The Accidental Honeymoon

by Alice Toby

  ****

  Karin watches her husband think. Ryan has changed since the late night meeting with the editor from The Barbarian Blog. He is no longer animated and spirited. He is focused and intense. When Author enters the CEO’s office, Ryan barely notices.

  “Ryan, I just got off the phone with the FBI.”

  Ryan turns around and looks at him. “And?”

  “They tell me that the U.S. Attorney is going to meet with a judge to get a wiretap warrant. That means they could bug Tor’s offices as early as tonight.”

  “Good.”

  “Having Rick’s testimony is good enough for an arrest but they need Tor to admit that he ordered the hack if they want that son of bitch to go down and get convicted.”

  “Tor is a smart guy. It’s not going to be easy.”

  “But you also know that he is a blowhard. He just has to slip once.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Author leaves the office. Karin takes a chance to comfort her husband. She walks up behind Ryan and begins to massage his shoulders. “You’re going to get this guy.”

  “Out of all the things I’ve accomplished, this is the one thing I am uncertain about.”

  “Why?” Karin asks.

  “Tor is smart,” Ryan tells his wife. He turns around and places his hands around her hips. “People underestimate him. That’s why he thrives.”

  “His reputation has to be tarnished as soon as the hacking scandal is revealed.”

  “Tor has a way of turning bad publicity into opportunity. If the FBI doesn’t get him, he’ll use all his resources to go after me, after you and after the company,” Ryan laments. “And that guy has the ability to do some damage.”

  ****

  Minutes after the sun drops below the tree line around the Emperor campus, Ryan decides to take his wife out for the evening. The last 24 hours have been, unexpectedly, the most stressful of their entire time together.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I just want to see the water,” Ryan tells his wife.

  The Audi stops at the Palo Alto Baylands park. The couple exits the vehicle and walk up towards the coast with a view of San Francisco Bay. The air is cool. The wind whips through both of their hair. Ryan puts his arm around his wife. “When I started my company 15 years ago, I used to come here to relax when things got bad,” Ryan explains. “There were times when I thought I would lose everything, when I couldn’t make payroll, when clients would walk out the door. I would just come out here and stare at the water because I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

  “Why not?” Karin asks.

  “I didn’t want to reveal any weakness. I gave out this air of invincibility. I kept it all closed in here,” Ryan explains pointing at his chest. “I refused to have any meaningful relationships in order to ensure full attention to my business. That why I developed this reputation as a party guy. I allowed no woman to stay with me for more than a few months.”

  Karin holds Ryan’s hand. In this moment, the CEO feels as though he is not truly alone. For the first time, he has someone as his partner. His equal.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Tor Janz leaves the office at 10:30 that evening. Rick waits until his boss’s Mercedes coupe leaves the parking lot before he himself takes off for the evening. As Rick walks out of the office, he watches the evening cleaning crew make its way inside the office. Unbeknownst to Rick, two members of the crew do not work for the cleaning company. They are undercover FBI agents.

  Five hours ago, Judge Liam Renaldi signed an order for a wiretap at “The Barbarian Blog” offices. The FBI wanted to waste no time getting the bugs into the office. However, before the bugs can be placed, two “sweepers” are sent into the office to ensure there are no surveillance counter-measures that could detect the FBI’s wiretap.

  This being Silicon Valley, many of the tech companies have some of the most sophisticated anti-bugging technology in the world. The FBI “sweepers” pull out their modified tablet computers and begin to check the building. Within seconds, the sweepers’ sensors go off. “All of these offices are burned,” one of the sweepers comments. “Burned,” meaning that the room is filled with anti-bugging detectors and therefore useless for surveillance.

  “Conference rooms are burned, too,” another sweeper announces.

  The two sweepers walk into Tor Janz’s office. The sensors begin to light up like a Christmas tree. They shake their heads. “Burned,” they tell each other in unison.

