web over it."

Malak's mouth drops open. "You built a spider web? When did you learn to do that?"

Again, Asad tries to see the screen. "What's a spider web?"

"It's a website that can trap a hacker and suck all the information out of his computer if he tries to attack your site."

Prasad keeps speaking, drawing Asad back to the present.

"I just came from the server room. Our programmers have the identity of the would-be hacker. But...but it doesn't make sense." He holds up a piece of paper.

Asad snatches the paper from him. "Who is it?"

"It's Ms. Farooqui. At least, it's the IP address from her computer at the K7 Enterprises office." Prasad's forehead wrinkles in confusion. "Why would Ms. Farooqui fail to hack our system? Why would she hack it in the first place? She knows all the codes. In fact, she built both the system and the spider web that captured her."

Asad grabs his cell phone. "Let's ask Ms. Farooqui."

He calls Zoya's cell number. It rings then goes into voice mail. He then tries the main office number. It doesn't connect at all. He tries Zoya's cell number again. Still no answer.

Asad grabs his jacket. "Something's wrong. I'm going to her office."

Prasad has his cell phone to his ear. He nods and holds up his index finger in the 'one minute' gesture. He continues to listen to his caller.

"E-mail the file to Mr. Khan's private address immediately," he orders.

"What is it?" Asad asks, his voice sharp and high.

Prasad shuts off his phone. "That was the programmers. They ran a system diagnostic. It seems that a new document was inserted into Ms. Farooqui's file storage system just before she was caught in the spider web."

"What does the file say?"

"They're sending it to you right now."

Asad's computer beeps to indicate a new e-mail message. He sits back down to open the message and double-clicks on the attachment. He and Prasad both stare at the three lines of text.

"The first line is the IP address for Ms. Farooqui's private website," Prasad says. "I recognize it because she built whole chunks of the program on her website then had me help her transfer the codes to our server. But what does JahapanahSixPacks or Mr.Woh,,,Actually mean?"

Asad grinds his teeth. "Ms. Farooqui, what are you up to now?"

Prasad frowns at the screen. "Are these lines the login information for her website? Lots of people write their IDs and passwords down because they have too many to remember. But why would she bring down the Dilshad Construction server?"

Asad stares at the document for a moment then brings up his web browser. He enters the IP address and connects to Zoya's private website. A brightly colored parrot dances across the screen to bhangra music.

"Yes, thats Ms. Farooqui's website alright." Prasad smiles. "She has this cute little dance she does to unlock it. Do you know the dance, Mr. Khan?"

Asad glares at him. Prasad's smile dies instantly. Asad waits for the parrot to stop then clicks on the BYPASS button. The parrot disappears and a plain black screen with a user ID and a password box replaces it. He types JahapanahSixPacks in the ID field and MrWohActually in the password field.

The screen responds with Invalid ID and/or password.

"Try switching the names around," Prasad suggests.

Asad tries again and is still unable to access the website. He turns on the CAP LOCK and tries a third time with no success. He snatches up his cell phone and dials Zoya's number.

"Come on, Ms. Farooqui, answer your phone," he mutters.

The call goes directly into voice mail. Zoya's phone has been turned off. Asad sucks in his breath.

"What's going on, Mr. Khan?" Prasad's brows crease in concern. "Is Ms. Farooqui in some kind of trouble?"

"Ms. Farooqui is always in some kind of trouble. She's a musibat magnet." Asad stares at his cell phone. "But she knows not to turn off her phone. After what we went through just the other day, she knows to always tell me she's okay."

Prasad looks anxious. "So now what?"

Asad stares at the login screen on his laptop, his breathing harsh and audible. His hands curl into fists but it doesn't hide the tremor that passes through them. Then he pushes his chair back with such force it slams into the wall behind him.

"This is a waste of time. I'm going over there." He heads for the door.

Prasad takes Asad's abandoned seat and flips back to the message. "Wait, Mr. Khan. Did you add the punctuation? There's a period here and three commas between Woh and Actually. Did you type those in?"

He stops in his tracks. "No, I just entered the words."

Prasad brings up the website again and re-enters the codes. "I'm in!" He grins at Asad. Then he looks down at the webpage and all color drains from his face. "Allah miya."

Asad leaps across the room and turns the screen to face him. What he sees makes his knees buckle. The site is running the webcam image from Zoya's workstation. She is seated at her desk. Malak, Dev, Kesavan and Tej are gathered around her.

Tej holds a gun to Zoya's temple.

***

"Stay calm, Tej." Malak's voice is low and reedy. Sweat pops out along his hairline. "Put the gun down. You don't want to hurt Zoya."

"Malak, are you okay?" Zoya stares straight ahead but watches Malak out of the corner of her eye.

He waves at her with the hand not holding his crutch. "Don't worry about me, Zoya. I'm fine." He winces and rubs his side.

