To Catch a Cheat

by Varian Johnson

  “Bradley made a huge mess, but there’s still a chance we can get the stains out of his clothes if we soak them now.” She grabbed Bradley’s arm and pulled him forward. “Can he use your office to change clothes? It’ll only take a second.”

  Mr. James glanced down the hall, toward the boys’ bathroom.

  “He’s a sixth grader,” Megan whispered. “He’s a little shy. The older boys sometimes bully him.”

  Mr. James took in the boy’s slight frame and finally nodded. He wasn’t supposed to let students into the security room, but the kid seemed harmless enough. “Just don’t get any paint on my chair.” Or in my soup. He stepped out of the room, and the boy rushed in, slamming the door behind him.

  Megan adjusted her jacket and glanced at the oscillating security camera mounted on the ceiling a few feet away. It had just finished its sweep to the left. “So … any leads on who stole the hard drive?” she asked. “Do you think it was the same guys who flooded the school?”

  Mr. James looked around the otherwise empty hallway, then stepped closer to her. He was sure that Dr. Kelsey wouldn’t want him talking to anyone, and especially not one of Jackson’s buddies, about the theft. But Megan had always been a trustworthy student. “To be honest, I don’t know how they even broke into the security room,” he said. “Not that stealing the hard drive would do them any good. It’s password-protected, and no one but me and Dr. Kelsey knows the code.”

  “I’ve heard that fancy systems like that come with twenty-four-hour security monitoring.” She nodded at the smartphone clipped to Mr. James’s belt. “Like, you’d receive a text if someone tried to log in with a bogus password or hack into the system?”

  Mr. James frowned at Megan. “You sure do know a lot about that security system —”

  “I’m the president of the Tech Club,” Megan said, shifting her stance. “We love everything related to computers — including security systems.”

  “Oh, well, yes. That makes sense.” He unclipped his cell phone, then pecked in the four-digit code to unlock the screen. “Still trying to get used to this new phone. My grandkids say that it’s not very advanced, but it’s still better than my last one.” He used a trackball and keyboard to navigate through the apps on the screen. “Anyway, it’s true that there’s an optional monitoring service that sends automatic updates. We had a trial version, but it ended after a month.” He showed her a diagnostics screen with a bunch of numbers. “The gal from the security company tried to walk me through how to manually check if someone had hacked the system, but all that stuff went right over my head.”

  Megan squinted at the numbers. “Maybe I could take a look and —”

  “Ah … I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mr. James said, pulling the phone away from her. “Like I told Dr. Kelsey, you can’t rely on all these fancy gizmos and electric doodads. Nothing like good, old-fashioned surveillance work to get the job done.”

  Mr. James returned his phone to his belt, then reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a packet of sunflower seeds. As he popped a few into his mouth, the door leading from the atrium swung open, and a couple of students slowly rolled two large recycling bins into the hallway.

  Megan waved. “Hey, guys.”

  Mr. James frowned at the students, Wilton Jones and Carmen Cleaver. “Wilton? When did you join the Environmental Club?” Carmen wasn’t a surprise, but he’d never known Wilton to be a tree hugger.

  “You mean the Environmental Action Team?” Wilton positioned the bin by the wall, between the security room and the next hallway. “You know how Gaby and Carmen are,” he continued. “They’re good about encouraging everyone to pitch in.”

  “Since when do y’all put trash cans over here?” Mr. James asked.

  “Recycling bins,” Carmen corrected. “We received some money from an anonymous donor and were able to buy a few more bins.”

  Mr. James sucked on the sunflower seed in his mouth as Carmen and Wilton moved the second bin into place at the corner of the intersection of the next hallway. “Maybe they should place that one a little farther away,” he said to Megan.

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s right where it needs to be,” Megan said. “There’s a science to how close together they’re supposed to be placed.”

  “Hm, is that so?” He didn’t get all the fuss about recycling. Dumping junk in the landfill had been perfectly fine for years. He didn’t see any reason to stop now. “What’s taking that boy so long?” Mr. James mumbled.

