by Ali Franklin
She learned to manage her grief more effectively over time. She stopped blaming herself for what had happened (well, mostly). She and her mother grew closer. And she became an unwavering agent on behalf of the underdog. Any time she saw an injustice, she jumped in to make it right. The imperfection became a symbol of tenacity — a reminder to give her all to everything she did.
She took a deep breath as her mind returned to the present. Her tenacity is what had led her to try to help Grace — and what had gotten them all into the current situation. Now even Maddie was in danger. You never know when to stop, do you? she admonished herself.
Ryan's phone rang. She pressed "Accept" without looking at it.
"Ry-an." Grace's voice thrust Ryan fully into the present moment without warning. It did not, however, release Ryan from the anger and frustration her memory had dredged up.
"Grace, where is Maddie?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Damnit, Grace, where is she? This has to end now."
Grace laughed. Ryan heard the Alumni Bell striking the hour and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was hard to believe it was already nine o'clock.
"Grace, let me talk to Maddie. I need to know she's okay." There was a pause before Grace responded.
"Actually, that's a good idea. Just a second." Ryan heard a shuffling noise, then mumbling. Maddie's voice came over the line, the words tumbling out.
"Ryan, don't listen to her, whatever she says, don't— ”
"Well, I guess that's not gonna work out.” Grace’s voice came back over the line. “It's too bad, really. I had originally planned to bring you over here as my hostage. You know, just to make sure no one bothered me while I finished my project. I was going to let you go as soon as I was done."
"You could have me. Take me instead." Ryan wanted a chance to save Maddie.
"I'll tell you what," said Grace. "I'll trade Maddie for you. She's kind of a pain in the ass anyway."
"Just tell me where you are," said Ryan. She had a nagging feeling she knew where Grace was, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Grace laughed. "I won't tell you where I am, but I'll meet you somewhere and make the trade — you for Maddie."
"Done. Where?"
"Meet me at that Greek restaurant, Theodorou’s. The one with the little boats. Half an hour. No cops or I kill your little friend."
Maddie was screaming for Ryan not to follow Grace’s instructions.
Ryan set her jaw. "I'll be there." She disconnected the call. She looked up, surprised to see Summer staring at her, stunned.
"Did you just agree to meet Grace?"
"Yes, but I'm not going to. I'm not stupid." Ryan punched a button on her phone. "Jack, it's Ryan. I just talked to Grace again."
"Do you know where she is?"
"No...." There was that feeling again, like Ryan knew something but couldn't quite grasp it. "She wants to meet me at Theodorou's in half an hour. To trade Maddie for me."
"Absolutely not," Jack said.
"No kidding. I'm calling so you can go pick her up. She said no cops, though, so you need to be careful."
"Got it. Does she know your car?"
"Yes. You can come by and get it if you want."
"I'll be there in ten minutes," he said
Jack was true to his word. He and a female deputy with light brown hair came by and left in Ryan’s car. Ryan stood on the front porch and watched the taillights disappear into the pouring rain. She knew something. Something about where Grace had taken Maddie. She rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“Oh my—” She had it!
She turned around and went back into the kitchen. “Guys, I really need to relax. I’m going to go lie down for a while.” She grabbed her sling bag and walked back to the guest room. Teddy and Summer both frowned at her as they returned to the living room to wait for Jack’s call.
Five minutes later Ryan dropped to the ground and closed the bedroom window behind her. The rain felt like a slap against her face. She walked across the back yard to the gate and peered through a crack to see where the second deputy was parked. His vehicle was almost invisible through the sheets of water. She went through the gate in a crouch and walked as fast as she dared to the end of the alley. By the time she reached the street, her shoes were filled with mud and she was completely soaked.
She met the rideshare driver on the next block. He was not happy when he saw how wet and dirty she was, but she handed him fifty dollars, glad she had thought to bring her bag. He muttered a curse but pulled away from the curb.
Five minutes later he pulled up to the building and dropped her off at the rear entrance. She stepped out into the rain and took a deep breath, thinking about her next move. There wasn’t much to think about. Ryan didn’t have any weapons other than the everyday items in her little bag. But she was sure she was in the right place.
She stepped up to the doorway. Her hands shook so hard that it took two tries to get the key into the lock. Once inside, she moved to the stairwell and started climbing, glad she knew her way around the building. She hoped the darkness would hide the trail of muddy footprints she was leaving.
Reaching the third floor, Ryan opened the door a crack and peeked out. Nothing. She tiptoed into the open space and started moving toward her target, about two-thirds of the way down the hall. As she neared the door, she heard two voices — one angry and one placating.
"...can tell them it was self defense. I'll tell you exactly what to say to make them believe you." Ryan’s heart leapt. It was Maddie.
"I don’t need your help. Once this data is transferred I'll have everything I need to live the rest of my life on the beach with beautiful women serving me drinks all day."
"You can do that without involving Ryan."
"But she's the last piece of my puzzle. I'll just hang on to her long enough to get clear. Then you can have her back. Maybe." Grace made a sound that was probably supposed to be a laugh. It sounded more like the oink of one of those huge wild pigs that live in the woods. Ryan heard footsteps and started, looking around for a place to hide. She heard Grace again.
