He sat at his home workstation tracking the problem script until Scratch and Jack arrived. Once Glitch realized that his hack had been tampered with for a second time, he knew it was time to call in the troops. Only the most difficult jobs required the trio, all highly trained and dangerous in different aspects, to work together. Glitch usually only worked with Scratch to exchange information such as accounting numbers and prospective marks. He only ever worked with Jack when his expertise was needed to track a target. Very rarely did all three get involved with any one project, and he hoped they didn’t give him crap for needing help.
As a series of random characters and code flashed across his screen, Glitch zoned in on them. The feeling that he was missing something was nagging at his gut. If Amsterix had truly cracked his code, they would have shut it down, not just alter the sequencing, and if it was a problem on his end... Well, it wasn’t a problem on his end. So what was the problem?
“Yo!” Scratch’s voice boomed from the entryway of his two-bedroom condo. Glitch had given both him and Jack a key when it became obvious that locks were obsolete to them. At least Scratch announced himself. Jack was the quiet but deadly type.
“In the office,” he yelled back.
By the time his two partners in crime, literally, shuffled into his fortress of technology, Glitch had all the details they needed printed out and waiting.
“All the info is right there. I narrowed the IP address down to a computer in their customer service department.”
“Customer service?” Scratch asked, his rough New York accent raising an octave with disbelief.
“Yeah, it makes no sense to me either, but since I work for Hawk Global, I know that anything is possible,” Glitch said.
“So what’s the angle?” Jack wasn’t one to mince words. He was aptly nicknamed for his stealth in making things or people disappear. All he needed to know was who or what he needed to ‘jack’.
Glitch looked at the time and scratched his head. He hated having to make the decision that could mean harm to the person on the other side of his computer screen, but jobs like this came with the territory while working for Hawk Global. Looking back, had he known the ugly side of his blackmailed employment, he would have taken his chances and served out the rest of his prison sentence. At least he would have been a free man at the end of it, because as it stood, he was far from free.
“Let’s go with a basic take and talk. We find out who is behind this and why. If it’s nothing serious, we throw some cash at them and let them go,” he explained to his partners.
“You know, it’s a good thing you’ve got all that tech smart shit going on in your brain that can make us money at will. Cause you sure spend a lot being a pussy,” Scratch remarked snidely.
“Yeah, well one of us needs to be concerned about the body count around here,” Glitch shot back. “And we don’t get what we need if the mark is beat half to death,” Glitch shot a wary glance at Scratch. “Or dead,” he said and nodded towards Jack.
“Well, I really don’t care either way,” Jack finally spoke up. “Let’s just get this shit over with before Eagle gets involved and we all wind up doing some shit we don’t want to. I only enjoy killing people who deserve it.”
Both Glitch and Scratch remained silent after that. While Jack didn’t speak often, when he did it was, usually, profound. And he was right. Eagle was the nickname of the man who had rounded them all up and bribed them out of jail. Pierce Eaglmohr was a ruthless man and Chief Operations Officer for Hawk. Eagle showed no remorse when it came down to getting rid of anything or anyone he viewed as a problem. This meant a lot of work for the guys, especially Jack.
Jack was the one with a long history of violence and the certified killer of the three. He’d turned to one of the most feared Asian gangs after his entire family was murdered when he was away at his first year of college. Victor Kyang was already a highly trained killing machine by the time Hawk Industries got hold of him. To look at him, you wouldn’t guess how lethal he actually was. Five foot ten on a good day with a slim build and never a hair out of place. He wore the heck out of a suit but preferred to rock jeans and a hoody. Either look played down the dangerous complexity of the man. For what it was worth, Glitch had never seen him hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. Glitch could respect that.
Scratch was all rough and tumble. His slick Brooklyn-goon persona often attracted negative attention, which subsequently led to a lot of fights, but he wasn’t a psychotic killer either. He was more of a lady-killer. Half Russian and half Italian, his body was built like a Roman warrior, but his eyes were an icy Slavic blue. With his tailored suits and designer everything, Zio, or Scratch if you knew him well enough, was the quintessential bad boy that women swooned after.
Glitch was a geek with an edge. The perfect mix of brainpower and brawn. At six foot two with a swimmers build, he was a quiet storm. While women were often taken with his polished boy next-door good looks, his dry wit kept them at bay. Glitch preferred to submerge himself in the World Wide Web, and had little interest in the likes of friends or relationships. That made his bond with the two men in front of him even more important. They had forged a family out of the impossible.
The deeper truth to Jack’s words didn’t just center around Eagle not getting involved, but of him finding out that Glitch had devised this program that was taking a percentage of Hawk Industries take away, and stashing it into an account that the trio set up. It was their own personal nest egg, and if Hawk Industries ever caught wind of what they were up to, things would get very ugly, very quickly.
“Great,” Glitch said, breaking the moment of silence. “Here’s the rundown. The rogue program only runs after seven pm. So for most of the day my code is in place, then after hours all hell breaks loose and all the money we made is lost because the increments in my formula are reversed. Then at 8:00 am it switches back.”
