Bats in the Belfry

by S C Jones

  He held up the disk passing it to her, and as she looked it over, he continued. “Yep, that disk is what controls every computer in the building.”

  “Okay, I think I can handle the install. Looks pretty straight forward.”

  “It is a simple next, next, next install. You just have to remember to put in the product key once you’re done or else, you’ll end up with the thirty day trial instead of the full version. Anyway, once you got it installed, it’s a simple matter of which computer you want as the client and which as the host.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Which machine do you want to control?”

  “Oh—”

  “Yeah.” He turned to the monitor and started typing, pulling up the support viewer screen. “My machine is the control and let’s say yours is the client. Let’s see what you’ve been up to Lane,” he said deviously grinning.

  She leaned in closer and watched as he typed in some numbers and a few clicks later her waterfall screen saver appeared. “Wow, how’d you do that?”

  “I used your IP address, which was the eight digit number you saw.”

  “And how did you bypass my password.”

  “Simple, the software comes with a decoder that pulls all the passwords to the machines it’s connected to, it makes a copy and imbeds itself to the IP of each computer. Once you connect to a computer with the password protection on, it matches the IP with the correct password and in two seconds you’re in.”

  “Isn’t that sorta illegal, being able to access someone's computer like that?”

  “It is, if it falls in the wrong hands. That’s why it’s not on the market.”

  “How’d you get it?”

  “I created it, with the help of Mr. Taylor of course.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Wow, that’s news. So, you’re like some sort of hacker?”

  He smirked. “Was in a former lifetime. Now I’m making things for the company that Mr. Taylor finds useful.”

  “And you want to give this to me. Won't Mr. Taylor have a problem with that?”

  “I’m only giving you part of the software, not the whole thing. I made other versions, simpler versions that can only control one or two machines only. In your case, you need it to see only one machine which is all this will be able to do.” Lane was thankful she didn’t really need the software at all, or else this whole thing would have been a total waste of time.

  She had gathered a lot so far, now the only thing she needed was Garrett’s IP address. “Okay, so I understand how the whole process works. My question for you is. How do you know everyone’s IP address? You said there were two hundred computers in the building, how do you remember two hundred number codes?”

  “That’s easy. When I set up each computer, I took it down and created a list that I uploaded to the software itself. If you look here.” She watched where he was now clicking into a folder causing a black window to open with different numbers going down in a list. “This is the list of every computer in the building. It doesn’t go by the person using the machine, but by the name of the machine itself. Like for instance yours is CEO 002.” He showed her where her IP address was located, and right above it was CEO 001, which she figured was Mr. Taylor’s since he was the temporary CEO, and there were only two computers on her floor.

  “So, it goes in order by department?” she asked.

  “Yep, if you look above yours, you’d find Mr. Taylor's. Below we have HR 001 and 002, further down you’ll find accounts, marketing, design, purchasing, and so forth. It all goes in order.” As he spoke her eyes were fixated on Mr. Taylor’s IP, memorizing every last dot and digit until she couldn’t forget it.

  “Okay, I think that’s all you need to know. Anymore questions?” Elliot asked.

  “I think I got it." Picking the disk up from the desk she asked. “Is this my copy?”

  “Yeah, if you have any problems, any at all let me know and I can always come by and help you out,” he offered sweetly pushing his glasses up his nose.

  Lane smiled and did something she didn’t think she could do, but somehow wanted to since the idea popped in her head that day at the elevator. “Elliot, do you want to maybe…go out sometime?”

  His face lit up; eyes wide as saucers with surprise. “Really…I mean sure, if you want to… we can go out, but what about that other guy?” His shyness made her smile. At least she wasn't the only one though. She liked Elliot and didn’t know what she could possibly feel for him unless she actually gave him a shot. Sure, she loved Scott, but Scott was okay with being where he was rather than with her. So why fight for something that was doomed to fail before it had even begun?