  ****

  Ryan steals a kiss with his wife as the elevator doors close. The evening watching the sun set over the San Francisco Bay did enough to take his mind off of his challenges. The couple has never felt closer. As the elevator doors open, they unknowingly hold each other’s hands. Everyone else on the fourth floor notices. The couple is still blissfully unaware of how close they have become. For Ryan, this is truly the first time in his life he has been this open with anyone.

  They at Ryan’s office where he is met by several members of his sales team. The CEO gets down to work and Karin gives her husband the space he needs. The young wife settles on her usual spot on the sofa. She likes to listen to her husband make decisions and give orders to his senior team. She gets off by how authoritative and definite he is with his decisions. Karin could spend all day just observing her husband Captain the tech giant.

  The sales team leaves. Less than twenty seconds later, Author and Michelle walk in. As is the usual routine for Ryan, he likes to meet with his second-in-command and General Counsel early in the morning.

  “Sales team tells me Asia is really booming,” Ryan tells Michelle.

  “Our only problem is keeping up with the production orders. We will need to hire another company to make our Sat-Phones.”

  “That’s a good problem to have.”

  Everyone is all smiles with the exception of Author. The top lawyer at Emperor is downright dour. Ryan notices right away that something is wrong with his General Counsel. “What’s up, Author?” the CEO asks.

  “I got a call from the FBI this morning. They can’t wiretap Tor’s building.”

  “Why not?” Ryan demands to know.

  “His offices have counter-measures that rival the CIA’s best technology. And that comes from the mouths of the Fed themselves.”

  Ryan sits down at the sofa concerned and aggravated. “They still have testimony from Rick Graves.”

  “Sure, the U.S. Attorney could indict Tor on the testimony. But there is no direct evidence that Tor gave the order for the hack. It will look like the random act of one employee at the company. Tor could easily win an acquittal.”

  “Great. Tor wins, gains great publicity and comes after me right when the merger vote comes up,” Ryan growls. The CEO gets up from the sofa. He paces the room. Then he stops and looks at Author.

  “I’ll wear the wire,” Ryan announces.

  Author shakes his head. “And do what? Confront Tor personally?!”

  “I’ll get him to admit it to me.”

  “Ryan, you know Tor is going to suspect something.”

  “Dammit. You’re right. He’s too smart for that. We can’t just allow this to stand. Tor will continue to come after us. Every week there will be another story. And another. And another!” Ryan angrily booms.

  Karin sees the complete frustration on her husband’s face. She looks down and catches her own reflection on the glass cover of her phone. She looks up at her husband and says, “I’ll do it.”

  Ryan looks at her confused.

  “I’ll wear the wire,” Karin tells Ryan.

  “You’ll wear the wire?” Ryan asks.

  “He would never suspect me.”

  “Karin. That can be dangerous. Tor is unstable.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Karin tells her husband. Then she turns to Author and asks, “When can we contact the FBI.”

  Author is caught completely off guard by this. “Do you want some time to think this over?”

  “No,
I’m ready.”

  Ryan walks over to his wife. He sits down next to her. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Yes. I want to get him,” Karin answers.

  Author looks at his boss. Ryan nods the “go ahead” signal to his head lawyer. The General Counsel pulls out his phone and begins to dial. “Do you have a plan as to how you will confront Tor?” Author asks Karin.

  “I don’t need to confront him. He will confront me.”

  ****

  “Tor is a full one foot and three inches taller than you. We will have to place the wire up around your chest area,” FBI Agent Cole Vinx explains to the now nervous young Karin. Ryan’s office is filled with five agents as well as Author and Michelle. Karin looks around at the five unfamiliar faces surrounding her small body. All of them armed, stoic and deadly serious. “We will be nearby. If you feel that your life is in danger and that you need us to move in, use the code word ‘Bishop.’ Do you understand.”

  “Yes. Bishop.”

  “Good,” Agent Vinx responds as a female agent begins to place the tiny microphone inside Karin’s blouse. The young woman looks up at her husband as Karin’s body officially becomes a microphone for the FBI.

  “Speak normally so we can test the levels,” Agent Vinx tells Karin.

