“It’s okay, Anita,” I said. I’ll call from my cell phone, but you better take my mother and go to your house while we wait for them.”
My mother’s phone line was cut, so I called 911from my cell. The operator picked up immediately. I was surprised when she transferred me to the Truman police department when I told her the nature of my call. She must have deemed my call didn’t qualify as an emergency. Truman police must have had the same thought. They told me someone would be out in a day or two to take a statement.
I’d seen enough shows on television to know not to disturb a crime scene, but it was obvious nobody was going to rush over with a CSI unit. So I decided to take some pictures of the damage with my phone before calling my mother back in.
Someone had been looking for something and didn’t care what they destroyed to find it. Pictures had been ripped off the walls and holes punched in the drywall. They had smashed my grandmother’s buffet and broke mirrors as though there might be something hidden between the glass and backing. There wasn’t a piece of furniture, picture, or mirror that was still intact. They had even torn up the carpeting, where I assumed, they were looking for a floor safe.
I was taking my last picture when the front door opened. “My god. What happened in here?” It was my sister. Kevin and Taylor were right behind her with their mouths open, and I could see Mother and Anita coming up the walkway.
“Mom’s been burglarized,” I answered.
“No way,” Kevin cut in. “Wait ‘till I tell my friends. Do you think we’ll get in the paper?” Then he pushed past his mother and walked into the living room.
“Don’t touch anything, Kevin,” Megan said. “We should wait for the police.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “They’re not coming.”
“Too busy giving out tickets, I’ll bet,” Kevin said while heading for the kitchen. Taylor had taken his lead and followed right behind.
By now my mother and Anita had made their way into the house. “Not my mother’s buffet,” she cried. “That was our wedding gift.” She must have missed it on her first inspection.
“Why would someone do this?” Megan asked. She had already gone over by the buffet and was picking through a pile of broken picture frames. “What could they possibly be looking for?”
It didn’t take long for Mother to regain her composure. “This would have never happened, Jacob, if you had checked on the house more often.”
That was more like the mother I knew. “We’ll find the bastards, Mom. I promise. Can you tell if anything is missing? We should make a list for your insurance company and the police for when they do show up.”
“Must you swear so much, Jacob? No, I have no idea if anything is missing. Thank the Lord I took all my jewelry over to Megan’s.”
Father had never owned any stocks or bonds, and any savings they had managed to put aside before he died would be in the bank – he didn’t trust mattresses.
“I know what they was looking for, Uncle Martin.” We all went silent and looked at Kevin.
“What is that?” Megan asked.
“The coins of course. I’ll bet they thought Grandpa had them.”
* * *
My plan to hack Hal’s computer got put aside until the boys and I could get my mother’s house repaired - that and the fact that I really didn’t have a plan after my failed attempt at his dock. Megan had the good sense to get our mother out of the house so the boys and I could get to work. I assigned Kevin and Taylor to collecting trash while I worked on packing my mother’s belongings for her to sort through later. Fred was assigned to guard duty, but he was constantly falling asleep on the job. We would have been dead-meat if the burglar came back.
We used up the few boxes and trash bags that Dad had in his garage, so I made a quick trip to the SuperMart for more supplies. When I got back, Amy’s expensive SUV was parked in the driveway.
All kinds of thoughts went through my head: What should I say when I see her? And why is she here? To see me? No. More likely Taylor. I quickly combed my hair with my fingers in the truck mirror, grabbed the beer and soda I had picked up at the store, and started up the walkway. Hal came out of the house before I made it to the door.
“Long time no see, Stranger. How have you been?” he asked, offering his hand.
I tried to look past him for his wife, but he seemed to have gained more weight since the last time I saw him at the funeral. I set down the six pack of soda in my right hand and took his hand. He had a very large ring I could feel as he squeezed my hand firmly. I squeezed back and he squeezed even harder. “Getting by,” I answered and let go. I didn’t feel like getting into a pissing contest, and I let him have his little victory. “How about you? Keeping out of trouble?”
