She did for a minute. "You said it happened before the same way?"
"It's all too simple really. Change a few numbers, submit new invoices, and channel the money to another account. Works like a charm, as you've seen. Then when Margaret Bensen and the other corporate figureheads catch on, they punish the one who's assigned the computer."
Christine felt sick. "There'd be a trace if it happened in our office all the time. Mrs. Bensen's smart. She'd catch on."
"You forget I have access to many accounts in many offices and since the corporation policy is all corporate computers, they have the same password. It's simple really."
Christine shook her head. "But the IP addresses are different."
"My, my. Someone has been spending a lot of time with Tom. Did he fail to tell you about proxy servers?"
"I don't understand." Christine didn't dare glance anywhere but out the window. "Wow, that's the new Walgreen's going up. What do you mean proxy servers?"
"You really are computer stupid. A proxy server can access computers, pass information to other computers without changing the IP. Or you just use the IP of the computer you're accessing. It's a stand in. If I accessed the LA or NY or Houston accounts on my own computer, my IP would show. So I log in a proxy server for access."
"So if we use ABC server and the LA computer uses 123 servers, you use a proxy to switch to 123 and then it appears the computer you hack sent the fake invoices?" Christine raised her voice a bit.
"I don't hack. I have the passwords. Everyone in the corporation does. It's a situation begging to be exploited, so I oblige them."
Christine spoke a bit louder. "You set people up, let them be accused, and jailed. You ruin lives and don't care."
"Stop playing the goody-goody. The ones I accessed were either about to retire or weren't fit to be in the corporation. None of them had kids. So you have kids, but they're not at home. They're grown and have their own lives."
Christine laid her forehead on the window to keep from screaming. "We really are far from town. This is highway 191 coming up. Are we driving there?"
"Yes. The cliff at World's End will be perfect. Now shut up."
"You should slow down. There's a bad curve coming up here on Sugar Mountain road."
"Don't tell me how to drive." But the car did slow as Christine hoped.
"Why did you set up Charlie as well?" Please, please, please, let him hear. Let him know.
"With his connections and length of time with the corporation, it wasn't like anyone would believe he had anything to do with this. Though I admit, I had fun watching him sweat trying to get you out of trouble. You've been chasing him for months so don't give me the 'we're just friends' speech. You're fucking him. The whole corporation is talking about it."
"I love him." Christine spoke the words loud and clear to make sure if Charlie heard nothing else, he heard those. "I love Charlie, and we're planning a life together."
"Guess that plan's over. You're not going to be around. Jim will be the mule this time."
"So you set him up this time too." Christine shook her head in disgust.
"He's weak, stupid, and needed to go. I can move up in our office, clean a few more positions, and then just coast along until I retire."
"Did he really attack me?" Christine turned from the window.
"Now you get it. Nope, he didn't. Easy enough to mimic the cigar smell. He buys the cheap ones. I borrowed his coat stinking of the scent. Work gloves"—a hand rose to demonstrate—"are rough, scratchy, and big. You got felt up, not raped. I prefer dicks to chicks. It's nothing personal."
It's nothing personal? Of course it was personal, everything about it was personal. "Why attack me?"
"I had to keep Charlie occupied. When I heard he had arrived, I figured it wasn't because you're such a great piece of ass. He would investigate our office as he has others for weeks, and unlike you, he'd probably uncover the very minimal paper trail because he's fairly intelligent. I attacked you, got him occupied with poor little hurt Christine, and made a couple of computer adjustments. I spoke a few words to Jim, sowed some doubts, and made it seem Mrs. Bensen would target the office supervisor, him, next. Then I told him I saw you meeting with Tom at the coffee shop, and he rushed away to confront you. Guess he got a bit over-zealous, huh?"
"I smelled cigars and he acted so strangely I thought he had something to hide." Christine bent her head, spoke right to her sling. "I'm so sorry, Jim. You did nothing wrong."
"Like he can hear you. You made it so easy, calling those detectives and implicating Jim. Now I'm free and clear except for tying up loose ends. You die, oh so sad, Charlie goes back to Hawaii, Jim goes to jail for the attack, and I become office supervisor. Life is good."