Page 63 of Ripped & Shipped
“Hey, Aiden. What’s up?”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“It’s about our little surveillance project.”
“Our what?”
I walk to the fridge and pull out a cold bottle of water. Holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder, I twist the cap off and take a long pull.Surveillance project?
“You know, the favor you asked me to do because you can’t do it?”
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah.”Ella Mae. “What about it?”
“Well, I was fiddling around after you told me Ella Mae blocked that guy. It’s sort of addicting knowing I can keep tabs on him. I did some gray hat hacking. Do you want to know what that entailed?”
“No. I definitely don’t. It’s best if I can claim ignorance if any of this ever comes to light.”
“It won’t. I’m not messing with the guy. And I know how to cover my tracks. But I can see every keystroke from his home computer now. And that’s why I’m calling.”
When I approached Aiden, I told him everything about what I do. He’s the first person to whom I’ve fully disclosed that I work for the Department of Defense. I had no choice but to come clean. Aiden needed to know why I couldn’t be the one hacking into this guy’s internet fingerprint.
“What did you find?”
“Well, only a few hours after you told me Ella Mae blocked this guy, I saw that he got onto Instagram again—and he’s using a different account name. It’s one she hasn’t blocked because she obviously doesn’t know it’s him.”
“What’s the name of the new account?”
“I’ll send it to you.” Aiden chuckles.
“What?”
“It’s just …” he laughs some more.
I wait. Aiden keeps almost regaining composure and then laughing again.
Finally, he says, “ImSOBeefy.”
“His account is I’m so beefy?”
“Yep. And thesois capitalized. You know, in case his beefiness level were up for debate. Well, that capital SO settles it. He’s SO beefy.”
“Man.” I chuckle.
Ella Mae’s got a winner on her hands. Winner winner chicken dinner. Or beef dinner, in this case.
Aiden laughs some more. “Obviously confidence is not this guy’s issue.”
“Who knows what his issue is. He just needs to stay away from Ella Mae, that’s all I know.”
“I still find it intriguing that you’re so invested in keeping her safe.”
“Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage,” I recite.
“What is all that?”
“It’s our values—the Army core values. I might be discharged, but once a soldier, forever a soldier. I spent countless hours memorizing those values and their meanings, and learning the importance of living them out in everything I do. Selfless service. That’s all this is. She’s a citizen in danger. I’m a soldier. It boils down to that.”
