Dark Crypto (Thorne Inc. Book 1)

by Neil Mosspark

  “Miss Thorne, you are exceptionally talented.” Mr. Grey’s voice emanated from the darkness. Olivia’s hand didn’t move from the pistol grip.

  “You can come out; I won’t bite,” she said.

  “Did you happen to acquire or destroy the item in question?” His form stepped out of the shadow of the bushes and eased forward into the dim light of the patio. His suit was out of place amid the decaying fences and overgrown buildings.

  She pulled it from her pocket to show him. “Got it right here.”

  “Good. I have your monetary compensation if you would like.”

  In the dark, he looked sickly and old. A steady but thin set of fingers plucked a brown envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and traded him the hard drive but held on to it, not letting go. “You should know that the last man holding this died tonight. Someone from Neotech tried to kill him.”

  “That is unfortunate, but I suspect that in your line of work death is necessary to accomplish a task.”

  “I didn’t kill him,” Olivia stated, letting go.

  “Who did?”

  “Someone using some high-grade American military gear. It had Neotech's logo painted on it. Know anything about that?”

  “I do not know anything about the matter.”

  “You have any more info on Black Anvil?”

  Mr. Grey looked at Mom for a moment then leaned in closer to Olivia, as though passing on the secrets of the universe. “Their numbers are much lower now. I am not sure why. Something has changed. Many of the people we had under surveillance are gone. Possibly dead.”

  “That’s not a problem for me. They're not very good guys,” Olivia said firmly.

  “I agree. They are too comfortable with taking life. We will be pleased never to have to deal with them again.”

  “Me too,” Olivia stated. “This case has kind of ruined me. I can’t go home, and I can’t go to work.”

  “Are you ... displeased with our arrangement? Are you negotiating for more compensation?”

  “No. Just telling you that everything has gone south after I took your contract.”

  “Please understand that there are other assets in play. Many moving parts that are currently in motion. All of which we do not fully comprehend as of yet. There may be opportunities to save more than your business.”

  Mr. Grey held the hard drive up and then tucked it in his pocket. “My benefactors wanted you to know that they appreciate your efforts. You do not know it now, but your work has saved many lives already. Thank you.”

  Olivia wanted to tell him where to go, but she bit her tongue. “You can tell them that I appreciate their money.” With that, she stood and turned to go inside. Mom followed close behind. Pausing after only a few steps, she looked back, and the man was gone.

  “That is the creepiest man I have ever met, and that’s saying a lot,” Olivia muttered.

  Mom placed a kind hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Olivia. Let’s get you some cookies then off to bed.”

  Chapter 16

  Olivia’s phone buzzed persistently on the coffee table next to Jack's couch. She was sleeping on it yet again. Peeling her eyes open, she noticed that the normal hum of activity and the handful of professional techies were doting on the servers and keyboards like bees would in a hive. The phone continued to buzz.

  Groaning, she snatched up the phone and pressed it to her ear. How long had she been sleeping?

  “Olivia speaking,” she said.

  “You really should answer the phone like a proper business.” Gabriel’s voice was happy and upbeat. It struck her that the rare uptick in his voice was not something that happened every day.

  “What are you so excited about?”

  “The search warrant got approved. Unlimited access. After the assassination during the stakeout you were on last night, the feds pushed this one through super fast. Apparently, some judge got woke up early this morning to get this done. I was wondering if you would be interested in coming down to point out the people who attempted to murder you?”

  Olivia sat up, running her hand through her mop of hair. “That would be a lot of fun seeing the look on their faces. When?”

  “Two hours. I can send a car.”

  “Perfect.” Olivia thought for a few seconds about a location close enough to get to that wouldn’t interfere with Jack’s secret lair of geekdom. “Actually, how about meeting me at Ray’s truck stop diner along the 401. You know the one I’m talking about?”

  “Yeah, I’ll send someone over to pick you up. They’ll be there in an hour. Don’t be late. We're on a tight timeline. If you don’t make it, we’ll be starting without you.”

