She arrived a few minutes late, but that was no big deal to David. He was notoriously late most times himself, something that always seemed to annoy Ashley. Advantage – Bronx.
He waved to Bronx, who waved back. She signaled that she was going to grab something at the counter before coming over to join him. When she did, David noticed she had chosen the same smoothie as he had. Ashley didn’t like them – said they were filled with sugar. Bronx – two. Ashley – nothing.
“I was surprised to get your text,” Bronx said as she sat down. “What’s the occasion?”
“Nothing. I just thought it would be nice if we got together for lunch.”
Bronx was wearing her blue “I Love New York” T-shirt, David’s favourite. “What made you choose Laurier over a U.S. school?” he asked. “New York has some pretty good universities.”
“Cause of my parents – They’re splittin’ up and I wanted to be closer to Mom. She was born in Canada and decided to move back when things started to fall apart. She’s got a place just north of Toronto, so I try to see her every few weeks.”
“Sorry to hear about your parents. Are you close to your dad?”
“Used to be, but my dad’s a cop so he can be a bit strict. We’ve butted heads more and more over the last few years.” She took a long sip from her smoothie. “People say I get my aggressiveness from my dad.”
David thought for a minute as he took a bite of his sandwich. Bronx was definitely aggressive. Ashley was the exact opposite. David felt totally relaxed and at ease when he was with her.
“So are you going to stay in Canada after you get your degree?” David asked.
“Hell, no. I’m goin’ back to New Yawk for sure. I’m just up here for a few years to support my mom.”
Point lost for Bronx. David had no desire to live in the U.S., and in particular, New York.
“What would you do in New York?” he asked.
“Dunno. One of the nice things about New Yawk is you can do pretty much anythin’ you want. If they don’t got it there, it prob’ly don’t exist.”
“I mean, what kind of career do you see for yourself?”
“You mean, what do I wanna be when I grow up?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” David said.
Bronx stopped eating and studied David. “What’s goin’ on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Suddenly I feel like I’m on a job interview.”
David could feel his face start to flush. “I’m just trying to get to know you better so I know if we – I mean, if there’s any chance that we…” He had no idea how to finish the sentence.
“This is like your stupid roommate questionnaire all over again,” she said. “You don’t decide to be with someone based on which box they tick on a survey.”
She quickly reached down to pick up her backpack. “Goodbye,” she said as she stood up. “I hope you find someone who scores better than I do on yer stupid test.”
She stormed from the café before David could stop her. This was not part of his plan. It was a stupid plan.
*** Chapter 20 ***
“Laura – my office,” Lou bellowed. There was no need for him to use the intercom as his voice seemed to carry the entire length of the office anyway. “I’ve been thinking,” he said when Laura entered his office.
“Uh, oh,” Laura thought to herself. It was never a good thing when her boss got to thinking.
“I’ve been thinking that your series of stories has done a pretty good job of convincing people that Oswald didn’t act alone and that there was some kind of conspiracy, but now we need to move forward and say exactly who was involved.”
“I’m not sure I have enough evidence yet to do that.”
“Okay, walk me through what you’ve got so far.”
“Well, for starters, there’s some evidence to suggest the CIA may have been involved.”
“Like what?”
“The CIA has repeatedly said that Oswald wasn’t connected to them, but there’s growing evidence that he was. There are reports that both the CIA and FBI were alerted that Oswald was a potential threat to the President in Dallas and that they withheld this information – some say deliberately.”
“Why would the CIA want Kennedy dead?”
“There’s speculation that they weren’t happy that both the President and his brother, Bobby, were trying to appease their relationship with Cuba and the Soviet Union. The President was apparently in the process of putting the CIA on a short leash after the Bay of Pigs fiasco.”
“But the President signed off on that,” Lou said.
“Yes, but it was a CIA-led operation that failed miserably and there are reports that they withheld critical information from the President.”
“I find it hard to believe that the CIA would be involved in a plot to assassinate their own President,” Lou said. “We can’t run a story without some real evidence. We’re not the National Enquirer, you know. What else you got?”
“There’s speculation that the Mafia may have been involved.”
“Come on,” Lou said. “The Mafia is not sophisticated enough to take on the assassination of the President.”
“Actually, some members of the Mafia were experts in assassinations. They were trained by the CIA and worked with them in several attempts to take out Castro.”
“Castro? Why would the Mafia want to kill Castro?”
“Because the Mafia used to control all of the casinos in Cuba. All of that changed in the Cuban Revolution when Castro gained power. The CIA, the Mafia and anti-Castro Cubans were all in bed together – had been for several years.”
Lou was still having trouble getting his head around this theory.
“And there’s a ton of evidence connecting Jack Ruby to the Mob,” Laura added.
“I still find it hard to believe.”
