In Digital We Trust

by Rahul Bhagat

  The ordering booth was by the entrance. It was a long counter recessed in the wall. Stump and Natalie grabbed their coffees and sat down at one of the tables. The tables were bare wood, solid and wide. There was a lot of space between the chairs, which gave ample room for each individual to work. Across from them, a young artist was busy on his pencil sketch. Around them, people were busy chatting, working, or just sitting by themselves, reading. It was busy but not too crowded.

  Natalie looked around and appeared worried. “How can they snatch away her laptop? She’s going to have time to shut the lid.”

  “Maybe they’ll approach from behind,” Stump suggested.

  “Yeah. That’s possible,” Natalie conceded.

  There was a message from Raymond. “Lizbeth is back. Director’s office immediately.”

  They scrambled back to the FBI office.

  The director was pacing the floor. “Do we have all our assets in place?” he asked.

  “We do,” Raymond said. His eyes were locked on the tablet in his hand. “She’s coming out,” he said.

  “Tell everyone to get in place,” the director said. “You.” He pointed at Natalie. “Come with me. You’re getting her on the chat message. It’s the tricky part—can’t screw that up.”

  Stump was not sure what role he was playing. He hesitated then asked, “Where do you want me?”

  The director thought for a second. “Cafe entrance. In case she tries to flee.”

  Stump rolled his eyes. The useless old man, he said to himself.

  Natalie went with the director, while Stump made his way to the cafe.

  He walked inside and looked around the cavernous place. Lizbeth was sitting in a corner, where the walls met. She had a sandwich and a coffee in front of her, and her laptop was open to her left side, next to the wall. She was reading something. Between readings, she would take bites from her sandwich.

  Across from her sat a young Asian girl with a soda. She was rapidly typing on her large phone with a pink Hello Kitty cover. A bearded old man with a tablet in his hand was in the chair next to Lizbeth.

  Stump got himself a coffee and settled on a high stool by the entrance. He took out his phone and pretended to read something. He wondered what was going on in the van.

  Then he noticed Lizbeth sit up straight and look around. Natalie has probably started chatting with her, thought Stump.

  Lizbeth hunched over and rapidly typed on her laptop. Two women passing by her table suddenly started screaming at each other and got into a fistfight. Stump watched the next few moments unfold in slow motion. Lizbeth raised her head to look at the fighting pair, her attention distracted, and just then, the young girl reached across the table and grabbed her laptop. In a split second, Lizbeth turned toward the girl and scrambled up on the table for her laptop. But it was too late. The girl had already passed the laptop, like a baton, to the man behind her. That man was Raymond. He took the laptop, open and logged in, and headed for the exit. He flashed a big smile as he passed Stump.

  TWENTY-ONE

  IT was another lunch-and-learn session at the police station. The lunchroom was packed because it was Stump and Natalie presenting their famous digital-partner case.

  “Excellent work,” someone said from the crowd. “Good presentation.”

  “Thanks. We’ll take questions now,” Stump said to the crowd.

  “So they found the entire chat history?” someone asked.

  “Yes,” Stump said. “It painted a picture of a bitter and vindictive person.”

  “In fact,” Natalie added, “when Gabriel was standing on the bridge, he actually chickened out. On Lizbeth’s instructions, Vinur screamed at him to climb back on and finish the job.”

  “It had such control,” said a voice in the crowd.

  “Gabriel was emotionally fragile, and his digital partner knew him intimately. It knew what it needed to do to get him to jump,” Natalie said.

  “What a vile and disgusting person. What was the motive?”

  “Power. Revenge. Her belief that no one would find out,” Natalie said. “Lizbeth’s initial idea was to spy on Gabriel and Nancy. That’s why she suggested he try Vinur for his depression. But when she realized how easily she could influence Gabriel through his digital partner, her goals changed. The power made her vicious. That’s when she hatched her plan to ruin their life. She had always lived under Nancy’s shadow—she was a beautiful, smart, assertive woman who walked all over her. This was her revenge.”

  Someone raised a hand. “Yes,” Stump said.

  “I’m interested in knowing what led to the slipup. Why did she get in touch with Vinur without hiding her IP?”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” Natalie said. “She had booked this trip with a guy she was dating at the time. And the night before they were to leave, Nancy and Gabriel had a big fight. I guess, in her haste to find out what happened, she couldn’t wait for an encrypted channel.”

  There were no more questions.

  Stump turned to the crowd and said, “This is Natalie’s last day at the office. She has finished her internship and will be going back to finish her studies.” He felt tears well up in his eyes, and he choked up a little. “I’ll miss her.”

  Natalie gave him a big hug.

  Later, in the office, Stump didn’t feel like doing anything. He didn’t even feel like playing his card game. He was thinking about going outside for some fresh air when Natalie showed up at the door.

  “Okay. I’m leaving. Stay in touch,” she said. “Oh, I have something for you.”

  “You do?” Stump stood up and came out from behind his desk.

  Natalie handed him a paper note. “Melodia’s contact details. Now you have no excuse not to call your daughter.”

  “How did you find them?”

  “I’m a detective, Martin,” Natalie said. “What’s important is that you call her.”

  Natalie gave him a quick hug and disappeared. Stump stood in the middle of the office and looked at the piece of paper. Then he went back to his desk with determined steps. He had an important call to make.

  * * *

  A request from the author

  Dear Reader - if you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a brief review on Amazon. A line or two will be more than enough. It will mean a lot to me and will help other readers discover the story.

  Thanks - Rahul

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  Copyright © 2018 by Rahul Bhagat

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, organizations and events in the book are fictitious and a product of author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition: 2018