  “I’m sure he’ll be out in a second. He’s got to be … picture-perfect,” she said, her voice ringing through the hallway.

  A second later, Hashemi Larijani popped in from around the corner. “Megan! Do you mind posing for a picture?”

  Mr. James frowned. “Where’s your camera, son?”

  Hashemi waved the MATE. “You don’t need a stand-alone camera when you have a tablet like this. The back camera has advanced zoom features and can capture up to sixty-megapixel quality in low-light settings such as —”

  “Just take the picture, Hashemi,” Megan said.

  He held up the tablet and fiddled with the screen. After almost a minute of standing there with a fake smile plastered on his face, Mr. James asked, “Is it working? I was expecting a flash or something.”

  “Oh — my mistake — the app is set to video. Let me try again.”

  A second later, Megan and Mr. James were blinded by a barrage of flash photos.

  “Got it,” Hashemi said, already speeding away.

  While Mr. James was still blinking, trying to readjust his eyes after the flashes, the door to the security room creaked open. “Sorry that took so long,” Bradley said. “Thanks again.”

  As Bradley and Megan began to walk away, Mr. James glanced into his office. He noticed that the key to the security room had been placed on the wrong peg. Had he put it there by accident when he was fixing his lunch?

  Then he looked down the hallway. Maybe someone moved it.

  “Hey, son,” Mr. James called. “Come on back here for a second.”

  Bradley hesitated, looking at Megan, then slowly returned to the security room. “Is something wrong?”

  “I hate to ask this, but I’m going to need to check your clothes.” He took the bag of wet clothes from Bradley. “You can’t leave security to chance, you know.”

  The boy’s face turned ashen, but he nodded. “Sure. I understand.”

  Mr. James quickly patted down the clothes in the bag, making sure not to get any paint on himself. “And your pockets too, if you don’t mind.”

  Bradley emptied his pockets. “All I have is my wallet and a tin of mints.” He shook the tin. “And as you can tell, it’s empty.”

  Mr. James nodded, then handed the bag of clothes back. He must have put that key on the wrong hook when he returned to his office. Even seasoned security experts like him were prone to making a mistake every so often. “Good luck getting those stains out of your clothes. Hopefully soaking them will work.”

  Bradley slipped the wallet and tin back in his pockets. “Yep. Soaking. That’s the key.”

  Later on Thursday afternoon, after helping the basketball team to a blowout win at Wilson West, Gaby biked to Hashemi’s house with Jackson. She quickly surveyed the other bikes in his backyard. She recognized all except two — though the one she was explicitly looking for wasn’t there. “Where’s Charlie? I thought you two talked this morning and worked everything out.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “You sound like my tía when she talks about her boyfriend,” she said. “I just wish you and Charlie would grow up and stop fighting. As my dad likes to say, ‘There’s room in the coop for more than una gallina.’ ”

  “Did you just call me a chicken?”

  “It means that you and Charlie can coexist on the team.”

  “Look, I haven’t kicked him off the crew. Not yet, anyway. Charlie’s just … running through another part of the plan.” He pushed up her sleeve so he cou
ld see her watch. “Come on. We’re late.”

  “What time did the meeting start?”

  “An hour ago.”

  Gaby slid her hat from her head. “Please don’t tell me you blew off the meeting to come to my game.”

  “Your mom would have been lonely in the stands without me. Anyway, you were four for four from behind the arc and made eight assists. It was totally worth it.” Then he winked. “As much as I would love to blame my tardiness on you, I was late on purpose. I’m trying to wait out a couple of unwanted houseguests.”

  “You mean Rob and Thom?” She glanced at the two bikes that she hadn’t recognized earlier. “They’re not going to be very happy.”

  “That’s the point.” Jackson placed his hand on the doorknob. “Thanks for looking into the deal with Eric Caan, but don’t bring it up, okay? No point in getting the guys more worried than they already are.”