“There’s also a theory that the defense companies may have wanted Kennedy taken out,” Laura said. “When President Eisenhower left office, he warned the nation about the power of the military establishment and the arms industry. There was talk that Kennedy planned to end the involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam, and that’s not what the defense contractors wanted.”
“It sounds like there was no shortage of people who wanted the President dead. Is there any new evidence indicating who was actually involved?”
“Not that I’ve found so far.”
“What about those eleven hundred documents that disappeared? Have you found any of those yet?”
“Not yet,” Laura said. “If anyone’s still got them, they’re not talking.”
“We can’t run a story suggesting who’s behind the conspiracy with what you’ve got so far. We need more. Can your inside source get us anything?”
“I don’t think so.” Laura put her head down. “I seem to have lost communication with him.”
“Well I suggest you regain communication with him – and fast. And find me those missing documents!”
* * *
“What is your citizenship and place of birth?” the Canadian customs agent asked Todd as he crossed the border.
“American,” Todd said. “I was born in Chicago.”
The customs agent looked at Todd. “Please remove your sunglasses.” He compared his face to the one on his passport. Then he scanned the bar-code on the passport into his computer and watched as the terminal displayed the results.
“What is the purpose of your trip to Canada?”
“Hunting – I’m heading to a hunting lodge up north to do some moose hunting.”
The customs agent took a closer look at Todd. “Are you bringing any firearms with you across the border?”
“Yes,” Todd said as he picked up a piece of paper that was sitting on the passenger seat of the car. “Here’s my permit.” He handed the agent the permit.
“This is not the normal type of gun used for hunting moose,” the agent said as he studied the Authorization to Transport form.
“Yeah, it’s my first
time hunting moose so I wasn’t sure exactly what to bring. I’ve also got a Temporary Firearms Borrowing License. The lodge said they could loan me a rifle if I needed it.” Todd handed him the second form.
“Exactly where is this hunting lodge?”
“Somewhere north of Sault St. Marie,” Todd said. He handed him a pamphlet. “The exact address is written on the back. I hope I don’t get lost trying to find it.”
The customs agent studied the pamphlet and forms carefully. “Could I ask you to step out of the vehicle and open your trunk sir?”
Todd pulled the latch to release the trunk. As he got out of the vehicle, he became aware that a second customs agent was now watching his every move.
The first customs agent lifted a suitcase which revealed the heavy steel case that contained the rifle. “Is that case locked?”
“Yes it is,” Todd said. “I’m with the FBI, so I know how to properly secure firearms while they’re being transported.” Todd showed him his FBI identification. “Would you like me to open it?”
The customs agent visibly relaxed when he realized he was dealing with an FBI agent. “Not here. Just pull off to the side, go inside the building, and one of our agents will come out to verify that the serial number on the gun matches the permit. You should have let me know earlier you’re an FBI agent. We immediately go on alert whenever we become aware of firearms – can never be too careful these days.”
“I’m sure,” Todd said. “Sorry, but I’m just here on vacation, not official business, so I didn’t want to play the FBI card.”
Todd got back into his car and followed the directions of the second customs agent who pointed out where he should park.
“Okay, I’ll get you to unlock the gun case now so I can verify the serial number,” he said. The customs agent barely glanced at the rifle before he put his initials in the box on the form. “Just take this inside and they should have you on your way in no time at all. Good luck hunting.”
“Thanks,” Todd said as he locked the gun case.
Less than twenty minutes later, Todd was on the highway heading out of Sault Ste. Marie. As he approached a major intersection, he read the signs providing directions as to which way to go. One road headed north toward the hunting lodge; the other road headed south toward Waterloo. He turned south.
* * *
Professor Nigel Livingston continued his work in his office on the Waterloo campus. He was not going to quit until he knew if his encryption theory was correct. It would have been a lot easier if he still had the microchip, but that was an obstacle he would have to overcome. He still had the encrypted files on his computer, and he was sure he had one of the encryption keys. If his theory was correct, the second key would be hardware based.
Many people know that computers communicate over the Internet using their IP address, but he had to go much deeper than that. As his computer started up, he entered the key sequence to interrupt the process so he could see the Media Access Control address of each component of his computer. He wrote down the MAC-48 address of his disk controller, but he suspected he would have to go even deeper. He also wrote down the burned in address of the disk itself.
As an encryption specialist, the professor knew the capabilities available to those who tracked all of this type of information. There were rumours that the U.S. National Security Agency had a system that could monitor the movements of everyone in a city by monitoring the MAC addresses of their devices, whether it was their cell phone or a chip in their car. Some manufacturers had even stopped using burned in addresses for devices to prevent Big Brother from watching.
The professor made another copy of the encrypted files onto an external drive. If his theory was correct, the files would be encrypted using a hardware identifier from the external drive. He wrote down the hardware address of that device.
