Vigilante Investigator Series Box Set

by Eden Sharp

  I saw a color photocopy of a young child. No wedding band probably meant a picture of a niece. A dog-eared copy of what I assumed was a chick lit paperback due to its lurid pink cover sat to her right. Maybe she had a lot of downtime where the phones weren’t ringing, in which case I’d timed things well. She directed her caller to an appropriate extension and gave me her best receptionist smile like she was happy to be on top of things for a moment before the switchboard lit up again.

  ‘Good morning. How can I help?’

  ‘Hi, I’ve had a request to submit a resume to your HR department. Hold on a moment please,’ I said.

  I was aware of footsteps behind me, someone else waiting in line. This was good. All I needed now was a new incoming call. I could have arranged that if I’d thought of it and I’d had my cell to hand. I wrestled my coat to access my purse and make it look like I was searching for something. Acting flustered, I dumped the coat atop the desk and knocked over the coffee. The ready-loosened top dislodged resulting in a quarter-full cup of cold, brown liquid spilling out over the resume I’d brought with me.

  ‘Sorry. I’m so sorry,’ I said.

  The girl grabbed some blue paper toweling from a roll somewhere behind her work station and tried to clear the mess. The switchboard rang. I flapped around pulling items from my purse until I found a pack of tissues and helped with the clean-up while she struggled to take the call. The person behind me shifted in place and breathed out in a manner unnatural enough to show their annoyance, presenting a masterclass in passive aggression.

  I opened my eyes really wide and stared hard until I felt a prickling sensation, willing tears real enough to convince the woman I was about to get emotional.

  ‘It’s okay, really,’ she said. She looked past me to address the person behind.

  ‘Just sign in there please Mr. Haines and go straight through. I’ll let them know you’re on your way.’

  Haines scribbled in the book and left while I conjured some more tears.

  ‘This job’s really important to me,’ I said. ‘My dream job. And now I’ve gone and ruined it and I won’t be able to get my resume in on time.’ I dabbed at my eyes with a tissue.

  ‘I can call someone to come and talk to you if-’

  ‘Give me a minute?’ I said and wiped my eyes dragging the tissue hard enough to smudge my mascara. I grimaced as though I’d only just realized what I’d done and rummaged through my bag again. I took out a compact and opened it to study my face. I looked a mess.

  ‘I can’t like this,’ I said raising my voice. Then I got excited and rifled through my bag. With a flourish I pulled out a USB stick.

  ‘I’ve got a copy on this,’ I said, allowing a tone of triumph into my voice and transforming from an emotional wreck into something far more bright and cheery. As far as she was concerned, a problem about to be solved.

  ‘I can print you a new copy no problem at all,’ she said as another new call came in.

  I smiled showing my first organic emotion in five minutes.

  She inserted the data stick into a port and opened it up. All she would see would be a single file entitled Resume-latest.

  7

  After arriving home, I called Knox to make sure he was still good with the monotony of database diving and to let him feel I was showing solidarity by doing the same. I promised I’d make it up to him and he seemed satisfied after I’d agreed to meet him for dinner.

  The first thing I did was go to my closet but not to select clothes. It’s a sizeable walk-in space with additional storage out of sight behind. I slid some hanging garments to the side of my rail and pushed on a magnetic catch allowing me into the extra space behind to access my machines. I swept through my list of security protocols to ensure anonymity. I was rigorous. Caution was key.

  When I was satisfied I had an untraceable connection I set about testing the parameters of the company’s security, running through various scenarios to check for any unpatched bugs in common proprietary software that the company most likely used. I hoped to be finished by dinner time. I’d configured several machines to test for exploits to cut down the time it would take until I could sidestep their system hierarchies and access their personnel files.

  The company’s computer security was tight. I moved on from the simple stuff and ran some complex and dedicated custom scripts looking for different points of entry. After several hours I came up blank. I didn’t like to be beaten so I called Knox and canceled our dinner plans.

  After a few more hours and many different attempts I failed to make a breach. I was tired and needed to get some sleep, but I was pissed. It was rare to come across a firm this impenetrable. Their defenses were unusually sophisticated. I looked again at their website. For a company claiming to offer basic IT infrastructure to airlines the level of security was more than impressive. I swore at no one in particular and decided to hit the hay.

  When I woke up the only thing on my mind was getting back to my machines and going back through what I might be missing. This was a personal puzzle I needed to solve. First though, refueling was required.

  I went through to the kitchen and grabbed a pack of European coffee from the fridge and filled a flask with water. One of my cells rang. I knew it wasn’t my main line because of the tone. I cut across the hall back into my bedroom but didn’t make it in time. In a drawer full of assorted models and makes I checked several of the displays until I identified which phone I had been called on because the tone was unfamiliar enough to mean it hadn’t come from one I’d used in a while.

  I didn’t recognize the number. I opened up the browser of my regular cell, copied it in and hit search. I stared at the return hits. Hudson Binomics. I realized I had included a fake name and a burnable number on my fake resume.

  I switched to the burner cell and returned the call.

