Girl in a Fishbowl (Crowbar Book 1)

by Thomas A. Gilly

  “Terri, you must really focus,” Utkin said with her thick Russian accent. “Let see we get through this last routine. From top.” Utkin started clapping a rhythm. They’d been trying to get through the second female solo from Balanchine’s Tarantella all morning. Natalya had picked up the dance steps quickly, like she always did. Terri was struggling, sweat plastering her hair and dripping into her eyes. Her toes were aching in their ballet shoes during the pirouettes when Utkin stopped clapping and said, “Terri! Terri! What I tell you about passe? Vertical and horizontal! Vertical and horizontal! Ach, that is all today. Natalya, beautiful, beautiful. Must go.” Utkin vanished.

  Natalya walked toward the mirror and picked up a towel from the floor. She turned to Terri, put on a stern Utkin-like face and said, “Terri! What I tell you about passe? What I tell you?” She laughed.

  Terri smiled. “I think you might need a different dancing partner. I’m holding you back.” Terri wished that Natalya would get a new dancing partner. Natalya was at a level that was close to professional, while Terri had known for the last couple of years that dancing simply wasn’t her thing. She was sure that Ivana Utkin was as tired of berating her as she was tired of being berated.

  “No way! I’m not giving up on my bestie!” Natalya said. “We are going to kill it dancing at those Princeton frat parties. We’re going to break out our freaky passe on them muthafuckas.”

  Terri picked up her own towel and wiped the sweat off her face.

  Natalya said, “During our practice I got a message from my hacker about Conrad’s father.”

  “You did!” Terri said excitedly, newly energized. “Was he able to find out where he went?”

  “Not really. It seems David Hicks does have a way to avoid surveillance. That is something he just has to show me once we find him. It’s the least he could do considering all I’ve done for him. Here, take a look at this.” Natalya sent over the map that Metronome had made of David Hicks’ possible movements. “There, that was all my guy was able to get. I’ve had him track people before, and usually he can count the number of times a person picks their nose. With Hicks all he gets a big ball of next to nothing.”

  “So what are we going to do?” Now we should go to the police, she thought.

  “What do you know about David Hicks, about his days as a hacker? Is Conrad really telling us all he knows?”

  “I think so. When we were young Conrad would complain that his father didn’t trust him enough to tell him what he did when he hacked. If he did anything at all.”

  “Oh he did something all right. He’s just able to monitor all of the cameras in the city without being connected to the internet—which is, by the way, impossible—so we know he is able to do impossible things, which means we’re going to have to do impossible things to find him. I mean, I’m good, but I haven’t been able to do the impossible yet.”

  “So we have to go to the police,” Terri said hopefully.

  “No,” Natalya said flatly. “No policia. We don’t need no stinking badges. We have to get creative. Get some boots on the ground, get on our hands and knees and get dirty. First, we need to get onto David Hicks’ computer. He has a computer at his apartment, right?”

  “Yeah, but he’s always kept that room locked. Even Conrad isn’t allowed in it.”

  “We could break it down, right? If I talked to Conrad and told him we needed to break down the door to find his father, I would think that should convince him.”

  “Errr,” Terri shook her head. “I don’t think it would be that easy. If someone tried to break in I’m sure the computers have some sort of self-destruct mechanism. Then no one would get the software.”

  Natalya crossed her arms and tapped her foot, frowning. “There’s got to be a way to get to that software. We just need brains, we just need brains.” She tapped her foot a little faster. “Brains brains brains.” After a few moments her foot stopped and she said, “Okay, I think I know how I’m going to proceed.”

  “What are you going to do?” Terri asked suspiciously.

  “Only on a need to know basis, bestie! Need to know!”

  Terri did not like the sound of that.