“More like trying to keep my kid out of trouble. Amy wanted me to stop by and check on him. It seems like he spends more time at Meg’s than at home lately.”
I bent down to retrieve the soda. “Why don’t you come in and have a cold beer if you’re not in too big a hurry. I’ve been meaning to call you, so now you can save me a quarter.” Inspiration strikes at odd moments. I had just realized how to hack his router – I was going to sneak up to his dock at night to avoid the cameras, and I needed to know when his next trip to California would be.
Hal’s expression of forced joviality faded to concern. He looked at his watch before answering. “I’m on the wagon. But I could use one of those sodas.”
Taylor looked down at his step-father when we came into the house. “What did I do now?” He was at least a foot taller than Hal, so he couldn’t help but look down on him.
Hal ignored him. “I’ll take one of those beers after all, Jake. Is there someplace we can sit?” he asked, looking around at all the overturned furniture. He didn’t ask what had happened, so I assumed the boys had already told him.
I could feel the tension between him and Taylor. “Hey guys, the boxes and trash bags are in the back of the truck. Why don’t you work on the kitchen while Hal and I go out on the patio.” The patio had the only table and chairs that hadn’t been broken.
Hal followed me out to the patio and then stepped back into the house when he saw Fred. Fred was lying in the shade under the patio table. The thieves had taken the air-compressor coils which made the house unbearably hot for his heavy coat. The copper coils seemed to be the only thing missing in the backyard. “It’s okay,” I said. “He won’t bite you unless you bite him first.”
Hal forced a smile at my joke. “At least he didn’t growl at me this time. But I’ll stay here in case he changes his mind.” Hal popped open the beer I had given him and took a sip. With an eye on Fred, he leaned his massive weight against the patio door frame. “What was it you wanted to ask me, Jake?”
I could see the frame bend and was afraid the glass door would pop out. “I was wondering if I could hitch a ride to Denver with you next time you go to California. I’m still without a car,” I said, taking a chair next to Fred and reaching out for his collar. “I’ll hold him if you want to come out here where it’s cooler. You’ll roast if you don’t get out of the house.”
Hal left his perch and took a chair at the far side of the table. The chairs were those cheap plastic ones that don’t seem to last the season. “What happened to your motor home?” he asked. “Amy said you were given a motor home by some old coot in Lincoln.”
There was a glint in his eyes. The look my father used to give when he caught me in a lie. I took a drink of my beer and wondered what else Amy had said to him about the night we spent talking under the stars. “Oh it needs too much work to drive that far. Tires alone will cost more than I’ll get from my insurance company – assuming they ever pay me for my car.”
Hal looked down at Fred. “Are you leaving him here?” I still had Fred by the collar, and he wasn’t a happy puppy. He was on all fours trying to pull off his collar.
I got up and led Fred to the door, then closed it behind him. “Yeah. I’ll only be gone a couple of days fo
r my daughter’s birthday and will be coming back on a plane.”
Hal seemed relieved and crushed his empty beer can. It wasn’t the normal crush where one squeezes the flimsy sides. He crushed it from the ends, which takes a lot more pressure and hands the size of a gorilla. It made me thankful I didn’t get into the handshaking contest with him earlier. “Not a problem, Buddy. I was going to ask a favor of you, but you won’t have time now. I’m leaving in the morning. Can you be ready that soon?”
I wanted to ask when he planned on coming back, but I didn’t want to press my luck. I figured I had at least a couple of days to do my dirty work. “No. Maybe next time. I’ve got to finish here before I can leave. My insurance should come through by then anyway.” Then I remembered he said he wanted to ask a favor. “What was it you wanted me to do?”
Hal put down his squashed beer can and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Damn kid got some kind of virus on my computer. I’d ask the tech at the office to look at it; they can do that online now, but it’s probably full of porn. You don’t mind if I smoke do you?”
