by Ryan Krauter
He had no real job, since he didn’t have a car and wasn’t old enough to work late anyway. He did what his mom referred to as ‘subcontracting’ for her; she would often bring home computers or other equipment for him to fix, upgrade, or configure. He was good at it, and it had the bonus of getting him parts to build his own PCs as well as a source of video game and fast food money.
The most interesting time in his life had been when he was little, barely in grade school. His parents had wanted to move from the big city where he’d been born, and one summer they had traveled all over the country by minivan and plane in search of a new place to live. At night, in hotels or at the occasional waterpark or campground, they entertained him with crazy bedtime stories about people from space, who fought a war with a race of evil aliens called Vortilons. The name was a joke between him and his dad the pilot, since a vortilon was actually a little fin on an airplane.
Anyway, the Vortilons hated the space people, and chased them all over the galaxy trying to blow them up. Luckily for them, the space people were smart and held the aliens off until Matt had gotten old enough to not want to hear bedtime stories anymore. He never knew how his parents would have ended the story, but they were definitely good at making it up.
So there he was, in high school, where his biggest challenge in life was doing his homework, getting good grades, avoiding Logan in school, searching for a cute girl to go on a date with, and watching movies on weekends with Jessie, who had as little social status as he did.
It was stable, boring, and never seemed like it would change. Then, one day, everything changed.
Matt closed his locker to see Logan steamrolling down the hall, eyes locked on him. What does he want now? Matt thought.
Logan walked right up to him and stopped to look at Matt, who had quickly closed his locker so Logan didn’t get any ideas about messing with the stuff inside.
“Something in there you don’t want me to see?” asked Logan. “You have some lipstick or a skirt in there or something?”
There were several thousand things Matt would have liked to say back, but all of them would have resulted in a shoulder block into his locker from the bigger kid. So instead, he backed down. Like he always did.
“Nothing interesting,” he replied.
“You got that right,” said Logan as he turned to leave. He brushed against Matt just enough to upset his balance a little, a welcome relief from the standard shove or verbal insult.
That part of his day over, Matt brightened just a bit because he knew he wouldn’t run the risk of meeting Logan again until the end of the day.
“Funny how that jag does that five feet from the big poster about not bullying, huh?” asked a voice from behind him. He recognized it instantly, and smiled as he turned around. Jessie was there, ready to meet him for their trek to English. She jerked her thumb towards the colorful poster above the lockers reminding students that bullying was wrong.
“Maybe he’s illiterate and stupid,” Matt replied. “He has many talents.”
She smiled again and they turned to walk to class. Where Matt was taller and skinny with dark hair and brown eyes, Jessie was short for her age and, at least in his eyes, everything else was just right. He liked her figure, her just-past-the-shoulder length sandy blond hair, and gray/green eyes. But what made her fun to hang out with was her sense of humor and her attitude. The problem was, they had been friends for so long that the window for leveling up their friendship had probably passed before he realized the clock was ticking. They had each watched and given advice as the other had gone out on dates, and had taken turns buying sodas and burgers for each other when those dates didn’t end well. Matt had another guy friend who told him that he and Jessie were pretty much dating anyway, but there were just no benefits to be had. Every time Matt wondered what it would be like to try to hold her hand, put his arm around her, or more, he started to panic at the thought that it would end badly for them just like all their other combined dates. He didn’t want to be eating that consolation burger alone because he and Jessie had gone down in flames on a date.
The end of the day came soon enough, and Matt was extra relieved since it was a Friday. Two days of sleeping in, no school, no greater purpose than to do some gaming and waste away his valuable teenage years.
He stalled leaving his last class, knowing that Logan would race out the front doors and be on his way home, no doubt to torture some small animals or start a forest fire or something. He knew this was the one time of day when Jessie dealt with something similar. There were some girls she used to be friends with, and some time ago they had gone through some massive falling-out. They had un-friended each other online, deleted names from phones, and taken down the pictures from walls and lockers. She had told Matt it was about some concert they were going to go to, but had been unusually reluctant to give him more details. She always told him everything, but on that topic she didn’t want to go further, so he simply decided to classify those girls as trolls and not think about them.
The problem was that those girls had been pretty catty with Jessie since then. They’d tried to spread a few rumors, and were always talking in hushed tones and pointing to her when she walked past, but Jessie’s lack of overall school social status meant that nobody really cared what those girls were selling. Still, Matt knew it was hard for her, and it seemed like that bunch of tools were one of the few things that could dampen Jessie’s mood. He hated them for that.
As the school was clearing out, Matt met Jessie in the parking lot.
“Still on for tonight?” Matt asked.
“Well, after I’m done with my busy schedule of lying about finishing my homework and begging my parents for money, I’ll see if I can still make it over. I’m very important and in demand, you know.”
“I see. So, seven o’clock?”
“You know it,” she said with a smile as she turned to walk down the street in the opposite direction of Matt. He turned as well to make his own trip home. He plugged his headphones into his cell phone, started the music, and began the important process of tuning out the world around him.