  Chapter 26

  Conrad opened the door and was surprised to see Natalya standing at the entrance to his apartment. She was wearing what she must have imagined was the standard female fashion style in McGee’s Rocks—tight zebra stripe leggings and a pink t-shirt with tears in the cleavage that looked like it was raked by lions’ claws. Actually, that was fairly standard in McGee’s Rocks, except for the large red triangular Louis Vuitton bag slung on her shoulder.

  “Mind if I come in?” she said and didn’t wait for a replay, walking past Conrad and looking about the interior of the living room. “Wow, my network just cut right out,” she said as Conrad closed the door. She looked at him, hugged her own shoulders and said, “It feels weird, being off the grid. I feel so exposed! I mean, you could do anything you wanted to me and there’s no way I could call for help. You could strangle me right now and they wouldn’t know you killed me until they found my body . . . if they found my body.”

  What a strange thing to say, Conrad thought.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I probably won’t kill you.”

  She looked down at the couch critically and he sensed she was debating whether or not to sit down. She decided to remain standing. “I tried to call you but, of course, there’s no service here. So I had to come out in person. I wanted to give you an update on your father.”

  Conrad felt the excitement of expectation and hope. “Have you found him?”

  “No, I’m afraid not yet. We have mapped out his probable travel after he left here. I sent you the map, you’ll get it when you step out of this cave. I was hoping you could look at it and see any likely destination from the areas he was in. He gave my investigator a real run for his money—your father really does have a knack for avoiding surveillance.”

  Conrad was disappointed.

  “So it looks like your father really is a heavy duty hacker.”

  “Yeah, I suppose.”

  “Did he have a cool hacker name? He must have at least told you his cool hacker name, you know, something to strike fear in the hearts of governments and corporations?”

  “If he did he never trusted me enough to tell me.” Conrad shook his head. “I don’t know, it used to piss me off—I went through this phase where I idolized him, you know? Since he never went into any details about his life I imagined all sorts of things he might have done, secret organizations he was a part of—a fugitive, running from the law. But then I started to suspect that it was all just bullshit. He did say he was a part of Bang Squad but most of those people were just script kiddies—only a few of those guys had any real skillz. And even if it was real, even if he was in the inner circle and there was all this danger, I hated the fact that he couldn’t trust me with it. If it was real I just wanted him to talk to me about it, to trust me with his secrets. So either way I felt screwed over.”

  “Bang Squad? Sounds risqué.”

  “I suppose,” Conrad said uncomfortably.

  She leaned with her butt against the back of the couch. “Parents, eh? Well, you probably know all about my parents. It’s not like they’re about quality family time. My mom can’t get through any family get-together without a bottle of vodka. And my father . . . sometimes I don’t even know why he had me. He’s just all about business, his hotels are his real kids.” She laughed nervously. Conrad was somewhat taken aback by her sudden vulnerability—like who is this person?

  “I’m sorry I don’t have more information on your father right now, but this is just the beginning of the investigation. I promise you we’ll find him. For me it’s more than just a favor, now there’s a personal component.”

  “Personal?” Conrad said uncertainly.

  “Yes, personal. I’ve read your father’s manifesto. I have to tell you that it really moved me. Thank you so much for trusting me with it. It’
s really made me rethink things, rethink my life. I mean, I can now understand why you hate me, hate me without even knowing me! I understand. Three Core Virtues. Truth, freedom, and compassion. I understand how someone raised with those virtues can look at me and see evil, see pure evil.”

  “Evil is a bit strong,” Conrad said. “Maybe misguided.”

  “You see!” Natalya exclaimed. “Even now you’re being too kind. Looking back at my life through 3CV I do see myself as evil. I was selfish and thoughtless and just concerned with myself. It must have been so hard for you! Trying to live up to 3CV with the world the way it is—everyone acting as if ethics don’t matter anymore! You must be incredibly strong to hold onto your integrity while the rest of the world is so completely amoral.” She stood straight and took a step toward him. “It must have been incredibly lonely.”

  Conrad looked down at the floor. “It wasn’t so bad. I did have Terri for a while.”