  ‘Good morning, Hudson Binomics.’

  The receptionist.

  ‘Hi this is Nadine King, I called in yesterday about a position-’

  ‘Yes, Ms. King, I rang a little earlier. I’ve been instructed to invite you in for an interview. It’s a little short notice but can you come in this afternoon at 2pm?’

  I ran what she was saying over in my mind.

  ‘Yes. Thanks. I’ll see you then,’ I said and ended the call.

  Alarm bells were going off in triplicate around my brain. Serious trouble lies ahead was spelled out in letters six-feet-high. If some security guy was out to get me, good luck in back-hacking my machines with the measures I had in place. But a no-show wouldn’t resolve anything. It meant I’d never find out what could potentially be coming down the line. I knew I was savvy enough to social the situation and ensure my back was covered but also that my curiosity would never allow me to ignore the invite. It was a challenge and I absolutely needed to find out what it was about, so what choice did I have? Sure, I thought. Why not? I’d meet a stranger at 2pm for a position that didn’t exist at a firm I’d spent the best part of last night and the early hours trying to hack into.

  I called Knox and told him I was on my way over. Downing two cups of coffee while I got dressed made me even more jittery than I already felt.

  When he opened the door, his face altered as soon as he saw me. I mentally kicked myself for being so transparent from the off.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he said.

  ‘I’ve been working the angles of the trace I was running,’ I said.

  ‘And?’

  ‘And there’s a problem.’

  He stayed silent waiting for me to continue. He was learning. Never feel the need to fill the gap. Let your subject become uncomfortable enough by the pause that they’re ready to spill their guts.

  I knew he was going to be upset. I had after all promised him we’d do things by the book. After our last case I’d learned that the level of criminality I was comfortable with was anathema to him and I had offered to train him right.

  ‘I took a short cut. I’m meant to be running backgrounds at a tech
firm. I lied about being offered a job to gain access to their system. I’ve been trying to access their personnel records illegally.’

  Knox’s mouth was set in a firm straight line. No doubt this brought back unhappy memories of the illegal methods I’d employed previously. It also meant I’d broken his trust, what little of it he’d had in the first place.

  I forged ahead. ‘Their security was tight so there was nothing doing but they contacted me this morning and asked me to go in for a non-existent job interview this afternoon.’

  Knox’s eyes darkened. His face was already etched in shadows and almost in silhouette from having his back against the natural light from the window.

  He shook his head. ‘So now what?’ He sounded pissed.

  ‘So, I’m going in, but it might not be good,’ I said. ‘But there’s no formal arrangement between us so if it goes bad it won’t come back on you.’

  ‘It sounds like a set-up,’ he said.

  ‘I know but maybe it’s just a coincidence.’ I tried to sound positive, but coincidences had a bad habit of amounting to more. I told myself it was still a possibility to quell my nerves.

  ‘What’s your plan?’

  ‘I’m going in wired. Sound and video. Just in case. For the record,’ I said.

  He stared at me for a few long seconds.

  ‘I’ll wait outside in the car,’ he said. ‘Monitoring the situation, figuring out what to do next.’

  I was grateful for him having my back, but in no doubt that I was prepared to take all of the heat should it come to it. I nodded my agreement.

  8

  If the receptionist knew anything or sensed something was off she didn’t show it. She had me sign the visitor book, called through for someone to come meet me, then had me sit. Minutes stretched into days. Every surface was free of clutter and so there wasn’t even any literature, such as a company brochure, to indicate what went on behind the doors which led through to the inner sanctum. Through to where I was about to be headed. Around ten minutes later another young woman appeared and asked me to accompany her.

  From what I could gauge from her deference toward me she wasn’t very senior. She showed me through two large, matte black wooden doors into what looked like a conference room with a long table and some AV equipment on a unit to the side. I counted the seats. Twelve. She assured me I wouldn’t have long to wait and left me alone.

  I was wired via what looked like a small pendant at my throat hanging from a chain that would give Knox the same point of view as I had, more or less, from his position in the car outside in the lot. I was tempted to talk to him to set it off recording but was conscious the room might also be fitted with cameras, though if it was they were very well hidden.

  Footsteps approached, and the door was opened by whoever had arrived to interview me.

  The brain experiences reality before it’s registered by the eyes so the images we receive optically make sense. Some say this explains déjà vu. After a millisecond’s worth of delay, I had processed the height, shape and features of the man in front of me which were almost immediately familiar. My throat tightened, giving me the sensation that I wouldn’t be able to draw my next breath. I noted black hair which was no longer so carelessly spiked but styled, deep brown eyes, serious as ever, the same except for a few additional creases at the corners plus a couple of faint lines on an otherwise smooth forehead.

  ‘Konnichiwa,’ Charlie Lau said.

  Standing in front of me was a man I hadn’t seen for a decade. The man I’d lost my virginity to. The man who had taught me a hell of a lot in my formative years.