What Matt didn’t notice were the people closely but covertly watching him from a distance. There were two groups. The first was a car filled with four men, all in their early twenties. The second was a team of two men, also about the same age. They, however, seemed to be following the first group of men. All were, in their own way, following Matt Falken. Each group, however, had their own reasons and plans for him.
Friday was pizza night at the Falken house. It had been a tradition for as long as he could remember, and his parents said it was because since everybody was tired by the end of the week, unless Matt wanted to cook them supper, his dad would just continue to pick up a pizza on his way home from work.
They ate as they went through another tradition, a quick recap of their days.
Dad had flown the company plane, an older twin engine turboprop, to St. Louis to give a demo for some new soccer cleats they were trying to sell, and mom had upgraded some of the servers in the bank.
“Oh, by the way, I decided to bring some of the older parts back to the house for storage,” she began, which was tech support speak for ‘though the company insists we inventory and store this stuff, nobody wants it and even fewer people know what it does anyway’. This meant new toys for Matt.
Matt was up in an instant, the pizza on his plate forgotten as he ran to the back hallway where their coats and everything else was stored. He came across a box and brought it back to the table. Normally, there would have been a few stern glances about making a mess while eating, but his parents were both computer geeks as well, and they understood.
“I’m told those chips respond very well to overclocking,” his mom said with a small grin.
She was right. Matt looked at the model numbers on the boxes, and knew he could take them up to 4 gigahertz on air cooling alone. There were two of them, and they were compatible with the boards he had in two of his sc
avenged computers already.
“Awesome, mom! Thanks!”
“Just no hacking from our own IP address,” said his dad jokingly. “Remember to use the neighbor’s wireless.”
After it was dark, Jessie finally arrived, though Matt didn’t realize it at first because he was already tearing apart a computer to swap out the parts his mom brought him.
“Hey, Jessie,” said his dad as he let the neighbor girl in. She and Matt had been friends for a long time, and him and Matt’s mom hoped they remained so forever. He hadn’t fully appreciated when he had been young when his parents gave their opinions on his friends, and he had vowed to try to keep his mouth shut about Matt’s friends when that time came, but he was definitely glad she was around- she was a good kid and he tried his best to not interfere in their relationship, in whatever form that happened to be.
“So, what’s on tap for tonight?” Matt’s dad asked. “He said something about downloading a movie…” Though his parents liked to give Matt his space when asked, they were also smart enough to catch on to just about anything that might get him into trouble. Since they didn’t subscribe to any services that allowed them to download movies, the choice of words had made his father alert.
“Uh, not download,” she stated. “We meant rent a movie. Piracy is wrong.”
“Just remember, jail is worse than detention, and a criminal record is forever.” He looked at the stairs. “Matt,” he called up to the second floor. “Jessie’s here.” Matt didn’t respond, so his dad tried again. “I’m giving her a hundred dollars and the keys to the car.”
She laughed at that. “If that doesn’t get his attention, nothing will,” she said.
Still no response from Matt.
“His mom brought home some computer parts,” his dad explained, “so he’s probably tuned out the world while he works on that.” He gestured to the stairs. “You know the way. See you around, and don’t bring law enforcement personnel to our house.” He headed towards the kitchen, leaving Jessie to make her way upstairs.
Matt’s door was slightly ajar, and Jessie opened it quietly. His room was a bit too dark- the ceiling light was off and he was using the light from several lamps on his computer desk. This is too easy, she thought as she crept up on him. He was focused on the screen in front of him as some sort of test was running. A computer case sat next to it, side panel removed and fans making more noise than usual.
Still unnoticed, she snuck right up behind him, then grabbed his shoulders and yelled “Boo!”
Matt jumped several feet straight up, shooting his chair back into Jessie’s leg and causing her to step back as she reached down to grab her smacked shin.
“Holy crap!” Matt stated. He recovered quickly, then noticed his friend rubbing her leg. “You ok there?” he asked.
“I suppose I deserved to get injured from that,” she admitted. “Still, I think it was worth it.”
“You knew the risks, so I feel no sympathy for you,” he replied, but did it with a smile. “Want to see the upgrades I’ve done?” he asked.
“Not really. You know I think you’re an ok person and all, but I draw the line at computers.”
“But these are going to be fast! Look at the benchmarks I’m running!” He was excited, but Jessie had no idea what that meant. She did know that he was good at what he did, and that he often worked on several projects at the same time, much as he was doing now. He had one PC running, setting it up the way he wanted it, while at the same time he was doing something with the guts of another one, and he seemed to always be able to keep things straight. He was an excellent multitasker, she had to admit.
“All I want to know,” she asked, “is can I surf the net?”
“One day you will learn to think big!”
Matt and Jessie were online in his room, reading reviews of recent movie DVD releases, when Matt heard the doorbell ring downstairs.
“Girlfriend?” asked Jessie, and Matt just shook his head.
“I don’t think we’re expecting company,” replied Matt. “Want to go snoop around and meddle in my parents’ business?”
“Sounds like fun to me!”