  “See you then,” she said. Hanging up, she pocketed the phone.

  Looking around at the expanse of servers and makeshift workspaces, she couldn’t see Jack. She stood up out of the old couch and stretched, reaching upward. This morning's activities were busier than usual. Multiple people were sitting at laptops while others stood pointing at multiscreen setups. Graphs and data flowed over them like an arcane language.

  Olivia reached down and scooped up her pistol, still in its holster, slipping it on. The wallet that lay near it was shoved in her back pocket. The movement to her right made her turn.

  Mom sauntered slowly across the floor toward the hive of servers and people working on them. A tray of tea and cups rattled gently in his hands as he walked.

  “Morning, Mom. Have you seen Jack?”

  “Good morning to you too. He’s in the back near the chair. Come with me. I’m heading that way.” Mom didn’t even stop, stepping smoothly by with his cargo.

  As she followed, she couldn’t help but eye the implant sitting just at his collar line. The small battery pack, the size of a phone, lay flush against his skin. A solid blue light seemed to indicate that it was on, and a row of green lights was an obvious charge level.

  She shivered, thinking about how invasive the procedure must have been. Metal particles injected into his spine, powered by an external battery.

  The increased cacophony of the server’s fans and the obvious elevation in heat blasted at her as they rounded the corner at the back of the servers. She could see three people standing next to what looked like a cheap folding massage table.

  Jack lay on it, face up. What looked like an orange industrial extension cord was plugged in underneath. It took Olivia a moment, but she realized it wasn’t plugged into the table but into the back of his head through the hole in the surface.

  “Oh, that’s gross,” she said aloud as her stomach flip-flopped.

  Everyone looked at her for a moment then resumed their stations.

  “Jack. I’m stepping out,” Olivia said.

  “He can’t hear you,” a heavy-set man in a faded t-shirt said. There were food stains down the front.

  “He’s resurfacing in a few seconds,” said a woman who would have been attractive if it wasn’t for the pajama pants and large kitten emblazoned on the front of her tank top. Olivia wondered if it was supposed to be ironic.

  Mom placed the tea down on the table, picked up a large glass full of water, and stood by the table.

  “Three. Two. One. Data stream has stopped,” said the faded t-shirt.

  “Locks are shutting down,” said the kitten.

  The cord ejected out of the back of the port in Jack’s skull with a click and fell to the floor. A small pillow lying underneath caught the head of the cable with a soft thud.

  Jack moaned for a moment and opened his eyes. They rolled in his head, and his hands moved to the table to hold on to the sides. It took a moment for the disorientation to go away, and he breathed slow practice breaths as he woke up.

  Mom reached under him and helped him sit up and swing his feet over the side. He remained to steady Jack’s body. The cold glass of water was passed over, and Jack gulped it down greedily.

  “What the hell was that?” Olivia asked.

  “The dive,” he said, breaking for a mo
ment from the water. He looked exhausted. “We need to work on the connectivity,” he told the two other techies. “Dial it up. We were losing information in there. I can feel the lag.”

  "You sure? That's a lot of current," the kitten asked.

  He nodded. Then he gulped back the rest.

  Olivia crossed her arms. “What’s the 'dive'?”

  “We’re trying to teach the nanobots how to coalesce. We’re almost there. Just a few more times and my nanobots will be calibrated. It what we are going to use for our startup. We will take some out, copy the code, patent it, and sell it and the implants. This is cutting edge stuff, Olivia.”

  “We're in a race to get these to market,” said the kitty shirt.

  “Well, you guys have fun with your nerd toys. I wanted to tell you we are raiding Neotech. I’ll tell you how it goes. Since you guys lost someone to their security guards, I figured you should at least know. The police are going to nail them hard. Likely for kidnapping and murder, among other things.” The room went somber as a memory of one of their comrades was brought to light.

  “Thanks, Olivia. Do you need a lift? I could have one of our guys drop you off.”

