DATA JACK

by Christopher Greyson

  “They are,” Replacement insisted.

  Pierce shook his head. “You’re making a huge leap. Corporate espionage is one thing. That rack falling on Mr. Mathis could’ve killed him.”

  Replacement’s lips pressed into a hard line.

  Jack gave the slightest shake of his head.

  Replacement sat back in her seat with a huff.

  “How does someone get a passcode?” Jack asked.

  “Corporate assigns them,” Pierce said.

  “Who else has access to that system?”

  “Myself and security.”

  Jack looked into the side mirror at the dark sedan that followed them. “No one else?”

  Pierce shook his head.

  “They could’ve watched Gerald enter his code.” Replacement crossed her arms.

  “That’s not the easiest thing to do.” Pierce sped up. “I saw a security demonstration of people trying to look over someone’s shoulder and steal their code. No one could do it.”

  “Alice does it all the time. Never let her see you put in a password.”

  “Really?” Pierce’s eyes darted between the road and Replacement.

  “People also use their phones to record video now. That keypad is in a bad spot. It’s high on the wall so someone short like Gerald has to raise his hand to enter the code. It gives people a clear view.”

  “I’ll have it moved,” Pierce said. “But I still don’t think the case has anything to do with Mr. Mathis’s accident.”

  Jack looked back at Replacement. “How are you coming along with the background checks?”

  Replacement reached down on the seat and lifted up the files.

  “You got all that already?” Pierce asked.

  “She’s a machine,” Jack said.

  Replacement grinned. “I went through the employee database in fifteen minutes. I’m running background checks on everyone now. I’m pulling social media data, school records, blog posts—everything I can get my hands on.”

  “Can you give me a rundown?” Jack asked.

  “I saw Bruce, Phillip, and I bumped into Roger. They all seemed fine. No bites. No bandages.”

  “That only leaves Leon but we saw him in the garage,” Pierce said.

  “He was wearing a suit jacket. I couldn’t tell.” Jack looked back at Replacement. “Did you get anything in their backgrounds?”

  “Right now the look-at-me flags go off on Roger and Bruce. Roger has some major money issues.”

  “He just came out of a nasty divorce,” Pierce said.

  “Still,” Replacement continued, “the wife creamed him. I had to stop myself from reading the whole thing. It was like a soap opera on Facebook.”

  “How do you know he’s hurting for cash?” Jack asked.

  “His wife went for the jugular in the divorce and posted everything online she got—like trophies. House, cars, jewelry. It was nasty. But then, get this, the mistress sued him.”

  Pierce shook his head. “She won. She got a bundle too, but I’ve known Roger since school.”

  “He’s a scumbag.” Replacement scowled.

  Pierce shrugged. “He’s a lovable scumbag. He just needs to try to control it.”

  “He cheated on his mistress. That makes him a double-scumbag.”

  “I don’t think Roger had anything to do with this.”

  “But you’re not sure,” Jack said.

  Pierce opened and closed his mouth. He tapped the steering wheel and then shook his head. “Roger knew about the new mapping feature in VE-Life that was leaked. I don’t think he’d ever intentionally say something but maybe he’s confiding in someone who is. I don’t know what to call it—pillow talk on the wrong pillow?”

  Replacement leaned forward. “Like one of those World War II things where he’s talking about stuff to his mistress but she’s really a German spy?”

  “Not as dramatic as that but…” Pierce’s head wobbled side to side as he struggled with the words. “Yes. Roger has always had a big mouth.”

  “Well, he’s tops on my list.” Replacement grabbed another folder. “Then there’s Bruce. Bruce is...odd.”

  Jack shrugged. “That was a given.”

  “I mean, he’s all over the Net. He blogs, and he’s even mentioned VE-Life. He’s an open source type. You know? All code should be free, and we should all share.”

  “And he doesn’t get that it can’t work that way.” Pierce scowled. “Does he have any idea how much it costs to bring software to production? Or how many jobs we create?”

  “But what about the people who can’t afford it?” Replacement shot back.

