Hacker For Hire (Ted Higuera Series Book 2)
Page 6
With a small penknife she scraped away a portion of the insulation on the cables leading from the security camera.
“Oooh!” Donna dropped the knife. She scurried down the step stool to retrieve her tool. She quickly jumped back up and very carefully fastened the alligator clips to the bared portions of the wire.
How long was she off-line? Had the security guards been watching the monitor during her lapse? She froze on her stool.
After a few minutes, with no one banging down the door, she continued.
All that was left to do was insert a fresh flash drive in the mini-DVR and hit the record button.
Not a bad night’s work.
Now she just had to make it right with Billy.
****
Ted heard the alarm and rolled over. He got the top berth in the metal bunk bed because Bear hated heights. Developers at YTS often worked through the night. Justin provided a room with bunk beds and lockers for those who were truly motivated. The showers in the locker room went mostly unused.
Bear dragged himself out of bed and hit the alarm. Both men had slept in yesterday’s clothes.
“Did you call your wife to tell her you weren’t comin’ home?” Ted asked.
“Nah. She knows where I am. We have a deal. I don’t wake her up in the middle of the night unless someone is dead.”
“Doesn’t she ever get worried or jealous that you might be stepping out on her?”
“Are you kidding? Who’d want to go out with me? Besides, programming is more fun than sex anyway.”
I’m not so sure about that, hombre, Ted thought.
It didn’t matter that Ted and Bear worked until three in the morning. They were still expected at the eight a.m. stand up meeting. Every morning the entire staff gathered around the coffee station and reported, in as few sentences as possible, what they did yesterday and what they were working on today and any impediments in their way.
Ted dropped to the floor and shuffled to the bathroom. When he returned to the bull pen, the staff had already gathered around Justin.
As usual, Justin wore shorts, a tank top and leather sandals.
“Ok, who’s up?” His baritone voice had a timbre that demanded obedience.
‘Higuera’s up first.” Bear was Justin’s second in command.
‘Ted, what do you have for us?”
“Let’s see.” Ted acted like he was trying to remember the trivial work he did yesterday. The strong coffee didn’t cut the sour taste in his mouth. “I started on the Caglione project. That guy is a real sleaze. Anything else? Oh yeah, I gave myself a big raise.” His face broke into a huge grin.
“You what?” Justin’s gaze locked on Ted’s eyes.
“I figured that as long as I had your ID and password . . .” Ted paused to let it sink in. He wanted to savor the moment. “I might as well poke around in the payroll system.”
“Woohoo!” The gathered crowd roared. People fist bumped and high fived.
“Higuera did it.”
“He pulled the sword from the stone.”
“The king is dead. Long live the king.”
“I’ll take a look at your work.” Justin raised an eye brow and puffed out his cheeks, then settled in to his normal, calm demeanor. “Meanwhile get back to work on the Caglione project. We promised to report back to Rico by the end of the week.”
****
Chris sat on the edge of his bed catching his breath and stared at the walls. The house just felt different. It was Ted. Or rather, the lack of Ted.
Living with his sister was much quieter. There was no loud Mexican music, no soft girlie love songs. Sarah moved through the house like a wraith, Ted was more like a bulldozer. He always knew where Ted was, what he was doing.
He’d spent virtually every day of the last four years with that crazy ‘mano. Now he was gone.
Where was he anyway? Chris hadn’t seen Ted since his homecoming dinner.
“Hurry up, slow poke.” Sarah shouted from the other room.
Chris sighed and struggled to bend over to tie his shoes. He sat on a double bed with a purple and gold Husky’s comforter. The large bedroom had a dresser and an old table that served as Chris’ desk. Under the table, were plastic totes that took the place of filing cabinets. He wasn’t sure why he was holding onto all of his college school work. A concrete block and board bookshelf lined the wall, filled with college texts and murder mysteries.
“Dad’s going to be here any minute.” Sarah shouted. “Get a move on.”
