Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime)

by Lawrence, W. Richard

  Her observation was all too true, but Derry didn’t think it was that obvious. Maybe that was the reason he hadn’t told Lamar.

  ***

  The building was silent as Sara slid through the back door. It was past two in the morning, and she hoped everyone was either gone or asleep. Taking a quick scan at the camera locations and angles, she was relieved to see they hadn’t changed. Her planned route would go unrecorded.

  The building had an eerie feeling as she silently moved around the edge of the dimly lit room. Cutting through a couple of the interconnected downstairs offices, she bypassed the cameras in the hall. Taking a deep breath, she prepared for the ascent to Levy’s office.

  As her hand reached out and touched the wood handrail, she felt a mixture of excitement and fear. Soon this nightmare would be over. She silently climbed the stairs, thankful they were cement, not wood. If she got caught, she would pay with her life in a very slow and painful way.

  Once at the top, she pulled a pair of thin latex gloves out of her pack and put them on. She took one more glance down the stairs. Empty. Reaching out, she grabbed the handle to Levy’s office and tried to turn it.

  Locked.

  She reached into the side pocket of her pack and pulled out her homemade lock-picking tools. As she worked, every second stretched itself out. Every sound echoed in her mind.

  Finally, with what seemed like a very loud click, the cylinder rotated. Slowly twisting the knob, Sara opened the door. Her body stiffened with the door’s every creak and groan. Knowing the room was empty didn’t stop her from looking around before stepping in. Once inside, she eased the door shut. Using only the light coming through the window, she made her way across the dim office to Levy’s computer. Sara sat on the edge of the leather chair and reached up to verify that his monitor was turned off to prevent light from escaping into the room when the computer was turned on.

  Using a straightened paper clip to open the CD drive, she inserted her disk. Stopping, she listened. The building remained quiet. She pulled a portable hard drive out of her bag, plugged it into the USB port, then turned on the system. The computer now used her CD to boot, giving her full access to all the files.

  The CD, one of her own creations, copied the entire file system over to the hard drive. Then the software would install some of her own programs onto Levy’s computer. These programs would be buried deep in the boot sector of his system, a place few virus protection programs would look.

  Once her programs were in place, the CD would remove all traces of her work and shut down the computer.

  As she waited, she realized one mistake in her plan. The only way to know if the program had a problem was to see the screen. But turning on the monitor would flood the room with light, so she had to trust that her program would work correctly.

  It was taking longer than it should. Was there a problem?

  She fought the desire to look.

  Three times, she jumped upon hearing a noise outside the door or out the window. The waiting seemed interminable. She resisted the urge to rifle through Levy’s desk. It would make too much noise and leave behind proof someone had been there.

  Time passed slowly. Seeing Levy’s desk clock, she noted the time.

  2:28.

  How long had she been here? She didn’t think about checking the time when she came in.

  She waited.

  2:31.

  The CD popped out as the computer went silent. Tension melted away. Her program had worked. She hoped. The only way to be sure was to examine the contents of the hard drive, but that would have to wait until she got home.

  She closed the CD tray after removing her hard drive and CD. Sliding them into her pack, she took one more look around. Everything was just as it had been when she entered.

  Rising to her feet, she moved the chair back to where she had found it and stealthily moved to the door. Again she listened. Nothing.

  She opened the door and turned the lock on the inside. Stepping into the hall, she eased the door shut. The latch made a loud click. Sara froze and waited. All remained quiet. Trying the knob one last time, she made sure it was locked. Resisting the desire to run, she quickly retraced her path to exit the building and looked for a taxi.

  ***

  The taxi stopped two blocks from her apartment building. Sara looked around before getting out. All clear.

  A short walk took her to the end of her block, then an alley led to the parking lot for her apartment building. She peeked around the dumpster in the corner of the parking lot. Mike was still asleep in his car, his head leaning against the side window.

  Continuing down the alley, Sara made her way behind the building and up the stairs at the far end. Two minutes later, she stood at her apartment door.

  Before entering, Sara checked the small piece of paper she stuck in the crack between the door and doorjamb. Ever since discovering that Levy’s men had been in her apartment, Sara had started putting a very small paper in the doorjamb as she closed the door to leave, something she’d seen in a movie once. It was lame and she knew it, but it made her feel a little more secure. The paper was in place.

  She opened the door and stepped in. After closing the door, she debated about turning on her living room lights.

  Would Mike see them? He was asleep, right?

  But what if someone was in there?

  She turned on the light. The apartment looked okay. She quickly shut off the lights again and felt her way to the bathroom. Paranoia was getting to her, but she didn’t care. She turned on the water to make noise as she pulled her laptop out of her pack, then leaned against the bathroom wall. Not the best place to work, but it was well hidden.

  First things first. She checked the tracking number for her passport. It had been delivered today to her Estes Park PO box.

  Great.

  One more nail for Levy’s coffin.

