by Jeff Adams
“Dr. Possible, Defender here. We have a code-black situation. All of Winger’s access needs to be revoked and his electronics destroyed immediately.”
He was silent for a moment and then finished with only a “thanks.” He dropped the phone into his pants pocket. “He’s on it. He’ll call back as soon as it’s done.”
“What happened?” Mom asked.
I related the story of dinner and what came after. I barely found the strength to get through it using the calming techniques I’d learned from Shields. Eddie had cut me at every level. I don’t think I could’ve done the same to him if I’d been ordered to. I love… loved him. He’d shattered everything I’d believed about us.
The more I talked, the easier it became. My body started to loosen up too, and I was able to move better.
“I don’t know what to say.” Dad’s face was creased, looking more worried that I’d ever seen. “How could we miss that as careful as we are?”
We were constantly aware of the people that we got close to. Everyone who set foot in our house had deep background checks run. They were submitted to the agency for review—preferably before they arrived. That included Eddie and his parents, Mitch and Iris, my teammates and classmates and all their parents. So many people were vetted to make sure that if there was anybody suspicious, we would at least know where we needed to safeguard.
Then there was my own security breach last night. I trusted Eddie too much. There’d never been another time where I had worked on classified code when anyone else, had been in the room. Last night it seemed secure enough since it wasn’t standing over my shoulder.
Is there anyone else I should worry about? Are Mitch and Iris who I think they are? They are my closest friends besides Eddie—but are they really? Has someone flipped them against me?
Mom and Dad looked at me. Had I missed a question? Were they waiting for me?
“What do we do now?” I asked, voice soft. fearing the question. TOS would likely strip me of my clearances and fire me. Do agents get fired? Or does something worse happen?
“For now, we keep going,” Dad said. “There’s a mission to finish, and you’re still part of the team. We will get you checked out physically to make sure you’re okay. There will certainly be debriefings.” He didn’t sound happy about that last part.
Mom nodded and continued. “And we’ll take care of our son. This is more than a mission setback. I can’t imagine how you feel.”
She’d was so earnest that it was hard for me not to crack. My first love smashed my heart. At some point my feelings about that would come out, but right now the agent part of me was too angry.
But seriously, how could someone be so cute and perfect over dinner and the pull that. This was real life, not a 007 movie.
Honestly, I’m not sure I can even tell if I’m angry or devastated. Winger needed to be in more control than Theo—I was sure of that.
Dad’s phone rang and it snapped me back from being in my head. “Yes, Doc,” he said. “He’s seems okay. I can put you on speaker. Actually, let me run a quick bug check. Stand by.”
We’d checked for bugs when we’d arrived, but this recheck was valid given the circumstances. He walked around the apartment and after a couple minutes he was back at the bed.
“We’re all clear. Putting you on speaker, Doc.”
“Snowbird here.”
They looked at me. How could I say the words given how I’d messed up? “Winger—” Anxiety welled up again, trying to cut off my speech. “Winger here.” Turned out to be the hardest words I’d said all morning.
I adjusted to sit cross-legged on the bed.
“Winger, good to hear from you. I wasn’t sure what to expect after the code black.” Lorenzo’s concerned voice stabbed my heart. At least he kept any anger or disappointment at bay. “Tell me what happened.”
“Have you shut down all the access?”
That had to be the first thing. We had to ensure what Eddie stole couldn’t be used by anyone.
“We’ve taken out everything. The laptop you had with you plus the computers you had on at home have been rendered useless. The ones that were offline will be fried the next time they come online. Everything is backed up in the cloud, of course, so we can restore and restart your access under new credentials when you’re ready.”
Would they really just reactivate my access? I wasn’t sure if I trusted myself.
“What’s the story?” Lorenzo pressed the question.
I recounted the tale again. The memories were clearer this time, so I filled in even more details.
“We’ll see how far we can track Eddie. Your phone should’ve tracked him until we zapped it. As far as we can tell he didn’t try to access it because the security didn’t engage. It doesn’t look like he tried to use the laptop either. The logs show it was in standby mode from about ten forty last night until we sent the wipe signal. And we got the response from the phone, laptop, and most of your home equipment confirming they were zapped.”
“You said the computer was in standby?”
“Unless something was done to send us false information, yes,” Lorenzo said.
Would Eddie have closed the laptop? If he did, maybe he hadn’t seen much, unless he read what was on the screen. After he’d put me on the bed, it was only a couple of minutes before he left.
“I had the contacts in last night. You should have data up to the point the phone went out of range. Maybe we can see when he slipped me whatever drug he used. And what happened afterward.”
“I’ll get that pulled from the cloud. I’ll handle the analysis on that myself.” I heard him type. I’d thank him later for doing the review instead of someone else seeing the disaster play out.
“And you’ve got all my code from last night?”
“We haven’t looked in depth yet, but it would seem so from what I see on my screen now. As the laptop went into standby, it transmitted the last bit of your work.”
“Good. I’d just started on an idea to block the audio transmission.”
