The Second Shooter

by E. A. Briginshaw

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” the judge said. “It wouldn’t be the first time our cracker-jack border agents missed something. I’m going to dismiss the charges of Resisting Arrest and Illegal Entry into the U.S.”

  “I’d also like to dispute the charges of Unauthorized Computer Access and Theft and Possession of Stolen Property,” Greg said.

  “On what grounds?”

  “On the basis that nothing was stolen, Your Honour. The government accidently made some information available on their public website for anyone to access. They are charging my client with the theft of information that they, themselves, released. He did not hack into their website to obtain it.”

  “Is that true?” the judge asked the Prosecutor.

  “Technically, yes,” the Prosecutor said.

  The judge rolled his eyes in frustration. “What’s really going on here?” he asked the Prosecutor.

  “Your Honour, even though the information was accidently released, that does not give the defendant the right to keep that information.”

  “Your Honour,” Greg countered, “if the government left their barn door open and their cows wandered off, that doesn’t give them the right to charge my client with stealing their cows.”

  “Correct,” the judge said. “But it also doesn’t give your client the right to keep the cows. What exactly is in this information?”

  “We’re not at liberty to say,” the Prosecutor said, “for national security reasons.”

  “I had a feeling you were going to say that,” the judge said.

  The judge looked down at David and could see that he was just a kid who was in way over his head. “Son, do you still have this information?”

  “I don’t think so,” David said.

  “We believe the information is on his computer, which we have yet to locate,” the Prosecutor said.

  “Alright, let’s see if we can solve this problem without anyone getting hurt or going to jail,” the judge said. “Mr. Blackwood, is your client willing to turn over his computer to the government if these charges are dropped?”

  Greg looked briefly at David and could see in his eyes that he just wanted this nightmare to be over. “Yes, Your Honour. Those terms are acceptable to us.”

  “Mr. Blackwood, please ensure that your client turns the computer over to the Prosecutor within twenty-four hours.” The judge then looked directly at David. “Son, I’d recommend that you do that immediately and then get yourself back to Canada as soon as possible. If I see you here in my courtroom again, I doubt things will go as well for you next time.”

  “Yes sir,” David said with his voice starting to crack.

  “Case dismissed,” the judge said as he pounded his gavel. “You are free to go.”

  Henry leapt from his seat and raced up to hug David. “Thank God,” he said as he almost sucked the air out of him. “Where’s the computer they’re talking about?”

  “It’s at Laura’s condo, in my soccer bag.”

  Henry locked eyes with Laura and everyone in the room could feel the tension.

  “Why don’t you take David straight to the airport?” Greg said. He knew that this was not the time or place for them to resolve their issues. “I’ll make arrangements to get the laptop from her and turn it into the Prosecutor and then I’ll just meet you at the airport with David’s bag.”

  “Thanks,” Henry said as he locked arms with David and led him out of the courtroom.

  Laura tried to shuffle her way by the people in front of her to catch them before they left, but Henry and David were gone by the time she got out into the hallway. She found Greg Blackwood waiting for her along with a detective.

  “I just wanted to talk to Henry to explain,” Laura said in frustration.

  “I know,” Greg said, “but I think it’s best to just let him cool down a bit first. I’ve already told him that I would have recommended that David turn himself in as well, so you didn’t do anything wrong. I think Henry will eventually see that.”

  “I just need to see him.”

  “First things first,” Greg said. “This fine detective here has kindly agreed to drive us to your place so we can retrieve David’s laptop.”

  As they sat in the back of the detectives’ car on their way to her condo, Laura kept trying to explain to Greg what had happened. But each time, Greg raised his finger to his lips and nodded towards the detective who was watching them through his rearview mirror. “We’ll talk later,” Greg whispered to her.

  When they got to her condo, Laura retrieved David’s soccer bag and gave it to Greg. He pulled the laptop from the hidden compartment at the bottom of the bag and handed it to the detective. “I’d like a receipt for that and would like it returned to my client as soon as possible.”

  As the detective wrote the receipt, Greg did a quick search through the rest of the contents of the bag. He saw the two Canadian passports, one for David and one for another soccer player. He had a sneaking suspicion as to how David had crossed the border undetected and quickly closed the bag.

  “Thank you,” Greg said to the detective when he handed Greg the receipt. “I believe you have everything you require.”

  Greg waited for the detective to leave before he spoke to Laura. “I should be getting to the airport so I can get David back home safely. I’ll talk to Henry on your behalf and try to convince him that what you did was in David’s best interest.”

  “Just tell him that I …,” Laura said before Greg cut her off.

  “I’m sure he already knows, but I’ll leave it to you to deliver that message personally.”

  * * *

  The detective sat in his car as he watched Greg Blackwood get into a taxi and head to the airport. He pulled out his cellphone and made a call, but it wasn’t to headquarters. “I have the laptop. What do you want me to do with it?”

