Zero Days

Jack hitchhikes to the highway service station where she is supposed to meet Madrox, the hacker with whom she made a deal: £20,000 of Bitcoin for a burner phone with Gabe’s number. As they pull into the parking lot, the driver who picked her up, Bill Watts, says that he knows who she is. Jack feels deathly ill. Her entire torso hurts, and now she feels as though she might pass out. Bill assures her that he won’t turn her in for two reasons: He can tell she isn’t a murderer, and he doesn’t trust the police because he served time in his youth for something he didn’t do. Bill asks how she will get home. He tells her to tell other drivers at the station that she’s his niece, and one of them will help her. Jack is overwhelmed by his kindness.

She steps out of the truck and crosses the lot. The hooded man waiting for her is young, and he looks as nervous as Jack feels. Jack makes him laugh, trying to create rapport. She doesn’t want to pay him until she is sure that the phone works. Madrox calls his partner and tells him to route Gabe’s number to the burner phone in his hand.