  Everything was in place. Her excitement grew. In three days, she’d be on her way. She would be free, and Levy would be poorer, much poorer. That would teach him to blackmail someone smarter than he.

  Enough daydreaming.

  Sara plugged in the hard drive and backed up everything from Levy’s computer to an off-site server. As the process ran, Sara rested her head against the wall and thought about what her life would be like living in Italy.

  Why not Italy? I’m half Italian.

  She got up and went to the kitchen as she waited for the backup to finish. Returning with a small snack, she found the task complete. Taking a seat again, she went into Levy’s files. She needed his bank information. He kept it in an encrypted password-protected file. It took quite some time to crack his encryption, but she had the right tools. She retrieved the information and stored it in a secure location.

  One last task and she could go to bed. Bringing up the credit card program, she entered Levy’s banking information in a special file. After compiling the new version of the program, she loaded it on one of the special credit cards, which she placed in the side pocket of her pack. She’d wait to install the program until the day before she ran, giving herself the maximum amount of time before Levy learned the full extent of her plan.

  Chapter 18

  Kai paced back and forth in the hall. It was after nine in the morning. Levy should be here by now. The news she had for him wasn’t good. She was sure he’d blame her. Maintaining security in this building was her job, one of the conditions for cheap rent in the downstairs apartment.

  Wiping her palms on her pants, she took another glance down the hall. Did she have to tell him? At this point, she was the only one who knew about the problem.

  No, somehow he’d find out. He always did. And then she’d pay a larger price for not informing him. She really didn’t have any other option.

  She halted in mid-step. Voices were coming f
rom the floor below. Mike and Levy were talking about New York.

  Positioning herself to the side of his office door, she waited for Levy to notice her.

  “Why are you here? It better not be more bad news.” Levy did not slow down as he walked past her.

  “I found something this morning.”

  He hesitated for less than half a second. “Is it about Sara?”

  “No, it’s about your computer.”

  A short hesitation. “Come.”

  Levy moved through the office doorway. Mike allowed Kai to enter ahead of him.

  Levy advanced to his desk and examined his computer before taking his seat. “What about my computer?”

  “I found an indication that someone may have tapped into it last night.” Kai intertwined her fingers to keep them still. Mike took a seat on the couch.

  “Not possible. My router is shut down at night, and the computer is powered down. You said that would make it impossible for anyone to hack in.”

  Kai twisted the sweaty fingers of her left hand with her right. “That method does keep someone from hacking in from the outside. However, your computer was accessed from in here.”

  Levy rose and scanned the room before moving around to the front of his desk. With each inch of ground he covered, Kai’s fear ratcheted higher. He stopped halfway between his desk and where she stood.

  “What makes you think someone accessed my computer from in here?”

  Kai’s mouth was as dry as dirt. Her tongue felt fatter with each word. “The power monitor we added to your system a couple of months ago shows that someone turned on your computer around two in the morning and ran it for about forty minutes. They had to have done it from in here.” She nodded toward Levy’s desk.

  Levy looked around the room again. “Someone broke into my office this morning. What do the security tapes show?”

  “We don’t have a camera in your office, at your request. And I reviewed the videos from the halls and entry area. Nothing.”

  “Erased?”

  “No, they’re there. But whoever did this either somehow sidestepped the cameras or replaced the data stream.”

  “So all you have is the data from this device in the floor?”

  “Yes, but I ran some tests on it this morning. It’s working perfectly.”

  “How were they able to get past your security system, break into my office, and access my computer?” Levy took a step closer as he clinched his fist. “You are here to keep that from happening. How could you be so incompetent?”

  Kai took a step back as she raised her hands a little. “It’s not my fault.”

  “Then whose fault is it?”

  “Whoever did this knows our security.”

  Levy stopped and pulled back. “What files did they access?”

  “I don’t know. Your system’s—”

  “Find out. Now.”

  Levy twisted around and reached over the top of his desk to turn on his computer. “Do it from here, and be quick. “

  Kai carefully moved around Levy. “This shouldn’t take more than fifteen, twenty minutes tops.”

  Moving the keyboard to a usable location, she went to work. For the first several seconds, Levy and Mike scrutinized her movements. Finally, Levy repositioned himself where he had a good view of the screen. She felt his breath on her neck as she continued to scan each directory on the system.

  “You said fifteen minutes. How much longer?”

  Kai broke visual contact with the monitor. With only half the contents examined, she was coming up empty. “Halfway there, sir.”

  “And?”

  The skin of her neck tingled from Levy’s hot breath. “So far, nothing. The most recent dates are from yesterday morning.” Turning her head a little farther, she peered up at Levy as she quickly rubbed the back of her neck. “I need to check your encrypted directories.”

  He gave a nod.

  Kai ran a script to open the encrypted directories and check their dates. A few minutes later, she leaned back in the chair, deflated. Viewing the results, she said more to herself than to those in the room, “The most recent dates in here are over a week ago.”