  “No. It’s fine. I’m getting picked up at the truck stop in an hour. It’s a few blocks away. I’ll call you later once it’s done.”

  The exhausted hacker nodded as Mom took away the empty glass. “Alright guys, let's go again.” He lay back down and took a deep breath. The stained t-shirt reached down, plucked the cable from the ground, and inserted it back into Jack’s head.

  The hacker’s eyes fluttered for a moment, and she could see his body relax. It reminded her of a person injecting heroin, shifting from being present in the moment to oblivious and near death.

  Olivia turned and walked away. There were kidnappers, murderers, and child torturers to bring to justice.

  FORTY-FIVE MINUTES later, Olivia stood outside the truck stop. Eighteen-wheelers rolled up to the pumps, and attendants rushed to fill them. Almost half of the rigs were automated and driverless. They had a better track record than many of the experienced drivers. The machines ran twenty-four hour a day all year long. She wondered how long it would be before many of the gas station jockeys’ jobs would be automated as well.

  Leaning against the wall, Olivia crossed her arms. She checked her watch. Gabriel hadn’t stated a specific time, but she felt as though her pickup was late.

  One of the trucks puffed diesel and pulled away with a roar, crawling with its double trailers toward the nearby highway. As it pulled out, Olivia spotted a black car zip off of the exit and continued toward her at a high rate of speed. With her arms still crossed, she slipped a hand over the grip of the pistol sitting under her jacket. Her thumb hung over the safety.

  Through the front windshield, she could see Chuck.

  Smiling, she uncrossed her arms and held up a hand to wave. The black car pulled up next to her. Opening the door, she slipped inside.

  “Hey, Chuck, how're the ribs?” she asked, smiling.

  He pulled away quickly before she even had a chance to get her seatbelt on.

  “Broken, with a bruised lung. They discharged me, but I’m on desk duty until the doc clears me. I’m a bit disappointed I won’t be rolling with you on this one.” Chuck shoulder-checked at the onramp, and Olivia could see that he was stiff. Satisfied it was safe, he pressed down hard on the accelerator, and the car rocketed forward to join the rest of the high-speed traffic.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I owe you one, Olivia. That perp got the drop on me. I’m lucky I caught it in the vest. A few inches higher and I’d be dead. If you hadn’t been there, she probably would have finished me off.”

  “Yeah, she took out the nurse pretty quick and almost got me too.”

  “I heard you kept the girl alive,” Chuck added, changing lanes and speeding past some slow-moving traffic. Reaching down, he turned on the red and blue lights.

  “What’s the hurry?”

  “Just before I picked you up they said that they there was something going on at the building. We have reports that there was a civilian heavy-lift aircraft inbound to that vector. The flight plan was booked proper, but it's from out of the country. Mexico.”

  “So the roof has a helipad? The building is the size of city blocks. Probably some bigwig coming in. People need to travel, you know.”

  “No, Neotech is centralized. Their entire business model is to keep their scientists and engineers inside the complex. Secrets don’t get leaked that way. Can’t kidnap a scientist for secrets or plant a spy as a janitor if they all live and behind the same walls. They get two, maybe three landings a year.”

  “When’s this one coming in?”

  “Lands in about an hour and a half. We want to time the strike to be there when it’s on the roof. If we can do that, there’s more possibility of evidence. Gabriel’s worried about them trying to take their research and leave the country. If the company’s behind the assassination of the Yakuza at the hotel, then they are scrambling to save what they can. Combine that with dirty cops on the take, and I would bet they are probably expecting us.”

  “That makes sense.” Olivia gripped the door handle with white knuckles as the car pitched hard, shifting into the fast lane.

  Fifteen minutes later, Chuck slowed to a sane speed and flicked off the concealed light bar. Departing from the highway, he pulled onto an off ramp. His use of the lights and speed had shaved a great deal of time off the travel. Olivia could see Neotech’s building off in the distance. The industrial area they were driving through could not hide the stadium-sized building. Even from this distance, she could easily pick it out.