  Gaby nodded. It had taken only a few texts from a friend at Riggins to discover that Eric and his buddies had been paid to lose to Jackson and Gaby. And it hadn’t been a coincidence that Eric had pushed so hard for them to meet on Saturday night. That happened to be one of the few days this month that no events were going on at Riggins — the perfect chance for Charlie and the others to scope out the school.

  “I’ve been thinking a little more about who could be arranging all this.” Gaby handed Jackson a piece of paper from her pocket. “I made a list of potential suspects.”

  “You’re supposed to be staying out of this.”

  “Just think of me as a silent partner.”

  He opened the folded paper and looked over the names on the list. “I don’t think it’s Keith.”

  “What about Stewart Hogan or Victor Cho?”

  “Stewart doesn’t have the brain cells to pull this off. And Victor’s not vindictive enough.” Jackson smiled at the last name on the list. “And I promise it’s not Lincoln Miller.” He refolded the sheet and placed it in his pocket. “What, did you list everyone who we might have upset after the Election Job?”

  “Seemed like a good place to start.”

  “I noticed you didn’t mention your old flame.”

  “Omar was not my ‘flame.’ And leave him alone. He’s really nice. Just not my type.” Gaby took a deep breath. “You know, I’ve been thinking … Maybe you should tell Dr. Kelsey about Rob and Thom —”

  “We don’t have any proof,” Jackson said. Any hint of a smile had disappeared. “And even if we did, we don’t rat.”

  “Interesting how you remember that rule from the Code of Conduct, but you’ve forgotten the one about walking away if you’re in over your head.”

  “I think of them more as guidelines than rules.” The shed door squeaked as he pushed it open. “Ladies first.”

  Gaby blinked as she entered the shed. “It’s like a basement in here.”

  “Bright lights and heat interfere with the electronics,” Hashemi said as he pecked away on his laptop. Megan and Bradley sat at another table, mixing paints under a black light lamp, while Rob and Thom stood behind them, their arms crossed and faces stern.

  “Finally, the Infamous Jackson Greene has graced us with his presence,” Rob said once Jackson and Gaby had removed their coats. “Took you long enough.”

  “You’re welcome to leave if you don’t like waiting,” Jackson said.

  “Why don’t you just run through your plan?” Rob said. “I don’t want to be here all night.”

  Jackson stared at Rob for a few seconds, saying nothing, before going over to Hashemi’s worktable. “Okay, Hash. Pull up the doctored video of us outside the security room and walk us through the setup. And use small words. We don’t want to confuse our guests.”

  Hashemi punched a few keys on the laptop, bringing up the grainy, forged video of the crew breaking into the security room. “Lights. Forty percent.”

  The lights buzzed for a few seconds as the room darkened even more. Hashemi leaned closer to the screen. “Wow, the camera really does add ten pounds, doesn’t it?”

  “Just run it,” Jackson said as everyone crowded around the table.

  Hashemi started the video, and they watched as “Jackson” and “Hashemi” moved in and out of the security room — stealing the NVR. “From what Megan and Bradley were able to confirm, the cameras are indeed hooked up and recording. Also, according to Charlie, Serena Bianchi has volunteered to help Mr. James go through the backup video from each camera.”

  Rob popped his knuckles. “That brat? She’ll rat us out to Dr. Kelsey the minute she figures out what we’re doing.”

  “We’ll worry about Serena later,” Jackson said. “For now, we need to be able to turn off those cameras to get into Mrs. Clark’s room. Any way to hack into the system remotely?”

  “Sure, if I had six months and a jillion dollars’ worth of equipment,” Megan said. “Otherwise, the only way to turn them off is through a manual shutdown…. Which is almost as hard as a remote hack.” She reached across Hashemi to press a few keys on the laptop. A new video screen appeared, showing the adjacent hallway. “There are two oscillating — that means rotating — cameras between the security room and the southwest storage closet, where Charlie will be hiding.”

  Gaby tugged her ponytail. “Wow, Kelsey really placed those cameras to get maximum coverage.” She leaned closer to Bradley. “What’s so important about that closet?” she whispered.