“Now you just wait here. I’ll be right back with your little friend.” There was that obnoxious laugh again.
Ryan sprinted for the corner near the elevator and threw herself around it. She looked back toward the computer lab and saw remnants of wet footprints dotting the floor. If Grace walked in this direction, she would probably see them. Please, she thought. Go the other way.
31
Ryan held her breath as Grace went the other way, disappearing into the stairwell and slamming the door behind her. Ryan stayed still until she heard the door slam on the bottom floor. She rushed to the window and looked down. It was hard to see through the rain, but soon a pair of headlights appeared. Grace’s car pulled out from the delivery drive behind the SUB and left the campus.
Ryan turned and ran back to the computer lab. As she let herself in with her key, Maddie started talking again.
“Grace, listen. You don’t have to take Ryan. You’ve got—”
“Maddie, it’s me.”
“What?” asked Maddie.
“It’s Ryan.”
“Ryan, get out! She could come back any second.”
“It’s okay. I saw her drive away.”
“Then come get me out of these cuffs,” Maddie said.
Ryan paused halfway across the floor. “Cuffs?” She moved to the table closest to Maddie and turned over her little bag. She let out a sigh of relief as her Swiss Army knife tumbled out. She handed it to Maddie, then marveled at how quickly the detective freed herself from the restraints.
“That is impressive.”
“I learned a lot at Sheriff’s School.” Maddie laughed at her own joke, but it was true that she had learned a lot about how handcuffs work — and how suspects got out of them — in her years in law enforcement. She looked at Ryan. “We need to get out of here before she comes back.”
“I don’t think s
he’s coming back. I promised to meet her at Theodorou’s. Jack and a female deputy took my car so the deputy could pretend to be me. They’re going to pick up Grace.”
Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “Wish I could be there.” She considered calling her partner, but knew better than to call during an op. She decided to send him a text. “Borrow your phone?”
Ryan handed hers the device. Maddie texted:
MT 10-106.
Call when avail.
She handed the phone back to Ryan, who opened an app to secure a ride to the sheriff’s station.
“What’s ten one-oh-six?” Ryan asked.
“It means my status is secure.”
“Ah.” Ryan smiled and tapped her screen. “I got us a ride. Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Maddie grabbed Ryan’s arm and pointed toward the back of the room. “Grace was working on these computers.” They walked to the far wall where the machines were whirring away. Ryan moved toward the door and flicked on the lights.
“Did she say anything about what she was doing?” asked Ryan.
“She said she was transferring data.” The two women stared at the screens, then each other, knowing they couldn’t make sense of the lines of code scrolling by.
“Grace has a computer,” said Ryan. “Why would she do this here instead of…anywhere else?”
Maddie straightened. “She said she needed the power.”
“Oh no,” said Ryan, thumping the heel of her hand on her forehead. “I led her right to it.” She looked around at the hardware. “Do you see any flash drives? An external drive? Anything she could transfer data to?”
“Uh…that’s not really my strong suit.”
“If she’s on the college’s computer system, she’s probably transferring student and staff data. This could be devastating.”
Maddie spread her hands wide, palms up. “Do you know how to stop it?”
“No.” Ryan looked around.
“What if we just unplug it?” Maddie reached toward a long power strip attached to the wall.
“Wait!” Ryan pushed Maddie’s arm away. “We don’t know what that will do. We should call someone.”
“Good idea.” Maddie grabbed Ryan’s phone. She punched in a number and asked for Detective Isaac. It took a few minutes, but eventually Ryan heard Maddie explaining the situation to the cyber detective. Maddie listened, then started reading model numbers off of the components. She said, “Okay, I’ll wait.” She looked at Ryan. “He’s calling your IT guy to help. We’ll conference him in and they can tell us what to do.”
The next few minutes were a flurry of activity as Ryan and the two computer professionals worked to shut down Grace’s operation. They eventually reached the limit of what could be done over the phone by a novice. Isaac was already in his car and on his way to the campus, but he was thirty minutes away.
Maddie, who hadn’t heard from Jack yet, was getting antsy. She wanted to help capture Grace and make sure her partner was okay. “Isaac, can you send a few deputies out here to manage the scene so I can go help Jack?” She listened, then slapped her hand on the table in frustration.
“What?” asked Ryan.
“A semi turned over on North 439. There might be a chemical spill. All units have been called out. We need to stay here until someone can relieve us.”
As far as Ryan was concerned, that was fine. Grace was being captured and Maddie was safe. Things were going to be all right.
Maddie ended her call and turned to Ryan. “Sorry we have to stay here, but I’m sure someone will be here soon.”
Ryan smiled. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” She moved closer to Maddie, who opened her arms and wrapped them around Ryan. They stood there, just breathing, for a long moment. Then Maddie pulled back to look at Ryan’s face. She leaned in and they shared their first real kiss. Ryan felt her shoulders relaxing and her heartbeat returning to normal.
Ryan’s phone buzzed and Maddie looked at the screen, expecting it to be Jack. It was him, but it was not the call she expected. It was a text:
Loh at large.
High alert.