“I’ll get you new electronics immediately. You want them delivered to the same place as the test devices?”
How was there no reprimand? How could he trust me? I didn’t really know what to say.
“Doc,” Mom stepped in. “Send the equipment to the same address. We need to talk here, and we’ll get back in touch with you.”
“Understood, Snowbird.”
Dad disconnected the call.
“Theo, what are you thinking?” Dad asked.
I unfolded my legs and very ungracefully got up. I still wore the shorts and T-shirt from yesterday, and I felt gross. I opened my mouth to speak, but where did I even start. I’d failed as an agent. I failed as a colleague. I’d failed as a boyfriend. I wasn’t prepared to handle any of that.
Dad’s phone buzzed. He looked and typed a reply.
“John’s bringing some breakfast,” Dad said. “He figured you could use it.”
I wasn’t sure I could eat, but I’d give it a try. What I needed for sure was water. Shuffling into the kitchen in my sock feet, I pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it with tap water. I drank it down and filled it again. Mom and Dad followed and stared.
“Theo, we know this isn’t easy,” Dad continued. “It’s never easy being let down by someone you love. We’ll listen to whatever you need to say.”
I put the glass on the counter and moved quickly toward Dad. He knew what I needed because his arms were out. I crashed into him, wrapping my arms around his back. Mom hugged from behind, and I was nested between the two people who would always take care of me.
I quaked as they held tight. No tears came. Maybe everything was too mixed up. There were sobs—heavy ones. At least I felt safe.
We stayed like that for several minutes, which gave me time to collect my thoughts. I couldn’t recall a time I’d been so unsure about the path forward. Usually there were clear signs even if I was hesitant.
We needed to fin
d out how we all missed Eddie being an enemy. A passing comment Lorenzo made months ago after a couple of weird incidents involving Eddie came to mind: was someone using him to get to me? At the time we’d brushed it off. It was a couple of weird signals and an infected thumb drive that never added up. I’d reported it but never followed up. Had Lorenzo? If he had, he surely would’ve told me, or at least told my parents, to be on the lookout.
I had to focus on this case so no one else could be hurt by these music files. Time to get back to work.
I finally released my hold on Dad, and they both stepped back.
“What do you want to do?” Mom asked.
“Finish this mission. And then figure out what happened.”
“We all missed the signs,” she said. “I know this impacts you the most, but it’s not all on you. Don’t carry the weight on your own.”
“I know.”
Most of me believed that. But as much time as I spent with Eddie, I would’ve thought there’d been clues to what he was capable of. What did they say about me, though? I wasn’t who I appeared to be either. His deceptions proved more successful than mine.
“I should call Lorenzo and debrief on what I was working on last night.”
“Okay.” Mom went to Dad, getting ready to go. “We’ll let you get to it. Once you’re done and get yourself put together, why don’t you come up and work with us. We plan to be based here most of the day.”
I nodded. It’d be nice to spend the day with them since it would help keep my mind off Eddie. “I’ll be up in a few.”
They each came in for another hug, and I returned them happily. I appreciated they weren’t trying to sugarcoat anything but were simply there for me in any way I needed.
Chapter Twenty-One
“WE’LL HAVE a new laptop and phone to you within the next two hours. A courier departed by plane not too long ago,” Lorenzo said. “I looked at what you have on the cloud from last night, and it looks like there’s good stuff there. Hopefully you can—” He abruptly stopped, which was unusual. “Stand by, Winger. We’re getting some new information.”
I hated not having a computer in front of me because he could’ve shared with me immediately. It was already a breach of protocol to use Dad’s phone without him present.
“Do you know if Glenwood Music turned the distribution system back on?” Lorenzo asked.
“It’s supposed to stay in maintenance until we gave the all clear.”
“It appears its online or something else changed. We’re seeing songs replaced with infected files at a rapid rate.”
This was a disaster. There were thousands of songs in the Glenwood system and consumers could be receiving tainted music.
“Let me see what I can find out. You can reach me on Defender’s phone until mine arrives. And—” I sighed. This was so frustrating. “Never mind. I was going to get on comms, but I can’t do that without authorized electronics. So, yeah, reach me on Defender’s.”
“Will do, Winger.” He paused for a brief moment. “We’ll get this sorted. I promise.”
I appreciated Lorenzo. Even when we worked together he often talked more as my friend than an agent or my superior.
We said our goodbyes and disconnected. I abandoned the idea of getting cleaned up and went up to Mom and Dad’s. The door was locked, so I knocked and as Mom came to the door, Oliver came down the stairs next door. He did not look happy. The news of the distribution system’s activation must’ve reached him as well.
“I assume you’ve both heard the latest?” Mom said as she stood aside so Oliver and I could enter.
“I just got off the phone with IT,” Oliver said as we went into the dining room where Dad was. “They have no idea how the system restarted, and they haven’t been able to shut it down.”
“How long has it been going?” I asked.
