Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) (8 page)

Chapter 18

K
ai paced back and forth in the hall. It was after nine in the morning. Levy should be here by now. The news she had for him wasn’t good. She was sure he’d blame her. Maintaining security in this building was her job, one of the conditions for cheap rent in the downstairs apartment.

Wiping her palms on her pants, she took another glance down the hall. Did she have to tell him? At this point, she was the only one who knew about the problem.

No, somehow he’d find out. He always did. And then she’d pay a larger price for not informing him. She really didn’t have any other option.

She halted in mid-step. Voices were coming from the floor below. Mike and Levy were talking about New York.

Positioning herself to the side of his office door, she waited for Levy to notice her.

“Why are you here? It better not be more bad news.” Levy did not slow down as he walked past her.

“I found something this morning.”

He hesitated for less than half a second. “Is it about Sara?”

“No, it’s about your computer.”

A short hesitation. “Come.”

Levy moved through the office doorway. Mike allowed Kai to enter ahead of him.

Levy advanced to his desk and examined his computer before taking his seat. “What about my computer?”

“I found an indication that someone may have tapped into it last night.” Kai intertwined her fingers to keep them still. Mike took a seat on the couch.

“Not possible. My router is shut down at night, and the computer is powered down. You said that would make it impossible for anyone to hack in.”

Kai twisted the sweaty fingers of her left hand with her right. “That method does keep someone from hacking in from the outside. However, your computer was accessed from in here.”

Levy rose and scanned the room before moving around to the front of his desk. With each inch of ground he covered, Kai’s fear ratcheted higher. He stopped halfway between his desk and where she stood.

“What makes you think someone accessed my computer from in here?”

Kai’s mouth was as dry as dirt. Her tongue felt fatter with each word. “The power monitor we added to your system a couple of months ago shows that someone turned on your computer around two in the morning and ran it for about forty minutes. They had to have done it from in here.” She nodded toward Levy’s desk.

Levy looked around the room again. “Someone broke into my office this morning. What do the security tapes show?”

“We don’t have a camera in your office, at your request. And I reviewed the videos from the halls and entry area. Nothing.”

“Erased?”

“No, they’re there. But whoever did this either somehow sidestepped the cameras or replaced the data stream.”

“So all you have is the data from this device in the floor?”

“Yes, but I ran some tests on it this morning. It’s working perfectly.”

“How were they able to get past your security system, break into my office, and access my computer?” Levy took a step closer as he clinched his fist. “You are here to keep that from happening. How could you be so incompetent?”

Kai took a step back as she raised her hands a little. “It’s not my fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?”

“Whoever did this knows our security.”

Levy stopped and pulled back. “What files did they access?”

“I don’t know. Your system’s—”

“Find out. Now.”

Levy twisted around and reached over the top of his desk to turn on his computer. “Do it from here, and be quick. “

Kai carefully moved around Levy. “This shouldn’t take more than fifteen, twenty minutes tops.”

Moving the keyboard to a usable location, she went to work. For the first several seconds, Levy and Mike scrutinized her movements. Finally, Levy repositioned himself where he had a good view of the screen. She felt his breath on her neck as she continued to scan each directory on the system.

“You said fifteen minutes. How much longer?”

Kai broke visual contact with the monitor. With only half the contents examined, she was coming up empty. “Halfway there, sir.”

“And?”

The skin of her neck tingled from Levy’s hot breath. “So far, nothing. The most recent dates are from yesterday morning.” Turning her head a little farther, she peered up at Levy as she quickly rubbed the back of her neck. “I need to check your encrypted directories.”

He gave a nod.

Kai ran a script to open the encrypted directories and check their dates. A few minutes later, she leaned back in the chair, deflated. Viewing the results, she said more to herself than to those in the room, “The most recent dates in here are over a week ago.”

“So, nothing has been touched?”

Kai felt the chair being pulled back. “I haven’t checked everything yet. I still might find something.”

“No, you’ve told me all I need to know. You’re done here, and done securing my computer. Count yourself lucky that I have other need of you.”

Obediently, she rose and made her way toward the door. Protecting Levy’s computer was a no-win situation. If she did it right, no one noticed or cared, but if she did it wrong, Levy could easily decide to kill her.

“Could Sara have done this? Hacked in without a trace?”

Levy’s question halted Kai’s exit. She wheeled around to face him. “Most definitely.”

Mike jumped to his feet. “Sara went straight home last night, and stayed home.”

Levy stared at Mike. “She evidently found a way out from under your nose.”

Mike spoke faster than normal. “That’s impossible. I was outside her apartment all night.”

“Where outside her apartment?” Levy’s face took on a sinister look.

“In the parking lot. I could see both her stairwell and her car from where I parked.”