  Natalya turned around and crossed her arms, her hair swishing across her back. “And I took her away from you. More evil.” Conrad was surprised to see her shoulders shake. Was she crying? He didn’t know what to do. Should he approach her? Put a hand on her shoulder? Comfort her? His mind swirled.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he finally said, staying where he was. “You didn’t know better. It’s the way you were raised, it’s not your fault.”

  She turned back around to him, wiping a face that was now red and puffy. “It might not have been my fault before, but now I don’t have any excuses. I want to do something with this! I want to teach people! I know that if more people knew about 3CV we could change things for the better, like your father wants. I don’t think your father would have come to a person like me to spread the idea of 3CV, but you understand. If we publish your father’s ideas, if we popularize them, so people could see how out-of-whack the world is, I think we could change the world for the better. If they could see how this lack of privacy really is a Black Iron Prison, how it gives too much power to the wealthy, we could try to restore the balance of 3CV.”

  It was jarring to hear someone other than his father speak of the “Black Iron Prison”. Conrad had always considered it a symptom of his father’s crazed paranoia. Now to hear someone else speak of it, use it like she believed in it, it gave the idea some measure of solidity.

  “We should wait until we find my dad. Once we find him you can talk about it to him, see if you can get him to publish his manifesto.”

  “Of course,” Natalya said, taking another step toward him. “Of course, once we find your dad. I just hope that he’s as understanding about it as you are.” She stepped in close to him and reached out a hand and touched her fingers to his chest briefly. “His computer is here, right? In the apartment? Have you tried to get on it? Look for clues?”

  “It’s locked in his room. I can’t get to it.”

  “Have you checked the lock? Maybe he left it open. It’s worth checking out. Where is his room?”

  “It’s down the hall on the right, the one with all the electronic gadgets bolted on. There’s no point checking it, it’s locked.”

  Before he knew it Natalya was walking quickly down the hall. “I’m sure there are clues in there to where your father is.”

  Conrad rushed in the hall after her. “Don’t touch the handle! It might trigger something!”

  Natalya was standing in front of the door. She reached out and grabbed the door-knob. Conrad took hold of her wrist and pulled her away. She twirled and stumbled clumsily toward him, bumping into his chest, her free hand reaching up and grabbing his shoulder. “Oh!” she said, looking up at him. Her hand slid slowly down his arm as she regained her balance, her body still pressed against his chest.

  Conrad quickly let go of her wrist and took a step back. “I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I just . . . I was worried about the alarm system.”

  “Okay, that’s okay,” she said quietly. “It’s just that we can’t let any avenue go unexplored. I really really want to find your dad. I know a guy who’s good with locks. He can come here and get this door opened, I’m sure of it. We should give it a try.”

  Her eyes looked so big, so close, looking up at him. He took another step back and looked at the door. “Only as a last resort,” he said. “If all else fails and he doesn’t get back . . . then yeah, I guess we’d have to. But not until then.”

  “Of course, it should only be a last resort. I just hope he’s not in any trouble and needs help now.”

  Conrad turned around and walked back into the living room. Natalya stayed where she was. A few uncomfortable moments passed.

  “Conrad?” Natalya said. “Do you mind if I use the bathroom?”

  “Yeah, no problem. It’s at the end of the hall.”

  He listened as she walked down the extent of the hall and the door closed.

  She can’t think I’m flirting with her, can she? he thought. I shouldn’t have grabbed her; I shouldn’t have touched her. What if she tells Terri? What if she tells Terri I flirted? I didn’t flirt but what if she thinks I flirted? I’m not wearing my glasses; I didn’t record what happened. I can’t risk Terri thinking I flirted with Natalya.

  He heard the sound of the toilet flushing. He walked around the couch, putting it between him and the hallway. Natalya emerged and came into the living room.