“I don’t see what you’re so excited about.” Ok, right shoe tied. Chris sat back on his bed and took a deep breath. “What does he want anyway, and why do I have to get dressed?” He bent back down to tie the other sneaker.
“I can’t tell you. It’s a big surprise. But we’re going for a ride with him.”
By the time Chris eased himself down the stairs, he was out of breath. Candace stood waiting in the living room.
“Good morning, sunshine. Ready to go?”
He caught a faint whiff of lavender. Her designer jeans and fuchsia cashmere sweater, set off with a gold necklace and earrings, showed off her figure.
“Yeah. Where’s Dad?” Chris stopped at the bottom of the stairs to catch his breath. He was too weary to resent Candace today.
“He’s parking the car. I’ve got your wheelchair ready.”
“I’m not using it anymore, Candace. I’ll walk.”
Candace rolled the wheelchair towards Chris. “Oh, I think you’ll need it. Where we’re going today, there’s going to be a lot of walking involved. We don’t want to wear you out before we get there.” She stopped the chair in front of Chris, set the brakes and flipped up the foot rests so that he could get close.
Chris reluctantly sat down. How would Amy feel about him allowing himself to be wheeled around? She was adamant that he do everything for himself. I guess that’s what PT Nazis are like.
“Here, Chris-O.” Sarah slapped a bottle of water in Chris’ hand. “We have to keep you hydrated. Doctor’s orders.”
Candace pushed Chris through the front door onto the porch. The morning sun was well into the sky.
“What a lovely day, especially for so late in the year. I’m hoping we get a mild winter.” Candace carefully eased the wheelchair down the ramp.
Harry popped open Candace’s Porsche Cayenne SUV’s cargo hatch. Chris settled himself into the passenger’s seat while Harry folded and put away the wheelchair.
“You’re going to like this, Chris.” Harry slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “We’ve got a big surprise for you.”
“You know I hate surprises.” Chris buckled his seatbelt. Just a week ago, it would have been a painful process. Maybe Amy was helping after all.
As Harry drove west on Fiftieth Street, Chris grew anxious. When Fiftieth merged with Forty-fifth at Greenlake, his breath came faster. As they crossed Market Street, Chris knew where they were headed.
“Dad, turn around. I can’t go back there.” His head began to spin.
“Hold on, son. You have to do this.”
The golden SUV cruised through Ballard. The Scandinavian restaurants and shops slipped past. Chris hardly recognized the triangular shaped park dedicated to the King of Norway.
Chris didn’t see that the carefully manicured grounds of Ship Canal Locks on their left were showing signs of fall. The leaves had turned red and brown, the flowers gone to sleep for the winter.
He felt overwhelmed by panic. His palms were sweating, his vision blurry.
When the Shileshole Bay Marina came into sight, he lost track of reality.
He was back on the Defiant. The terrorists were shooting at them. He saw the front end of the cabin disintegrate in a hail of gunfire. He re-lived watching the bullets stitch their way across Jack’s chest. He saw Ted’s head pop up from the cabin.
“Uh!” He put his hand to his chest, just under his left shoulder. He felt the bullet pierce him again. “TED!” he cried out.
>
“It’s okay, Chris.” He felt cool hands reach from behind him and take his face. “You’re back in Seattle. Everything’s okay.” How many times had Sarah come to his bedside in the middle of the night when he screamed out in a nightmare?
“It’s not okay,” Chris screamed. “IT’LL NEVER BE OKAY! There’s nothing anyone can do to bring Meagan back.”
Harry pulled the SUV into a parking place close to “D” dock. “Chris.” His voice was soft and sympathetic. “No one understands better than me. When your mother died, I didn’t know how I was going to go on living. If it wasn’t for you and Sarah, I think I would have gone out of my mind.”
Chris looked over at his dad. It was hard to make out the handsome features through the blur of tears.