  “It’s over between us, so no need to worry about that. Anyway, I should really get going.” She stood and started moving toward the door.

  “Oh, yeah." He jumped from his chair and caught her before she pulled it opened. “Hope you got everything you needed.”

  “I did." She held up the disk. “Thanks again. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you later, right?”

  “Yeah, later.” He looked at her confused. “What’s later?”

  She giggled before turning and strolling down the hall. “Bar, drinks, Proof.”

  “Oh, yeah, Proof your birthday, I’ll definitely be there.”

  Twenty-One

  “Happy Birthday,” everyone at the table shouted as they raised their shot glasses to her before shooting them back. This was the fourth time in the last four hours of being there that their shot glasses were being refilled, and each and every time they did the same thing.

  After boarding the elevator at five, she met up with the gang down in the lobby where they walked the two blocks down to Proof. The atmosphere was warm, the drinks cold, the music loud as most of the people who had piled in were already drunk or on their way there. Their glasses clinked as they hit the table, and another round was being poured. Lane shook her head this time pointing to her beer. “No, I can’t do another one—”

  “Why not, it’s your birthday live it up,” Rory shouted before shooting her shot back. “Woo, that was good—”

  “And you're drunk,” Elliot said.

  “And that’s good too. Come on guys it’s Friday and it's Lane’s birthday. We don’t have to work tomorrow, that is all a good cause to celebrate,” Rory continued.

  “She’s got a good point,” Tiffany said.

  “I always do. Now I’m going to go get us another bottle of…whatever this is and we are going to get wasted, dance our asses off and maybe if all goes according to my plan, I’ll find a cute guy to take me home.” She was off the stool and across the bar floor before anyone could respond.

  “You having a good time?” Elliot asked into her ear.

  She leaned in smiling while gazing at him, enjoying the way his warm breath felt across her skin. “Best time ever.”

  “So, I was thinking…about that date—”

  “What about it?”

  “Well, there’s this new restaurant down on fifth that I thought you might like. If you want, we can go Sunday. If you’re not busy that is.”

  She smiled even brighter before leaning into him whispering back into his ear. “I’d love to—”

  “What are you two whispering about,” Cortney shouted giving Lane the, 'I know what’s going on' look.

  “Nothing, Cort, want me to top your drink off, it’s looking a bit on the empty side there,” Elliot offered lifting the bottle toward her glass.

  She scowled and grabbed it filling her glass herself. “Right, like that’s going to throw me off the question. I’m not that drunk.”

  “I didn’t say you were,” he said looking toward Lane before they shared a laugh.

  Rory soon returned with the full bottle of Petron. “What’s so funny? She asked hopping on the stool next to Cortney.

  “Oh, Lane and Elliot want to fuck each other, and thinks no one knows.”

  Lane’s mouth popped open while Elliot’s drink squirted from his mouth. “We do not,�
� Lane resorted, while Cortney and Tiffany gave her the, 'yeah right' look.

  “Really, so Elliot hasn’t had a crush on you since the moment he met you?” Tiffany asked looking at Elliot who looked a bit embarrassed.

  “Great Tiff, now she knows,” he mumbled taking another sip.

  Lane poured herself a shot and downed it before saying, “okay, no more talk of me and Elliot fucking, okay.”

  “So, you admit you want to fuck him,” Rory laughed pointing her glass at her.

  “It doesn’t matter, now drink your drink and shut up,” Lane said giving her a pointed look before turning back to her drink.

  The three of them laughed before Cortney said, “we don’t care if you want to fuck him, he is good looking enough, even somewhat sexy, if ya ask me.”

  Rory and Tiffany giggled while Elliot downed the remainder of his beer before turning to look across the crowded bar. “Hell, I’ve had him. Maybe he’d be better for you than he was for me,” Tiffany said causing the table to erupt in laughter.

  “Fuck,” Elliot murmured, standing and heading toward the bar.