  “Bring it to me before you turn it into evidence,” the person on the other end of the phone said. “I want to find out how much that kid knows.”

  “Do you want me to follow him to Canada?”

  “That won’t be necessary. We’ve already got someone watching him and his brother.”

  *** Chapter 15 ***

  As David, Henry and Greg flew back to Canada, David explained to his father how he had become involved in the secret society. Although they were whispering to each other, Greg was still nervous that the other passengers sitting around them could overhear. “I’d recommend you wait until you get back home to talk.”

  When the taxi pulled into their driveway, David was surprised to see several family members waiting for him. Robert had come home from university after he’d received the call from Henry saying they were on their way back from Chicago. His aunt Jenny and his grandmother were also there.

  “I guess I owe you all an explanation,” David said.

  “You don’t owe us anything,” his grandmother said as she hugged him. “I’m so glad that you’re home safe and sound.”

  They all headed into the house and gathered in the living room. Everyone except grandma that is, who seemed more intent on making sure they all had something to eat and drink.

  “First of all, I’d like to apologize to all of you.” David said.

  “I’m not exactly clear on what you’re apologizing for,” Robert said. “What did you do?”

  “It’s sort of complicated. It’s probably best that I start at the beginning. It all started a few years ago, before Uncle Alan disappeared. Uncle Alan told me that he was part of a secret society and he asked me to carry on if anything should happen to him.”

  “Why would you agree to anything like that?” his Aunt Jenny asked. “You knew he wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “Yeah, I thought so at first too. Dad told me about his bipolar condition, so I thought this was just one of his fantasies. But the more we talked – I had a feeling that it wasn’t all just in his head. When his plane disappeared and those RCMP officers showed up asking about his code name and the group
he was involved with, it appeared that it was all true.”

  “His code name?” Robert asked. “Uncle Alan had a code name?”

  “Goliath,” Henry said. “Alan told me that he was Goliath, but I didn’t believe him. He’d been off his medications for a few days.”

  “I remember that day,” Robert said. “He showed up here acting like he was some kind of a rock star. But I still don’t understand how you got involved.”

  “Remember the break-in at the house?” David said.

  “How could I not?” Robert answered. “It scared the shit out of me. I came home and found two guys rummaging through our house. They went out the front door when I came in through the back. But the only thing they took was Uncle Alan’s laptop.”

  “Actually, I’m the one who took the laptop,” David confessed. “I was worried the police were going to take it, so I hid it in my soccer bag before they came back with a search warrant.”

  “How did you get it to work?” Robert asked. “It was password protected. Dad and I tried to hack into it but we couldn’t get past the encryption.”

  “Uncle Alan had given me the password. I’ve been using it ever since. Or I was, until they just took it from me in Chicago.”

  “Okay, I’m missing something here,” Aunt Jenny said. “Are you saying that Alan was a spy and that now you’re one too?”

  “Not spies,” David said. “We’re just members of a secret society.”

  “A secret society that does what?” Jenny asked.

  Henry’s ears perked up at this point. David had told him about the code name and the laptop on their flight home, but he had no idea what this secret society actually did.

  “It’s hard to explain,” David said. He could tell that it all seemed so unbelievable. No wonder they all thought his uncle Alan had gone nuts. “The group was started by Edward Bronson.”

  Edward Bronson was a very rich media magnate that owned several newspapers and TV stations in Canada. It was his plane that crashed, killing both Alan and himself. The police suspected the plane had been tampered with, but had never proven anything.

  “He believed that our most important problems would never be solved by politicians,” David said. “But he believed that these problems could be solved if we got the smartest people working together on solutions. The key was that it had to be anonymous. No one would be able to patent the idea or profit from the solution. No one would get to take credit for the solution to get elected. People would want to be involved, not for money or fame, but simply because it was the right thing to do.”

  David looked around and could see the skepticism on the faces of his family. “I know it sounds like a pipe dream, but that’s why I agreed to be part of it. I’m so frustrated with our current political structure. If one party proposes a solution, then the other one is immediately against it, regardless whether it has any merit or not. All the political parties are more interested in getting elected than they are about making any real progress.”

  “I think we all share your frustration with politics,” Jenny said, “but I still don’t really understand what you do as part of this secret society.”

  “I’m just a courier,” David said. “When information is sent to me, I’m supposed to distribute it to my contacts. And then they distribute it to people who have the skills to actually solve the problem.”

  “So why did they arrest you?” Jenny asked. “This doesn’t sound like something that would be illegal.”

  “I’m not sure,” David said. “I think the American government might be trying to hide something. I didn’t look at any of the information, but I think it’s some kind of a cover-up.”

  “Well, I think we’ve heard enough about secret societies for today,” Henry said. “David is back safe and sound and we’re all grateful for that.” Henry had decided the secret society had caused enough trouble for the family. “This family’s involvement in secret societies is over.”

