Mind Trace (33 page)

Regardless of the security that Engineer Corp possessed,
having a virus like that unleashed directly on their servers would require a
considerable amount of time to recover.  Garrett would target their security,
although he was sure it would branch off from there to their other systems.

As for breaking into Tobias' house, Garrett turned to technology
once again. He went into the attic, digging through the piles of dusty boxes,
stacked up to the rafters. There was an electronic pick gun in some of Gabriel's
old things. He wasn't sure why he kept any of it, probably naively hoping at
one time that Gabriel would come back.

Now, I know that will never happen.
 

Garrett was glad he kept it, regardless of the reason. Having
the pick gun gave an otherwise unskilled person the ability to pick any lock.

Which means, even I should be able to use it.

The only problem he saw was that the process generally made
a lot of noise. He muffled the sound by wrapping the gun in several sheets of
thick cloth, securing the layers with duct tape. Garrett hoped it would be
enough. He took the time to practice on a few spare locks until he felt
confident.

There was no way Garrett could practice hacking into the
mainframe, so he would have to hope he was able to do what he needed when the
time came. While he couldn't compete with Alice's skills, he was not without
his own resources.

Two other matters remained. How he would get out of his
house without being seen, and how he would get to his destination.   

There were cameras on the perimeter of his house, with
visibility from all sides. Garrett found them when he hacked into the video
surveillance system. They covered all the exits on the first floor, including
the windows.  

It occurred to him after much exploring, that the windows
on the second floor weren't being watched. One window, in particular,
overlooked a short section of roof, leading up to an ancient tree that grew on
his neighbor's property.

If I can make it onto that tree, I can climb over into their
yard. The branches would provide ample coverage, and once I'm past the fence, I
can get to the street unseen.

After I get to my storage unit, I could use the car
there. The unit is a little over a mile away, so it's definitely manageable.

Garrett rented a storage unit in town, mostly filled with
junk he no longer needed, but was reluctant to get rid of.

Inside, there was a fully restored, black, 1968 Chevrolet
Camaro. It had belonged to his father. It was his pride and joy, and he cringed
at the thought of using it for such a task. If it had been up to him alone, he
would have gotten rid of the car long ago because it reminded him of memories
he would rather forget.

I have no choice now. My sedan is being watched, and I
can't take a taxi, because there can't be any witnesses.

I'll have to wait until morning, and time will be of the
essence.

I can do this.  

Garrett spent his remaining time meticulously laying out
all of his supplies, making sure everything was ready. He had to be completely
prepared; there was no room for error.

***

It was a restless night. He only slept a few hours between
his worried thoughts. So much hinged on what happened that morning. It would
essentially decide how he spent the rest of his life.

Garrett got up before his alarm went off and dressed in the
quiet stillness of the morning. He bypassed his normal morning rituals, not
wanting to draw any attention to his activity. He chose subdued, dark clothing
with a baseball cap, hoping he would not be so easily spotted.

He knew it was probably unnecessary, but he arranged the
pillows on his bed in the shape of a sleeping form, covering it up to appear as
if he were still there to anyone who might come looking for him.

Checking over his bags one last time, Garrett verified that
he packed everything. He nervously slipped on his gloves, pulled the bag over
his shoulders, and stealthily crept upstairs.

Garrett entered the room nearest to the overhanging oak
tree. Slinking to the window, he peered out cautiously to ensure that the path
was clear. It was still dark outside, but he couldn't see any sign of activity.
He quietly unlocked the window, and pulled up on the base, but it would not
budge.

Seriously?

He couldn't remember the last time he had opened the window,
and now it was stuck.

 Of course, his self-assigned mission would end here, at
the window of his house. He imagined what he would say to Alice if he ever saw
her again. "Yes, Alice. I tried to rescue you but I couldn't get the
window open. Sorry…"

He tried again, determined to open it, and his muscles
strained against the unyielding wood frame. Finally, when he was just about to
break the window, he heard a tentative cracking noise. He tried one last time
with all of his strength. There was a loud splintering crack and he fell over
himself as the window flew open.

His heart raced. Had anyone heard that? Garrett didn't move
a muscle, waiting to see if there would be any indication that it was heard. He
strained to hear any noise in the silence of his house. A dog barked nervously
somewhere far in the distance, but otherwise it remained quiet.

Garrett got back up again, grabbed his bag and slowly
exited the window onto the roof above his porch. Before leaving, he gingerly
closed the window again.

He now faced the back of the house, unable to be seen from
the road. Ahead of him, the tree branch swayed ever so slightly, stretching out
almost to the roof of his porch before growing in other directions. There was a
foot of space between the edge of the roof and the branch. He could vaguely see
his neighbor's house through the leaves.

Garrett made his way down the roof and stopped at the edge.
The branch was thick, but he couldn't just leap off the roof onto it or he
would risk making too much commotion. A tree branch that suddenly started
shaking would be suspicious to anyone, even out of the periphery of a camera.

At the edge, he tentatively stretched his foot to the
branch, testing it to make sure it would not give too much under his weight.
When he was satisfied that it was stable, he put his weight down and shifted to
bring his other foot on the branch. For a moment, he stood there as the branch
gently swayed under his weight, trying not to lose his balance and fall.

After he regained his balance, he bent down and crawled the
remaining distance to the trunk of the tree in his neighbor's yard. From there,
he climbed down and dropped onto their back lawn, safely hidden by the privacy
fence. An aging golden retriever looked up at him lazily, but didn't bother to
bark or move.

"Hey, Sam," Garrett whispered and absently patted
the dog, who wagged his tail a few times before settling back down to sleep.

