by J. D. German
Chapter 35 – The Break
Lynn was sitting in front of the fireplace in her apartment, contemplating her future. It had been three weeks since Tom’s death – murder – and work at CSIC was getting to be routine. Oh, she had nailed a couple of deadbeat dads, but when Lynn reported her findings to the court the men quickly responded to the judges decree. The cases were challenging in that Lynn had to do some serious hacking to uncover what was going on, but she missed the thrill of helping others get even.
“Maybe it’s time for me to make the break – to go out on my own. To start up Revenge, Inc. I can find plenty of cases in the news to go after, and Catherine Stevens hinted that she has a couple of friends that might need my services. . . . Yep. I think it’s time. I’ll call Harriet about coming to The Farm for the weekend.”
As Lynn pulled up to the front door Harriet ran out to greet her. “At last. Some female company! I love Rick and all, but men don’t know how to chat. Come on in and have some supper. Rick’s got some ribs in the smoker and his special sauce is to die for.”
Lynn pulled an overnight bag from the truck, the one with wheels that held five million in ransom, and followed Harriet into their home. “Where am I sleeping?”
“Anywhere but with Rick. He’s mine. Take your pick of the guest rooms.”
Lynn chose one with a pleasant view of the rolling Virginia farm country. Most of the places out here weren’t working farms anymore. They had been bought up by wealthy Washingtonians who got rich milking the Government instead of cows and wanted a weekend getaway place to display their wealth to everyone. She changed into casual clothes and went down to the kitchen.
Rick reached out to give her a hug. “Hey, Lynn. It’s great to see you! You’re looking healthy. Working for Dave must agree with you.”
“It’s been an adventure – actually several adventures. I’ll tell you about them sometime.”
Harriet came over with a glass of wine, shaking her finger. “Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to give us a teaser like that and then clam up. Tell us everything.”
“Won’t dinner get cold?”
“The longer my ribs stay in the smoker the better they taste. Let’s go in the living room and get comfortable.”
For most of the next hour Lynn recounted what she had been through since the last time they were together, ending with the most recent encounter with Zarah. Rick and Harriet sat in rapt attention until she finished.
“You’re lucky to be alive, Lynn! Zarah had you in her sights and you got away. So where is Zarah now?” Harriet said with a worried expression on her face.
“No one knows. She disappeared after she got away from me at the warehouse. The FBI staked out Alexei’s home for a week, but she didn’t go back there. They issued a BOLO alert in the surrounding states but that came up empty. I guess we’ll just have to wait for her to show herself again.”
“But your life is in danger. She could be stalking you back in Philly.”
“Dave has some of his people watching my back for now, but he can’t keep that up.”
“You need to move out here for protection. Don’t forget that Jack put in the same perimeter security system here that’s at the cabin. We’ll keep that activated full time until Zarah is caught.”
“Actually, that’s why I came out here. I’m ready to get my Revenge, Inc. business off the ground, and I would like to headquarter it here. Is your offer to let me move in still good Harriet?”
“Of course it is. When can you move out here?”
“I haven’t told Dave yet. I’ll need to give him two weeks notice so he can find a replacement for me.”
Rick laughed. “A replacement for you doesn’t exist, Lynn. No one can come even close to doing what you do as well as you do it.”
Lynn smiled. “Thanks for the compliment, Rick, but I’m nothing special.”
“Oh yes you are. Dave would have to hire two or three people to cover all the skills you have. And he will never find a hacker as good as you.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I’ll offer to do my internet magic for CSIC as a part- time consultant. That will keep me busy while we figure out how to drum up business for Revenge, Inc. Have you given any thought to that, Rick?”
“Harriet and I brainstormed that and came up with two ideas. Since most of your revenge work so far has involved marriage and divorce abuse issues, we need to find a way to keep track of court decisions in that area. We should also monitor domestic abuse cases reported to the police. That might be more than we can handle unless we limit it to nearby cities.
“The second idea is to follow criminal and civil court cases and identify clear injustices – criminals who walk on a technicality, or bribe witnesses. There are way too many of those cases to look through, but we’ll select the worst and go after them with our own form of vigilante justice.”
“That’s going to keep all three of us tied up full time, and I don’t want that. Rick, I think you can manage the business without too much work, while Harriet and I do the research to nail them. How about if we hire a lawyer full time to comb through court cases and alert us to the ones that need our help?”
“Not a bad idea, but since much of what you do – hacking, changing financial records, moving money out of bad guys’ accounts – is illegal, a lawyer might think it’s his duty to turn you in.”
“I didn’t think of that. Everything we do has to be hidden from the law. Maybe we could find one who has been disbarred or something. . . . The smell of those ribs is making my stomach gurgle. When can we eat?”
“Give me ten minutes to set the table while Rick cuts up the ribs.”
When Lynn got to work Monday morning she stopped in to see Dave right away.
“Morning, Lynn. Have a seat. You look like there’s something on your mind.”
“There is. I haven’t told you, but I’ve been doing a little work on my own – after hours, of course.”
“That sounds intriguing. What’s it about?”
“I’m using my computer and hacking skills to right some wrongs, to help people who have been treated unfairly get what’s theirs, even if it’s just getting even. I don’t want to go into any more detail than that except to say that, even though it’s done for noble purposes, much of it is frowned upon by the law. I’ve been using false identities, so my work can’t be traced back to you or me.”
“I don’t have any problem with you doing a little moonlighting.”
“It’s more than that, Dave. I want to start doing it full time – making a business out of it. This work gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I think it’s what Jack would want me doing.”
“Have you got a name for this business?”
“Revenge, Inc. I thought about Retribution, Inc., but it doesn’t have the same ring to it. So anyway, I would like to have your blessing on this. I’ll stay around for two more weeks to wrap up my work for CSIC, then I’ll move out to The Farm with Rick and Harriet, my partners in this calling.”
“It sounds like you have planned well, Lynn. You have my blessing, but I will really miss your internet expertise.”
“I have a proposal about that. How about I make myself available as a consultant to CSIC on an as-needed basis?”
Dave’s look of concern turned into a smile. “How can I turn down an offer like that. And if you have need of our security services, I’ll do the same for you. And forget about that two week notice. I’ll assign your cases to other investigators. You can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Dave.”
As Lynn got up Dave walked around the desk and gave her a long hug. “You and Jack are really special to me, Lynn. You keep in touch.”
As Lynn was putting some of her personal things from her desk in a box, her phone rang. “Hello, This is Lynn Preston.” There was a long silence at the other end. Oh no! Zarah found me, Lynn thought. “Hello?”
“Uh . . . Hi Lynn. It’s me . . . Matt . . . Murdock.”
&nbs
p; “Hi Matt! It’s nice to hear from you.”
“. . . Uh, how’s everything? . . . Damn, I’m no good at small talk. I called to ask you out to dinner.”
“When?”
“Tonight if you’re free, but if you have something else to do, I understand. Maybe another night then?”
“Tonight is perfect, Matt. I’ve been looking forward to your call. . . . Where are we going?”
“I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this. I don’t do this often. Would the M Restaurant at the Morris House Hotel be alright with you?”
“That would be wonderful. What time?”
“Oh. How about if I pick you up at seven?”
Lynn didn’t want him to see the upscale condo she was staying in. It might look like she has a high-class social life. She didn’t want to send that message. “How about if I meet you in the hotel lobby?”
Matt was relieved. He wasn’t looking forward to the uncomfortable silence of a car ride with her. “Sure. That will work. Seven o’clock then.”
“See you there, Matt.”