“So are you even sure that the mark will be in the office? What if they set the program to kick in at a certain time?” Scratch picked up the information sheet after asking his question.
Glitch refrained from rolling his eyes. He didn’t like having to explain the tech side of his job to Scratch or Jack because no matter how many times he said the same thing, they would never get it.
“Because, I’m tracking the computer, so I know when it’s in use. The earliest it logs off is eight o’clock pm and the latest eleven o’clock pm. So I say we get there around seven thirty pm to be on the safe side,” he said.
“Ok, so what about their security?” Jack read over Scratch’s shoulder as he spoke.
“I’ve got the video feed from last night all ready to replace the live feed on their servers, and there is only one physical guard that mans the desk. The id I made you will get you right in. From there, I’ll guide you through your earpiece. You will let Scratch in the back service entrance, and then you go get the target.”
Jack just nodded his head as Glitch laid out the plan. He was good at taking directions, and even better at improvising if things went south. They really made a good team.
“I don’t know about the two of you, but I need a drink. Had a long day,” Scratch mumbled as he headed for Glitch’s wet bar. Glitch couldn’t help but smirk at Scratch’s thick accent. Hearing him pronounce you as yous never got old.
Things weren’t always so stable between the trio, and Glitch thought about how far they’d all come. In the beginning Glitch and Scratch always bumped heads, and Jack just refused to talk. They quickly learned that if they couldn’t work together they would pay the consequences for a botched job. It took very little time for them to get over their differences and come to an understanding. Now, three years later, not only were they like a well-oiled machine, but they trusted each other enough to devise a plan to get out. Together.
In a rare spontaneous mood, Glitch decided to pour himself a drink too. He shrugged off the strange looks he received from his friends, and tossed back the smooth whiskey. Not only was this job
fucking with him, but also thoughts of Hex kept flooding his mind. He was used to her being in his dreams, but not on his brain minutely and hourly. He hoped that the adrenaline high from their little mission would help set him straight. He clearly needed a reset.
Chapter 3
Just twenty-four hours after making their plans to nab the person responsible for messing with Glitch’s program, the trio was on the move. Glitch wasn’t going to get a failed mission. That was bad for business, and, in short, bad for their lives. This job needed to be done quickly and quietly so that Eagle wasn’t alerted.
“ID scan complete. Please go on through Mr. Jian,” Glitch heard over the earpiece. He waited outside in an all black utility van they used for these sorts of operations at the command console. In front of him were three screens that he filtered the live video feeds from the building as he watched over Jack and kept cameras away from Scratch in the back alley. First part of their plan was running smoothly. Jack had traded his blue hoodie and distressed jeans for a black-on-black suit to properly play the part of Song Jian, Operations Trainer, and verified visitor at Amsterix.
“Should be clear now. That was the only guard noted last night. I’m panning the camera sight slowly out of frame, but I have to make it realistic, so keep your stride steady Jack,” Glitch directed, keeping an eye on said cameras. He followed Jack moving purposefully through the building easily.
“The service entrance is about four hundred feet from your current position. Make a right at the upcoming hallway, and then make a left at the third hallway. Next you will go through the double doors straight ahead, keep the wall to your right until you reach the back entrance. Got that?” Glitch directed.
“En route. Have Scratch get ready,” Jack answered.
“I’m ready. Move your ass, Jack, this entrance isn’t going to stay so damn quiet for long.”
“He’s getting closer. Computer in question is live and active. I’ve got my program running. Whoever it is isn’t going to see anything up from my side so you should have some time to get to them. Just get there,” Glitch added.
Jack didn’t say anything. What, really, would be the point? He was here to do a job and focused on that. He kept his pace even, looking neither right or left as he moved. One of the things that newbies to the kidnapping world always got wrong is that they didn’t know how to make themselves blend. Break into a house? Get something out of the fridge, maybe even pick up a phone and carry it while you do your job. Get caught it’s easier to act like a fool who is in the wrong house and had 911 ready to be dialed out of fear. Don’t wear all black with a hood on your damn face and wonder why the Missus is screaming her bloody head off when she saw you. No, blend, become your environment and leave as if you never were there.
That’s what made him so good. So deadly.
“You’re coming up on the corner. Camera is turned away from you and you are clear down the lower half of the hall. What do you see Jack?” Glitch asked. Jack took the corner and scanned with his eyes.
“One guard pacing the hall. Thought you said there wouldn’t be anyone else,” Jack said harshly over the earpiece.
“Wasn’t supposed to be. There must have been a last minute change right before the mission. Make him disappear,” Glitch answered.
“You good?” Scratch asked. Scratch understood Jack in a way that Glitch never would. There was anger trapped inside of him, so deep, so cold, he was frozen with it. Scratch understood that, identified with it. Scratch was just as angry, just as dangerous, he just blew hotter with it, quicker to fight, Jack just preferred to kill.
