Desperate Measures (14 page)

"And a man in your apartment, and your boss at the paper "The man in my apartment pulled a gun on me. We scuffled. He fell and broke his neck.

As for my boss... " Pittman hesitated, his throat tight with grief. "No, I didn't do anything to Burt. It was someone else."

"And they say you're hysterical, out of control. That you're planning to kill yourself and you don't care who you take with you."

"No. That isn't true either, Brian." Depression overwhelmed him. "I don't want anybody to get hurt."

"Then you're not suicidal?" Pittman looked at the baby. "Well?" Brian asked. "That's about the only thing that is true. The kitchen became silent, even the baby. "They say your son died."

Pittman swallowed and avoided the issue. "I really need this favor, Brian. I'm in a lot of trouble that I don't deserve, and I want to set it right."

"Why? I don't see why it should matter if you're planning to kill yourself "Yes. I've been contemplating suicide a lot.... I think"he swallowed again-"it's because all along I planned to go out cleanly. But suddenly everything has gotten very messy.

Feeling pressure in his throat, Pittman spooned more apricots into the baby's mouth. Brian stared at him. "What the hell happened?"

Pittman frowned toward the floor. Then he told Brian everything.

Brian kept shaking his head, alternately bewildered and dismayed. "This is . .

"I swear to you, it's the truth."

"k, you can't do anything about this on your own. You have to go to the police. Tell them what you just told me."

"If you have trouble believing me, would they?" "But you don't have a choice."

"No. I don't think the police could keep me safe." "Man, oh man, do you realize what you sound like?"

"Who was it said that paranoia was the only sane attitude to have these days?" Brian looked appalled. "And you expect me to .

"Get me into some computer files that I otherwise wouldn't have access to.

"Like?"

"At my newspaper. I have to show ID and sign in to enter the building.

A guard or someone else would recognize me. They'd call the police. But I know the passwords that allow access from an outside telephone."

Brian looked somewhat less threatened. "That's not hard to do. In fact, it's almost a legitimate request. Under other circumstances, it would be legal."

"Yes." Pittman had fed the baby and now was changing its diaper.

"And that's all?"

"Well ..."

"There's something else.

"I need to get into the computer system for the city's criminal records."

"Jesus. "

"Isn't there a way to route the call through a system of long-distance relays so the call can't be traced before I get the information I need?" "Yes, but ..." Pittman turned as someone opened the door.

The woman-a redhead, severely thin, with stern features-looked alarmed at the sight of Pittman holding the baby. "What are ... ?"

"Gladys, this is a friend of mine," Brian said.

"Ed Gamer, " Pittman said, hoping that if he used a different name, she wouldn't associate him with the photographs of him on CNN or in the newspapers.

Gladys marched to a kitchen counter, set down two bags of groceries, and took possession of her baby. Her pinched expression suggested that she felt Pittman wasn't worthy enough to have touched her offspring. "Ed Garner?" She squinted at Brian. "You never mentioned him before. "

"Well, I .

"We were buddies in college," Pittman said. "We loved to fool around with computers."

"Computers? You weren't a hacker, I hope." Her voice had the grating sound of a knife being sharpened.

"Never had the nerve."

"Brian had too much nerve. He went to prison for it." Her eyes glared. "Anyway," Pittman said, trying to change the subject, "I heard Brian was living in this area. I've got relatives not far from here, so I figured I'd drop in. Brian was just about to show me some of the stuff he's doing for Nintendo. Wrinkles developed between Gladys's eyes. "Weren't you, Brian?" Pittman said.

"If that's all right, Gladys. You can see the baby's been fed and changed."

Gladys narrowed her steely gaze at him. "Just remember, we have to be at my mother's in an hour. "

"I couldn't possibly forget-"

Brian and Pittman went into the computer room. Brian shut the door. He looked angrily at Pittman.

Pittman worried that the anger was directed at him, then understood its true target. He had an ally.