“And her apartment door? You left it unguarded?”

“No, I mean I could see most of it. It’s kind of blocked by her stairwell.”

Kai noticed Mike rubbing his hands on his pant legs. Even he was afraid of Levy. Maybe Sara was right about Mike.

Levy strolled back behind his desk. Picking up a folder, he thumbed through it as Kai and Mike waited in silence. After an eternity, he closed the folder and replaced it on his desk.

“Put New York on hold. Get Jarred and Ben back here ASAP. Starting tonight, two of you will be on Sara whenever she leaves work.” He shifted his attention to Kai. “Where’s Sara right now?”

“I left her in our office.”

“Did you tell her about this? Did you tell her you were coming to talk with me?”

Kai thought back. Sara was half asleep today. She didn’t inquire or even make a comment when Kai said she’d be gone for a few minutes. “No, sir.”

“Okay. Starting five minutes ago, you call Mike each and every time Sara leaves the office. And learn her software. Do whatever you have to, but learn it quickly. Sara won’t be with us much longer.”

***

With mixed feelings about achieving his goal, Derry sent off his full report and closed his laptop. It was Friday afternoon. He’d completed the audit a week early. He was proud of the work he had done, but this was the last night he had an excuse to eat at Jasper’s. Looking at the clock on the wall, he realized if he left now, it would
be too early to see Sara, but if he waited any longer, it would be too late to talk with the account manager.

This is silly. I’m acting like a high school kid with a bad case of puppy love.

Opting for common sense, Derry slipped his laptop and other items into his briefcase, and headed to the printer. Grabbing the report, he went to the account manager’s office, and knocked on the doorframe.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I’ve completed the audit. Everything came out fine. Here’s a summary of the results. I downloaded the full report along with all the other data to your system. If you have any questions about the results, please notify me.”

The manager scanned the report. “Good, glad to hear it. You finished quickly.”

“Yes, sir. That was my goal.”

The manager glanced up. “You’ve done good work here. I know you put in long hours almost every night, something we value.” The manager reached across his desk and retrieved two slips of paper from a folder. “I’d like to thank you with these.” He handed the papers to Derry.

“Uh, I can’t take any gifts on an audit.”

The manager smiled and went on, not heeding Derry’s words. “We got a whole stack of these as a promotional. They were free. It’s just two tickets to the Scottish Highland Festival up in Estes Park. You being Scottish, I thought you might like to go.”

Derry started to tell him that Conway was an Irish name, not Scottish, but the manager didn’t slow down long enough for him to get in a word.

He shoved the tickets at Derry. “So, take the tickets and your girlfriend, and have a good time.”

“I can’t take—”

The manager cut him off. “I okayed it with your manager. He said the value was small enough that you could receive them as long as you reported it.”

“Thank you, sir.” Derry took the tickets, and slipped them into his bag. The manager’s phone rang, so Derry left. As he headed to the elevator, he felt a little lost. Now that he had completed this job, he hoped he could take a few days off. Maybe get some work done on the guesthouse.

***

“What are you doing here?” Jasper glared at Sara.

“I have a full card. It needs to be run.”

It was late, and Jasper was closing. “Come by tomorrow.”

“Can’t. The transactions have to take place today, the same day that the original transactions took place.” Not true, but what did Jasper know?

He didn’t move.

“Look, I’m doing this to help you. I don’t really care if you ever get out of debt.”

“I already ran the end-of-day program on the accounts.”

“So, you can do it again. It will be a good test of my program.” Sara headed toward his register, pulling the card from her pack as she went.

Jasper caught up, and grabbed the card. “Okay. I’ll run it. You are more trouble than you’re worth.”

You don’t know the half of it.

Jasper slid the card through the machine, and gave it back to Sara. “I know how to run it. You don’t have to look over my shoulder.”

With his complaints aimed at her, he never noticed the screen flash a message before giving the charge total. But Sara saw it. Her program worked. “Okay. Fine.” She backed away.

Chapter 19

O
pening her eyes for the hundredth time that night, Sara gave up on sleep. Excitement mixed with apprehension drove it away. It was almost six o’clock. She headed for the shower. Everything was in place. By the end of the day, she’d be heading out of the country with a big piece of Levy’s money. He’d finally get what he deserved, and so would she.

Preparing the last of the food in her home, she sat down at the counter one last time. Her stomach rejected the light breakfast. Grabbing her laptop, she moved to the couch, plugged in the jump drive, and accessed the file with Levy’s offshore banking information. Although she could do the transfer once she was out of country, she might need the money as she traveled to Italy.

Opening a link to Levy’s offshore account, Sara was surprised at the balance. He’d been stashing money away for quite a while. There was more than enough here to buy all the anonymity she’d ever need.

