Zero Days

At the police station, Jack informs the officer who questions her that she and Gabe are penetration testers, or “pen testers,” hired by companies to break in and report vulnerabilities they find. Gabe handles the technical side while she does the physical. A letter from Arden Alliance, the company Jack and Gabe were testing when she got caught, reveals Jack’s full name, Jacintha Cross, and the name of their company, Crossways Security. Arden officials are unreachable to confirm her identity, and Gabe is not picking up his phone, which is odd. Though it is 2:00 am, Gabe should be awake, looking at Arden’s files.

Jack resigns herself to getting booked, but the officer goes to speak with a colleague. Suddenly, she hears the voice of another officer, her ex-boyfriend Jeff Leadbetter, and she is immediately nervous. Jeff chastises Jack for not calling him, and she feels a strong urge to yell at him. He comments on her body and fitness, looking her up and down like a predator eyeing its prey. Jack alludes to the “stories” she could tell about Jeff, but she had evidently told those stories before, and “it hadn’t ended well” (31).