Furious, Brian turned on the computer, then locked a phone into a modern. His cheeks were flushed. "Which system do you want to access first? Your newspaper's?"

"Criminal records." Brian didn't react to the change in priorities. Instead, he touched buttons on his telephone.

"You know the criminal-records number by heart?" Pittman asked in amazement.

"No. This is a friend of mine. I don't hack any more, but I keep in touch with friends who do. This guy's possessed about eavesdropping on the police. And he never talks on the phone. I always have to go through his computer. 11 Words appeared on Brian's computer screen.

YOU HAVE REACHED THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE.

"He's also crazy about Star Trek." Brian tapped letters on his keyboard.

MR. SPOCK TO CAPTAIN KIRK.

"Spock's my code name," Brian said. Words appeared in response.

KIRK HERE. WHAT IS YOUR PASSWORD? Brian typed more letters. TRIBBLES. New words appeared on the screen.

PROCEED, MR. SPOCK. Brian typed:

TOP SECRET MESSAGE FROM STARFLEET COMMAND.

FEAR THAT KLINGONS MAY TRY TO INTERCEPT TRANSMISSION. The response came quickly.

ACTIVATE SCRAMBLER.

Brian turned on a machine next to the phone.

SCRAMBLER ACTIVATED.

For the next few minutes, Pittman watched with fascination as Brian tapped his keyboard, read and responded to queries on his screen, and finally wrote down a series of numbers. "Got it."

MAY YOU PROSPER. SPOCK TO KIRK. OUT.

Brian pressed other numbers on his telephone. "I'm routing this through Fairbanks, Alaska, and Key West, Florida. Even then, the call can be traced. If the criminal-records computer senses an intrusion, I'll have to unplug right away.

"How will you know?"

"That'll tell me. " Brian pointed to another machine beside the telephone. He pressed more numbers and nodded toward the screen. "Okay, we're in. What do you want to know?"

"Access the file for Sean O'Reilly." Pittman spelled the name.

O'Reilly had been the master thief whom Pittman had interviewed some years ago. The tool knife with its lock picks that Pittman had used to get into Jonathan Millgate's room had been a gift from O'Reilly.

"There," Brian said.

Pittman read the screen. Earlier, when he had tried to find Brian's name in the phone book, he had also looked for O'Reillys, with no success. Either O'Reilly was back in prison, had moved to another area, or ...

"Yes." Pittman picked up a pencil and notepad.

According to O'Reilly's file, he'd been released from prison three months previously-on parole-which meant that he was required to keep the authorities informed about where he was staying.

The address was on the Lower East Side. Pittman quickly wrote it down, tore off the piece of paper, and put it into his pocket.

"Now what other computer files do you want?" Brian asked. "I thought so, " a steely voice said behind them. and Brian spun toward the noise. she must have been listening at the door. She had it open.

She stormed in. "I can't leave you alone for a minute. You can't stay out of trouble."

"Trouble?"

"You are hacking. What's the matter with you? Do you like prison so much that you want to go back there?"

"You're mistaken," Pittman said. "I was showing Brian some work I've been doing."

"Get out of my house." "We accessed my files at-"

"Don't lie to me. Your name isn't Ed Garner. It's Matthew Pittman. CNN just did a story on you. I recognized your picture." Gladys yanked the phone from the modern. "I'm calling the police."

As words vanished from the screen, she raised the phone to her ear and pressed 911.

"Gladys," Brian objected.

From another room, the baby started crying.

"Please," Pittman said. Gladys spoke to the phone, "My name is Gladys Botulfson. I live at-"

Pittman pressed the disconnect button. "You're doing something stupid, Gladys."

"I don't want any killer near my baby." "You don't understand."

They stared at each other.

The phone began to ring.

Gladys flinched.

"That'll be the police," Pittman said. "They have an automatic record of the phone number of anyone who calls them.

Gladys tried to pry his hand from the disconnect button.