She set up several automatic transfers to different temporary accounts under her control. The transfers would take place periodically throughout the weekend. The money would be split up and moved through a dozen offshore accounts until it finally ended up in hers.

Part A done.

Logging out of Levy’s account, she logged into her own. The balance was small right now, but that would change very soon. In addition to Levy’s savings, all of the money from the credit card transactions would soon follow a similar path to this account. The card she ran at Jasper’s last night had installed a program that would not be activated for two weeks, but once it was, it would transfer all of the money from the credit card transactions into this account.

Knowing Kai would eventually find the changes she’d made to the program, Sara had at least three weeks, maybe four, before the money quit flowing into the account. By then, she would be well established in her new life, and no one would be able to find her.

Then she’d be a good citizen and send an anonymous tip to the FBI about Levy’s illegal operations. They might need help to make sure Levy was shut down for good.

Sara made one last backup of her files, then shut her laptop and slid it into her pack.

Now for part B.

Using a knife from the kitchen, she tore open the portable hard drive containing Levy’s computer files. After prying the case apart, she made a few scratches across the surface of each disk.

Then she dropped them behind the refrigerator. Something to keep Kai busy.

Picking up her pack, Sara headed for the door. Reaching for the handle, she remembered one final but very important detail. She turned, set the pack down, pulled out her phone, and set it on the counter where it would be easy to find.

Shouldering her pack again, she opened the door a few inches and looked for Mike’s car. With Ben and Jarred in New York, her escape would be easy. Mike’s car was in almost the same spot as it was the other night. She slipped out.

Using a route not easily seen by Mike, she worked her way down the walkway to the far set of stairs. She took them down and cut around the building to the alley. She peeked around the dumpster. Mike was in his car, awake this time, and talking on his phone. His head still pointed in the direction of the stairwell by her apartment door. She headed to an RTD bus stop a few blocks from her apartment.

After three transfers and several checks out the back window, Sara arrived at Denver International Airport. A couple of times she suspected that Mike was behind her, but each time the suspicious car turned off.

Entering the terminal, she headed to the restrooms. She stepped into an empty stall, pulled out her old driver’s license and credit cards, and flushed them, along with her old life. She was no longer Sara Beckwith; she was now Sara Ramos.

Sara exited the restroom and cut across the terminal. She left the building on the opposite side from where she’d entered. She pulled out a bus pass as she headed to the shuttle area. Climbing into the bus headed to Estes Park, she dropped into the last open seat. It was a little before ten a.m., and the hard work was done. All she needed now was to retrieve her passport. Her new life was less than a day away.

The tension building for the last several weeks had peaked last night. Now it was nothing more than a memory. As the shuttle pulled out, she let her head fall against the back of the seat. Closing her eyes, she wondered if the smile she felt on her face was evident to those around her. She didn’t care. She’d made it.

***

“Yeah, I got her. She got on a shuttle heading to Estes Park,” Jarred spoke breathlessly into his phone. He’d abandoned his car and run down a level to watch for Sara as she got off the bus. Seeing her exit the bathroom, he discreetly followed her.

“I’m on it. I have the shuttle in view now.” Ben was in his car, ready to follow in case Sara did not get on a plane.

Jarred also relayed the information to Mike.

“Well, get back up here. The cops are about to have your car towed away.”

It had taken all three of them in different cars playing leapfrog to stay with Sara. Rushing back up the escalator, Jarred exited the building and headed for Mike. “We need to hurry.”

Mike was in a conversation with a police officer

As Jarred approached, the officer shifted his attention to him. “Next time, don’t leave your car unattended.”

“Sure thing.”

Once the officer was out of earshot, Mike spun toward Jarred. “Catch up with Ben. Stay with Sara, but don’t let her see you. Give me a call when she gets off the bus. Levy wants to be present when we grab her.”

***

As the shuttle made its way up to Estes Park, Sara glanced around at the others on the bus. The two men next to her were wearing kilts. She kept looking at them. The one closest to her stared back.

“Can I
help
you?”

“Why the kilts and all?”

“It’s for the Scottish Highland Festival.”

“The what?”

“Scottish Highland Festival. It’s put on every year. You never heard of it?”

“No,” she answered slowly.

“You got any Scottish or Irish blood in you?”

“Luckily, no.”

He let out a hearty laugh. “What a pity.”

The two tried to stay in character as two Highland lords, but she found it easy to trip them up. Still, she enjoyed their conversation on the way up to Estes.

The shuttle pulled to a stop near the fairgrounds. Everyone but Sara disembarked.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Post office. On the other end of town.”

“Came all this way to mail a letter?” Checking his mirrors, he pulled back out onto the street. A few minutes later, he stopped alongside the main road that ran through town. “Post office is just on the other side of that restaurant. You can cut right through there.” He pointed to a small pathway.