Of course I did, but I didn’t want to mess up a golden opportunity. This was better than trying to hack his router – if I could get my hands on that computer. “No. This is where I make the boys smoke.”
He leaned back in his chair and took a big drag on his cigarette, letting the smoke out slowly. I was waiting for the chair’s cheap plastic legs to break. With only two of them supporting his weight, they had to give in. “I hear you’re into computers, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking a look at it?”
This was getting better by the minute. “No problem. Have Amy give me a call whenever it’s convenient.”
“Let’s keep Amy out of it,” he answered. “No sense in letting her know what the kid’s been up to. I’ll drop it off before I leave. Just remember any porn you find on that machine is between you and me.”
“Amy who?” I answered, trying to make a joke. “Do I know her?”
Hal looked at his watch once more. I was beginning to think he was on medication or something. “I need to pick Amy up by five. I’ve already got her kid pissed off at me; I don’t need her ragging on me too.” He dropped his cigarette on the ground and got up to step on it. I was a little disappointed not to see the chair collapse from under him.
Hal left through the backyard gate without going through the house. Either he didn’t want to confront Taylor or was afraid Fred would take a bite out of his dress pants. After he left, I went over to the sliding door and opened it. “Hey guys,” I yelled. “The coast is clear. Come on out and take a break.” Then I sat back down and opened another beer.
While waiting for Fred and the boys, I was trying to decide the best way to hack Hal’s computer. When they didn’t show, I decided to get off my butt and see what was taking them.
Mom’s house was built in the style I like to call cracker box. It had been built right after the Second World War to meet a pent-up demand in housing: a basic one-thousand square-foot rectangle with two bedrooms, one bath, kitchen, and a dining room. Someone had added the garage in the sixties. Because of the simple design, it was nearly impossible not to hear someone anywhere in the house. I didn’t hear a sound when I entered the kitchen from the patio door. Then I heard Fred barking in the front yard.
My first thoughts were that Fred had Hal cornered, or worse yet, he had a piece of Hal’s expensive pants in his mouth. I crossed the sparse living room in five steps and ran out the front door. I expected to see Hal’s hands squeezing Fred’s neck, but his car wasn’t even there. Kevin was throwing an old piece of garden hose in the back of Taylor’s truck, and Fred was doing his duty as a retriever to bring it back. Then he would bark at Kevin to throw it again. Taylor was watching it all and roaring with laughter.
“Hey, Slackers,” I shouted. “Let’s get back to work and get this place cleaned up before the sun goes down.”
Fred was exhausted when he came back in ahead of the boys. He still had the hose in his mouth and dropped it at my feet, then went straight for the water bowl I had put in the kitchen earlier. The boys went for the sodas in the refrigerator. I picked up the hose and tossed it in a pile of torn cushions. “You guys want to give me a hand with this couch,” I said as they opened their drinks.
“You think we should finish the job on this in case they didn’t find the coins, Uncle Martin?” Kevin asked while kicking the battered sofa.
“I still don’t see why you think your grandfather was hiding coins. He would have told your grandmother long ago.”
“Yeah, but what if he was, and we end up taking them to the dump?”
“You’ve got a point, Kev. Don’t throw out anything else until I’ve had a chance to go through it.” Fred came back, went to the front door, and started whining. “Looks like Fred wants to go home. I’ll take him out where it’s cooler. Why don’t you guys lock up and meet me at the truck?” Then I opened the door to let him out.
Fred didn’t head for the truck. Whoever said dogs were dumb didn’t know Fred. He ran back into the house, grabbed the hose, and then ran outside. I ran after him and tried to take the hose, but now, he seemed to be in for a game of tug-a-war. When the boys joined me, I finally gave up and let him have his hose. Taylor opened the passenger door and pushed the seat forward, so Fred could hop in the back jump-seat. The truck had an extended cab with a small seat behind the main seat.
“I call shotgun,” Kevin yelled out.
