by Eden Sharp
The junior guy moved away and Lau moved forward to pick up a cup. At the same moment Junior turned back to reach for something and tipped the majority of the contents of his own cup down the front of Lau’s jacket.
‘I’m so sorry there, buddy.’ He swiped up a napkin off the table and patted at the stain of hot coffee.
‘No problem,’ Lau said. ‘Here I can do it.’
Junior passed Lau the cloth and Lau dabbed at his jacket, making the best of it.
Marks came in but there was still no sign of McGlynn.
Marks looked at the state of Lau’s jacket.
‘Can’t find your mouth huh?’ he said.
‘Just an accident,’ Lau said.
Junior piped up. ‘I-’
Lau cut him off. ‘It’s okay.’
Lau poured a cup and went over to a lounge area and took the seat furthest away to sit by himself.
Douglas entered the room and came over to stand next to Knox. Knox poured himself a coffee and wondered if he should be getting one for McGlynn. He put his cup down and grabbed a second.
‘Your partner’s just stepped outside to make a call,’ Douglas said.
Knox looked up and nodded and noticed Lau staring at him.
17
Angela McGlynn
‘Angela McGlynn.’
I heard the line go to hold then Paul answered on the next ring which told me something about how much of a priority my report was to him. I gave him the basic outline of what had been discussed.
‘They want to find out about some hacker collective he’s meant to be part of. Who else he’s connected to.’
And?
‘And apart from a guy he used to live with who’s now dead, he says the other hackers he communicated with were just usernames.’
‘Do you personally know anything about this?’
‘No. I mean I knew his roommate in Japan but not about their activity together beyond playing in a band.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Not at the moment.’
‘Then stay in touch.’
‘Sure.’
I knew Charlie wouldn’t be giving anyone up. It was just a case of sitting out the worst the FBI could throw at him until our plans were in place.
Back in the room we trailed around in circles until Douglas called it a day. I was itching to meet with Charlie alone and then to get online.
Douglas returned our cells to us from the Faraday box on the table. They were taking no chances with the phones being used as recording or wireless devices while they conducted their operation which was clever on their part but of no use to me. Not that I’d figured out a need for them specifically, yet. I was not far along the planning stage but keen to get on with it. When it came to Charlie, Douglas produced an ancient looking cell, the type that only texts and makes calls, and handed it to him.
‘Mr. Lau, you will be under house arrest. All tech equipment has been removed and your smartphone will be held and taken into evidence. You’ll receive no visitors without our permission. All mail, in or out, goes via our office. Any food deliveries will be subject to checks by the agents on watch. Your liaison will be Special Agent Farran who will provide contact details and be available for you to contact twenty-four hours a day. Your apartment is now on lock down. If you need to go anywhere other than your workplace you check in with Agent Farran first. You leave your building without my authorization and you will be remanded into federal custody. Agents Knox and McGlynn will accompany you to and from these meetings. Do you understand the terms?’
‘Yes.’
‘Don’t break them. We’ll reconvene Tuesday May 9th, unless you hear otherwise.’
Douglas droned on about the FBI’s jurisdiction and rights over the case. Let them think they had all the power. I tuned him out and turned my attention to Knox. The way he’d been watching me all afternoon told me cutting him out of the loop wasn’t going to be easy. As soon as Douglas collectively dismissed us I didn’t want the three of us to head down to the lot together. I tapped out a text to him and hit send.
Called in with an update. Going home. Catch up tomorrow.
My cell pinged back a reply.
Need to talk.
He was going to make things really difficult.
Taking Charlie home then need to sleep. Call you tomorrow.
I heard Knox’s cell. He glanced down and read my text. When he looked up I could tell he was pissed but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
Douglas signaled we were done so I motioned Charlie to leave the room first and followed him out the door.
Back at Charlie’s place it didn’t feel safe to talk.
‘It’s a nice night. Let’s go up on the roof,’ Charlie said.
I nodded. He’d been thinking the same as me. If the FBI had been in to remove his tech they might have had the place wired or rigged some twenty-first century wireless version of listening in. Also, even if we weren’t technically alone, it certainly solved the awkwardness of being in his apartment together. I left my cell phone on the table and Charlie went into his room. I thought about the painting and decided not to ask him about it. It was territory I didn’t want to venture into.
He emerged with a portable radio and when I noticed he had his keys in his other hand I saw the ring held a Swiss army knife. Even though the radio was an old analogue model, I was rapidly becoming aware of how hard it was going to be to have clandestine conversations. I figured the screwdriver tool would allow him to check inside it for bugs.
The building’s roof terrace consisted of bleached decking with yard square pale marble tiling surrounding a bar area with potted palms. A planted middle section with white painted wooden benches formed clusters of seating along with a series of tented cabanas along two sides. I followed him over to a row of around five and stepped inside the nearest one, plonking myself down onto a thick green striped cushion next to him where, as I’d rightly assumed he began disassembling the radio.
