Page 15 of The Hacker
“Yo, Leland!”
The boom of Tully’s voice dragged Leland out of his focused probe into the data traffic at Work It Out. He spun his chair around to see his partner, arms crossed, hip hitched against a workstation.
“No need to shout,” Leland said, tamping down his irritation at being interrupted.
“Are you kidding me? I tried twice at normal volume and you didn’t even twitch.” Tully nodded toward the monitor Leland had been engrossed in. “Is that the Mentix data theft you’re working on?”
Guilt jabbed at Leland, an emotion he rarely felt at work. He’d pushed the high-profile Mentix project down his list of priorities, partially because the traffic problem was more interesting and partially because he wanted to have an answer to share with Dawn. “No, this is a Small Business Initiative project. The gym in Cofferwood.”
“I thought they got that problem fixed.”
“Another rose up in its place. An even more interesting one.”
“Uh-oh, I recognize that expression. You’ve gotten hooked on a puzzle.” Tully snagged a wheeled chair with the pointed toe of his cowboy boot and rolled it over so he could sit beside Leland. “What’s up?”
Leland watched his partner stare at the monitor with its scrolling code as though Tully could actually interpret any of it. “Tell me what you see,” Leland challenged, knowing his colleague wouldn’t have a clue.
“A shitload of meaningless mumbo jumbo.” Tully grinned. “I was trying to look interested in your problem.”
“You failed.” But Leland’s irritation had faded. “Someone has turned all the cell phones connected to the gym’s Wi-Fi into an almost untraceable node for the dark web.”
“But you traced it because you’re that good.”
“No, I traced it because I was pointed in the right direction by a concerned citizen.”
“So what do you do about it?” Tully glanced at the screen again.
“Monitor it. Pick it apart until I can figure out why. Make sure it’s not being used for something illegal.” Not to mention, the longer he monitored it, the more training time he would get with Dawn. He massaged one of his aching thighs. She was damned good at her job.
Tully rolled his chair away from the monitor. “How come I never get any SBI assignments?”
“Because most small business owners aren’t threatened with actual bodily harm. Not enough money involved.”
His partner’s expression turned grim. “You’d be surprised by how little money it takes to tempt people into violence.”
The word triggered a chill in Leland as he pictured Dawn with her well-honed body and glossy ponytail. He hadn’t lied when he’d said she was strong. She was an expert in self-defense, but the dark web was by definition a lawless place, which meant their project might get dangerous.
Leland resolved to proceed carefully for Dawn’s sake. “Did you come here to discuss something with me?” he asked.
“Hell, yes!” Tully’s face lit up. “We’re Derek’s best men so that means we have to plan a bachelor party.”
Leland winced. He’d forgotten about that particular responsibility. Or maybe he’d hoped to avoid it. “You plan it. I’ll pay for half.”
“No way, bro. You’re part of this. I need input.”
He recognized Tully’s insistence for what it was: an attempt to drag him away from what his partners viewed as his unhealthy devotion to work. He hated social events of any kind, and he was less in the mood for them now than ever before. A bachelor party, even for a man he considered more than a brother, sounded like the worst kind of torture. Leland would be a fish out of water, the same way he always had been among the privileged kids at his private school. Some things never changed. “Tully, I suck at that kind of stuff.”
“No, you justthinkyou suck at it.” Tully tilted the chair back. “Vegas is too obvious, and he’s traveled to all the usual places in Europe for work. We need something out of the ordinary. What do you think of a white-water rafting trip in Idaho?”
“Well, at least there wouldn’t be any strippers.” Leland considered the idea and thought maybe it could work. Weirdly, he had a vision of Dawn in the bow of a raft, a paddle clenched in her strong, slender hands, her face lit with exhilaration as she steered past jutting rocks and through frothing waves. There was one issue with Tully’s suggestion, however. “Has Derek ever expressed any interest in white-water rafting?”
“He’s never expressed an interest because he hasn’t thought about it. It would be a great bonding experience.”
Leland had never thought about it either. Rapids and computers weren’t compatible. “Haveyouever been white-water rafting?”
Tully’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, in Alaska last year. It’s a rush and a half when you hit Class V rapids and the water just picks your raft up and hurls it down the river.” He rolled his chair forward and air paddled. “You paddle like hell and you’ll still get dumped. The water is colder than a polar bear’s butt on an ice floe, which motivates you to get back in the raft pronto.”
Maybe the water in Idaho was warmer than in Alaska. “I’d be useless at planning the expedition.” Yet Tully’s enthusiasm had transmitted itself to him, especially because then the “party” wouldn’t be a social occasion. Also, while he was genuinely happy that Derek had found the love of his life, Leland knew it would change the dynamic among them. One last time with just the three of them working together to get their raft through Class V rapids would be a trip to remember.
