Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) (3 page)

Chapter 5

“Y
ou’re in early.”

Derry noticed his boss, Doug, out of the corner of his eye. He shifted his attention away from his monitor. “Yeah, I need to cut out early tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

“That’ll be fine.”

Doug didn’t move. Derry waited. “Is there something else?”

Doug hesitated, “Look, we’re a little short-handed on account managers, and we just landed a new client. I was hoping to send Robert, but the account you’re working on together is taking longer than scheduled.”

“I’m sorry about that.” Was he accusing Derry of the slowdown?

“So, what’s the hold-up?”

Just how much should he say?
“Robert insists on going over everything I do.”
Great. That sounded like whining.

“Has he found any problems with your work?” Doug stepped farther into the cubicle.

“Nothing he’s told me about.”

Doug peered over the walls at something Derry couldn’t see.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.” Doug’s gaze returned to Derry. “I want you to take on the new account.”

This was good news.

“Our site or theirs?”

“You’ll be doing it at their office. It’s downtown, close to the Sixteenth Street Mall. It should take two to three weeks. Let me know what you think once you’ve had time to evaluate the workload.”

Well, there go my chances of finding out where that lady works.

“Sure, I’d be happy to.”

“They’ll be ready for you to start the middle of next week. I’ll send you the details.” Doug pivoted to leave.

“Does this mean I’m an account manager permanently?”

Pulling up short, Doug glanced back. “Maybe. If you do a good job.”

Before Derry could ask more, he was gone.

***

It had only been a day since Sara told Levy about the change in the schedule, yet Mike was here bugging her about it. “Levy wants to know when you’ll be ready to set things up at Jasper’s.”

Face full of scars, Mike stood over six feet four inches, and rumor had it he could bench press his own weight. He was an intimidating figure.

She couldn’t understand why Kai was willing to date him. Sara loathed Mike. He and the others who worked for Levy weren’t worth her time. Even so, she surprised herself last night when she thought about her lack of pity for Ryan. He was better off dead than working for Levy.

Sara focused on her monitor as her fingers moved across the keyboard.

Mike approached and touched her shoulder.

“Get your hands off me.”

“I asked you a question.”

“I heard you. Can’t you see I’m busy with real work?” Sara’s gaze never left her screen.

Mike grabbed her chair and spun her around, forcing her to face him. “He wants an answer. Now.”

Sara rotated her chair back toward the monitor. “He’ll get it in a minute. I’m in the middle of something.” Every word dripped with irritation.

She heard Mike take a step back. Sara delayed answering, hoping to irritate him further. She knew he wouldn’t try anything in front of Kai—or at least she hoped he wouldn’t. She had no respect for Mike, and a small part of her enjoyed giving him a hard time. Better yet, she wished he’d just leave. She hated being in the same room with him.

After several minutes, she stopped working and swiveled around to face him. Peering behind him, she inquired, “Where’s your leash?”

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Not even a hint of a smile.

“No, I’m dead serious.”

“Soon, Levy will grow tired of your mouth.”

“But not yet. He needs me too much.” She knew she was pushing her luck.

Leaning down, Mike whispered, “Your days are numbered, and I hope I’m the one who straps you in.”

The image of Mike strapping Steve into the chair sent chills creeping down Sara’s back. She shoved him away.

He surveyed her body. “You won’t take nearly as much juice.”

To hold her fears in check, she blurted out, “Unlike you. As dense as you are, he’ll have to—”

Mike shoved her chair against the wall.

“Answer the question.” Mike leaned in again. “When?”

Knowing she’d pushed him as far as she could, Sara finally gave in. “I don’t think Jasper’s will work. I don’t trust the man, and I’m not sure he’s smart enough to pull off his end.”

“You don’t think anyone is smart enough. Well, bad news, lady. It doesn’t matter what you think. Levy has too much invested in Jasper’s, and you’ll do as he tells you. How long?” Mike’s voice grew in intensity.

“I went to that hole of a restaurant the other day. His equipment is outdated. It’s completely the wrong kind. Someone will need to give him a whole new setup.”

“That someone will be you.”