“He’ll live,” Jack promised. He wondered for a moment if he meant Glitch or the guard and then figured it was the guard. Not a good move killing friends, especially when he really only had two. For now, he’d deal with it. Jack listened to see if anyone was coming. When he heard only the guard’s footfalls he quickened his pace. On the balls of his feet, he moved silently and flanked the guard. Before the man could utter a sound Jack gripped his mouth and punched hard at the brachial artery in his neck. The man went out like a light.
“Jack,” Glitch warned. Damn, he must have seen that hit on the camera. Oops.
“His head will hurt, and he will feel ill, but he’ll be fine. I didn’t hit hard enough to rupture it,” Jack returned. Quickly he carried the guard past the clear section of the hall and to an alcove. He pushed the guard into it, standing upright, and moved on.
“If they find him, they’ll know something is up. Get to Scratch. I’ll hold the security systems now, but that won’t stop human intervention,” Glitch directed.
His fingers flew over the keys, directing the cameras now to “no-feed” so that they no longer could record. He hadn’t wanted to create any change to the internal systems, or leave a footprint, but that was out of his hands now. Controlling the feed himself, he scanned the cameras so that he could track Jack moving quickly to Scratch. Glitch knew he’d have to wipe the memory so that they wouldn’t see Jack attacking the guard. Not as smooth as he wanted this mission to go, but otherwise easygoing so far. He watched as Jack opened the door to let his cohort in and they signaled to the camera,
“From your position, take the stairwell to the right and up four floors. The mark will be close to the entrance. They made sure they chose a computer near an exit.”
Moving quickly Scratch and Jack took the stairs, hauling the go-bag that Scratch had brought in with him. Glitch didn’t think he ever wanted to really see what was inside of that bag. The things that he knew Jack could do to people with his bare hands were bad enough. Seeing the tools that he could use to make them look really pretty wasn’t his cup of tea. Glitch shook his head. They’d be getting to the fourth floor in no time. He needed to make sure the coast was clear. Glitch fiddled with the cameras again and brought up the visual of the service floor. A multitude of cubicles with running computers faced him. Way in the back was a glassed off room of servers that even made him want to drool. Amsterix wasn’t just some company that made computer components. They had some pretty hi-tech gear in here. From what he could see the workstations were heavy modified Alienware and Cybron systems, not cheap, and not easy to come by on this large of a scale. Glitch made a note to look into what Amsterix was really doing.
For now, they had another problem. The floor was almost full. There was no way they’d get the mark off with no one seeing.
“I have to get the target out of the room. It’s full,” Glitch warned quickly.
“Fuck me,” Scratch grumbled.
“I could, but you probably wouldn’t like it too much. I use equipment,” Jack tossed. Glitch blinked, unsure if Jack was joking or not.
“We’ve gone over this, bro. Keep your chains and whips to your goddamn self,” Scratch returned easily. Glitch choked on a laugh, and then a groan when the mental image took root. That was not something he needed to know about Jack. It made sense, but he still didn’t need to know it.
“Target. Mission. There to kidnap someone. Anyone else remember that?” Glitch asked.
“We’re waiting on you, keyboard. What’s the plan?” Scratch asked.
“I’ll try to shut them down. Once you are on the other side of the exit be ready. Once I shut them down they will know someone is on to them. They’ll want to wipe and run. The trace of a hacker is always the first thing they remove. Then they leave the area so no one can find them there. They’ll come right to you.”
“I’ll take over from there,” Jack agreed.
“Done deal,” Glitch said and focused on his program. Quickly, he changed his worms to targeters, that sought out foreign and to destroy them. It was messy and obvious when someone did it, but it was very effective. He wasn’t worried about subtlety now. That asshole was going to get off his program. The targeters turn the code to blazing red, moving swiftly, jumping from line to line until the healthy, green code was no more.
“Good one,” Glitch acknowledged when his adversary matched him and mirrored his code once a
gain. Hex mAn1Ac really was the only person he’d ever met who could do that so easily. But been off the scene, heard, since his second month in prison. She’d disappeared after she, supposedly, single-handedly funneled several million dollars from a well-known bank. Said bank that needed to get a bailout from the President. She had cleared from the scene though, and he knew that when hackers did that they were gone. Many didn’t come back after a score like that.
“Prodigy?” he thought out loud. Prodigies tended to have a skillset they learned from their teachers, and then made them their own. Glitch had never thought of bringing another hacker under his wing, but he knew some who had, a way to still have their stamp in the world. He hadn’t thought Hex would be a hacker that would do it, but maybe he’d been wrong.
“What’s that?” Scratch asked.
“Nothing,” Glitch answered, still attacking the mirror. If Hex had a prodigy then this could be who he was dealing with. The thought made him feel both disappointed and relieved. He didn’t want to examine too closely the disappointment, but relieved because he didn’t think he could deal with seeing her. A prodigy was not Hex and didn’t deserve an ounce of his respect.
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