  Chuck pulled off the side road and through an open chain-link gate. At the side of the large warehouse, a man wearing worker’s overalls and a hard hat stood by a big sliding door. Upon seeing the car, he dragged the door open wide. Chuck drove up the slight concrete ramp and inside. Rubber tires squeaked on the polished concrete as he circled to the right.

  To the left Olivia could see a line of five black vans and two unmarked police cars, one at the head of the line the other at the rear.

  “There really serious about this, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah. Gabriel says that they are pretty worked up. This Black Anvil crew of yours isn’t playing nice. Because they tried to kill a cop, everyone's out for blood.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” Olivia said, eyeing the crowd of SWAT team members. "Most of these guys just like gearing up."

  “It’s not.”

  “Still, it's a lot of guys,” she pointed out.

  “The feds are involved now, which gives us a lot of extra man power. They want the building sealed tight. Shouldn’t be too hard. There is only one entrance and the roof.”

  “They have air support for the incoming aircraft?”

  Chuck parked the car and turned off the engine. “Yeah, but it’s coming from somewhere else. Gabe’s got all the details.”

  Olivia got out and looked for her friend. She could see Gabriel talking to two of the federal police officers. Their distinct uniforms stuck out among the mix of plain-clothed detectives in bulletproof vests and fully geared up SWAT teams.

  “I have something for you,” Chuck said, closing his own door. The thunk echoed through the empty warehouse.

  Olivia watched him moved around to the trunk. Chuck opening it, he pulled out two heavy bulletproof vests, holding one up for her.

  She took it and smiled. “Awww, you even got it in my color. Black. That’s so sweet. You're doing really well for a second date.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head.” He laughed and closed the trunk. “I need that back afterward. Just make sure there aren’t holes in it.”

  Olivia pulled off her jacket and tossed it back into the car. Peeling the Velcro from the side of the heavy vest, she slipped it over her head, fitting it to her small frame. The familiar weight of the steel and ceramic plate on the front immediate
ly comforted her. The side was cut high on the sides but still left enough room for her under arm holster to be accessible.

  “This is for you too,” he said, producing a balaclava.

  “They already know who I am. Anvil wrecked my office already. It’s not going to make a difference.”

  “Yeah, but do you want to be standing in line for groceries one day and have some civilian harassing you about how you put them out of work?”

  “Good point,” she said, taking it.

  Chuck had pulled on his own vest and gave her a look that left her with the feeling that he was used to checking other people’s gear. As though it was a natural step, out of habit rather than concern for her safety.

  “Gabriel’s over there,” Chuck said, pointing to the small group she had spotted earlier.

  “Where you going?” she asked. “I thought you were on desk duty.”

  “I am, but I asked them at least to let me drive. I’ve got to get to the driver’s brief. I’ll talk to you later.” He waved to her and walked off.

  Olivia shifted the weight of the vest and tucked the balaclava into her back pocket. Across the floor, she could see Gabriel shake the hands of the officers and the group dispersed.

  “Gabe!” she called out.

  He saw her and waved in acknowledgment. Striding across the open floor, she caught up to him. “Thanks for letting me tag along.”

  “No problem. We need you to point out the guys who tried to kill you. We never found the body of the dive near the checkpoint, and the van is probably still in Neotech’s carpool. You're just in time. We’re rolling out. Stay with me. We are the third van. Once they secure the offices and staff, we follow inside to identify and arrest.”

  Olivia nodded.

  “No shooting anyone. I would prefer if you didn’t bring your weapon.”

  “What?”

  “No gun.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” Gabe held out his hand.

  “C’mon,” she argued.

  He opened and closed his hand, waving her to hurry up. “We don’t have time for this, Olivia. You either give me the weapon, or I don’t bring you. You’re here as a civilian victim. If you shoot someone and it goes to court, they might get off the charges because it looks like you have a vendetta.”