He sprinted out onto the street in front of his neighbor's
house. The street ran parallel to his own, with the houses on it backed up to
the houses on his own street.  Garrett jogged at a steady pace down the dark
streets until he reached his destination.

Ten minutes later and out of breath, he was standing in
front of the door to his storage unit. He pulled out his keys and flipped
through them until he found the correct one. The lock was rusty and took a few
minutes to open, but he finally heard the gratifying click
.

Tossing the lock aside, he lifted the rolling metal door.
The lamplight from the storage lot shone uncertainly into the cluttered room.
In the center, he could make out the sleek black form of the Camaro. Running
his hand along the hood, he sighed and pushed back the dark memories of his
parents that bubbled to the surface.

Despite those memories, Garrett had kept the car in working
condition. He felt as though he owed it to his father to do so, and he was
never more grateful for those sentiments than now.

Garrett lifted the handle and the driver's side door
creaked open. He slid into the seat and turned the keys into the ignition. The
engine hesitated only for a moment before revving to life.

Let's do this...

Chapter 20

Alice spent all the time she could learning to control her
new abilities. It was difficult, but she made improvements with each attempt. Grudgingly,
she spent some time pretending to work on her assigned project, but she rushed
through it as quickly as possible without rousing suspicion.

When she laid in her bed each night, she desperately wished
there was someone she could talk to. There was certainly no one near her now
that she would ever dream of confiding in. The only person she had even
considered talking to was Garrett, and he was as far from her as anyone could
be.

Even if she could tell him, she doubted he would believe
her. He would most likely look at her like she was crazy, and suggest a good
place for a CAT scan. Alice smiled at the thought.

I'll never see Garrett again unless a find some way out
of this mess. Of course, who's to say he hasn't completely forgotten me by now
and moved on with his life?

It doesn't matter. I have enough trouble in my life
right now without worrying about Garrett.

One thing at a time, Alice. For instance, how can you
control these powers?

She had no idea what to expect anymore. While her body
seemed to adjust to her new abilities with surprising ease, her mind had not
yet caught up.  

Alice felt alive in ways she never knew possible. She felt
as if data coursed through her veins, constantly pumping streams of information
into her brain, which was continuously buzzing with activity. It seemed like
she was looking at everything through high-powered lenses, analyzing and
absorbing it at impossible rates.

It pained her that she couldn't use those skills to
complete something useful, like the hovercraft. She had no doubt that it would
have served a valuable purpose in the world, but no matter how much she wanted
to help the end users, she couldn't allow herself to help EngineerCorp…and Eric
in the process.

She hadn't seen or heard from Eric in several days. Alice
supposed he was busy managing the rest of his empire, but it made her nervous,
nonetheless. Not seeing him made her wonder what he was planning for her next.

In spite of her anxieties, Alice managed to make it through
each day, bringing herself closer to the moment when she could be free of Eric
and his empire, forever.

***

Eric massaged his forehead, trying to relieve the tension
building behind his eyes.  He wondered, time and time again… How could one
seemingly insignificant young woman cause so many problems? She was in his
thoughts constantly, when he was in meetings, overseeing new projects, or managing
his worldwide corporation. No matter what, he couldn't get her off his mind.

Perhaps what he found most frustrating was the newfound obligation
that he felt to her. He caught himself explaining his logic to her, trying to
reassure her and make sure she was comfortable. 

He was all too aware that he owed no one an explanation for
anything, much less the girl who had caused him so much trouble. What did it
matter to him, Eric Martin, what anyone thought?

I have too many other things that need my attention. I
won't allow myself to be consumed by this.

His head pounded, and he struggled to push aside his inner
conflict. If only she would cooperate with him, he could put all of this behind
him. He knew he must be patient, but her behavior was wearing his tolerance
thin.

Eric knew she was hiding something.  He couldn't ignore his
inner warnings. Whatever she was hiding was dangerous and something he needed
to control. Somewhere inside of him, he felt the tension building.

This moment, this is the quiet stillness before the
storm. Soon, it will be raging all around me, threatening to destroy everything
I've worked so hard to create.

The trouble with feelings, and perhaps the one reason why
he disregarded them entirely, lay in their very definition. They were illogical
thoughts founded on illogical inclinations that a person felt. They were not
based in fact, or able to be proven one way or the other.  Eric simply refused
to waste his time with things that could not be backed up by scientific
evidence. That was not how he came to be where he was, and certainly not how he
would go forth into the future.

I must find a way to break her.

An unwelcome sound pierced his meditations. It was the
intercom on his desk; his secretary informed him that Grant was waiting to see
him.

Maybe he has something useful. It would be a welcome
distraction.

"Send him in."

A few moments later, Grant was standing in front of his
desk, with a concerned expression on his otherwise gruff exterior.

"What is it, Grant?"

"Sir. Our teams are still analyzing Garrett Wiggins'
computers. Initially, they were only interested in finding information that
pertained to the girl. That was how they found the information that led to our
recapture of her.

"However, since then, they have been continuing to
analyze files on the hard drive to make sure there was nothing else of interest.
This morning, some of the techs found a compressed file of
information…information regarding an old case.  It wasn't opened at first
because it was quite resourcefully hidden. It also had more encryption than all
the other files."

"Grant, what case are you talking about? Why are you
being so ambiguous?"

Grant sighed deeply.

"It's about the Cyberconn scandal, sir. There
are…incriminating files on his hard drive, files that suggest EngineerCorp is
responsible for Garrett Wiggins' downfall, all neatly packed into a compressed
folder. That is the information that Alice claimed to have when she first went
to Wiggins."