  “It’s our access point for sneaking into the school,” Bradley said matter-of-factly. “It’s the best place for Charlie to hide without getting caught.”

  “Charlie?” Gaby asked.

  “He’s our inside man,” Bradley said.

  Jackson pulled out his notebook and pencil. “Hash, bring in the bins.”

  Hashemi pressed another button, and two recycling bins popped onto the screen. “Using the video I took today, I created a simulation where we’ve placed the new, larger recycling bins in the strategic locations we discussed. The bins will block enough of the hallway for Charlie to theoretically make his way to the security room undetected. Then he can unplug the cameras.”

  Gaby cleared her throat. “What do you mean, ‘theoretically’?”

  “If he’s fast enough, he should be able to run to each safety point before the camera pans back to catch him. He’ll have almost twenty-five seconds to get from the closet to the recycling bin at the corner of the hallway — plenty of time.”

  “And how much time does he have to get to the security room?” Gaby’s voice was rising.

  Hashemi looked at Jackson, then at Gaby. “Eight-point-two seconds. Plus or minus.”

  Gaby loosened her ponytail. “So you want Charlie to run through the school, dodging video cameras and hiding behind recycling bins, and break into the security room? And he only has eight-point-two seconds to run … what … seventy-five feet?”

  Hashemi wiped his glasses on his shirt. “Eighty-four feet.”

  “We thought about trying to hide Charlie in one of the bins tomorrow afternoon, but it’s too risky — there’s a chance someone could open it and blow his cover,” Jackson said.

  Gaby stared at the screen again. Jackson had promised that he’d look after Charlie. That he’d keep him out of trouble. “Do you have to go in at night?”

  “We checked the school schedule,” Jackson said. “There’s too much going on during the day. Nighttime gives us the most flexibility.” He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. “Don’t worry. Charlie can do it. He’s a pro.”

  Rob pushed his way past Bradley so that he was standing beside Jackson. “What about the test?”

  Jackson glared at Rob. “Once Charlie disables the cameras, the rest of us will enter the school through Mrs. Cooper’s room — she always leaves her window unlocked. We’ll install a device that’ll allow us to power on and off the cameras remotely and gather the rest of the information we need. We’ll sneak back in next week, once Mrs. Clark has developed the exam, and get the answers.”

&
nbsp; “I don’t like your plan,” Rob said. “But we’ll go along with it for now.” He walked to the door, with Thom trailing closely behind. “And Jackson, don’t try anything funny. We still have that video.”

  After Rob and Thom left, Megan slapped the table. A few loose wires bounced in the air. “I really can’t stand those guys.”

  “Don’t worry, they’ll get what’s coming to them — Rob, Thom, and their mastermind,” Jackson said. “You sure you guys will be able to download the video from the cameras tomorrow? That footage is our best chance at figuring out who’s behind this.”

  Megan nodded. “Once we’re physically plugged into the cameras, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Good.” Jackson looked at the table with the paints. “And how’s the ink coming along?”

  “We were able to successfully mix the fluorescent ink and the invisible ink,” Bradley said. “But we’re still working on the timing.”

  “And the watches?” Jackson asked Hashemi.

  “They’re in beta —”

  Everyone groaned.

  “— but I should have all three ready by next week.”

  Jackson cocked his head. “Three?”

  Hashemi nodded. “Rob and Thom asked for an extra.”

  Jackson made a note. “Sounds like the mastermind needs one as well. That narrows things down.”

  “What about transportation?” Gaby asked. “You can’t just bike up there on Friday night.”

  “Already got it covered,” Jackson said. “Samuel’s getting Ray Basilone to shuttle us around in his van. Should be enough room for all of us and whatever equipment we need.”

  Megan leaned against the table. “Just as a reminder, even if your ultimate plan works and we’re able to get Rob and Thom and whoever to hand over the forged video, there’s nothing stopping them from turning us in anyway. They could buy another hard drive, have Kayla the Cheat load up another copy of the video, and drop it off at school.”

  “They don’t even have to buy a new one,” Hashemi said. “They can use the hard drive from Kayla’s machine.”