"No, you're not." Her voice cracks and tears fill her eyes. "They've poisoned you!"

"Poisoned?" Malak gasps, nearly doubling over from a wave of pain.

"What's this about?" Zoya pleads, very conscious of the hard steel barrel pressed against her temple. "Why are you doing this?"

"It didn't have to be like this, Zoya." Dev crosses his arms and leans back against the cubicle partition. "If only you'd handed over your hacking codes like you were supposed to. All of this could have been avoided."

"My codes?" Her hands curl into fists. "That's why you're holding me at gunpoint? You want to steal my codes?"

Dev snorts. "Of course. Why else am I working in this rat cage? You really think I want to be my uncle's errand boy?"

Kesavan gasps in outrage. "I gave you an opportunity, Dev, a chance to better yourself. This is how you repay my generosity?"

Dev turns sharply and backhands Kesavan. The older man falls to the ground. He reaches for Dev but Tej turns the gun towards him. Kesavan freezes.

"Don't try to be a hero, you senile fool." Tej gestures with the gun. "Get up slowly or I'll put you down like a rabid dog."

Kesavan gets up slowly, his arms raised. Dev nods with satisfaction. Tej turns the gun back on Zoya.

"You gave me nothing, old man." Dev's upper lip curls into an ugly sneer. "I was the one who convinced you to start this business. I was the one who got this office set up while you were off romancing clients and hiring security experts who make twenty times what I do."

"Malak and Zoya are professionals. Of course I had to pay them for their skills." Kesavan shakes his head. "That's why you're doing this? Because they make more money than you?"

"Their salaries are chump change compared to what we'll make when we have Zoya's codes." Dev's face lights up with an evil, gleeful smile. "I thought you were lying when you said you knew a hacker good enough to break into government-graded websites. Then when I found out her family brought her to India to keep her away from a federal investigation, I knew I'd hit the jackpot."

"There was no federal investigation," Kesavan protests. "I took full responsibility for the incident. Zoya was cleared of any wrong-doing. I even gave up my job to protect her."

Dev snickers. "Whatever, old man. All I care about is her codes. Once we have them, we can hack into online bank accounts like we have solid-gold ATM cards. We'll be rich beyond our dreams!"

Malak wipes his brow and leans heavily on his crutch. "Zoya's codes are useless without her to administer them. You know she has to customize them for every site."

"Don't you worry about that," Dev snaps. "You're what's useless. We told you to get her codes onto our server and you couldn't do it."

"I suggested it but Zoya didn't want to. Why would I force her?" Fresh sweat appears on Malak's brow. "Again. Her codes are useless without her. I've seen the shoddy work you and Tej have done here. Neither of you have the skill to become expert hackers."

"But their mastermind thinks she does," Zoya says softly.

Kesavan gasps. "She?"

"Yes." Zoya keeps her head very still. "Notice that one member of our staff is missing? The one who walked out with my cell phone so I couldn't call or text anyone? Dev, you can have Surita come back into the office now. I know she's behind all this."

Dev stares at her wide-eyed. Even Tej is shaken enough that the gun barrel rubs against Zoya's temple. Zoya winces but forces herself to relax. The front door opens and closes. Zoya can see it over the top of her computer screen.

"Very good, Zoya." Surita steps into the office and claps slowly. "You figured it out too late but at least you finally figured it out. How did you know it was me?"

Zoya meets her mocking gaze. "I should have known yesterday. But I wasn't thinking of conspiracies then. I always knew Dev was after me but I thought he was just trying to make me look bad." She sighs. "It wasn't until I tasted Malak's cappuccino that I finally put the puzzle together. Then I realized you'd left the office with my cell phone. That's when I knew I'd made the classic mistake."

Surita joins the group at Zoya's workstation. "What is that?"

Zoya turns her head very, very slowly. Tej keeps the gun pointed at her but allows her to turn to face Surita.

"The classic mistake," Zoya explains, "is that I underestimated a woman."

Chapter 10: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/91107159

Author's Notes: As always, all mistakes are mine and made accidentally. This story is not intended to hurt anyone's feelings, culture or beliefs. HUGE thanks go out to my wonderful beta readers!

I had to remove all single-quotes and double-quotes and reinsert them manually so I'm sure this chapter is full of typos. This is a result of the formatting issues at IF and does not reflect on my betas in any way.

So, who successfully identified the mastermind? Which clues did you pick up on to know Surita was behind it all? For those of you who didn't identify her, does the story read differently now that you know Malak and Kesavan are exactly who they said they are?

I'll post two more chapters to tell the story. I need a full chapter to explain the clues before I can properly move on to the climax. After that, I'll post an additional chapter with an epilogue and a sneak peek of ALL THE RIGHT MOVES.

Again, I want to thank everyone who's given me feedback. I love to read your comments and emails. It really encourages me to know you enjoy this story. Your reactions are a pleasure to read and keep me writing!

Thank you again,

Paly