  “I’m sorry I pushed so hard with getting on your father’s computer,” she said, clutching her bag in front of her with both hands. “He’s not making it easy for us to find him. I push hard, I know I do, when I want something, and I really want to meet your father. We’ll keep our options open, and we shouldn’t wait too long because I’m worried too.” She looked at the door to outside and then back at Conrad. “I’ll get going now, stop bothering you. I did just barge in on you uninvited.” She walked to the door and reached for the knob but then stopped short. “I can touch this now, right? It won’t blow up or anything?” She gave a lighthearted wink.

  Conrad’s mouth opened a little and just hung there for a few seconds. Finally he said, “Yeah, you can open that door.”

  She grabbed and turned the knob. “Not that I wouldn’t mind being trapped here with you. And... thanks for not strangling me.”

  She made a little wave and left the apartment.

  Dafuq, Conrad thought.

  Chapter 27

  Terri felt a silly waiting alone in the indoor firing range. She was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a pony-tail. She had on some ridiculously large ear protection and protective goggles they had given her in the front room. She felt nervous, she didn’t know what she was doing—she was afraid of doing something stupid, like shooting herself in the foot.

  The door opened and Detective Martinez walked in. She was wearing a blue sweatshirt with MRPD in big yellow letters on the front, and a baseball cap with the same letters. Her protective goggles were much more stylish and streamlined than Terri, and her ear protection was around her neck. She was carrying a small black canvas bag. She was tall, a good head taller than Terri.

  Wow, Natalya really pulled it off, Terri thought.

  The detective extended her hand. “Angel Martinez. You must be Terri Vieira.”

  “That’s me,” Terri said.

  The detective motioned with her hands for Terri to remove her ear protection and place them around her neck. After she did so Martinez said, “We won’t be shooting right away, we have to go over the basics first.”

  “Okay,” Terri said.

  The detective went to one of the shooting stalls and placed the canvas bag on the shelf. Terri saw a glint of metal at the small of her back where her sweatshirt was pulled up a little over the belt.

  I bet that’s her gun, Terri thought. The gun she used to kill that guy. She realized that Detective Martinez was probably the only person she has met who had actually killed someone.

  The detective unzipped the bag and pulled out a small gun in a cloth holster. “This is your new handgun, a Glock 43
semi-auto.” She pulled the pistol from the holster and showed it to Terri. “It uses nine millimeter ammo, holds six rounds in the mag, one more in the chamber. Notice how I’m holding it. The trigger finger is pointing straight out over the trigger guard. When you are handling a gun you shall keep your trigger finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot something.” She put the gun down on the counter, facing the target. She was all business, speaking in a flat monotone. “The first thing you do when you pick up a gun that has been out of your sight is a safety check.” She picked up the gun. “This button on the side is the mag release.” She pressed the button and the magazine slid out from the bottom of the handle. “As you can see, it is empty. Now I pull the slide and see that there is no bullet in the chamber. This gun is safe.” She slid the magazine back into the gun and put the gun on the counter. “Your turn.”

  Terri picked up the gun, making sure to keep her finger away from the trigger. She repeated the steps of the safety check and put the gun down.

  “There are five rules to handling a gun. You will be able to repeat them all to me when we are done today. Rule one, always treat a handgun like it’s loaded. Even if you just did a safety check and you know it’s unloaded, treat it like it is loaded. Two, always keep the handgun pointed in a safe direction. Make sure the muzzle is pointed at something you wouldn’t mind destroying. Three, always keep you finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Even if you are in a combat situation you don’t go running around with your finger on the trigger. That’s a good way for you to shoot yourself. Four, always keep your handgun unloaded until it is ready for use. If you are carrying it in your purse for protection, it should be loaded, because that is its use. But if you are storing it or transporting it in your gun bag, it should be unloaded. Five, always be sure of your target and what is beyond it. Never shoot unless you are sure of your target. Once you’ve pulled the trigger you can’t call the bullet back. Be sure of what you are shooting. Alright, now repeat the rules back to me.”