The Jig is Up, the News is Out

Peter and Chloe hastily redressed with the clothes Ashley had provided, while Hannah simply wrapped herself in a sheet from the bed, ignoring the fact that it was now stained with sweat and squirt and cum. Tying it beneath her armpit, her hefty bosom helping to keep it aloft, she looked over her shoulder at her little sister tapping her foot impatiently by the door, and took some satisfaction that this was frustrating her sibling. She sat down on the bed, taking her time to get comfortable and crossed her legs.

Finally, she looked up at Ashley, and said, “I’m not telling you anything. If you think I’m going to give myself up just because Peter tricked me into a game, a game he didn’t even win fairly, you’re out of your mind. I still have the video.”

“No, you don’t,” Ashley clicked her tongue and folded her arms. “Gavin hacked your laptop.”

“I’m sure he found the security quite troublesome,” Hannah smirked, feeling that she still had the winning hand. “The only way to bypass it is a six-digit code that only I know, and I’m sure as hell not telling-”

“Gavin already broke through the security,” Ashley interrupted, taking great pleasure in watching her deflate as her defences crumbled around her.

The younger Woodsen watched her sister with interest, sensing that she could use her bravado to her own advantage. So far, Hannah had shot back at their efforts, revealing a gambit every time the last one was trumped. If Gavin was correct, and Hannah had hidden away another copy of the video, or given it to someone else, she wouldn’t be able to help bragging about it, just to prove that despite all the games and subterfuge, she’d still won.

Unfortunately, Hannah’s face fell, and she held her head in her hands, breathing almost as heavy as she had when she’d been double fucked by Chloe and Peter. She shook her head, and gasped, “you’re lying.” They had to be. There was no other way out. Her only chance now was if Ashley was bluffing, as she came to understand the whole plan. Peter hadn’t been there to lower her defences so that she’d talk, he’d been a distraction, while Gavin and the others had broken into her apartment and destroyed the video of Heather sucking off her dad. But that part had to be a lie. They couldn’t have broken through the security. “No, no, that cant be…” she chanted in a half whisper to herself.

Ashley frowned. If Hannah did have another video squirrelled away somewhere, she was doing a very good job of acting like it didn’t exist. She seemed genuinely distraught, at the end of her rope. She crossed the room to her sister, and squatted down beside her, resting a hand on her bare shoulder.

“Sis…I need you to tell me who else has the video,” Ashley told her in her calmest, soothing voice.

“Someone else has the video?” Chloe asked, eyes wide. Were they going to have to break in to someone else’s house now too, she wondered, though, at least they probably wouldn’t have to fuck them as a distraction…

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Peter replied, pursing his lips. He dropped his eyes to his ex-girlfriend. “Don’t you think it’s time all these secrets just ended?”

“If I knew what the fuck any of you were talking about, maybe I’d tell you what you want to know,” Hannah growled, throwing up her head so fast Ashley’s hand snapped away, as if she had tried to pet a rabid dog. She glared angrily at all three of them. “I didn’t give the video to anyone else. Why would I? The whole point was that I’d keep it to myself unless you went to the police. Sharing it with someone else kind of defeats that purpose.”

Chloe tilted her head thoughtfully, her red hair hanging down. “Hm, that’s true. Even if there’s some strategic advantage to not having all your eggs in one basket, you can’t trust the other person not to get trigger happy or in some way compromised.” She looked to Ashley, and suggested, “maybe it’s just a glitch in Gavin’s code. He did write it in a hurry.”

“We can’t really take that chance though,” Peter countered as he begun to pace the length of the room. “If someone else does have it, with or without Hannah’s knowledge, that could be dangerous.” He knew that his ex-girlfriend wasn't particularly adept at programming or coding, so it was unlikely that she set up the security on the file herself. “Hannah, who encrypted the laptop?”

“Oh, well, I suppose they were the only other person with access,” Hannah admitted, pouting as she tried to think, but her head was buzzing with the revelation that she was probably going to jail tonight. “But I never got a name.”

“How did you not get a name?” Ashley sighed and rubbed her head. It would have been nice if, for once, something had been easy. “How did you get in contact with this person?”