“You can’t tell me what to do. I write code. I don’t do hardware.”

Mike pressed in further. “You are the only one who knows what he needs.”

“But I don’t have time to go shopping. Not if your master wants this done in three weeks.”

“Make a list, and we’ll make sure the stuff’s ready when you are.”

“If I make a list, who’s going to read it? You?”

“Do as you’re told. Send the list to Mr. Levy. Your equipment will be ready when you need it.”

Stop pushing
. “Levy will have the list today. I need the equipment in place the start of next week.”

“So, you’re saying you’ll be ready to start testing on Monday?”

“No. I’m saying I’ll be ready to set up the equipment on Monday.”

Mike reached down and grabbed Sara’s left forearm, pinning it against the armrest. “You want to learn how to type with only one good arm?”

Sara twisted her arm, freeing it from his grasp. “If the set-up is in place on Monday, I’ll start my test runs on Tuesday or Wednesday. If no big problems are found, and all the money transfers properly, we’ll be ready for a full testing the week after that. I’ll have six more cards ready by then. Tell your master I’ll need six runners, and make sure they’re all over twenty-one. We can’t have kids using credit cards and raising suspicions.”

“Not a problem. And the test runs will be done at Jasper’s? Correct?”

It only sounded like a question. Sara knew it was a command.

She rubbed her arm. “At Jasper’s, the worst Greek food in town.”

“Good.”

Sara swiveled toward her computer, turning her back to Mike as he left the room.

Once the footsteps disappeared down the stairs, Kai spoke up. “Mike’s not that stupid. Why do you push him like that?”

Glancing over her shoulder, Sara couldn’t help but pity Kai. Such a beautiful girl liking someone like Mike. “He’s stupid enough to choose to work for Levy.”

***

Hours later, Sara’s previous late night was catching up with her. She’d been up well past midnight working on some additional code, the code that would make Levy pay for what he’d done to her. Using a laptop she bought with cash, she had developed the code at home where Levy wouldn’t find out. The laptop wasn’t nearly as powerful as the computer she used at work, but it served
the purpose. The code had to be in place and tested before she went to Jasper’s.

Turning her head slightly and watching out the corner of her eye, she could see Kai pounding away on her keyboard. Would she ever go home? It was past seven, and neither of them had eaten since noon. Sara couldn’t think about food now, but she hoped Kai was hungry. She needed her to leave so she could tap into her computer.

Kai leaned back in her chair to stretch. “You going to work all night?”

“Oh! I didn’t realize the time. I’ve got a little more to do before I can leave.”

“I was hoping we could get a bite together.” Kai turned toward Sara and leaned forward, stretching her hands out past her knees.

For the most part, Kai was okay. This meant Sara could tolerate her company, and at times even enjoy it. “Oh, I’m not hungry. Maybe another time.”

“Come on, you’re too skinny as it is. I can’t have Levy’s top programmer dying on me.” Kai reached for the keyboard and locked her computer.

“Why not? Afraid you’ll have to finish my work?” Sara continued to type. She wasn’t paying much attention to what she was typing; she just needed to keep her fingers moving.

“Yeah, that’s it alright.”

Sara peeked over her shoulder to see Kai smiling at her. “Really?”

“You bet.”

“Well, in that case, I’d better stay and get it done so you won’t have to worry about it.” Sara returned to her work.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“You heard Levy. I don’t have much choice.” She kept her gaze on her monitor.

Standing, Kai grabbed her pack. “Well, I need to run to the store anyway. I’m out of food downstairs.” As she walked through the door, she added, “See you tomorrow.”

“Later.”

Waiting until she heard Kai going down the steps, Sara breathed a silent sigh of relief. She approached the door and listened. The building was strangely quiet, but she needed to make sure the floor was empty before she started her work. This half of the second floor held five offices, counting hers, as well as a common area at the top of the stairs.

Sara made her way out to the common area where a small coffee pot sat, along with some two-day-old muffins. She picked up one of the muffins. Pulling off small pieces, she nibbled on them as she slowly walked down the hall. Glancing into each office, she found them all empty. She was alone, except for the cameras in the hall.