Matt and Jessie came down the stairs in time to see his dad get to the front door. He looked through the sidelite window along the edge of the door, then opened it to greet whoever was there.
“Mr. Falken,” began the stranger in an oddly unaccented and clipped voice. “My name is Dare Turon.” The man produced a business card, which his father took and eyed warily. Matt had never seen his father act this way. He seemed nervous, though he hid it well. His dad didn’t look like he feared the man, but it seemed like the guy definitely put him on edge. “I tried to reach you at you work regarding some business, but you were not there and this is a very time sensitive matter. May I come in?”
Matt stood there, unable to move. Something very interesting was going on, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it might be. His dad was the most law-abiding person he knew, so he figured his dad was probably not in trouble. Matt hadn’t recently broken any laws he was aware of, either. What was this?
Matt’s dad nodded and gestured for the man to enter. Matt finally got a good look at him. He was probably in his late twenties, clean shaven and very fit, like he used to be in the military or something. His manner was very stiff and businesslike, not relaxed like it would be if they were old friends or something like that. His accent was odd; he spoke precisely and with the very faintest tinge of what Matt thought of as a British accent. Warning bells were going off in Matt’s head.
Matt’s dad turned towards the kitchen. “Kim, would you come in here? We have a guest.”
That was when Matt’s dad finally noticed him and Jessie. “Hey guys,” he began, trying to act casual. “Mr. Turon here contacted me about something at work. Could you two give us some privacy so we can talk?”
“Sure,” Matt answered quickly. “We’ll just go back upstairs…”
“I meant real privacy.” His dad walked over to the base of the stairs where they had stopped and drew out his wallet. Matt noticed that Turon guy watching him and not his father. Was this weirdo interested in him as well as his dad?
“Here’s a few bucks to rent that movie you were talking about. Could I ask you to watch it at Jessie’s house?”
It took Matt a second to look away from Mr. Turon and at the money in his hand. His dad had given him $40. Now fireworks and red flashing lights were going off along with those alarm bells in his head. His dad wasn’t exactly tight with money, but just handing him a wad of cash was not normal, either.
“Please.” His dad said earnestly, directly to him. Matt could do nothing else but nod silently and look at Jessie, who eyed the back door. They nodded and walked out quickly, not wanting to pass next to the strange visitor and instead going out the back of the house.
“Matt,” Jessie began slowly as they hit the sidewalk and started towards her house. “What in the heck was that?”
Matt shrugged. “I wish I knew. I’ve never heard of that guy before, and I’ve never seen my dad act that way.”
“Are you in Witness Protection or something?”
“I only wish our lives were that interesting,” he replied. “My parents are very boring people. I have no idea what this is all about. But it makes me want to go all secret agent and start checking things out.”
“Well, I noticed one thing already. His car was parked on the street in front of your house. It was a rental, but it was a big car, too. So he’s from out of town and has money.”
“How shifty of you to notice that.”
They had already passed Jessie’s house and were still walking towards the movie rental kiosk at the grocery store down the block a ways, but all thoughts of that sort of entertainment were forgotten.
“Let’s get some ice cream and see how many weird stories we can come up with to explain this,” Jessie began. “It’ll be fun, and our English teacher would be proud of our creative exercise.”
“I don’t have any better ideas than that. Let’s go burn some of that bribe money my dad gave us, eh?”
When Matt returned to his house a few hours later, the stranger was gone. It was late, and his parents were sitting in the living room with just a couple table lamps on. Because of the time, Jessie had gone home and let Matt walk the last couple blocks in silence. The problem was, he had been sort of distracted and at ease with the situation while he was with Jessie. Now, alone with his thoughts, he started to get worried again.
“Hi,” he stated as he walked into the room and stood near the couch. “How’s it going?” he asked slowly, cautiously.
“Fine, Matt, just fine,” replied his father.
“Mr. Turon just had a pitch to make to your dad, that’s all,” added his mom.
“So that’s your story?” Matt asked skeptically.
“Of course,” replied his dad. “Would you like us to make up something different?”
Matt knew something was up, but there was no way he was going to get his parents to tell him, that much he was sure of. He just shook his head, bid them ‘goodnight’, and headed up to his room. He finished putting together the other computer he was working on without paying too much attention to it. He was much more interested in what sort of craziness his parents were involved in.
Chapter 2
The next morning was uneventful. No SWAT team in the kitchen, no secret room in the basement that his parents were pulling bags of cash out of. They acted totally normal, which of course made Matt more suspicious. Still, they weren’t offering to talk about it, so he went on with his day.
That afternoon, he walked down to Jessie’s house. Her mom was going to drop them off at the mall for a while. Jessie had gotten a new cell phone a couple weeks ago, but the battery had died and they were going to stop by the carrier’s store to get a replacement. It was also an excuse to burn up the rest of the money Matt’s dad gave him. He had mentioned recently to Jessie that he would need new gloves for the coming winter, and she claimed to have found a pair that would be great for him. Not a big fan of clothes shopping, he figured it was still better to do it with his friend than have to go with his mom. Jessie also promised they’d have enough left over for a snack at the food court.