Pittman used his other hand to grip her wrist. "Don't do it. Think. How would you like your baby's father to go to prison again-"

"What?"

The phone kept ringing.

"Aiding a fugitive," Pittman said. "Helping him illegally with computer files. Brian could be put away until your baby starts high school."

Gladys's eyes bulged. The phone rang again.

Pittman took the receiver away from her and lifted the disconnect button. "Hello? ... Yes, Gladys Botulfson lives here.... I know she called. We were having a bit of a quarrel, I'm afraid. She ... Here. Let me put her on."

Pittman stared at her, then handed her the phone.

Gladys squinted toward the wailing baby, then toward Brian, finally toward Pittman. Her lips were so pursed that the skin around them was white.

She parted them. "This is Gladys Botalfson, " she said to the phone. "I'm sorry for troubling you. What my husband says is true. We were having a fight. I thought I'd scare him if I called the police.... Yes, I understand it's a serious offense to abuse the emergency number. It won't happen again.... We're calmer now. No, I don't need any help. Thank you."

Gladys set down the phone. She rubbed her wrist where Pittman had gripped it. Her voice was disturbingly flat. "Get out.

Pittman picked up his gym bag. "Brian, thanks for letting me get into the newspaper's computer files. " His look toward Brian was direct and understanding. Don't let her know what files we really accessed.

"Sure."

"I won't tell you again," Gladys said. 'A pleasure to meet you."

Pittman left the apartment and shut the door behind him. When he got in the elevator, he could still hear Gladys's loud, accusing voice from behind Brian's door.

Pittman had hoped to borrow money from Brian, but that had obviously been out of the question. With a dollar bill, a dime, and a nickel in his pocket, he proceeded dismally toward where he could catch the train back to Manhattan, although he didn't know why, since he didn't have enough cash to buy a token. The more he walked, the more tired and hungry he became. He felt defeated.

Ahead, cars at a funeral home caused him to suffer the depressing memory of Jeremy's funeral-the closed coffin, Jeremy's photograph in front of it; the mourners, most of them classmates from Jeremy's school; Burt next to Pittman (and now Burt was dead); Pittman's argument with his soonto-be ex-wife. ("It's your fault," she'd insisted. "You should have taken him to the doctor sooner.")

Pittman recalled how, after the funeral, there'd been a somber reception back at the mortician's, coffee and sandwiches, final commiserations. But Pittman had been so choked with grief that he hadn't been able to force himself to respond to the condolences. He had taken a sandwich that someone had given him, but the rye bread and paperlike sliced turkey had stuck in his throat. He'd felt surrounded by a gray haze of depression. similar gray haze weighed upon him now. Instinctive had propelled him into motion. Adrenaline had fueled The strength and endurance that adrenaline created had finally dwindled, however. In their place were lethargy and despair. Pittman didn't know if he could go on.

He told himself that he'd been foolish to believe that he could disentangle himself from the mess that he had fallen into.

Perhaps I should go to the police. Let them try to figure things out. And if someone-gets through police security to kill you?

What difference does it make? I'm too tired to care.

You don't mean that.

Don't I? Death would be welcome.

No. You've got to keep trying, a voice inside him said. It sounded like Jeremy.

How? I don't even have enough money to take the train back to Manhattan. Come on, Dad. All those years of running. Don't tell me you don't have what it takes to do a little more walking.

It took three hours. Even though Pittman had switched from his street shoes to the, jogging shoes that he'd put in his gym bag, his feet ached and his leg muscles protested. Weak from exertion and hunger, he reached Grand Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, looking for the address that he'd gotten from Sean O'Reilly's computer file.

He studied the busy street, wary of police surveillance. After all, Gladys Botulfson might have changed her mind. If Brian had said something to infuriate her further, she might have decided to call the police and teach her husband a lesson. Of course, the police wouldn't know where Pittman had gone unless Brian confessed which file he had accessed. But would he? Or would Brian's anger toward Gladys prompt him to defy her?