  “Okay. Um. This is Karin. Testing one, two, three,” the young woman responds. Another agent, wearing an earpiece gives the thumbs up.

  “Alright, you are wired and ready to go,” Agent Vinx tells Karin. The young woman nervously tries to stand up. Her legs are slightly wobbly. Ryan helps his wife as the group leaves the office. It is late in the afternoon. According to Tor Janz’s Twitter account, the blogger boss is headed to an early dinner at Pampas near the Stanford University campus.

  “Pampas has an all-you-can-eat menu,” Ryan snorts. “You could be waiting a while.”

  Karin chuckles. It breaks the tenseness in her muscles for a few minutes. The entire group piles into two unmarked black vans and race away from the Emperor Technologies’ campus.

  Ryan and Karin look at each other as they feel the street under them. The vans turn towards the restaurant and come to a stop about a block away from Pampas. Agent Vinx calls for Karin’s attention. Now, she realizes that this is for real. This is going to happen. She is going to confront Tor. “There will be ten agents standing by. Try to get Tor to admit to being directly responsible for giving the order to hack into the system. Do you remember your ‘safe’ word?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  “Bishop.”

  “Okay,” Agent Vinx tells her as he turns to the other agents in the van. “She is ready to go.”

  Karin quickly turns to her husband and gives him a kiss. One of the agents slides the door open. She takes a step outside and listens to the traffic crossing in front of her. Her chest pounds hard against the microphone planted inside her blouse. The young woman is so distracted by her own heartbeat that she nearly wanders into oncoming traffic. The abrupt honk from a large sized BMW snaps her back to reality.

  The young woman walks towards the restaurant. She is nervous. More nervous than she thought she would be. The sides of her head begin to throb. A voice inside her tells her to, “turn around. Get out of there.” But the sheer will to help her husband overrides any fear which lays inside her head.

  Karin stares at the front entrance of the restaurant for a good five minutes. Then she begins to wander around the parking lot. After a while, she begins to forget why she is there in the first place.

  Inside the van, Ryan and the agents watch Karin from a roof-mounted camera.

  “She looks nervous,” Agent Vinx tells Ryan.

  “I know,” Ryan responds. “Look, if she panics. Get her out of there.”

  Agent Vinx looks at the CEO and assures him, “She has ten agents less than one hundred feet from her. She is safe.”

  With a net worth of $25 million dollars, Tor Janz doesn’t need to take advantage of Pampas’ “all-you-can-eat” menu. However, the 350 pound plus blogger can’t help but stuff three breadsticks into his pockets as he heads out of the door. In every sense, Tor wants to take the biggest bite out of every situation.

  Tor stomps out of the restaurant and heads towards the parking lot. He stops for a moment to pull one of the breadsticks out of his pocket. As he takes a bite into the butter and garlic smear appetizer, he notices someone very familiar about ten feet away from him. It’s a woman. A young woman. Tor takes a bite out of his breadstick and flips through his mental Rolodex trying to recall where he has seen this woman before.

  As the blogger finishes his breadstick, an image flickers into his head. The surveillance video. Tor practically rubs his eyes. “Is that Karin Wilde? Is that Ryan Wilde’s wife?!” Tor screams to himself. He stares at the woman for a good thirty seconds as he reaches into his pocket to grab another breadstick.

  Karin can sense something out of the corner of her eye. A large dark mass. She turns her head and sees this massive being, dressed all in black. He has long hair, like an unwashed Viking and a mess of orange facial hair resembling the quintessential “biker beard.” The man’s silver skull chain and skull rings glisten in the Northern California afternoon sun. It’s him, Karin tells herself. It’s Tor Janz. He is bigger, more massive and more intimidating than she had imagined.

  Tor notices Karin staring at him. Now he is sure that is her. He begins to move towards the petite young woman. Karin is scared. She looks around the parking lot and sees no one else in the vicinity. Tor’s mass seems to get exponentially larger and more massive as he moves towards her. Just as Karin is about to run away, she looks up at his face. The face that has tormented Ryan and his company for fifteen years. The bloated bully. Karin is no longer scared. She stands her ground.