He checked its innards carefully before reversing the process, putting it back together again satisfied that it hadn’t been tampered with after all. He stood up, pocketed his keys, stepped outside, nodded for me to follow and walked over to the outer edge of the building where a barrier of smoked glass provided a stunning polarized view of the cityscape. He put the radio down on the table and chair set next to the glass arranged to enjoy the outlook, and switched it on. It was fortuitous that for a communal area no one else was around so we could be alone.
‘Satellites can bounce laser light off windows and by measuring the minute distance differences between a vibrating window and the satellite, reconstruct speech. Audio quality’s poor but it can be understood,’ he said keeping his voice low.
Speaking in whispers meant getting in close. As he stepped in to me I flinched, imperceptibly I hoped, but I knew he was too much of a gentleman to extend any uninvited intimacy.
Neither of us moved to pull out a chair but remained standing.
‘How are you doing?’ he asked staring at me intently.
‘I should be asking you that.’ I felt a physical pain somewhere inside my chest. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I said.
He shook his head. ‘It’s not your fault, any of this. It’s mine. Who’s the guy?’ he asked.
‘Jeff and I have a business outside of the dojo. Investigations, personal protection. He works for us. He got caught up, but he’s not involved. I’ll keep him out of it.’
I looked over his shoulder to break away from his eyes. ‘I want to meet Guzek,’ I whispered.
He nodded his agreement but when I looked into his face I saw he was resigned to the idea rather than enthusiastic.
A jazzy tune hung in the night air, awkwardly romantic.
‘You don’t know what I’ve seen. For starters the government are trying to kill the internet as we know it. Not just restrict access under the guise of national security and terrorist plots but have it corporate run and controlled so it’s no longer a wild frontie
r but parceled up and easier to spy on. There are no limits to how far they’ll go to control everything and everyone because they’re contingency planning. All the preconditions are now set for revolution. Open source everything is coming, and people will mobilize it to transform their lives. They’re busy preparing for another major financial crisis in the near future unlike anything we’ve seen so far. The collective buying power of the five billion poor is four times that of the one billion rich. The public collectively could put any bank or corporation out of business. And now for some reason many of the world’s key financial players are moving to New Zealand.’
‘That’s why you’ve chosen it as a final destination?’
He fixed me with a penetrating gaze. ‘Stay close to those who know what’s going on. Stay safe. You should…’ He broke eye contact then and looked away. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘I don’t live in fear. That’s not who I am,’ I said.
He stared at me intently for a moment in quiet appraisal. ‘So, you’re going to save my ass again.’
I nodded. ‘If it works.’
‘Yeah.’
‘And if not?’
‘No way I’m going to be the government’s bitch.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ For him this deal was the ultimate poisoned chalice and I was the one handing it to him.
‘I am willing to go to prison for what I believe in Angie. My imprisonment will only strengthen support for i9. But I’ll need you able to walk away and back to your life. Then it would be bearable.’
Not for me. I couldn’t let myself think about it ending like that.
‘What else is going on I don’t know about?’ I asked.
‘Maybe the less you know the better if it comes down to it. Come in and meet me for lunch on Monday. It’ll be easier to talk. Harder for them to listen in at a last minute, unprepared and public location.’
That made sense. Also, it would give me the chance to get a look at Guzek. I had a solid cover after all. If I ran into him like I hoped I wondered how easy it would be to hide my bitterness toward the man who’d attempted to bring about Charlie’s downfall. Harding might not be interested in him, but I sure was.
‘I’d like to find out who Guzek’s connections are, who he really is,’ I said.
I watched him bristle slightly. ‘Don’t try to hack him. As good as you are, there’s a real chance he’d know. I found nothing.’
‘Got it. But there should be some way of socializing him. How old is he?’
‘A couple of years older than me? Thirty-six or so.’
‘Married?’
‘No.’
‘Girlfriend?’
‘Not that I’m aware of. He lives alone.’
‘What does he like to do for fun?’
‘I don’t know. A career-obsessed techie, spends a lot of time at work or online.’
‘I’ll bet he probably likes to get laid.’
‘I guess so.’
‘Boy or girl?’
‘I don’t know but either way someone who’s willing to play beta.’
‘I need to make him vulnerable, just in case we need him to bend. Have a plan B.’
‘Oh, always have a plan B, absolutely. But you really don’t want to get tangled up with this guy.’
‘Okay, okay. We’re going to need to do something about the girl on reception with the hots for you again though. Last time I came in I was using a false name and calling myself Nadine.’
‘Her name’s Becky. I’ll tell her you wanted to surprise me.’
‘I did that.’
I felt the penetrating gaze again.
‘You’ve never failed to.’
‘She probably thinks I’m some kind of stalker,’ I said and instantly regretted my choice of words. I’d made a silly joke to mask something I couldn’t quite put my finger on that I was trying to push back down inside me and then was horrified by the notion that Charlie’s move back here might have been based on more than just being head-hunted. I killed the thought.
