Undue Competition

by R A Wallace

  “Simple. They grow up,” Sierra said. “They meet someone, get married, maybe have a couple of kids.”

  “Then the mortgage follows and before you know it, they’ve started a new antivirus company or something to support their new lifestyle.” Michael added.

  “Seriously? Hackers make software to keep other hackers out?” Ariana looked from one to the other.

  “Who else would be more qualified?” Michael straightened from his computer. “I think we’re ready.”

  Sierra stepped in front of Ariana. “Okay, that means you’re up. Are you ready for this?”

  Ariana took a deep breath and nodded. “I need to find a way to distract him.”

  Michael turned to face them. “From what I’ve seen of the video footage, he definitely gets distracted whenever you’re around.”

  Sierra pointed at the video feeds. “He’s in that room. Good luck, but don’t take any chances. If you don’t feel comfortable about something, walk away.”

  “We’ll have eyes on you at all times,” Michael reminded her.

  Ariana nodded before leaving the room. She smiled at the faces she recognized as she navigated the halls to the large room Carter was in. The room was scheduled to be used for a two-hour challenge and would begin shortly. Sierra and Michael guessed that Carter was planning to do something to the computers of the students currently gathering there to compete.

  She found him sitting alone at the end of a long table lining the far wall of the room. He was totally focused on the computer in front of him. She nodded to a few people as she wove her way through the crowd in the room. She approached Carter from the side. As soon as he sensed someone nearby, he flipped his computer closed.

  “Mind if I join you?” Ariana didn’t wait for a response.

  Carter flashed her a surprised look, then dropped his eyes to the computer in front of him. Ariana watched as the red blush formed on his neck and worked its way up to his face.

  “Are you competing in this one?” Ariana asked. When Carter didn’t answer her, she looked around the room. “Looks like you’ll have your work cut out for you.”

  Carter’s eyes slid to the side quickly to steal a glance. He shrugged before turning back to focus on his computer.

  Ariana nodded toward a student across the room. “I know she’s going to be tough to beat. I watched her give a presentation on critical infrastructure design.”

  Carter made a noise that Ariana didn’t know how to describe. It wasn’t pleasant. She felt the tell-tale buzz of her phone in her pocket and stood.

  “I should probably go. The event is going to start any minute.” She stood and faced him. “It was nice talking with you. I hope you win everything you deserve.”

  Ariana walked slowly across the room to the entrance. When she turned around, Carter was still watching her. He ducked his head when her eyes caught his and reached for his computer again. She moved quickly through the halls to return to Sierra and Michael.

  “Did you get it?” She closed the door behind her and crossed over to them.

  Sierra nodded as she watched the live video feed from the room. “You done good.”

  “We were able to set up a DMZ around him,” Michael said.

  She knew she’d heard the acronym more than once in the past week but her mind refused to bring up an image to describe it. “DMZ?”

  “Demilitarized zone,” Michael muttered as he keyed something else into his computer.

  “In essence, the other students in the room are now behind a firewall,” Sierra explained. “They’ll be protected from anything Carter tries to do. We also set up a honeypot within the DMZ.”

  Ariana’s brows went up.

  Sierra turned to her and smiled an apology. “Sorry. I know this must be confusing.”

  “No, that one I understood. You set up a computer to lure Carter. You’ll use it to trap him.”

  Michael stopped what he was doing and turned toward Ariana. “Good job.”

  She felt the heat in her face. “Thanks.”

  “We also set up some filters to capture all the traffic in the DMZ. That way, we can prove exactly what he’s doing.”

  “Michael.” Sierra pointed toward his computer with her chin. “Looks like Carter is ready to make his move.”

  Michael made a noise of excitement as he turned back to his computer. “Okay, Carter. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  ***

  Callie stood in the small conference room studying the map projected on the wall and shook her head. “There’s nothing there.”

  Greyson switched the map to satellite view to see the surrounding area. “No real buildings that I can see. You’re sure these are the right coordinates?”

  She raised her hands in a helpless gesture. “They match the address I found in Corky’s records.”

  Greyson rubbed his chin. “What could possibly be here to interest him?”

  “I have no idea. Nothing that I can see. It’s only land.” She turned to him. “Maybe you have to be there.”

  He shifted his eyes from the map to her. “You want to go to California?”

  “Do you have a better idea?” She asked. “I’m open to suggestions. But, right now, it’s the only thing I can think of. This location was important enough for Corky to write down and keep just before he died. I’d like to know what it was for.”

  Greyson didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Her eyes shot back to the map.

  “I’m in. As soon as we get the current cases wrapped up, we’ll take a trip.” Greyson checked the time. “We need to go. They should be getting close to making their move.”

  ***

  Mack flipped through their notes and shook his head.

  “I’m not seeing it either.” Jo pointed at the folder. “We’ve interviewed everyone who has had contact with Gallagher recently. Nothing is sending up flags for me.”

  “Maybe Callie is on to something?” Mack looked up from the folder. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  Jo raised her hand. “I know. You think my mind hasn’t gone there already?”

