Schooled, p.12
Schooled, page 12
From my research I knew Locksmith had no active investigations, but I couldn’t tell him that. It was one thing for me to know he was Locksmith. He didn’t need to know that I’d read files on him.
“I’ve got a team on Violet Knight to see if we can track her down for questioning. Might be able to get info on who put the file out there.”
“What are we gonna do, Theo? What if someone’s coming after me? They had to know I’d recognize it.”
“Maybe we leave it. We don’t have to crack all of them.” I thought quickly, and this was the best option so the secret list didn’t get out. “No one knows if you really can or not. Violet could’ve overhyped you, right?”
I stayed deliberately nonchalant in an effort to calm him down.
“I’m scared, Theo. Violet told me they were pissed that I wouldn’t try. I don’t know if they forced her to tell them more about me. I….”
“Wait. She knows you? In real life?”
He looked away again. He clearly wanted to be anywhere but here. Hackers, like covert agents, usually worked with screen names to stay hidden. Too much knowledge could be dangerous.
“Yeah. We…. Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“If you’re in danger, it does. We need to tell Mrs. H.”
It wasn’t a great plan, but if Dean was in real danger, he needed to get somewhere safe.
“No.” He scowled like he hated the idea as much as I did. “Maybe if I hack it, this will all go away.”
“You’d said no before. How can this be the right choice now?”
“Violet Knight is Romy Nelson from Providence, Rhode Island. An agent is headed to her last known address.” Lorenzo hearing everything made this much more efficient than it might otherwise be.
“Look, let’s get back and work on the other modules.” I offered up an alternate plan because his sucked. “Let’s focus on what we’re here to do. I’ll keep looking at Six. Maybe there’s a trap in it, and I can accidentally vaporize it. If not, we’ll talk after dinner. We’re two smart guys. We can figure this out, right?”
Dean nodded slowly and bit his lip, looking unconvinced. I clapped him on the shoulder and headed for the door.
“Let’s go.” I held the door open and he walked out. He wasn’t the confident team captain he’d been earlier. He needed to find a way to turn that back on because we didn’t need the entire team wondering what happened.
“Check that out.” He pointed to the monitor in the hallway outside the classrooms. “We racked up another one.” That improved his mood.
“Sweet.” We were one of three schools that had a third module completed. “Let’s get at least one more done before dinner.”
“Yeah. We can do that.” Sometimes his ping-pong moods confused me, but I was glad he found a way to be upbeat again.
“Where were you guys?” Jessie asked, barely looking up from her screen.
“Sorry. We got caught up talking strategy on Six and lost track of time.”
“At least you were busy.”
Dean sat down where he’d been working. “Great job cracking another one too.”
“Some of us weren’t slacking.” Alice winked at him before she headed for the door. “I’ll be back in a few.”
“Can you get to your computer so I can ask some questions? Use j k again when you’re there.”
“I’m going back to Six. I’m determined to find a way for us to handle it.”
Dean nodded as I sat down and pressed the keys.
“Is it possible Dean knows more than he says?”
I typed: Maybe, but I doubt it. Seems freaked.
“We’re watching the module on the other servers too. We need to come up with a plan once you can safely get away from the group. I’ve briefed Red Hat and Defender and deployed more agents to your location since whoever’s behind this may be there.”
While Lorenzo had spoken, I’d deleted my original message so there’d be no trace. I’d have to do this each time I typed to him.
My response was simple: Understood.
“I’ll be listening in case anything else comes up.”
I typed: OK
“I thought we’d divide and conquer on the two that are left aside from Six,” Jessie said once Alice returned. “If we can knock those out tonight, we can all attack Six in the morning. What do you think, Dean?”
“Let’s do it.” Dean looked at me as if I might have something else in mind. Which was weird because we wanted to stay away from Six anyway. “Theo, you’ll coach us on these while we work to make sure we’re on the right track.”
“All right,” I said enthusiastically. Buying in to the team’s plan would be a great way to let time pass while Lorenzo gathered more info.
We got to work, and over the next four hours, the team knocked out Five. We made progress on Four too but decided to leave it for after dinner.
Twenty-Three
“Defender and Shotgun are in room 204 if you can get there. They’re also on comms.”
That was unexpected. I knew Dad had gotten a briefing but, even though he was in the area, I hadn’t expected him to be on-site or for John to make the trip from Boston.
We’d been at dinner for about thirty minutes and talked about our Four strategy for most of the time. I figured Four would take most of the night. It’d proven to be more complex than my initial review revealed.
Once the chat moved away from the competition, I decided to take time away from the team.
“Guys, I need to check in with my client again. I’ll either see you here or back in the room.”
“See you in a few,” Jessie said.
No one looked upset this time.
On the second floor, I found 204 quickly. I tried the doorknob and found it locked.
“Defender, Winger here. I’m outside 204.”
The door opened enough for me to slip in.
“You’ve had a busy day,” Dad said. He had a slight smile, which he often used when there were tense situations that were going well.
“Hey, Theo,” John said with a nod.