“A little over an hour, and it’s distributed updates ever since. It started with the most current material, and it’s going backward.”
I looked between my parents, which I’d done so much this morning as I tried to recover from losing my heart. Mom stood next to me, arms crossed. Dad was seated at his computer. They didn’t have the answers for this. I was still the IT guy in charge, so the call was mine. “We need to get to the office and try to shut this down. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to trace who initiated this.”
“Agreed,” Mom and Dad said, nearly as one.
“Take John with you,” Dad said. I handed over his phone. “And be careful.”
“I’ll call for the car and meet you outside in five minutes.” Oliver was out the door like a shot.
“Can you call Lorenzo, please, and ask him to divert the courier to Oliver’s office?”
“Of course.” Mom was about to say more and stopped.
“What? Tell me.”
“I was about to be ‘Mom,’ but I know you’re trying to be professional.”
“Thanks.”
Outside, John, Oliver, and Sofia were already on the stairs waiting for the car. I asked them to give me a minute, and I hustled into my apartment. There was no time to shower, but I swapped out shirts and ran wet fingers through my hair. I grabbed my backpack and was outside just as the car pulled up.
“Sofia you take the front,” John said. “I want to hang with Theo.”
Sofia nodded. She must have some idea of how sideways the morning had gone. Her demeanor was very businesslike today, different from anything else I’d seen from her so far.
We all piled in the SUV, and John and I had the back seat to ourselves.
He reached into his backpack and handed me a wrapped, warm sandwich and a Dr Pepper. “One bacon and egg sandwich.” He then dropped to a whisper. “You know I’m here if you want to talk.”
I simply nodded. There was no doubt that I’d take him up his offer later. I looked out the window, ignoring the food in my hands. Brooklyn raced by. I’d planned to make time, so Eddie and I could get out explore.
I leaned my forehead against the window as the scenery sped by.
“I’m sorry, Theo.” I pulled away from the window and found Sofia leaning around her seat. “I don’t know what happened, and it’s not my business. But I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you and Eddie. I was just trying….”
“Thanks. But it wasn’t your fault.”
There was nothing more to say. Although, had it played into some grand master plan for Eddie to be here? Or was it coincidence? Had this been planned all along and this turned out to be a good time to execute. So many possibilities for me to overthink.
“If there is anything I can do, let me know,” Sofia said. I nodded and when I didn’t say more she turned back.
The rest of the ride went by in silence. I texted Lorenzo on John’s phone to let him know I was headed to the office to work at the source. He had the team on standby for any support I required.
He also reported that Amp had taken the code I’d created as a payload tracker and worked with Ghostlight to integrate it.
The audio signal that causes the violence had gone dormant just after midnight last night. That couldn’t be good. They were no doubt waiting to get the maximum amount of music in place before they turned it on again. We had to end this before that happened.
As soon as we pulled into the garage under the Glenwood building, Oliver got a call which he briefly took before turning to me. “Melissa’s waiting for you in the office you used yesterday. Christian let her know that you needed a laptop, and it’s ready to go.”
“Thanks. I’ll send out updates as I have them.”
I went directly to the office, and there were three laptops along with a couple screens. It was perfect.
“They’re all on the network.” Melissa walked in behind me. “You can arrange them anyway you want. I figured more screens would be better.” She’d pulled together very good setup in a short time “Is there anything I can do?”
I dropped my pack on the floor and a wave of anger passed through me as I r
ealized I had nothing to get out of it. “Not right now.” I kept my frustration to myself. “Thanks.”
“I understand your intention is to shut down the distribution system completely.”
“Yes, and at the same time trace who has control of it.”
“We’re completely locked out. Our ability to even take it off the network is hampered because of the built-in redundancies. Do you think you’ll be able to?”
“I hope so.”
I sat down and got to work. Someone had put an impressive wall set up around MDS in the last twelve hours or so. The traces I ran were manipulated inside the network. The question was by who and how.
“Can we terminate everyone’s network access except for people who are accessing this system,” I asked Melissa, who worked on the opposite side of the desk.
“But no one can get in,” she said.
“Someone’s in there, and if we terminate the login, it might break their lock on the system. There may also be people logged in that we can use to get access.”
Her expression clouded. “This will cause a lot of chaos since most people will be blocked from legitimate work.” She looked to me as if hoping I’d change my mind. “We should get Oliver’s authorization.” She went to use her phone.
“I’ve already got authorization to do whatever I think’s necessary. And the fewer people who know the plan, the better.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, then.” She came around the desk, and I gave her the chair, so she could do what was necessary.
I had no way to tell Dad the plan. In fact, if I thought about it too much, my lack of devices freaked me out. If I disrupted the network and found who this person was, we’d need to apprehend them and I had no way to tell anyone.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked.
“Um, sure.” She unlocked it with her thumb before I took it.
I dialed John on his personal line.
“Hey, John. It’s Theo. Can you come down? I need someone standing by.”
“Sure. I’ll be right there.”
I passed the phone back.
“What about not sharing the plan?”