She dropped the stale muffin into a trashcan and headed back to her computer. Stepping out of the camera’s view, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a jump drive. Making sure she was in the clear one more time, she inserted it into her computer.

Sara remotely logged into Kai’s computer and installed one of the programs she had written at home. This program made sure her access into Kai’s computer was untraceable and undetectable. None of the files she accessed would change their timestamps, and none of her keystrokes would be logged.

With this in place, she opened four of the files under Kai’s control. After searching the files for the right locations, she transferred several lines of her code into these program files.

Kai will never find these. Step one down. Now for step two.

Returning to her own computer, she repeated the process. Once done, Sara removed the jump drive and accessed the keystroke file that Levy hid on her system. She removed the last thirty minutes’ worth of entries and replaced them with work done the other day. After logging out and locking her computer, she grabbed her bag and stood.

Sara smiled as she took one more peek at Kai’s computer.

Levy thinks he’s so smart.

Sara headed down the stairs and out the door. She needed to get some food before her blood sugar got any lower.

Chapter 6

P
ulling his car up in front of the old, rundown house in one of the last untouched areas of Five Points, Derry remembered the first day he saw this place. It had been his home for almost five years, and part of him missed living here—the noise, the confusion, the life. There was always something interesting going on, and he missed Mary’s ready words of wisdom and encouragement.

Mary took him in after he was kicked out of his home. That had been over six years ago. His stepfather, a man of harsh rules and an unforgiving spirit, had refused to listen to reason. When Tami was killed, Derry’s stepfather blamed him and forced him to leave. He told Derry he never wanted to see him again.

Walking toward the front steps of Mary’s house, Derry heard yelling through the living room window. That wasn’t so unusual, and at first he smiled. Then he heard banging. The movement in the front window caught his attention. A body crashed against the glass. Derry rushed up the stairs and shoved the door open.

The room was filled with teens yelling and screaming, their attention fixed on two boys fighting. The bigger one had the other by the throat, halfway out the window as he punched him in the face.

Thrusting his way through the thin wall of kids, Derry rushed over. He threw an arm around the neck of the attacker and dragged him away from the window. Spinning him around, Derry threw him to the floor. The boy was bigger than Derry, but Derry had the advantage of surprise.

The boy sprang to his feet as the room became silent.

“You’ve made a big mistake, little man.” He was African-American, and a good eight inches taller than Derry. His face radiated anger and hatred.

Hoping not to escalate the situation, Derry asked calmly, “How’s that?” He kept his gaze on the attacker and assumed a relaxed stance.

“You’re messing in something that’s none of your business.”

The other boy, Hispanic, stumbled to where Derry could see him out of the corner of his eye. He held his nose, his hands filled with blood.

Glancing at him, but keeping the attacker in sight, Derry suggested, “Better let Mary have a look at that.” He wanted the boy out of the room.

The boy nodded but didn’t move.

Mary squeezed her way in next to the Hispanic boy, concern on her face. Derry nodded toward the kitchen, hoping she would understand. She quickly moved the hurt boy away.

Derry returned his full attention to the attacker. “What’s this all about?”

“I told you, it’s none of your business. Are you as hard of hearing as you are stupid?” The tall boy moved to within two feet of Derry.

Derry smiled a little. The kid was playing the old game of chicken. He wanted to see who would blink first. He didn’t know Derry or his background. He was making a big mistake.

Still hoping to defuse the situation, Derry glanced again toward the kitchen. Mary stood in the doorway, arms around the hurt kid.

“What happened here?”

The attacker shifted his position, blocking Derry’s view of Mary, “You’d better leave, now, before I hurt you, little man.”

Mary answered from behind the attacker, “Trevor was kicked out a few days ago for fighting. Then today he came back and attacked Joey.”

Trevor’s gaze shifted as Mary spoke, but he didn’t take his attention off Derry for more than a split second. It was clear he’d been in more than a few fights and knew how to handle himself. Glaring down at Derry, he added, “The little creep ratted on me. No one does that iffen they wanna live.”