‘We’ve got a few days before your next Fed interview,’ I said, changing tack.
Charlie nodded. Then he broke out into a wide-mouthed smile. The one that had always made me trust him and feel secure.
‘The FBI are not gonna like it, you hanging out here with me,’ he said.
I looked into those familiar brown eyes, scanning from one to the other, and it felt like old times.
‘Well that’s unlucky,’ I said. ‘Because I’m not under their jurisdiction.’
18
Sunday May 7th
I woke early and got up to make coffee and rummage around in a drawer for a clean burner phone, then took them both back to bed. I knew what Jeff would be thinking when I rang him on a disposable he also kept and told him we needed to talk. Well this is serious.
The only other times in my life we’d had this type of phone conversation was when it had been important, so I knew he’d be expecting something major. I had contemplated going over to the house which would smell of seafood and garlic marinating in Cajun spices. Jeff’s natural habitat was the kitchen on a Sunday and he would spend hours preparing dishes. Later in the day there would be a house full of his musician buddies and pitchers of his Louisiana-style iced tea to go with a jam session or card game. Heavy on the bourbon but tasting like soda it was lethal. It all felt tempting.
Some downtime in the place which was the closest thing I’d ever had to calling a family home was just what I needed. Had I done so, he would have initially sat me down at the kitchen table and offered me jasmine tea making it easy for me to get out what I needed to say while he had his back towards me and was preoccupied. All part of the welcoming dance.
Then when I would have cut to the heart of things, he would have sat down, given me a warm drink as comfort and dispensed some good advice. But it would have been awkward.
I knew part of me was avoiding a scenario like the one in Japan when I had told Jeff about Charlie’s intentions towards me. It was a feeling I wasn’t keen to recreate, and I also felt too jumpy and didn’t want any federal attention aimed at him.
I dialed his number and psyched myself up for what I was about to say. As his business partner I owed it to him to fill him in on what Knox and I were up to. I’d also broken one of his golden rules.
He didn’t hurry me along. Just waited. The wait would be dependent on how long it would take me to get started.
‘I met with Paul the other day.’
I concentrated on the steam from the coffee cup on the nightstand next to me. Jeff kept silent. Not filling any gaps. Giving me space to say what I’d called for.
‘He asked me to do a background check on the employees of a tech company here. Knox was occupied with the skip traces and handling things well, so I agreed. He said it was a personal matter. Turns out he’s set me up.’
I swallowed. My throat felt tight and sore. ‘I found out Charlie worked there.’
Jeff gave it a few beats waiting for more information before playing his hand. Always thinking things through before offering counsel or wisdom.
‘How’d that make you feel?’
I tried to analyze it. ‘Confused? Guilty? Angry?’
‘Why’d Paul do it?’
I went back to concentrating on the coffee then took a deep breath.
‘Charlie’s part of a group of hackers responsible for the leaks to the media about corrupt politicians and corporations. A main player. He’s currently working on a government contract for software for weapons systems and he’s been flagged. Now he goes to jail or works for Paul. I’m the one Paul chose to broker the deal.’
I could imagine Jeff’s face, pursed lips, his eyes narrow slits. Here went nothing.
‘And I’m not meant to be talking about any of this because I’m now a temporary employee of the Department of Defense. Knox is in too. We had to sign away bragging rights on pain of Guantanamo.’
I heard him sigh.
‘I know you’ve al
ways told me whatever you do don’t get involved with the Company. Well the NSA feels like we just did,’ I said.
I waited for the softly-spoken words that would sound like a Zen haiku no matter how malicious the sentiment behind them.
‘When this is over? Paul and I are gonna talk. For now, let me know if there’s anything you need.’
‘Will do.’
Jeff would tell Paul exactly what he thought of him. Paul mistakenly saw himself as some kind of father figure to me whereas most people assumed that was Jeff’s role. They were wrong. Jeff had been the first adult I’d ever trusted but he’d always respected my space and my individuality. Had always treated me like an equal.
It was one of the reasons I’d put myself forward as an investor in his business, expanding it beyond martial arts instruction and personal protection after he’d helped secure my investigative training. I’d sold him on the idea of Knox joining permanently and now I’d screwed things up.
‘Knox was getting good at skip traces and he was starting to clock up the hours. Now the whole thing’s stalled by this mess.’
‘Ya’ll will navigate through it and come out okay on the flipside.’
It sounded less like reassurance and more like wishful thinking.
‘I hope you’re right.’
Mainly I hoped I wasn’t in jail and nobody close to me was caught up in my wrongdoing by association. I couldn’t live with that.
‘Make sure the computers in the office are squeaky clean,’ I said.
‘I’ll do that.’
I wondered if I should just go ahead and tell him everything, but something stopped me. I guessed I didn’t want to be seen, by him at least, as a disappointment.
I’d just placed the burner cell back on the nightstand when my regular cell started ringing.
I checked the screen. Knox. The clock told me it was almost nine.
‘What did you tell Harding?’