“Through Ravers Enterprises. I knew the file could be easily deleted if someone got hold of my laptop or phone, so I wanted some additional security. I didn’t want to actually go to any one in the I.T. division of the company because it might get back to Robert or someone important that I was trying to hide something, so instead I looked into people outside the company,” Hannah explained, trying to hold it together since she felt on the verge of shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. “Ravers Enterprises funds a lot of local grants and schemes, partly as good P.R., partly investing in talent for the future. There was a girl who had been awarded for outstanding programming skills.”

“So, she was the one who did the encryption?” Ashley concluded, a little too quickly. “Well, even if you’ve conveniently forgotten her name, we can ask Heather to look at the list for us and find out who it is. If you happen to suddenly remember, now would be the time to just tell us.”

“Why would I lie about not remembering her name? It doesn’t keep me out of jail to protect some teenager I’ve only spoken to over the phone,” Hannah argued, clenching her hands into fists. “Which is besides the point, because she wasn’t even the one who helped me. She said it sounded too risky and she didn’t do that kind of thing. But she gave a link to a forum and a username for someone who might be interested, and told me to send them a message, which I did. They responded and accepted, but I never met whoever it was. It was all done remotely. I was told to leave the laptop on and plugged in at a certain time, and when I came back the security had been updated and the encryption installed. The last contact I had with them was me sending payment.”

“And you don’t remember anything about this person who sent you to the forum?” Chloe asked, gently pressing.

Hannah thought harder for a moment, yet returned with a shake of her head. “I remember her last name was something really common, but nothing specific.”

“What about the username?” Peter suggested.

“That I remember,” Hannah said brightly. “k3Y$Tr0kE.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ashley replied coolly, turning towards the door. “We’ll get the name of the girl from Ravers Enterprises and she can put us in contact with whoever this ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’ is. For now, though, I think we should get the confession to the police station.”

“Now?” Chloe’s eyes widened with surprised, glancing briefly at Peter and Hannah before turning back to Ashley. “If this other person does have the video, they might release it if we try to go to the police.”

“I think that’s unlikely. We don’t know what motive this person had for taking the video but if it is this ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’, then they probably took it for their own purpose, like ****. No one stands to gain anything from Lisa’s incarceration except Hannah, and if Hannah really didn’t put her up to this, and…” Ashley dropped her eyes to her sister, wrestling inwardly with her feelings. “…and I do believe her, then this person isn’t going to release the video if we exonerate Lisa.” Ashley hesitated, considering the other side. “If I’m wrong…well…Zack and Hannah are currently trying to insulate the business anyway, right?”

Before Chloe could tell her how reckless the idea was, Peter chimed in, saying, “I think Ashley’s right. This other person has their own agenda, and freeing Lisa might even draw whoever it is out.”

“I still think it’s a huge risk, but I won’t stop you if you decide this is the right way forward,” Chloe said, unable to think of a better option than simply waiting.

“Great. Do you mind if I take it myself?” Ashley asked, looking around for objections. “Peter, can you take Chloe and Gavin back to the cabin? I’ll let Kurt know they can head back too.”

He nodded as Hannah stood up. “I suppose that means I’m going with you, lil’ sis.” She looked towards the drawers and said, “At least let me get dressed first.”

“You can stay, or you can go,” Ashley told her with a shrug, though her eyes appeared glassy. “Whatever you do next is up to you.”

“W-what?” Hannah did a double take, Chloe and Peter copying her almost simultaneously.

“Hannah, you’re my sister and I love you. This was all just a huge mistake and might have been glossed over with a slap on the wrist if you hadn’t stubbornly dug your heels in. You made something stupid into something bad, but I don’t want to be the one you blame and resent for sending you to jail. I don’t want mom and dad to miss you because I put you behind bars. I don’t want that on my own hands, trying to live with the guilt of ruining your life and career. I love you and I don’t want to have to do that to my own big sister. I don’t want all our fun memories, our happy childhood, to be tainted,” Ashley explained, looking away as tears began to slip down her cheeks. “So, I’m leaving it up to you. You can turn yourself in, or you can run. I won’t stop you.”

It was Ashley’s turn to be surprised as two warm arms wrapped around her, hugging her tight in a loving embrace, one hand stroking her hair as they cried into each other’s shoulders. Amidst the tears, Hannah whispered out, “I love you too, Ash.”

The crying didn’t quite stop, but it did subside, reducing to four watery eyes and a heartfelt reconciliation. The sisters parted, the situation no less dire for Hannah than when they’d began but both feeling lighter than they had in days.