  Mack dropped the folder onto his desk. “Maybe we need to stop looking at the future? See what’s in Guy Gallagher’s past that could have gotten him killed.”

  Jo nodded her head before gathering her things. “Let’s go.”

  “Where to first?” Mack pushed himself out of his chair. “The girlfriend?”

  Jo led the way out of the room. “Exactly. There are probably two people who would know for sure what happened to Marquita Dixon all those years ago. Her mother and her best friend.”

  “Her mom passed away.” Mack fell into step beside her in the hallway leading out of the building.

  “That leaves Ella Fisher.” Jo nodded to another officer as they passed him in the hall.

  “Hey, maybe she’ll tell us where she gets her lawn ornaments from?” Mack caught Jo’s look. “What? My wife really likes those.”

  ***

  “Got him,” Michael said. “He’s trying to push malware down to the other computers in the room.”

  Sierra spoke into her phone then disconnected. They watched the live feed as several uniformed officers quietly entered the room but remained at the entrance. The students ignored them and continued working on the current challenge. They’d been at it for nearly two hours and were just ready to submit their results.

  It was an individual event. The students were all working alone. Carter was crouched over his computer, appearing to focus on the challenge. Michael and Sierra knew otherwise. The door to their room opened and Callie and Greyson stepped in followed by Javier and Tammy.

  “Did he make his move yet?” Javier asked.

  “Yes. The rest of the students will be fine,” Sierra said.

  “But this is when Carter is going to realize that his plan is going to fail,” Michael added.

  “That’s why we have security in the room,” Greyson said. “They’ll ensure nothing happens.”

>   They watched as Carter hit some keys on his keyboard repeatedly. His head came up and he began to scan the room. His eyes widened when he saw the security team near the main entrance. He turned to look at the emergency exit door. There were uniformed officers there also. He closed his computer and slouched down in his seat. Everyone held their breath as he was escorted quietly from the room.

  “And that’s it,” Tammy said. “I want to thank you all for your help with this.”

  “Ditto,” Javier said as he moved to the door. “We were lucky to have you.”

  Tammy pointed at Sierra and Michael but she turned to Javier to speak on their way from the room. “I told you those two would go far the first time they were here competing as college students.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  She rounded the corner of the house just in time to see the tail of whatever had crawled through the brick skirting under the back porch.

  Antonio found his wife standing near the back porch staring. “What are you looking at?”

  “Something just went under the porch,” she said.

  He lifted his sunglasses to peer underneath but the light from the sun blinded him. Ever since his cataract surgery, he’d been super sensitive to it.

  “What colors did it have? You know what they say. Red touches yellow. That’s the poisonous snake.” Antonio rubbed his chin. “That’s right, isn’t it? Or is it red touches black?”

  Stacy frowned at her husband as she tried to remember the poem. “I think it’s red touches yellow, makes a dead fellow.”

  “You saw a coral snake?” Antonio took a step back. “Wait till I tell everyone.”

  “No, no. It didn’t have any colors.” Stacy pointed at the back porch. “I’m pretty sure it was normal.”

  “Normal? You mean a black snake?” Antonio moved away from the house to look around the yard for a stick. He raised his voice so Stacy could hear him. “We aren’t supposed to kill those but I still don’t want it under the porch.”

  “I forget. Why can’t we kill them?” Stacy yelled back to Antonio just as he found a large stick.

  He walked back to her and held the large stick up as he faced her. “They’re the good ones. They kill the bad ones.”

  Stacy frowned. “They what the bad ones?”

  Antonio raised his voice again as he stood poised with the large stick above him. “Kill! Kill!”

  “Stop!” Callie rushed to take the large stick from the elderly man. “Please don’t hurt her.”

  The elderly couple turned to her in confusion.

  “What?” Stacy said. She took a step closer to her husband. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Callie Indigo from Indigo Investigations. I heard you both shouting from the front of the house.” She motioned with the large stick she now held. “What were you doing with this?”

  Antonio pointed under the back porch. “My wife saw a snake.”

  “No, no,” Stacy said, her voice full of exasperation. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. It was just a gecko.”

  “Oh.” Antonio scratched his head. “Why didn’t you say so?”

  Callie looked between them. “Maybe we could start again?” She propped the stick up against the porch. “Mind if we get out of the sun?”

  “I could use a glass of sweet tea,” Stacy said.

  “Count me in.” Antonio motioned toward the house. “Indigo, you say?”

  Callie followed them to the door. “Yes, Callie. I’m a private investigator. I’m helping the police with the death that occurred next door.”

  A dog greeted them as soon as they stepped inside. It was a small thing of mixed parentage. They kept its fur cropped close on its body but longer on the top of its head. As a result, it looked as though it sported a pompadour of fur.

  “The police were here.” Antonio settled in what was obviously his favorite chair in the living room. He pressed a button and his feet rose with the bottom of the recliner. The small dog went up on its hind legs, begging to be picked up. Antonio reached down and helped the dog into his lap.

  “I know that. I’ve spoken with them also.” Callie thanked the elderly woman when she returned to the living room and handed her a glass of tea. “You’re Antonio and Stacy Moreno, right?”