Maddie’s face turned deep red and her features hardened. She cursed as she showed Ryan the message.
“Maddie,” Ryan tugged at her arm, “what if she comes back here?”
Maddie clenched her jaw. “I hope she does.” She dialed her office again. “I don’t care who is working the chemical spill. We need backup at Miles Hall on the double.”
She ended the call and put the phone in her pocket. Looking at Ryan, she said, “It’s going to be about twenty minutes before they can get here. I can’t leave the scene. You need to get somewhere safe and let me take care of this.”
“Like hell I will,” said Ryan. “I’m staying with you.”
“Absolutely not. Ryan, this is my job. I’m allowed to put myself in danger. But I’m not allowed to let you be in danger if there’s an alternative. You have to go. Come on.” She pulled Ryan’s arm toward the door. “Your ride’s probably downstairs waiting for you.”
Ryan tried to protest but Maddie held firm. They walked into the dark hallway. Ryan was just taking a deep breath so she could start arguing again when they both heard a click. Maddie’s grip on Ryan’s arm tightened. Yanking her backward, Maddie opened the door to the classroom and turned off the lights. They stepped inside the room but left the door ajar. The detective pulled the Swiss Army knife from her pocket and opened the blade.
They listened for another sound. The first had come from the direction of the stairwell Grace had taken when she left. Ryan put her hand up to Maddie’s ear.
“There’s a staircase at the other end of the hall,” she whispered.
They heard another sound from the first stairwell. It was a voice, and it sounded closer. The two women left the room and ran toward the other end of the hall. They reached the corner without hearing anything else.
“Should we go down?” asked Ryan.
“No. I have to make sure she doesn’t start up the computers again. Listen, Ryan.” Maddie pushed Ryan deep into the corner behind the stairwell door. “When she comes, I’ll deal with her. She doesn’t even need to know you were here.”
“But I can help.”
“You can help by going to get help. As soon as she and I are both back in that room, you get out of here and grab the nearest cop, security guard, military member, or badass you can find. You call in the troops. Understand?”
Ryan nodded.
“Understand?”
“I understand.”
Two long minutes went by without another sound. Ryan was beginning to relax, but she could feel tense muscles as she leaned against Maddie’s back.
With a crash, the doors to both staircases opened at the same time. Maddie pushed backward, blocking Ryan’s body with her own. Flashlight beams from both directions played over the floors and the walls.
“Wait a minute,” Maddie whispered. Then she yelled.
“Officers, we’re unarmed.”
“Who’s there?” The flashlight beams searched for the voice.
“We’re back here in the corner.” Maddie dropped the knife and raised her arms above her head.
The lights came on.
“Oh, thank God,” said Ryan, sliding to the floor. Nicki and two patrol officers rushed to the two women. The officers at the other end of the hall lowered their weapons and shouted into their radios.
32
Ryan set the tray of food on the picnic table. Summer followed, her tray loaded with the ingredients for mimosas and Bloody Marys. Teddy was draped in a chaise lounge, fanning herself with a folded-up section of the Dallas Morning News. The air was wet after the previous day’s storm, but the temperature was pleasant and the sky was clear.
The incident at the computer lab and Grace's subsequent capture at the site of the chemical spill on Route 439 had happened too late to make it into the print edition of this morning’s paper, but the online version was bursting with stories and op-ed pieces f
rom every angle. Depending on which pieces you read, justice had prevailed, brave detectives and deputies had prevented further crime, or your next-door neighbor was probably a cybercriminal. All three of the women were glad to see that Teddy's name was mentioned only once (in conjunction with the smart-fridge incident). Ryan was not mentioned at all.
"Maybe you'll be in the evening edition," said Teddy.
"I'd rather not be, but once someone leaks the fact that Grace got into the lab using a key she duplicated from the key ring in my office, I may not have a choice." She plopped down into a lawn chair. "I can't believe I trusted her."
Teddy looked up from the Bloody Mary she was assembling. "Ryan, stop it. She was a bona fide con woman. Oscar forgave you, didn't he?"
Ryan nodded as she considered her phone call with the college president. "He did, but I still feel awful."
Summer chimed in. "If Grace hadn't taken Maddie to the computer lab, she would have taken her somewhere else."
"But she wouldn't have had the computing power and all the data she needed to steal the assets and identities of thousands of people associated with the college." Ryan hung her head.
“Then it’s a good thing you figured out where she was and stopped her,” said Summer.
“That reminds me,” said Teddy. “How in the world did you know they were in the computer lab?”
Ryan perked up. “The Alumni Bell. I heard in the background when Grace called. I don’t even think she noticed it.”
“You could have told us. Or Jack.” Teddy scowled as she admonished her friend for the umpteenth time. “You shouldn’t have snuck out and put yourself in danger like that.
“I wouldn’t have had to sneak out if Grace hadn’t copied my master keys. The whole thing was my fault.”
Both Teddy and Summer shook their heads at her, knowing they wouldn’t win the argument. Finally, Teddy smiled and grabbed Summer’s hand. “I’m glad it’s over. Now we can go off to New York for our vacation and not have to worry about you getting into trouble.”