“I had something to live for.” Harry’s voice was soft. “Something to get up every morning for. There were a lot of days when I just wanted to lay down and stop living. You guys saved my life.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Chris replied. “But I don’t have kids. I never had the chance.”
Harry put his hand on Chris’ shoulder. “I want to give you something to live for. You need something to look forward to. You can’t spend the rest of your life looking back.”
“No. I can’t go back there.” Chris looked down at the marina. Row upon row of concrete floats jutted out from the seawall. A forest of mast covered the water. Seagulls circled overhead, flags flapped in the breeze. Out on the Sound, the wind pushed waves to the shore, but inside the rock breakwater, the surface was calm.
“I’m never going sailing again.” Chris pulled away from his father. “I can’t.” He fought the tears rolling down his cheeks.
“You have to get back on the horse, son.”
Candace pulled open the passenger side door. “Harry, that’s enough.” She reached in and put her arms around the trembling Chris, pulling him to her. “Let’s take him home. We can do this a little at a time.”
Chris felt the warmness and softness of Candace’s chest as she pulled him tight. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thought of his mother.
“We’ll bring him back later.” Candace’s voice seemed to come from far, far away. “When he’s ready.”
****
Ted couldn’t get much work done that morning. Co-workers dropped by his desk, slapped him on the back and asked him how he did it.
“Yo, Higgy,” Bear said. “Don’t you think it’s time we got a little work done?”
“Huh? Yeah.” Ted wiped the sweat off the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Say, Bear, what’s gonna happen? Is Justin really gonna give me the raise?”
“I’ve known Justin since we were kids. There’s no way to predict what he’s going to do.”
“Would he fire me? I mean, I hacked into the payroll system. Most companies would fire an employee for that.” Ted felt Bear’s searing glance. “I mean, am I in trouble? I know Irena did it, but all she asked for was lunch for the staff. I broke into payroll.”
“You’re a pretty cocky son-of-a-bitch aren’t you? You’re only the second person who’s ever penetrated his defenses. He doesn’t like to be shown up.”
“Oh shit.” Ted felt his pulse rate rise. “What’s gonna happen?”
“Lunch,” Bear said.
“Huh?”
“Lunch. I’m going to lunch. You want to come?”
“No, I haven’t gotten anything done this morning. I better focus on work a little.”
****
Ted’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Not even consciously thinking about what he was typing, the code just magically appeared on the screen.
He was outside of himself. His sub-conscious took care of the mundane task of writing code while his conscious mind replayed the scenarios. He may not be able to get another job in Seattle if Justin wouldn’t give him a reference. He’d only been at YTS for a few weeks. What would a prospective employer think?
“Hey Higgy… “
Ted didn’t hear Justin’s voice.
“Higgy.”
Ted kept typing away. What if Justin just reprimanded him? Maybe he could rescue his career. Career? He was just worried about this job.
“Higuera, I’m talking to you, man.”
“Wha?” Ted screamed and jumped. He had a dazed sort of look in his eyes as he slowly focused on Justin. “I’m sorry. I was concentrating.”
“How do you do that? I’ve seen you like that before. You’re hands are typing away, but it’s like you’re outside your body.”
“Do what? . . . Oh . . . I’m just so focused, I guess, that I lose track of what’s goin’ on around me. . . I guess . . . “
Justin brushed back a few loose hairs that had escaped from his ponytail. “Well, that’s good, I think.” He looked over Ted’s shoulder at the computer screen. “That’s pretty elegant code. Where’s Bear? Isn’t he your partner today?”
“He left for lunch. I couldn’t break away.”
Justin lowered himself into a swivel chair and turned Ted to face him. “You’re pretty full of yourself aren’t you? Pretty cocky.” He paused to let Ted ponder his statement.
“5% huh?” Justin said. “That’s almost reasonable.”
It clicked in Ted’s head. He realized what Justin was talking about.
“I’ll split the difference with you,” Justin kept his voice low. “2 ½%.”