  “So, nothing has been touched?”

  Kai felt the chair being pulled back. “I haven’t checked everything yet. I still might find something.”

  “No, you’ve told me all I need to know. You’re done here, and done securing my computer. Count yourself lucky that I have other need of you.”

  Obediently, she rose and made her way toward the door. Protecting Levy’s computer was a no-win situation. If she did it right, no one noticed or cared, but if she did it wrong, Levy could easily decide to kill her.

  “Could Sara have done this? Hacked in without a trace?”

  Levy’s question halted Kai’s exit. She wheeled around to face him. “Most definitely.”

  Mike jumped to his feet. “Sara went straight home last night, and stayed home.”

  Levy stared at Mike. “She evidently found a way out from under your nose.”

  Mike spoke faster than normal. “That’s impossible. I was outside her apartment all night.”

  “Where outside her apartment?” Levy’s face took on a sinister look.

  “In the parking lot. I could see both her stairwell and her car from where I parked.”

  “And her apartment door? You left it unguarded?”

  “No, I mean I could see most of it. It’s kind of blocked by her stairwell.”

  Kai noticed Mike rubbing his hands on his pant legs. Even he was afraid of Levy. Maybe Sara was right about Mike.

  Levy strolled back behind his desk. Picking up a folder, he thumbed through it as Kai and Mike waited in silence. After an eternity, he closed the folder and replaced it on his desk.

  “Put New York on hold. Get Jarred and Ben back here ASAP. Starting tonight, two of you will be on Sara whenever she leaves work.” He shifted his attention to Kai. “Where’s Sara right now?”

  “I left her in our office.”

  “Did you tell her about this? Did you tell her you were coming to talk with me?”

  Kai thought back. Sara was half asleep today. She didn’t inquire or even make a comment when Kai said she’d be gone for a few minutes. “No, sir.”

  “Okay. Starting five minutes ago, you call Mike each and every time Sara leaves the office. And learn her software. Do whatever you have to, but learn it quickly. Sara won’t be with us much longer.”

  ***

  With mixed feelings about achieving his goal, Derry sent off his full report and closed his laptop. It was Friday afternoon. He’d completed the audit a week early. He was proud of the work he had done, but this was the last night he had an excuse to eat at Jasper’s. Looking at the clock on the wall, he realized if he left now, it would be too early to see Sara, but if he waited any longer, it would be too late to talk with the account manager.

  This is silly. I’m acting like a high school kid with a bad case of puppy love.

  Opting for common sense, Derry slipped his laptop and other items into his briefcase, and headed to the printer. Grabbing the report, he went to the account manager’s office, and knocked on the doorframe.

  “Yes, what is it?”

  “I’ve completed the audit. Everything came out fine. Here’s a summary of the results. I downloaded the full report along with all the other data to your system. If you have any questions about the results, please notify me.”

  The manager scanned the report. “Good, glad to hear it. You finished quickly.”

  “Yes, sir. That was my goal.”

  The manager glanced up. “You’ve done good work here. I know you put in long hours almost every night, something we value.” The manager reached across his desk and retrieved two slips of
paper from a folder. “I’d like to thank you with these.” He handed the papers to Derry.

  “Uh, I can’t take any gifts on an audit.”

  The manager smiled and went on, not heeding Derry’s words. “We got a whole stack of these as a promotional. They were free. It’s just two tickets to the Scottish Highland Festival up in Estes Park. You being Scottish, I thought you might like to go.”

  Derry started to tell him that Conway was an Irish name, not Scottish, but the manager didn’t slow down long enough for him to get in a word.

  He shoved the tickets at Derry. “So, take the tickets and your girlfriend, and have a good time.”

  “I can’t take—”

  The manager cut him off. “I okayed it with your manager. He said the value was small enough that you could receive them as long as you reported it.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Derry took the tickets, and slipped them into his bag. The manager’s phone rang, so Derry left. As he headed to the elevator, he felt a little lost. Now that he had completed this job, he hoped he could take a few days off. Maybe get some work done on the guesthouse.

  ***

  “What are you doing here?” Jasper glared at Sara.

  “I have a full card. It needs to be run.”

  It was late, and Jasper was closing. “Come by tomorrow.”

  “Can’t. The transactions have to take place today, the same day that the original transactions took place.” Not true, but what did Jasper know?

  He didn’t move.

  “Look, I’m doing this to help you. I don’t really care if you ever get out of debt.”

  “I already ran the end-of-day program on the accounts.”

  “So, you can do it again. It will be a good test of my program.” Sara headed toward his register, pulling the card from her pack as she went.

  Jasper caught up, and grabbed the card. “Okay. I’ll run it. You are more trouble than you’re worth.”

  You don’t know the half of it.

  Jasper slid the card through the machine, and gave it back to Sara. “I know how to run it. You don’t have to look over my shoulder.”