Page 54 of A Cowboy's Bride
Butterflies went jigging in Petra’s gut. She wanted to keep her mouth shut but couldn’t. Holding off on Jinx starting school could lead to a series of questions that would cause far more trouble in the long run.
She took a deep breath before softly offering her help, “I might be able to do it.”
Two heads pivoted her way, intense stares in place. Jake frowned. Aiden looked puzzled.
He spoke quietly. “Petra?”
Damn. How did one confess to having hacker skills? “I work in IT. I’m very curious, also snoopy, and at one point I might have accidentally discovered a few back doors into some governmental files.”
Jake’s mouth hung open in shock, but if anything, Aiden looked impressed. “Seriously? You just happen to be able to hack your way into a database?”
“No promises, but chances are good.” Shit. She was going to be in so much trouble if the expression on Jake’s face meant he had too much straight and narrow still left in his system. “This is all hypothetical.”
Aiden must’ve come to the same conclusion because he twisted to face his brother. “If you need to not be here for possible deniability, move your ass.”
“No. I’m good. Just wrapping my brain around the new unexpected twist.” Jake raised a brow at Petra. “Hypothetically, what would you need right now?”
“Someone to distract Jinx so she doesn’t accidentally interrupt what I’m doing would be a good start,” Petra suggested. “Then I’ll need the paperwork Danielle gave us so I can trace through the current system and make some modifications. Adjustments are always easier than starting fresh.”
Aiden was already typing quickly on his phone. A second later, Declan hauled his phone from his pocket and frowned at the screen. He glanced up at Jinx then checked his watch. “I guess we should go do those chores in the barn. Jinx? You okay to give me a hand?”
Jinx slipped a bookmark between the pages of her book before checking with Petra. “You need me for anything?”
“You’re good to go help Declan.” Petra lifted her chin. “Tonight by the fire, I’ll get you started on those beginning crochet stitches you wanted to learn.”
“Okay.”
Dixie stretched lazily, back arching and butt up, before daintily prancing forward to join Declan and Jinx as they headed out the door.
Aiden took off to grab the file. Jake flipped pages in his notebook before twisting it toward her. “This is everything I was going to send my contact. Jinx’s new name, address, and all the info on Declan’s in-laws. What else do you need?”
A bunch of luck and for her nerves to stop skittering. “Keep track of what I change so we can double check it at the end. I don’t want this to fall apart because I miss something easy.”
Petra took a deep breath and sent up a prayer to the gods of mischief. She closed down the main parts of her computer and opened the secret browser where no history of her Internet time would remain.
Aiden brought her the file, then the two brothers sat quietly as Petra worked. She made it into the birth registrations department in under two minutes, and relief flooded in. “Okay. I’m going to be able to do this. At least parts of it.”
Shockingly, it took under an hour, including a few nerve-racking moments when the foster care system unexpectedly froze. In the end, they left the old Jennifer in the system, early history adjusted, and current whereabouts unknown.
A new person named Jennifer Jinx Tremont had been created. She had a modified foster care record with the Tremonts her only care family, followed by a legal adoption. Declan Skye was clearly listed as her legal guardian. Jinx was also registered for grade eleven at the Heart Falls high school with all her previous grades on an official transcript from Manitoba.
Jake patted Petra on the back gently. “I don’t want to know how you did that, but I’m very glad that you could. Your secret is safe.”
“That you didn’t adjust any of Jinx’s grades to be higher than before impressed him the most,” Aiden teased.
“Truth.” Jake offered a wink. “I’ll see you guys by the fire pit. I’ve got a few things to deal with before I join you.”
Aiden pushed back his chair and stretched his legs in front of him. He folded his arms over his broad chest before examining her carefully. “You okay?”
Petra met his gaze firmly. “You want to know how I did that.”
He shrugged. “Of course I do. But only if you want to tell me.”
It wasn’t that interesting, Petra thought. “I was in an angry place after a friend shared that she was raising her two young daughters paycheck to paycheck while their ex kept buying expensive toys and not paying child support. One thing led to another, and I figured out how to feed his payroll records to the government so they could start garnering his wages.”
“That’s pretty shitty motivation, but I’m glad you developed the skills.”
“I’ve been using it a lot to bust deadbeat dads,” she confessed. “I needed to do something positive for people who felt as if they had no control.”