  “We have student versions and discounts for—” Pierce started to defend himself but Jack whistled.

  “Time out. How odd? Does he rail against VE-Life in particular?”

  Replacement flipped open a folder and started to read. “Not really. He seems to hate software companies equally.”

  “Well, that’s very fair of him,” Pierce quipped.

  “Those are the two who’ve stood out.”

  “Anything on anyone else?”

  “Boring. I’m looking for additional links, but not everyone posts their life online.”

  Pierce slowed down. “There’s the hospital. I think that we’re going to find out that Mr. Mathis’s accident is just that—an accident.”

  Chapter 35

  ~

  Selling Normal

  “You’ll only have a few minutes,” the short nurse explained. “But he kept asking to see you.”

  Replacement nodded and then followed the nurse into Gerald’s hospital room with Jack and Pierce coming with her. The large bag in Replacement’s hand swung like a pendulum. She wanted to stop by the little gift shop but Pierce picked out half the store.

  “Hey, guys.” Gerald sat propped slightly up in the bed.

  “Hi, Gerald.” Replacement scooted right next to the bed and set the bag down. “We brought you some things.”

  Gerald started to shake his head but winced. “You didn’t need to do that.”

  Replacement gently took his hand and leaned over so he didn’t have to turn his head. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

  “A bigger bottle of aspirin. I’m much better, but I still have a headache fit for an elephant. How’s the job?”

  “It’s going great. I’m just following your plan. You laid it all out.”

  Gerald turned to Pierce. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

  Pierce put his hand on the rail of the bed. “It’s okay, Mr. Mathis. It was an accident.”

  “Gerald.” Jack tried to soften his voice. “Do you remember what happened?”

  Gerald swallowed. “Not really. I was upgrading the server.”

  “The home server rack?” Replacement asked.

  “Yes. Then everything went blank.”

  Jack moved closer. “You were working on the server; did you leave at any time?”

  Gerald shut his eyes. “Roast beef.” His eyes snapped back open. “Sophia came by and told me she made roast beef sandwiches.”

  “So you opened the door to speak with Sophia?” Pierce said. “But you didn’t go with her?”

  “No, I did.” Gerald stared up at the ceiling, and his eyes moved as though he was watching a TV. “I wanted to get one before Bruce ate them all.”

  Replacement chuckled. “Then what?”

  Gerald’s voice got a little stronger. “I went back and saw that the update completed. I wanted to finish it.” Gerald’s lips pursed together.

  Replacement leaned closer.

  Gerald sighed. “Then everything went black.”

  “Did Sophia go with you to supper?” Jack asked.

  “No. She went to tell Bruce the sandwiches were ready. Why?”

  The nurse cleared her throat. “I’m sorry but we need to keep this brief.”

  Replacement squeezed Gerald’s hand. “One last question. I had to reset all the passcodes in the server room. You didn’t gi
ve yours to anyone to use, right?”

  “Of course not.” Gerald grimaced as he shook his head. “That’s a huge security breach.”

  Pierce patted Gerald’s arm. “We know you never would. We’ll stop by again soon, Mr. Mathis.”

  Replacement put the bag on the chair.

  “If you have any questions, please call me,” Gerald said. “It’s so boring.”

  *********

  Jack sat in the passenger seat and stared at the road as they drove back to the mansion.

  Replacement wrinkled her nose. “I hate hospitals. I just want to go home and take a shower.”

  Jack looked back at her. “We can’t yet. You and Pierce need to get the security camera working in that big living room. There are two in there. We need to be inconspicuous. Can you get it going without anyone knowing?”

  Pierce nodded. “It should just be a matter of connecting the feed.”

  “Why?” Replacement pulled herself forward.

  “We need to draw the guy out and we need a controlled environment.”

  “A controlled environment?” Pierce repeated. “Do you mean that you want to try to get everyone together? Like a sting?”

  “Jack, that’s Leon, Roger, Nancy, Mrs. Maier, Bruce, Phillip, and Sophia.” Replacement ran down the list.