“No way, Kev. You rode in the front coming out here. It’s my turn to ride up front,” Taylor said, holding the seat forward for Kevin to get in. “Besides, it’s my truck in case you’ve forgotten.”
Without saying another word, Kevin gave his friend a sour look and got in the truck. Taylor was already in the passenger seat and buckled in by the time I rounded the truck and took the wheel. I started the truck and pulled out of the driveway. “Did your father mention he wanted me to look at his computer?” I asked.
“Yeah. Do you think you can fix it, Jake?” I could see a glimmer of hope in his face.
“Sure. Tell you what. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter than today, so let’s take a break from this cleanup and work on that computer.”
Nobody gave me the slightest argument, and the boys went back to talking about girls and sports while I drove us home with the biggest grin on my face. Even Fred seemed to understand the reprieve. He finally dropped his hose and stuck his head out the open window while I daydreamed about all the information I would gather with the spyware program I was going to put on Hal’s computer.
Chapter 14
True to his word, Hal dropped off his computer the next day. My plan to plant a spyware program became a little complicated when he politely insisted Taylor give me a hand, so ‘The boy could learn something useful.’ Hal had shown up late – evidently to assure Taylor would be up and awake.
Taylor wasn’t the only one awake. Now I had Megan and Kevin looking over my shoulder, too. Thank god Fred couldn’t read, or he would have been watching me as well.
“Can they really recover deleted files even after I empty the trash can?” Taylor asked. I could imagine where this was going.
“Sure can. As long as the sector hasn’t been reused. You see a file isn’t really deleted from the hard disk, just from the file allocation table…” I could see I had answered his question and was now putting everyone to sleep. “Sorry about that. Here, let me show you instead.”
I inserted my Norton utility disk and started the file recovery program. I immediately spotted several large JPEG files in the temporary internet folder and selected one for recovery. Taylor became extremely embarrassed when I opened it.
“Cool picture, Taylor,” Kevin said while staring at the screen of two women and a man in a comprising position. “Got any video of them?”
“Those aren’t mine, honest,” Taylor said.
Megan gave us a disgusting look when she saw the picture. “I’ve seen enough. I think I’ll make us all so
me late breakfast while you boys enjoy yourselves.” She left for the kitchen.
“No idea what you’re talking about, Taylor,” I said. “Let me show you how to defragment the disk which will get rid of all the file pointers. Of course, the only way to truly delete them is by overwriting the space with zeros, but defragging will get rid of ninety-nine percent of them.”
Kevin looked like someone just stepped on his toes. “Can’t we copy those to my flash-drive first?” he asked.
Now it was my turn to pretend to be appalled. “That wouldn’t be ethical, Kevin. Hal trusts me to be discreet about this cleanup. Besides, this is going to take at least a half-hour. Why don’t we all get something to eat in the meantime?” I hoped I had bored everyone enough to not return after breakfast. I needed time alone to do my dirty work and violate Hal’s trust. The boys didn’t have to be asked twice. I no sooner started the defrag program, and we were off to the kitchen.
When we came in, Mother was sitting at the table talking to Megan. “Did you boys have fun in there?” she asked. She wasn’t smiling, but my sister had a grin a mile wide.
“Just cleaning up the trash, Mom,” I said while taking a cup out of the dishwasher.
“Those are dirty,” she nearly yelled. “You’ll have to clean one yourself. Nobody bothered to start the dishwasher.”
Megan had already left the table and was headed toward the fridge. “Scrambled okay for everyone?” she asked as she took out a large carton of eggs.
“Have you forgotten about my house, Jacob?” Mother asked before anyone could answer Megan. “Or are you going to watch those dirty pictures all day?”
Megan finished cracking open the eggs and started mixing them in a large yellow bowl. I recognized it from yesterday’s cleanup. “That reminds me,” she said. “Amy said she would stop by to pick up the computer on her way to work this morning. I’ll wait for her, so you guys can get to work on the house. Is that okay with you, Jake?”
[To Die For 01] - A View to Die For (2012) Page 15