“I, uh. . . “Suddenly, Ted felt overwhelmingly guilty. When Irena hacked Justin’s system, she asked for a prize that involved everybody. Ted was just asking for himself. “You know Justin, I’ve been thinkin’.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe we should do something for the whole staff. Like Irena did.”
“Greed, Higgy.” Justin pushed his chair back and stood up. “It’s what makes the world go ‘round.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m feelin’ a little greedy.”
“Don’t worry about it. Greed’s a good thing. No one else would do it for you. And don’t let this go to your head. You’re going somewhere, Higgy, but you have a lot of learning to do yet.” Justin stood and walked away without a backwards glance
****
“How’s the Caglione project coming?” Bear twisted the lid off of his energy drink and plopped down next to Ted.
“Almost done, dude.” Ted turned away from his monitor. “Doesn’t it bother you though? Doing work for scum like this.”
“Man, we’re contractors. High tech whores. We work for whoever’ll pay us.”
“Yeah, but this Rico Caglione guy. He’s about as low as they get. I’ve been doing a little research.” Ted turned his flat screen monitor towards Bear. “Look.” He clicked on his favorites button on the browser. “This guy has a record as long as your arm.”
With a few mouse clicks, Ted brought up Cagilone’sCaglione’s history.
“He’s been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery. He did time on racketeering charges. His dad went to the big house back in the Sixties for assault with a deadly weapon. His son's been arrested for drug dealing and pandering.” Ted waited for a reaction from Bear.
Nothing came.
“Look at this. Here’s an article about a rival strip club owner. He and his wife disappeared in 1996. No one’s heard from them since. Caglione bought his clubs for way below market value. Don’t you think that sounds fishy?”
Bear calmly sipped at his drink.
“Then there’s this.” Ted opened a Seattle Times article on his monitor. “Caglione’s been accused of making illegal campaign contributions to three members of the Seattle City Council. After the election, they gave him a zoning variance so he could expand one of his strip clubs. They’re calling the thing ‘Stripper Gate.’”
“I don’t like him any better than you do.” Bear pushed his swivel chair back from the table and crossed his legs. “But, this is a good job. We’re not doing anything illegal. We don’t have to break any laws and the pay’s good. Caglione never even flinched when Justin told him our rate.”
“Listen, Higgy.”
Ted hated that nickname. Ever since he hacked into Justin’s account, everyone had been calling him “Higgy.”
“Just do your job. You wouldn’t sleep too well if you knew about what some of the corporations we work for do. The only difference between them and Caglione is that he sells sex and they use sex to sell cars and TVs.” Bear paused to let what he had said sink in. “Don’t rock the boat. Get this project done, deliver it to Caglione, then go on to the next job.”
“I’ve got to give him the report? I’ve never even met the man.”
“Better you than me. Somebody has to deliver the report. What do you think my church elders would say if someone saw me going into Ricco’s joint? I’d probably be excommunicated. Besides, my wife would kill me if I went to a strip club.”
“What if someone saw me go in? What’s the difference?”
“You’re single and you don’t have any family here. Anyway, young guys are expected to go to places like that.” Bear got up and left Ted stewing.
Ted didn’t survive those terrorists to do shit like this.
****
“Are you ready to do this, Chris?” Candace took Chris’ wrists in each hand.
This close, even with her three-inch heels, he looked down into her eyes. “I … I don’t know.”
Sarah and Candace had let the cat out of the bag. Over coffee and scrambled eggs,’l they told him about Harry’s plan to get Chris back on his feet.
“I don’t ever want to go back down there.” There was no panic in Chris this time, just dread. “I guess I have to do it. For Dad.”
“Chris, you don’t have to do anything.” Candace’s voice had a softness to it, a feeling of empathy. “If you’re not ready, we don’t go.”
“Yeah, Chris-O. You’re making the calls.” Sarah couldn’t stay out of the conversation.