Having grown up just on the other side of I-25, Derry understood his way of thinking. If you copped on someone, you were as good as dead. That was the law out there on the street, but not in here. The kids who lived at Mary’s obeyed a different law. Here, you obeyed Mary’s rules or you left. And if you knew about someone breaking her rules and kept it to yourself, and it came out you knew, you would receive the same punishment as the one who broke the rules. It sounded harsh, but it worked.

Glaring into Trevor’s eyes, Derry gave one command. “Out.”

A fake laugh erupted from Trevor. “And who’s gonna make me leave? You?” Trevor wasn’t scared. Derry knew his type.

“If necessary, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.”

Trevor came here for a fight, and wouldn’t leave until he was satisfied. Cutting the distance between them in half, Trevor balled up his fist. “No one tells me what to do.”

Ten different moves flashed through Derry’s mind. All of them would end with Trevor as the loser. Lucky for Trevor, Derry
avoided unnecessary fights, those with the purpose of making someone look tough. Pressing past him, Derry walked over to the open door. “It’s time for you to leave. Out.” He nodded toward the front porch.

Trevor strutted over and shoved Derry against the wall, hard. “You must be as dumb as you are small. I done told you, I ain’t goin’ nowhere until I’m good and ready.”

Righting himself, Derry stared up into Trevor’s eyes. “That was your one free hit. The next one will cost you.”

“Oh yeah?” Trevor pulled his fist back. Aiming for Derry’s face, he threw a punch with the full force of his body.

Derry’s left hand came flying up and pushed the fist off course a few inches. Trevor struck the wall. Derry planted the palm of his right hand sharply into Trevor’s midsection. The one-two combination took less than a second.

Shoved back a step, Trevor let out a grunt as surprise filled his face.

Derry came back to his starting position. “I warned you. Leave.”

Trevor recovered, throwing another punch.

Moving quickly out of the way, Derry brought his right hand up to catch Trevor’s arm on the side. With his left hand, Derry hit the backside of the kid’s elbow, overextending it.

Trevor exclaimed loudly as he pulled his arm back, clutching the injured elbow with his good hand. He followed with a right foot to Derry’s stomach.

Twisting slightly as the foot flew by, Derry brought his right hand down and around, striking the side of Trevor’s knee. Then, using his left hand, Derry planted a driving blow into the bottom of the kid’s jaw.

Trevor’s head snapped backward, and his body fell limply to the floor.

The whole attack was over in less than thirty seconds.

Derry stared down at Trevor. Then he looked at Mary. “Sorry it had to turn into a fight.”

A slight smile on her face, Mary left Joey standing in the kitchen doorway and strolled over to Derry. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“He never even touched you, did he?” Mary peered down at the kid on the floor.

“He came close.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“He’ll live, but he’s going to hurt for a while. He should come around in a minute or two.” Derry hoped he hadn’t hurt Trevor too badly. The last hit to the head could cause serious damage if done too hard.

“You know I hate to see any of my kids get hurt, but he was out of control. Thank you.”

“Glad I was here to help.” Derry was concerned. One of these days, someone like Trevor could hurt Mary.

“Aaahh.” Trevor was coming around. He opened his eyes. Seeing Derry standing over him, he held up one hand. “Enough. I’ll leave.” He worked his way to his feet and started toward the door, but turned back. Glaring over at Joey, he added, “You’d better watch your back. This ain’t ov—”

Before he could finish his threat, Derry had Trevor spun around and up against the doorframe, arm pulled up behind his back, cheek pressed hard against the corner of the doorjamb. Derry used his other hand to apply pressure to a group of nerves in the kid’s shoulder. Trevor screamed in pain.

“If I hear about anything happening to Joey, Mary, or
any
one living here, I’ll find you, and I don’t care if you did it or not, you’ll be the one paying. Understand?”

Trevor twisted and turned, but Derry’s grip was too tight.

“I asked you a question. If I hear—”

“Yeah, I got it.” Anger and hatred overflowed in Trevor’s voice.

Derry shoved Trevor’s arm up higher, increasing the pressure on the nerves.

“I said I got it!” His voice was now a mixture of pain and submission.

