Looks like she caught the big one

I drove across town to Nancy's house. She wasn't as well off as us, so she didn't live in as nice a part of town, and her house was old and needed some work. I tried to see if she wanted to move in with us, we had enough room.  I offered to build an addition to give her some freedom, but she was still too stubbornly independent to move in with us. Locking my car doors, I headed up to the front door. 

After knocking, I saw Nancy peek out from behind the curtain. She smiled and disappeared to unlock the door. I just rolled my eyes, glancing down at the doorbell cam I installed so she wouldn't have to look out her curtain. She disconnected the ringer from it after the first week because she didn't like it when the delivery people would ring the bell all the time.

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I put on a sincere smile while Nancy opened the door for me. 

"Hi Nance, I'm really sorry this happened to you. Let me see what I can do to help, ok?" I said,I was trying to show her I wasn't going to belittle her or yell at her for making such a big mistake. 

"Oh Matt I am just so upset about all of this! I know I screwed up royally, but I was just so scared the FBI was going to arrest me! I acted stupid!" She huffed. I caught an inconsistency between what Jen had told me and what Nancy was saying right now. Typically, the ransomware Jen was talking about was installed during a fake download or update, and then the victim was worried about the stuff on their computer. The FBI ransomware usually showed up on illegal or pornographic websites, threatening to report you to the FBI or send your pornography history to your work and family if you didn't pay up. I guess I could be wrong, but I was a little more interested in just what my mother-in-law was looking at when this happened. 

"Nance let us just start from the beginning, and we will work through this methodically so that this has as little impact on you as possible. First, let's get the police here so you can give your statement. I'll help explain things to them, but that is step one, so we can get a police report to give to your credit card companies." I pulled up the police department's website and was actually impressed that they had a cybercrime division. I called the non-emergency number and spoke with a dispatcher, I explained the situation, and they said they would send out a detective to the address. In the meantime, I hooked up my laptop to her router and started running the specialized AI program to see if any hits came up on the dark web or other data-trafficking message boards. After about 45 minutes, we heard a knock at the door. 

I went to the front door to see if it was the detective and did a double take when I opened the door. A gorgeous 35 year-old detective showed up, but what gave me pause was the name tag attached to the uniform, attached to the large breasts. It read detective Maddison Peterman, and she had more than a passing resemblance to Rita. I think she saw my reaction, thinking she might be at the wrong address, but I assured her she was at the right place. 

I introduced myself and asked her to come in so that I could help explain what had happened and that I was currently running a sweep for Nancy's personal information using my custom AI. She seemed impressed and intrigued by my professionalism. She agreed to come in and write up her report. I was even more surprised that she had a laptop and thermal printer to print the report for us to have before she left. 

Nancy explained what happened to Dt. Peterman, I interjected only when Nancy's technical knowledge was inadequate to explain what had happened. The whole time Dt. Peterman was typing while gazing between me and Nancy, I think I caught her gazing at me a little longer than she needed to. 

"Mr. Cole Nancy is lucky to have you to help her; it seems like you know what you're doing. Do you mind me asking what type of work you do?" I explained my position to her and also about my side project to hopefully protect people and help law enforcement track down the perpetrators. 

"That is quite impressive and very altruistic of you. Cybercrime is the fastest-growing crime in the country, and it is going to continue to get worse. I admit I am still trying to become more knowledgeable about AI and how it can help law enforcement. Would you mind if I got your information in case I had any questions?" She said with an intense gaze, I emailed her my information from my phone. I thought I saw her checking me out while I was looking at my phone, but she was back to strict eye contact when I looked back at her. 

"Of course, Dt. Peterman I would be happy to help; maybe I can even learn what needs law enforcement has so I can satisfy them." I said to add a little bit of suggestive language to see if she picked up on it and if she would send it back. 

"Mr. Peterman even though we have a lot of needs at the station, you seem like the type of man who can listen to feedback and would have no problem finishing any task we gave you." She said that although I caught a little smirk out of the corner of her mouth, oh, she caught my little flirt alright. 

Nancy and I thanked her for coming; she printed out the police report and had Nancy sign it; she also printed out Nancy's copy for her credit card companies. As I was walking the detective out the door, I asked her if it would be OK to ask her a personal question. 

"Sure thing, Mr. Cole, shoot." She said. 

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Rita Peterman, would you?" I asked

"Why yes, actually, she is my half-sister; do you know Rita?" She looked a little surprised. 

"I live near the hardware store she works at. I have gone in a number of times, and she has been very helpful. I remembered her last name, and you look a bit like her." I said. 

"Well, that's a compliment. She is a bit older than me, but she has always been the looker in the family, and the farm keeps her strong as an ox." 

I decided to go for broke and turn up the flirting a bit. "Well, you are right, she is very beautiful, but just because one sunset is beautiful doesn't take away from another's majesty, i said it matter-of-factly. 
Her face colored slightly. "Well, thank you..." She paused, looking at me a little more intensely. "I can tell you're trouble, but it might be the fun kind." She said it with that little smirk. 

"I look forward to hearing from you then..." I said, ending the encounter before the puns and innuendo got so thick it turned to comedy. I definitely checked her ass out as she left, though. 

"Ok, Nance, I am all yours; let's call your credit card companies and get your current cards canceled and new ones sent out." I probably shouldn't have chosen those words exactly, but I was still riding the high of flirting with Rita's half sister.