  “You’re Karin Wilde? Right?” Tor asks in his usual gruff manner.

  “And you’re Tor Janz,” Karin responds flatly.

  “What are you doing here?” Tor inquires like some authority figure.

  “What is it your business?”

  “Well, I’m sure your husband is around. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind an ambush interview. That fuckwad has been ducking me for the past fifteen years.”

  “Why would he waste time with you. You’re just a blogger.”

  Tor’s face gets red. “Do you know who I am?! Do you know how much fucking power I have in this town?!” Tor scolds as he gets right into Karin’s personal space. He leans in close enough for Karin to smell what he had for lunch.

  Karin gets right in his face. “You’re a bottom feeder. Stay the fuck away from my husband’s company.”

  “Bitch, don’t talk to me like I won’t do something about it!”

  Karin takes a step back. Tor puts his right fist up in the air like he is ready to punch her. She tries to remember the safe word given to her by the FBI agent. She can’t remember it. Karin thinks about running away. This man could kill her with one punch. Karin looks at the fat fist of the bully. Then she remembers her husband. She remembers his advice - borrowed from Napoleon, “I see only the objective. The obstacles must give way.” Karin moves her focus away from Tor’s fist and stares him right back in his face. “I’ll talk to you however I fucking please. You’re not a real journalist. You’re a scumbag. I know how your blog operates. I know you stole that surveillance footage from The Northface security system.”

  Tor gets right in Karin’s face. “Yeah, that right. I fucking hacked into the system. And guess what? I can hack into Emperor’s system as well. My eyes and ears are all over this town. Apple, Cisco, Hewlitt-Packard, Ebay, Google. I hacked into all of their fucking systems. No secret is safe from me. And I know that I’ll eventually find something on your husband that will bury the Emperor-IBS merger and bury Ryan Wilde’s fucking career.”

  Karin smiles. “The only thing that is getting buried is you,” the young woman tells Tor as she pulls the microphone from her blouse. “Welcome to your funeral.”

  Tor turns
around and discovers ten FBI agents descending upon him. He looks back at Karin and flies into a rage. He charges her. Karin feels the brunt of the 350 pound thug attack her. The agents pull their weapons out. Ryan watches Tor attack his wife. He charges after the six-foot, five-inch attacker and jumps on his back. He pulls Tor off of his Karin and begins to beat him. Ryan punches Tor in the mouth over and over again. Now, the Feds find themselves having to protect Tor from Ryan.

  The two are pulled apart. Tor is bleeding from the mouth but still as unhinged as a bull. “Get your fucking hands off of me!” Tor yells at the Feds. They didn’t want to hear that. The FBI agents slam all 350 pounds of Tor onto the asphalt and cuff his hands behind his back. Ryan looks at his wife, who is still on the ground. He pulls himself from one of the agents and goes to his wife’s aid.

  Karin looks up. Her vision is blurred. She focuses her eyes and sees her husband leaning over her. “Are you okay, honey?” Ryan asks.

  “Yeah. Yeah. I just felt like I was run over by a train.”

  Ryan embraces his wife and kisses her face. He checks her for any bruises.

  Nearby, Tor is still wrestling with the agents. He curses them and their mothers. “I will investigate each and every one of you. My blogs will bury you!” Tor yells.

  “Shut up! You’re under arrest for violation of section 342 point 1 of the criminal code - Unauthorized use of a computer to obtain stolen information. You have the right to remain silent. And I suggest you use it!” Agent Vinx tells Tor.

  The agents lift up the bloodied blogger. He is no longer ranting and raving. He looks at Ryan. And for the first time, Tor appears defeated. The CEO looks at him for a moment. Ryan appears as though he wants to say something to him. After all, the CEO has had 15 years of pent up rage to vent at Tor. No. Instead, Ryan goes back and attends to his wife. It is the ultimate insult to the blogger who considers himself the most important man in Silicon Valley. Ryan has no words for him.