He planned to use a brute-force attack to break the encryption using the two copies of the files as test subjects. He knew such an attack could take hours, maybe even days or weeks. Fortunately, the professor had access to some of the most powerful computers available at the university.
He entered the required information into the system and hit the key to start the code-breaking program.
Now all he had to do was wait.
*** Chapter 21 ***
David threw himself onto his bed when he got back to his room after his lunch with Bronx. Things had not gone at all how he had planned and he was pretty sure Bronx would never speak to him again. He decided to skip his afternoon classes and just sleep away the afternoon.
He awoke a few hours later when his cell phone chirped the arrival of a new text message.
“Planning to come to Waterloo 2nite,” the message said. “R U around?”
The text was from Ashley and couldn’t have come at a better time for David.
“Yes,” he texted back. “How R U getting here?”
“My parents. 7 OK?”
“Perfect”
David was filled with energy again. Ashley was the perfect girl for him. No doubt about it. He wondered why he had ever doubted it in the first place.
David heard Robert come through the door into their suite. “Ashley’s coming over tonight.”
“You’re not going to break up with her here, are you?” Robert asked.
“I’m not breaking up with her. Why would you think that?”
“What about Bronx?”
“It’s over with her,” David said. “Actually, it never really got started. We’re not compatible.” He didn’t want to share any of the details of their lunch.
Robert looked completely confused.
“But don’t say anything about Bronx when Ashely’s here,” David said. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Robert said. He was still confused.
* * *
It was a few hours later when David received a text message from Ashley saying they were just pulling into the parking lot of his building. David raced from his room and hit the button for the elevator, but grew impatient so he decided to take the stairs. He reached the lobby just in time to see Ashley and her parents approaching the main doors.
“Hi Ashley,” David said as he held the outside door open. He wanted to give her a hug, but felt awkward with her parents watching. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.”
“Hi David,” Mr. Taylor said. “How are your classes going so far?”
“Pretty good.”
Mrs. Taylor pulled her daughter in close. “Just call us when you’re ready,” she whispered. “We’ll only be a few minutes away.”
Mrs. Taylor gave David a weak smile. “We should go,” she said to her husband.
“Why don’t you show me your residence?” Ashley asked David.
“There’s not much to show,” he said as he took her hand and led her into the building. He pointed out the cafeteria as they walked by it on their way to the elevators. “Meals here are optional, but most students sign up for at least one meal a day. Robert and I are registered for both breakfast and supper, but we normally just grab lunch somewhere on campus.”
There were only a few students sitting in the cafeteria as most had already finished supper.
“Can we just go to your room?” Ashley asked.
“You read my mind,” David said suggestively. He quickly pushed the button for the elevator. “We’re in W308. Robert’s there, but I’m sure I can get rid of him.”
As soon as they were in the elevator, David pulled her in close. She hugged him back, but David had a sense that she was nervous.
“This is it,” David said as he opened the door to W308. “It’s not much, but its home. The common area is a bit small, but it’s big enough. Dad let us bring a TV and a loveseat from home – the chairs they supplied are as hard as rock – and it’s got a sink and small fridge. Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m good,” Ashley said.
“My room’s off to the right,” David said as he pointed to it, “and this is Robert’s room to the left. All th
e bedrooms in the building are identical – just mirror images of each other.”
Robert was sitting at his desk doing something on his computer, but looked up when they poked their heads in. “Hi Ashley. Good to see you.”
“Hi Robert.”
“Don’t you have a class tonight?” David asked his brother. David already knew that he didn’t, but hoped he’d pick up that he wanted to be alone with Ashley.
“Vanessa is supposed to be coming over to study in a few minutes,” Robert said, “but we can work in the cafeteria.”
As he gathered up his laptop and his books, he couldn’t help but notice the worried look on Ashley’s face.
* * *
“What are you doing down here?” Vanessa said when she found Robert waiting for her by the elevators on the main floor.
“David’s girlfriend is in town and they didn’t want me as their chaperone.”
“I wonder why?” Vanessa said as she winked. “Do you want to head over to my place to study?”
“No. Let’s just hang out in the cafeteria here for a bit. I have a gut feeling that something’s not right.”
They each grabbed a coffee and sat at a small table. Sure enough, Robert saw Ashley get out of the elevator about ten minutes later. She was crying as she headed out of the main doors and Robert saw her mother waiting for her just outside.
“Sorry, but I think I’m going to have to give you a rain-check on our study session,” Robert said. “I’m going to go check on my brother.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll just see you at the group study session on Thursday. Are you going to come to our next Magic gathering?”
“You can count on it,” Vanessa said. She threw her coffee cup in the garbage as she got up to leave. “I hope everything is okay with your brother.”
* * *
The Second Shooter Page 12