  “Come on Elliot I was only joking,” Tiffany shouted still laughing.

  Lane thought about going after him, but she needed to leave before the window of opportunity was closed. Purposely digging in her purse for her cell knowing it wasn’t there she said, “guys, let’s take some pics, I want to remember something from this night tomorrow.” After a few minutes of digging she stopped. “Shit, I can’t find my phone,” she said with a convincing frown while moving her hand inside her bag.

  “Did you lose it?” Cortney asked downing another drink.

  “I don’t think so—wait, I think I left it at the office,” she shouted. “I need to go back.”

  Hopping off the stool, she grabbed her purse as Elliot returned. “What’s going on? Where are you going?”

  “I think I forgot my phone at the office, I need to go back and get it.”

  “Want me to come with?” he offered; she shook her head.

  “No need, it’s only two blocks away, I’ll be okay. Stay, drink, I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “You sure?”

  “Ell, let the girl go, she said she’ll be back,” shouted Rory giving Lane a wink.

  She laughed patting his arm before turning toward the exit. “I’ll be back.”

  Exiting the bar, she took a calming breath out before turning and heading back the way she came four hours ago. It was a cool night and since the office was so close to downtown, there was a lot of activities happening, as people were out and about excited about the weekend ahead. Trying to shake the nerves from her system, the few drinks she had doing nothing but making it worse, she quickly crossed the street and headed up the few steps and through the glass doors. Elijah the security guy was at his desk and spotted her as soon as she walked in. “Miss Bennett, what are you doing here so late?" He asked curiously, the two monitors on his desk lighting up his face.

  “Hey, Elijah, I think I forgot my cell on my desk. Mind if I just go up and check?” she asked innocently.

  “No problem at all. Just be quick, you got fifteen minutes before I have to come looking.”

  “Thank you and I promise I’ll be quick.” She sprinted over to the elevator that was luckily already waiting and got in. Checking her watch which read seven thirty, she gave herself ten minutes to be in and out, hoping nothing went wrong. As the door opened on her floor, she quickly moved to her desk, scanning it quickly before picking up the phone, and dialing Elliot’s cell.

  He picked up on the third ring. “Everything okay?” he shouted after a few muffled sounds over the distracting bar music.

  “Everything’s fine, but it wasn’t at my desk. I think… I think I must have dropped it in your office. Mind if I go check?”

  “I don’t remember seeing it earlier.”

  “Where else could it be? The only places I’ve been all day was my office and yours and it’s not here, I’ve looked everywhere,” she lied sounding defeated.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come help you look?”

  “No, I’ll just go check and if it’s not in there I’ll come right back.”

  “Alright, I’ll call Elijah and let him know you’re headed down.” Perfect she thought, that’s exactly what she needed him to do. Holding in a smile she hung up and got in the elevator.

  In Elliot’s office, she sat in his chair and quickly clicked on the support viewer icon he had showed her earlier. When it opened, she did exactly what he did allowing the screen for the IP address to open. Once it did, she typed in Garrett’s IP exactly the way she memorized it; 172.16.8.92, and in two seconds Garrett’s screen lit up before her eyes.

  With only five minutes, she quickly maneuvered through folders and files coming cross invoices and saved emails from buyers and suppliers; nothing suspicious. Entering his opened Google account, she went to his inbox opening each email one by one, viewing the endless nothingness he emailed each day.

  After running through the fifth with nothing interesting to show, she went to his outbox quickly clicking on the first entry. Remembering her phone, she grabbed it from between the pages tucking it in her bag before looking back at the computer screen, as an email sent Tuesday afternoon with the subject Bru258932 caught her attention. She noted it looked like one of the codes from the list she had found in his bin. Opening it, her eyes skimmed through the five line paragraph of information she couldn’t quite understand, until ending on a name she remembered all too well.