“Sorry to blow up your quiet weekends. Any updates?”
The room was a computer lab, similar to the one the team was in. There were no laptops on the rows of tables, but there were places they could be plugged in for power and internet. Dad and John had their laptops at a table nearest the door, but were using one of their phones as a hot spot for security.
The laptop chimed with a video call.
“Winger, Defender, Shotgun, Doctor Possible here. Let’s go over everything quickly for Winger.” His voice came through comms rather than the computer, which eliminated echo.
“Yes.” Dad took over. “We’ve got five agents in the building with three watching the competition space. When Dean’s out of the competition room, we’ll always have eyes on him. We’re continuing to gather information on the competitors, their parents, and teachers to see if there could be any connections to the file.”
“I’ll be able to watch Dean in the room, and it’ll be easy for me to move with him if he leaves.”
“You said you don’t think he’s more involved with this than he says, right?”
“Right. He was too freaked when he saw the file—like he’d seen a ghost.”
“We can’t eliminate the idea that he knows more,” added John. “After all, you’re deceiving him too, and doing quite well it seems.”
John was right. I couldn’t let my thinking be clouded because I sort of knew this guy. Truthfully I didn’t know that much.
“Stand by, please. I’m getting some information.” We watched Lorenzo talk to someone offscreen.
“You doing okay, Theo?” Dad asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m confused about how the file has ended up here. Other than that, I’m good.”
He nodded and gave me his “I’m a proud dad” smile.
“Sorry about that.” Lorenzo looked at the camera again. “Violet Knight has been found severely beaten in her apartment. The local CSI have her computers, but we’ve got someone en route to secure them for us. We’ve also got ears on her interview with local police. I’ll keep you all updated.”
“It’s reasonable to believe that the person who wants this file decrypted is here,” Dad said. “They wouldn’t allow it to be opened and then leave it on a server as part of a competition.”
“Unless someone at the school that submitted it plans to transfer the file directly from here.” I agreed with Dad, but we had to consider a transfer might happen from here even if it would put the data into the open. “Of course, the way the competition computers are connected, a transfer wouldn’t be the easiest thing either. Doc, do you see anyone else in the system like you are?”
“No. And we’re monitoring for that.”
“What’s the plan, Doc?” Dad’s question surprised me because he was the senior agent present.
“With so many students and other civilians nearby, I’m tempted to suggest the plan Theo threw out with Dean earlier—do nothing, let no one hack the file, and let the competition end. The other schools are continuing to stay away from it. Meanwhile, we work to find who’s behind it and apprehend them while they’re close.”
I didn’t like it. There was no guarantee we could find who put the file here before the competition ended. We had the chance to put a stop to this now, and it felt like we should be more aggressive. Dad still didn’t speak up, so I did.
“While there are a lot of students, we also have to be aggressive and recover this file while it’s here. We still need to find out which school put it into competition. The sooner we do that the better. I’ll start talking to other competitors too and see if I can get any clues.”
I paused a moment for any discussion. When there wasn’t, I continued. “If we can’t sort it out tonight, I say Lorenzo and I hack the file in the morning and see who comes after it. Even if there are other copies in play, if we hack one, it’s a safe bet the person that put it here will want to collect it. Let’s get more agents here so we can manage whatever happens.”
Dad looked to John and they nodded. “It’s risky given our public venue, but I agree. This is the best chance we’ve got right now.” I was proud Dad agreed with me so completely. It was silly to feel that way, but I couldn’t help it.
I recognized Lorenzo’s conflicted expression. “Okay. But, above all, the safety of civilians must come first.”
“Absolutely,” Dad said.
“I need to brief Red Hat. I’ll be in touch when I know more. Winger, I’m on comms for the duration.”
“Thanks, Doc.” The video chat ended.
I looked to Dad, still confused why he wasn’t the lead.
“What?” he asked.
“Why aren’t you the mission leader?”
“While I have seniority overall, this is an IT mission. Lorenzo’s in charge unless he turns it over to someone else. As one of his senior agents, you certainly have more to say on this than we do. Make no mistake, if I had something to contribute or felt that a mistake was being made, I’d speak up. But you guys are doing fine.” He clapped me on the back.
“Yeah, you’re doing great, Theo.” John put out his fist and I bumped it.
My phone buzzed with a text message. I looked and it was Dean searching for me.
“I should go talk to Dean.”
“Okay. We’ll be here,” Dad said.
“Cool. Talk to you soon.” I headed out.
I fired off a text to Dean: On my way to the break room.
“Received word from our agent following Violet Knight.” Lorenzo’s voice filled my ear. “She had a relationship with Dean so she knows a lot about him. She was assaulted two days ago and told the guys that did it all about Dean and where to find him. With her injuries and her equipment smashed, she couldn’t get help. They basically left her for dead, and somehow she hung on until the postman tried to deliver a package and she cried out loud enough for him to hear.”
“Wow. Okay. We’re gonna have to keep him safe. Once I’m back with him, I won’t let him out of my sight.”