  “That’s a diverse group.” Pierce rapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “You’ll need a good story to pull that off.”

  “You already did it once. We do a quick sell—dinner. Pierce orders something nice to say thank-you to everyone and his guests.”

  “Sweet.” Replacement squeezed his shoulder.

  “That gets them together. How do we let them know that I have the case?”

  Replacement’s hands shot up. “At dinner, I can get up and hand it to you.”

  Pierce grinned. “I’ll say something like,” Pierce cleared his throat, “‘Thank you for finding it, Alice. I’m really dying for a cigarette.’”

  Jack cringed. They both looked expectantly at him. “No.” Jack stretched the word out. “That sounded like a middle-school play. We need to keep it simple. After dinner is over, we lead everyone into the living room. Have Sophia serve desserts. Pierce makes a thank-you-for-coming speech and smokes an e-cigarette. You’ll leave the case on the table.”

  “And we have the room wired!” Replacement beamed.

  “We don’t have much time. Can your secretary put together a dinner this fast?” Jack asked.

  Pierce nodded. “Lydia’s a pro. She’s done it a thousand times. It’s like a ‘thank you for your hard work, let’s work harder’ type of thing?”

  “Exactly.” Jack looked back and forth between them. “The name of the game is normal. We do what we’ve been doing and stick to the plan. Keep it simple.”

  Replacement nodded. “Did you find a new case?”

  Jack held it up. “Exact match. Remember, we’re selling normal. Do what you normally would so you don’t raise any suspicion.”

  Chapter 36

  ~

  Crumbs to the Peasants

  Jack stood outside with Phillip and Bruce while they smoked.

  “Antonelli’s?” Phillip’s voice rose as they watched the catering truck pull up to the mansion.

  “Oh, man.” Smoke poured out of Bruce’s nose and clung to his beard. He tapped Jack’s shoulder. “Alice was just talking about that place. She said it’s her favorite restaurant.”

  “What are the odds?” Jack muttered.

  “That’s the super expensive one on Main Street,” Phillip said.

  “I guess his guests will be eating well,” Bruce grumbled.

  “I really wanted to try the food there,” Phillip said.

  Bruce’s eyes lit up. “We’ll get leftovers. Rich people always do that. It makes them feel better to throw the crumbs to the peasants.”

  “Dogs. It’s ‘throw the crumbs to the dogs,’ not peasants,” Phillip corrected him.

  “Whatever.” Bruce shrugged as he tossed his cigarette on the ground. “They’ll give us a bowl, and we can eat outside.”

  A woman cleared her throat behind them. Mrs. Maier held the door open for the caterers. “Actually, Mr. Weston is doing this for everyone to say thank you, and you’re all invited to join us in the dining room. Dinner will be at eight.”

  “Thank you.” Jack nodded.

  “I don’t believe you saw the cigarette can.” Mrs. Maier looked at Bruce.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, picked it up, and threw it away.

  After the last of the line of caterers disappeared inside, Mrs. Maier followed them and shut the door.

  “Sweet.” Bruce licked his lips. “I know they’re the most expensive, but I’ve also heard they have the best Italian food.”

  “We’re still going to have to work till eight,” Phillip said.

  “Food and more money? It just keeps getting better. I have to thank—hey, how’s Gerald?”

  “He’s doing much better,” Jack said.

  “Man. That rack must’ve weighed a ton, but how did it hit him on the head? You figure it’d be like when some dumb-ass rocks a candy machine and it falls on them, you know? It crushes them. But they die because they can’t breathe.” Bruce made a face as if he was doing bench presses.

  “Maybe he hit his head on the other server rack?” Phillip suggested.

  “Is he going to be okay? We should go see him,” Bruce said.

  Phillip put his cigarette in the can.

  “No more visiting today. They may allow it tomorrow,” Jack said.

  “You guys want to go with me?” Bruce asked as they headed for the guesthouse. “Or we could send flowers.”

  “Flowers?” Phillip rolled his eyes. “What guy wants flowers?”

  “What am I supposed to send him, a Playboy?” Bruce shot back.