  ***

  “Found it,” she yelled holding her phone up when she reached the table. Somehow in the last twenty minutes she was gone more people had showed up, more people she didn’t quite know who were hanging out at their table. The entire bar was now a crowded mess of crazy drunks and sweaty bodies grinding to a version of Rihanna’s 'Work,' while in front of her everyone cheered, even Elliot looked happier with his glasses gone, and a mess all over his head.

  “Here, drink up and let’s finally get this party started,” Tiffany wailed shoving a full shot glass across the table when more cheers echoed across the bar.

  “What’d I miss,” Lane shouted grabbing the empty stool next to Elliot, and shooting back the shot. More cheers erupted.

  “Oh, nothing but a couple of guys who wanted to come celebrate your birthday with us,” Rory said, her arms and eyes stuck on a Matt Damon looking guy who had his lips wrapped around a beer bottle.

  “I don’t think we’ve met,” Lane said to the guy.

  The bottle left his lips replacing it with a full blown knock your socks off smile with two matching dimples. Rory and Lane shared the same approving look. “Dean and you must be the birthday girl. Happy birthday.” They shook hands across the table.

  “Thank You. I can see my friend Rory here is keeping you well occupied.”

  “She is. You enjoying your birthday so far?”

  “Guess you could say that, this place is pretty exciting.”

  “Yeah, my cousin’s the owner. Tries to keep the place as lively as he possibly can. You should come back on Thursday nights, that’s when the excitement really happens.”

  “Really, and what might that be,” Rory asked.

  He smirked. “Karaoke.” Both girls laughed.

  “Seriously?” Lane shouted grinning.

  “Hey, it gets pretty wild sometimes."

  “I bet,” said Rory sucking on her own beer.

  “And the company’s not so bad either,” he said sending a heated look over at Rory, who had an equally lustful smile for him.

  “Ready to dance?” Dean asked her. Rory didn’t bother answering but pulled him from his stool and was halfway through the crowd in a giggling frenzy. The other two guys at the table, blonde hair, blue eyed brothers were being kept occupied by Tiffany and Cortney who hadn’t even acknowledged Lane since she sat down. They were equally busy licking salt off both guys necks, before grabbing a lime wedge from between their lips, and shooting ba
ck two shots each from the table.

  “Do they always do that?” Lane leaned into Elliot while watching the scene unfold in front of them.

  “You mean when they are wasted, or in general?”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “With those two there always is. They’re not drunk, at least not yet.”

  “If that’s them sober, I don’t think I want to know what their like drunk.” Turning away from them she looked toward the dance floor. “Wanna dance,” she asked. She had never been a dancer, but for some reason she wanted to be one of those girls out there, enjoying everything about being close with a man. She wanted to be close with someone for once, and what better way than dancing.

  Without his glasses he was truly handsome in every way you’d pictured a man to be. His green eyes shone brightly down at her while his full lips wrapped around the beer bottle making her wish it was a part of her body instead.

  “Sure,” he shouted, turning to place his empty bottle on the table before taking her hand and leading her out onto the dance floor.

  ***

  The next morning…

  Stepping through the doors of The Bar, Lane spotted Kay, a short Indian girl by the bar and immediately followed in her direction. After this morning’s antics she was feeling better than she thought, considering the amount of alcohol she had consumed before two thirty. The other three girls weren’t doing so well, with two of them passing out in the backseat of Elliot’s car and the other, meaning Rory, had to be pried off Dean's face before passing out with the others in the backseat. All on all, she thought the fake birthday plan was a success, since the information she got led her here.

  It was two in the afternoon which meant the bar was fairly empty. Only people around were busy with their food at the tables near the windows and down in the back. Before she reached the bar, Kay turned taking a swig from the water bottle in her hand before spotting Lane. She smiled, placing the bottle on the counter behind her. “Well, well I never thought I’d see you in here again,” she stated cheerfully.

  “Neither did I, but here I am,” she said as she approached placing her hand on the counter.