“Ranger has been posted in the hallway the competition rooms are on. He’s in a campus security guard’s uniform so it won’t be a problem for him to be there. He knows what Dean and you look like.”
“Have him join comms too. Just in case.”
“He’s already on.”
Dean paced near the break room and looked up as I came downstairs. “Can’t talk anymore.” I barely moved my lips in case Dean paid close attention.
“Understood.”
“Jesus, Theo, where were you?”
“I told you, I had work to do.”
“Yeah, I know that, but where were you? I looked everywhere.”
“I was upstairs so I could talk without interruption. That doesn’t matter. What’s freaking you out?”
He gripped my left wrist and took me to the end of a hall that was away from the competition. Even with that he talked softly. “I tried to get in touch with Violet Knight. Her computers are offline, which makes no sense. I called her cell and ended up talking to a cop.”
“What’d you say?”
“Are you kidding? I hung up. How do I know she’s a real cop? What if it’s something to do with that file?”
I decided to play dumb. “We should really tell Mrs. H. She’ll know what to do.”
“Against these guys?” His voice grew more hysterical even while he whispered. “What’s happened to Violet that a cop answers her phone? Why’s her equipment offline? She never turns that stuff off.”
“We’re in a public place, surrounded by a lot of other people. There’s no way they’re going to come after you here.”
Hopefully he wouldn’t overthink his safety.
“Seriously? You were snatched off your bike in broad daylight last year.”
Dammit.
“Even more reason why we need to tell someone what’s happening,” I said, changing my tactic.
“Who’s gonna believe me?”
“I believe you.”
“Only because I was stupid enough to tip my hand to you,” he said, getting more agitated.
I pointed to the guard I assumed was Ranger. “Look, there’s security right here.”
“Winger, Ranger here.” A new, very deep British voice sounded off in my ear. “That’s me you pointed at. I’m about to adjust my hat so you’ll have double confirmation.”
The guard didn’t take his hat off, but he moved the brim up and down.
“Has he been here all day?”
“I don’t know about him, but I think there’s been one around, yeah.” I had no idea if there’d been another one, but I needed Dean to chill.
“Let’s get back to work, okay? We’ve got one more we know we can crack before we have to think about the other one.”
“Do you have a plan?” Dean spoke quietly when we walked by the guard.
“I’ve thought about how we can appear to work on it while making sure we don’t actually open it. Given what you’ve said, I agree that it should stay locked.”
Twenty-Four
Shortly after eleven we decided to take a break. We’d been told there’d be a major snack spread from ten to one, so it was a good time to check it out.
Once we opened the classroom door, we heard thumping music from the end of the hall where the break room was. I saw Ranger pacing the hall. Since the rooms were along the first floor’s central hallway, it made his job easier to keep watch.
“What’s going on?” Cullen asked.
“No idea.” Alice started to groove to the music as we walked.
We stopped in the doorway of the break room and found it full of people. When we’d been here for meals, there’d been some other students, but it looked like all the competitors were here, given this looked like the same size crowd from orientation this morning. Some of the teachers were here too. We’d stumbled on a hacker party.
People were grouped together, most likely by team. Time to take advantage of the chance to meet people and try to sort out which team submitted Six and maybe find out where they got it. I followed our team to an open table.
“What’s the music?” Lorenzo asked.
“Someone turned on music in the break room.” Ranger provided details. “It seems most of the students decided it was break time.”
After a few minutes of talking team strategy, I made my move. “I’m gonna get some food.”
“I’ll come with,” Dean said.
“Me too,” Alice added.
Not what I wanted. I really needed to be solo for my investigation.
The food looked decent—hamburger sliders, wings, bite-sized pizzas. Perfect late night nosh. I loaded up a plate and looked for a good place to plant myself so I could hear as much as possible and watch the room.
I hung back so the others would go back to the table. I stood near the tub where the sodas and water were iced. Three clusters of students were nearby, and I could hear bits of their conversation.
“Winger.” It was Lorenzo. “The module belongs to West Springfield High School. They’re in room four. Nothing odd has come up in the background checks for anyone associated with the school. We’re still looking.”
My teammates spotted me, and Jessie and Dean headed my direction. Dammit.
“If you’ve got pictures of that team, send them to my phone so I know who I’m looking for?” I said quietly, my mouth obscured by a slider.
“Will do. Stand by.”
“You’re not coming to hang out?” Jessie asked. “There’s more to talk about.”
“Sorry.” I tried to sound extra apologetic. “I need to stand for a while and try to stretch out my legs a bit. They get restless if I’m too still the day after a game. Being awake this long doesn’t help either.”
There was truth to what I said—I could hurt after a game. So far, I felt okay despite the amount of sitting I’d done, but standing couldn’t hurt.
Jessie nodded. “I’ve got aspirin in my purse if you need some.”
“I might take you up on that. I’ll do some stretches once we get back to the room. That’ll help too. Give me a few minutes and I’ll come sit.” I smiled and bit into another slider.