  They worked for the next hour. Bruce went on about food so much that Jack’s stomach was loudly grumbling as it slowly approached eight o’clock.

  Sophia came out to the guesthouse at seven forty-five. Bruce practically jumped off the ladder.

  “I’m starving. Is it really Antonelli’s?” he asked her.

  She inhaled and nodded. “The kitchen smells incredible.”

  “Now you’re making me hungry.” Phillip tossed his screwdriver in his bag as they all headed for the door.

  As they walked down the path, Phillip and Bruce hurried ahead, and Jack slowed to walk next to Sophia.

  “You have to be tired,” Jack said. “You’re working round the clock.”

  “I’m exhausted.” Sophia stuck her tongue out. “But it’s not that bad.”

  “They have a cleaning crew, but then it’s just you for all that?” Jack’s hand fanned out along the length of the house.

  “Two more housekeepers are coming on Friday. It was only supposed to be Mr. Weston, and he didn’t want a lot of staff around.”

  “You’d think he’d want it fully staffed while he’s here.”

  “I know, but I guess he’s a private guy.”

  “What did you do before this?”

  “Secretary, waitress, hostess, and unemployed.” She laughed. “Now I’m all of that rolled into one.” Her arms twirled, and she pretended to hold a ball.

  “Do you dance?”

  “Not here,” she joked.

  Jack laughed. “Seriously.”

  She nodded. “Nothing big. I did have a part in Rent earlier this summer. For the Northbank Players in Connecticut. But you know how that goes: I was in Rent, so now I can’t pay it. I had to get a real job.”

  Jack chuckled. “At least it looks like you have an easygoing boss.”

  She frowned and tossed back her head. Her red hair shook. “I did until Mrs. Maier showed up. She’s all over me. She has a list of what Mr. Weston likes. It’s not a list but a book. Seriously.” She fumbled for her phone. “Look.” She scrolled down a long document. “It’s my ‘do and don’t list’ as she calls it.”

  The phone buzzed, and a picture of Mrs.
Maier appeared.

  Sophia’s eyes went huge, and she stifled a laugh. “Hello? I just informed them. I’m heading back now.” She rolled her eyes at Jack. “Yes, I will try to hurry.” She hung up and laughed.

  “That was kinda creepy.” Jack chuckled.

  “Kind of?” Sophia pointed to her phone. “They ring me with this. It’s like an electric leash. I have to keep it strapped to the side of my head.”

  Try wearing a police body camera, Jack wanted to say but held his tongue.

  “She’ll be gone soon.” Sophia hung her arms low and then sprang up. “Then I get help, and two more people come. Hurray. Everyone’s happy.”

  Jack laughed.

  Sophia smiled back. “So you and Alice?” She walked closer to him. “Are you two an exclusive thing?”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah. Monogamous.”

  She clicked her tongue. “Traditional.”

  As they came toward the entrance, Replacement bounded out the door.

  “Two in a row,” Sophia whispered. “I better watch out for lightning.” She smiled but kept walking.

  “Hey,” Replacement called out.

  “How’s it going?” Jack stopped.

  “I called Mrs. Stevens. She said Lady is doing great.” Replacement looked around to make sure no one could hear. “We’re not getting much. Leon’s records are in a vault in the Pentagon, I think.” She stuck her tongue out. “He doesn’t have anything to do with social media either. Mrs. Maier? Work is her life.”

  “Is she married?”

  “Thirty years. No kids.”

  “No kids? What about the husband?”

  “Eagle Scout and referee. He subbed on a couple NFL games, but he refs everything. She’s never had a negative on an employee review.”

  “Pierce couldn’t have started Weston that long ago.”

  “He bought Woodland Tech. It was really smart of him. He acquired all the infrastructure, staff, facilities—”

  “Everything to start a company.” Jack cut her off.

  “You okay?” Replacement asked.

  “Yeah. Did you get the camera set up?”

  She nodded. “I had a hard time with the feed, but Pierce showed me this little trick.” She snapped her fingers.