Pointing him toward the street, Derry gave him one last thrust before closing the door.

Derry turned to Mary. “I don’t think he’ll be back.”

“No, probably not. He’ll find someplace new to cause trouble.”

“He’ll end up on the streets. What place would take him?”

Mary shifted her gaze from the door to the window. “There’s always someplace looking for kids like him.”

Derry glanced around the room. Kids gawked, some in disbelief, others with a knowing grin. A few of them knew Derry from when he lived there. Several others had moved in during the past two years and only knew him as the accountant who helped Mary occasionally.

“I see you’ve taken in a few new faces since I was here last.”

Mary’s was a private youth home, supported by Lamar, several police officers in town, and a few churches. It was an old, large house in the Five Points area. Mary lived in the basement, leaving the main and upper floors for the kids. Her mother started the home by taking in two homeless children. In the last twenty-three years, the project had grown into a major undertaking. Now, with
as many as twenty kids in the home, it was more than a full-time job for Mary. It was her life.

When Lamar first brought Derry here, he was full of hatred and hurt. All that changed as Mary and Lamar showed him God’s love. Derry learned to forgive those who hurt him. What a difference six years makes.

Mary took charge once again. “Okay, kids, it’s over. Tom, I’d like you and Sam to clean up the glass and get something to cover the window. Anyone else who wants to help, stick around. I’ll find something for you to do.”

As Mary stood with her hands on her hips, the room started emptying, and Tom and Sam moved a couch out of the way to work.

She turned back to Derry. “I was calling Lamar when you arrived. I’d better call him back and let him know what happened.”

“Otherwise, he might show up looking for a fight.” Glancing around, Derry added, “I’ll get started on your books. Is the computer still in the basement?”

“Yeah, same as always, and Derry?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks, Trevor had me a little scared. I think I’m getting too old for this.”

“You? Never. You love the excitement and you know it.”

“Well, I’m just glad you didn’t give up karate after Tami died.”

“I almost did. My stepfather made me hate it.”

“Still haven’t forgiven him?”

Not wanting to answer, or get pulled into an argument, Derry headed for the basement, but stopped after a few steps. He spun back around. “Oh, I almost forgot. I’d like to invite you and Lamar to dinner sometime next week.”

“You know I don’t like going out for meals. It’s such a waste of money.”

“How about at my house? Next Tuesday?”

“You gonna cook?”

“What’s wrong with my cooking?”

“Have you taken lessons since you moved out?”

“Nooo.”

“Look, honey. I love you and all. You’re like a son to me. But no matter how hard I tried, I never could teach you to cook a decent meal. You liked to kill us all when you tried.” Mary was serious and right. At best, Derry’s cooking was barely edible.

“Okay, in order to save myself a lawsuit, I’ll get food from this place I found that makes great home-cooked meals at a reasonable price.”

“Good, glad you found a place like that. Otherwise I think you’d have starved by now.”

“What about next Tuesday?” The joke had gone on long enough.

“I think I can make it then. Would you like me to bring anything?”

“No, that’s fine.”

“How about some pumpkin flan? I know you love that.”

“Sure, if it’s not too much work.” Derry turned toward the stairs. “I’d better get to work.”

***

Although fixed up nicely for the basement of a seventy-year-old house, the downstairs was poorly lit and smelled of mold. The old walls allowed the ground moisture to seep through.

Derry sat down at the computer and depressed the power
button. Before the computer had time to boot, he heard Mary coming down the stairs.

With his gaze on the monitor, he asked the same question he’d asked several times before. “Why do you still live down here? It’s not good for you.”

“It has all I need, you know that. And this way we have more room upstairs.”

“That’s just an excuse. Lamar raised enough money for you to buy the small house next door. It’s been empty for a few years now. Why won’t you move there?”

“I’d be too far away from my kids, and I needed that money elsewhere.”

Derry didn’t like basements. To him they were places where bugs, snakes, and rats lived. He’d rather sleep on the streets than in a basement. “You’re just making excuses.”

“Just like you not going to see your stepfather?”

“That’s different.”