  Looking into his eyes made me feel like I had always existed in this very moment and there had never been anything else, that no time had passed between us. I connected on an almost spiritual level with the consciousness behind the penetrating gaze. Even though the face I was staring into had aged, the voice was unchanged. And familiar. And safe. Then as my senses flooded back in, a jumble of messages and signals were vying for my attention. A quiet looping whisper grew louder.

  ‘We need to get out of here right now,’ I said.

  I reached for my necklace and pressed it to shut down the camera and audio transmitter, all the while trying to fight off the panic I felt.

  ‘What’s going on Angie?’

  I started for the door, trying to work out what to do next with every step that brought me closer to freedom.

  ‘Let’s go somewhere we can talk. You decided to interview me away from here,’ I said, free-forming my thoughts into a plan of action.

  Charlie didn’t budge and stood blocking my way.

  I stopped inches from his face. ‘You need to trust me. You should know that you can do that right?’

  He looked into my eyes and made a decision himself. ‘Okay.’

  As we approached the reception I had to force myself to slow down, let Charlie take the lead, make it all seem natural.

  He explained he needed to pick up his car from the underground lot and would meet me outside. He said something briefly to the receptionist while I hovered nearby trying not to look at the cameras and wondering what to do about Knox. The girl behind the desk looked disappointed as he walked away.

  I was glad to get out into the fresh air and glanced across to Knox’s position in the visitor’s lot adjacent to the main building. I pulled out my cell but still wasn’t sure how I was going to spin it, so held off hitting the dial button.

  Charlie pulled alongside me in a graphite-colored Porsche. He leaned over and unlocked the passenger door, pushing it out toward me. As soon as I got in, he fixed me with a long hard look.

  ‘You working with the Feds?’ he asked.

  I shook my head. ‘No. But I have a guy over there. I’m going to get rid of him,’ I said.

  I looked over at Knox’s position again and dialed his number.

  ‘I’m handling this alone. I’ll see you later,’ I said as calmly as I could.

  There was a pause. I knew he could see me from where he was situated.

  ‘Negative, not a plan,’ he said.

  I could feel the blood pulsing at my temples.

  ‘I mean it Knox. I said stand down.’

  Charlie gave me a hint of a smile and then we drove away.

  We headed for the nearest hotel. Inside, I waited nervously in the foyer like one half of an unmarried couple from the 1950s while Charlie checked us in. I couldn’t keep still and shifted my weight from one foot to the other, the adrenaline generated by my fight or flight response needing some outlet for release. He picked up the key and threw me a glance as we headed for the elevator that, despite the cool exterior he was presenting, told me he was worried.

  Like I was entering a long tunnel bordered by shadows, I barely registered anything about the room as I walked in. I sat down on the edge of the bed. Charlie sat on a chair opposite.

  All the while in the car on the way there I’d been going over things in my head, torturing myself with the possibilities of what it all meant. Why the hell had I thought it okay to try and hack my way into an organization on behalf of an NSA cybersecurity chief? What had I been thinking? I tried to order my thoughts into a coherent strand.

  ‘Why are you here?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘I work for myself, privately as an investigator, missing people, skip traces. I was running background checks on Hudson Binomics staff.’

  ‘You made a pretty hardcore attempt to crack it.’

  ‘I’m guessing you were responsible for the security?’

  ‘Yeah. First time I’ve seen you wipeout.’

  ‘I would have been pissed otherwise. I was checking out the company for a client.’

  Even if I’d have found the information the legitimate way, the end result would be the same, but had I implicated myself?

  ‘Who and why?’

  I focused on my breathing and in maintaining a veneer of calm.

  ‘I’m not really sure. That’s where I go next. In the meantime, you need to
tell me exactly what you’re doing back in San Francisco.’

  He stared at me for a moment and I wondered if his reason had anything to do with me or if that’s what he thought my question implied. I dismissed the idea as soon as I thought of it. It had been too long ago.

  ‘I guess I should thank you for what you did before you left. It saved my ass.’

  That was true, but it had also given me something of a get-out clause.

  ‘It made it more abrupt than it should have been.’

  He nodded then fixed me with those serious brown eyes that I tried not to read too much into.

  ‘Hudson Bionomics is a government contractor. I’ve been working on military software for avionics. A program controlled by pilot thought. It links in to on-board missile systems, everything.’

  He paused letting the significance of that fact sink in.

  ‘Shit Charlie, what are you trying to do?’

  ‘Nothing. I didn’t know I was going to be working on a government project. That wasn’t even a factor in the beginning. When we got this contract, I realized it was the reason the guy who hired me wanted me in the first place. He threatened me with exposure if I didn’t play.’

  ‘How did this guy even find out about you?’

  ‘He kind of hacked me.’

  For a moment or two my internal thought processes crashed. Charlie sat staring at what was no doubt a vacant look on my face.

  I shook my head. ‘That’s unreal,’ I said. ‘How?’

  ‘Forensically. He’s an expert programmer. He told me he became obsessed by my code. He analyzed it. Lots of it. Compared it against top company programmer and pen tester hires. Essentially, he found my digital signature and threatened to out me. I didn’t know I was going to be working on military contracts. That’s way too much scrutiny.’