  “Yes.” Stacy sat in a matching recliner. “That was some excitement. We’ve never had a death like that before. Not in our neighborhood. And to happen right next door in the swimming pool. It was sure something, I’ll tell you.”

  “I’ll bet. Do you remember much about the day?” Callie sipped the tea. It was twice as sweet as what she was used to. She took another sip anyway to be polite.

  “Oh, sure. I told the police officers everything.” Antonio motioned to the dog. “The King was barking a lot.”

  Callie looked at the small dog. “The King?”

  “His name is Elvis.” Antonio leaned toward her as though sharing a secret. “He prefers to be called The King.”

  “Of course.” Callie smiled. “The King was barking, you say?”

  Antonio nodded. “We had no idea why at the time, of course. That’s all we were able to tell the police.” Antonio looked dejected that he couldn’t have played a larger role in the drama.

  “You can’t remember anything else unusual that happened that day?” Callie set her glass of tea on the table next to her, careful to use the coaster.

  “We don’t have much in the way of excitement now,” Antonio said. “We basically live our lives by watching others.” He waved toward the television.

  “I like to read,” Stacy said a little defensively. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. I got a new ebook reader that day, remember?”

  Antonio shook his head. “If you say so.”

  “I do.” Stacy picked up the electronic book reader from the table next to her chair. “See?”

  “It arrived the day of the murder?” Callie asked.

  “It did.” Stacy frowned. “I didn’t think to mention it to the police, of course. I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered.”

  “Do you remember when it arrived?” Callie held her breath.

  Stacy made a face as she tried to remember. She shook her head slowly.

  “Isn’t that when The King was barking?” Antonio said.

  Stacy’s eyes widened. “You’re right, it was. That’s what made me get up to look. We couldn’t figure out why The King was barking, so I looked out the window by the door. That’s when the delivery woman was at the door.”

  After thanking Stacy and Antonio, Callie sat in her car with the air running. She disconnected her call with Mack before driving back to her office. Mack was excited that there might be dashcam video from the delivery truck. Stacy still had the receipt for her ebook reader. That gave Mack and Jo the name of the delivery company that they needed. They agreed to follow up on it immediately.

  She found Mrs. Brzeski working at the front desk. Michael, Sierra, and Ariana were just arriving. Callie held up the bags in her hands as she passed Clara.

  “I could get used to this,” Clara said as she followed Callie to the small conference room where the others had gathered.

  Greyson appeared as everyone dug into the bags. “How did it go?” He took a seat next to Clara.

  “Good,” Michael said as he unwrapped a sub sandwich. “We were able to figure out that it was a zombie type malware program.”

  Clara lifted her brows at Callie. Callie shrugged.

  “It was designed to reproduce and infect all of the other computers in the network,” Ariana explained to them.

  “Well, look at you!” Clara said as she passed a tub of potato salad to Ariana.

  “I know, right? I learned a lot this week.” Ariana passed the tub to Michael.

  Michael looked around the table as he held the tub up. Everyone waved.

  “Go ahead, finish it.” Clara smiled as Michael used the serving spoon to eat from the tub.

  “So that one is all wrapped up?” Greyson asked.

  Sierra gave a
half nod. “Sort of.” She glanced at Michael. “We promised we would go back and help their in-house security team a bit more.”

  “We’ll work on it later this afternoon. We need to catch up on our other work first.” Michael set the empty tub down and began scanning the table for anything else.

  Callie held up a bag of cookies.

  Michael’s face brightened immediately. “Fetch those on down here.”

  Ariana took one from the bag as it passed by her then handed the rest to Michael. “What are you working on next?”

  Callie glanced at Greyson. “We’re thinking of taking a trip.”

  Ariana’s mouth was full so she raised her eyebrows in question.

  “I found an address in Corky’s things.” She glanced at Clara. “The stuff he had in storage.”

  “An address in California?” Clara looked down at the rest of her sandwich.

  Callie noticed Clara frowning. Her eyes shifted to Greyson.

  “Does that ring a bell?” Greyson asked.

  Clara began wrapping up the rest of her sandwich. “I remember Corky talking about a case just before he died.”

  “What kind of case?” Ariana asked.

  “That’s just it. I’m not sure.” Clara clasped her hands together as she looked at Callie. “I’m sorry. I think he said that someone who hired him had something to do with California but if he said what it was, I’m just not remembering now.”

  Callie blew out a breath. “It’s okay. I wish now that I had paid a lot more attention to what was going on back then. That I could go back in time and ask him what he meant when he said something cryptic or just ask him what was going on.” She shook her head. “That’s not possible. We just need to deal with what we can now.”

  “You two are thinking of going to California?” Sierra asked.

  “Yeah. We checked out the address online. There doesn’t seem to be anything there.” Callie balled up her sandwich wrapper.

  “Then what are you hoping to find?” Clara asked.

  Callie stood to gather her lunch debris. “I don’t know. Maybe just going there will help me. We’ll see.”

  Greyson stood also. “It’s worth a try, right?”