  “Why would he stop?” Grandma said from the kitchen. She had been listening to everything as she brought them all something to eat and drink.

  “Mom, you don’t understand,” Henry said.

  “I think I do,” she protested. “It sounds to me like this group is trying to accomplish something worthwhile. Why would he stop now?”

  “Because it almost got him sent to jail.”

  “That’s no reason to stop,” she said. “Alan knew it was worthwhile – that’s why he asked for David’s help. And David, I can see that you believed in it. Has that changed?”

  David looked at his grandmother and could see the fire in her eyes. “No - not really. But I don’t want to go to jail either.”

  “Sometimes you have to be willing to go to jail to fight for the things you believe in. Your grandfather went to jail fighting for workers’ rights. We fought against our own government until they brought in proper health care for all of us, and not just for the rich.” She quickly picked up the various dishes and cups from the coffee table, took them back into the kitchen and slammed them into the dishwasher. “You do what you think is best.”

  David had no idea what he was going to do.

  *** Chapter 16 ***

  Just after supper that night, there was a knock on the front door.

  “Ashley, it’s good to see you,” Henry said as he opened the door. “David’s in his room.”

  Ashley was David’s girlfriend. They had both played on their high school soccer teams and had been going out for a little over a year. Ashley was a year younger than David, so was still in high school.

  Ashley took a quick look at herself in the mirror just inside the door and quickly fluffed up her short brown hair before heading down the hall toward David’s room. His door was half-open and she could see him lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. “Knock, knock, knock,” she said as she gently pushed the door open.

  “Ashley! I’m so glad to see you.”

  “How’s my little fugitive doing?”

  “I don’t even want to think about that anymore,” David said as he pulled her onto the bed beside him. “Just lie here with me for a bit.”

  They lay on the bed hugging each other for several minutes without saying a word. “You know, one of the things I like best about you is that I feel so comfortable when I’m with you,” David finally said. “No pressure, no stress. It’s like you’re my very own security blanket.”

  Ashley scrunched up her nose. She wanted to be perceived as something more exciting than a security blanket, but she let it go. “I’m so glad you’re back. Are you going to stay home for a few days?”

  “No, Dad’s driving us back to Waterloo later tonight.”

  “I was hoping that you’d be able to stay for a while. We hardly see each other. I hate being in a different city than you.”

  “Me too, but I’ve already missed several days of classes. I can’t afford to fall too far behind.”

  “Do you have to worry any more about the police?”

  “I don’t think so,” David said. “I think the stress of that whole ordeal is all behind me now.”

  * * *

  As Henry drove his sons back to Waterloo that night, there wasn’t a lot of conversation. Robert kept asking David questions about getting arrested, but David kept saying he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Just leave him alone for a while,” Henry said to Robert. “It was pretty scary for him. I’m sure he’ll talk about it when he’s ready.”

  “Are you still going to be a member of the secret society?” Robert asked, ignoring the request for silence.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, Grandma sure thinks you should be.”

  David was getting more and more frustrated. “I said I don’t know!” He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and slumped down in the backseat so he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions. But his grandmother’s comments had struck a nerve. In his heart, he still believed in the society and their goals. He just wasn’t sure he wa
s willing to pay the price to pursue those goals. He was sure his Grandma would be disappointed in him. Hell, he even felt a little disappointed in himself. He didn’t want to be the kind of guy who could be intimidated, but that’s exactly what had happened.

  Robert was about to ask another question, but Henry poked him and the look on his face told him it was time to drop it. They drove the rest of the way in silence.

  * * *

  Once they got to the residence, David went to his room and was trying to get organized for classes the next day. Robert had just plopped himself down in front of the TV when there was a knock on their door.

  “If that’s for me, I’m not here,” David said from his bedroom.

  Robert opened the door and saw a short blond girl standing there.

  “Hi, I’m Bronx,” she said. “I was wonderin’ if you’d heard anythin’ from David yet?”

  Robert was just about to turn her away when David poked his head out of his room.

  “David!” Bronx said as she burst by Robert and raced toward David. She leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was sooo worried about you.”

  “I’m fine,” David said, looking extremely embarrassed.

  “Sorry ‘bout that,” Bronx said as she wiped her pink lipstick from his cheek. “I know, I know, you’ve already got a girlfriend. But I’m so glad you’re back. I thought I was going to have to visit you in prison.”

  “So you heard about my little adventure.”

  “Only what they said in the newspaper.”

  David looked up to see that Robert was still standing by their front door. His eyes and mouth were wide open.

  “Uh, Bronx,” David stammered, “this is my brother Robert. Robert, this is Bronx.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” Robert said, but he was still surprised by what he had just seen.

  “I helped Bronx answer the roommate questionnaire a few weeks ago.”