Hoisting her pack, Sara stepped down onto the pavement, and headed toward the slit between the buildings. The aroma from the restaurant filled her nostrils, reminding her stomach it had missed breakfast.

She had time. Her flight out of Cheyenne wasn’t until seven that evening. Doing an about-face, she headed for the source of the savory smells.

In a short glimpse, her world crashed around her. Her appetite vaporized.

A car drove past with Jarred looking out the window. She only saw his face for a fraction of a second before he turned away, but she knew it was him. Sara stopped and stared. A second car went by. It was Ben.

Reversing course, Sara cut between the buildings. Expecting Mike to be waiting for her in the parking lot ahead, she dropped her pack in one of the trash cans along the path. If she escaped, she could come back for it. Regardless, she couldn’t let Levy find out about her new identity.

***

It was a beautiful morning for a drive in the mountains. The sides of the hills along the road were covered with pine and aspen trees. Just what Derry needed to relax and get his mind off work—and Sara.

Coming over the hill into Estes Park, the traffic slowed to a crawl. As the cars crept along, Derry searched for a place to park. He found a spot his little Civic barely squeezed into. He stepped out, and stretched. Falling in with the crowd, he shuffled toward the fairgrounds.

A large family stood in line near the entrance. He gave them his extra ticket and went inside.

A hundred yards or so inside the entrance, knights on horseback carried lances as they rode down the center of the path, followed by their pages. Some of the pages carried signs, listing the times for the various events in which the knights would be participating. The heavy armor jousting competition was scheduled for three o’clock. That sounded like fun. He planned to watch.

Numerous large tents lined one side of the dirt road. The other side was filled with food vendors and other assorted displays. He wasn’t hungry yet, so Derry cut toward the closest tent. It was full of booths, each displaying a different Scottish name. As he plodded past one booth, a young lady about his age called out to him.

“Sir, would you like me to look up your heritage?” She had long, wavy, reddish-blond hair.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not Scottish, I’m Irish.”

She didn’t lose a bit of her smile. “Oh, that’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m part Irish me self.”

He wondered if her Scottish brogue was real. Probably not.

She glanced in the direction Derry was heading. “The next tent over is where you can learn about your Irish heritage. So, what be your clan name?”

“Conway.”

“That’s a good Irish name. The tents have the clans in alphabetical order. Yours should be toward this end. Would you like me to come along and show ye?” She smiled brightly as her eyes move over his body.

This girl was trouble.

“Oh, I think I’ll look around in here first, but thanks for the help.”

The girl continued to smile. “You sure? It’ll be no trouble at all.” She reached out and placed her hand on his.

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” With the red danger flags waving in his head, Derry extracted himself from her hold, and moved out of her reach.

Drifting into the next tent, he found the Conway booth in short order.

“May God smile upon ye, young man. Are you interested in learning about the Conway Clan?” The elderly man in the booth rose as Derry stepped in.

“Sure.” A picture of castle ruins hanging behind the man caught Derry’s interest. “That place looks old. Is that where the Conways are from?”

The man turned around to look at the picture. “Oh, that, by Irish standards, is not old at all. The Killorglin Castle was built in the 13
th
century. But it wasn’t until 1587 that it came to the Conways. You see, it was granted to a Captain Jenkin Conway, who changed the name of it to Castle Conway, and—”

A hard bump from the back knocked Derry into him.

Derry reached out to steady him. “Sorry. You okay?”

The man’s attention went to the cluster of people behind Derry.

“You can’t run out on us, Sara. No matter where you go, we’ll find you.” The deep voice was just loud enough to be heard over the pandemonium that surrounded them.

Another shove. Derry twisted around, and spotted two men in suits flanking someone. The man next to him was big, about Lamar’s size. Impossible to see around.

“It’s the weekend, and I’m free to do what I want with my own time. Levy doesn’t own me. So move out of my way, you big jerks.”

The voice. The way she said
jerks
. Could it be the girl from Jasper’s? Sara?

Squeezing out of the booth, Derry maneuvered around the big man. It
was
Sara. She stood, held between two men. Each man gripped one of her arms. Trapped.

“You’re coming with us. Levy’s orders.” They picked Sara up and carried her.

Stepping in front of the men, Derry stood his ground. “The lady said she doesn’t want to go with you.” Sara’s gaze snapped toward him. “Put her down.”

Derry’s attention was on her. He didn’t see the blow coming.

The larger man’s fist slammed into Derry’s sternum before he could block the blow. The air was pushed from his lungs as a sharp pain spread to the back of his body. He grasped his midsection with both hands.

The men stepped past him.

Sara and her adversaries were gone.
Vanished
as if they were never there. The crowd moved around him as if nothing had happened.