Hacker For Hire (Ted Higuera Series Book 2) (6 page)

“Uh!” He put his
hand to his chest, just under his left shoulder. He felt the bullet pierce him
again. “TED!” he cried out.

“It’s okay,
Chris.” He felt cool hands reach from behind him and take his face. “You’re
back in Seattle. Everything’s okay.” How many times had Sarah come to his
bedside in the middle of the night when he screamed out in a nightmare?

“It’s not okay,”
Chris screamed. “IT’LL NEVER BE OKAY! There’s nothing anyone can do to bring
Meagan back.”

Harry pulled the
SUV into a parking place close to “D” dock. “Chris.” His voice was soft and
sympathetic. “No one understands better than me. When your mother died, I
didn’t know how I was going to go on living. If it wasn’t for you and Sarah, I
think I would have gone out of my mind.”

Chris looked over
at his dad. It was hard to make out the handsome features through the blur of
tears.

“I had something
to live for.” Harry’s voice was soft. “Something to get up every morning for.
There were a lot of days when I just wanted to lay down and stop living. You
guys saved my life.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Chris
replied. “But I don’t have kids. I never had the chance.”

Harry put his hand
on Chris’ shoulder. “I want to give you something to live for. You need
something to look forward to. You can’t spend the rest of your life looking
back.”

“No. I can’t go
back there.” Chris looked down at the marina. Row upon row of concrete floats
jutted out from the seawall. A forest of mast covered the water. Seagulls
circled overhead, flags flapped in the breeze. Out on the Sound, the wind
pushed waves to the shore, but inside the rock breakwater, the surface was
calm.

“I’m never going
sailing again.” Chris pulled away from his father. “I can’t.” He fought the
tears rolling down his cheeks.

“You have to get
back on the horse, son.”

Candace pulled
open the passenger side door. “Harry, that’s enough.” She reached in and put
her arms around the trembling Chris, pulling him to her. “Let’s take him home.
We can do this a little at a time.”

Chris felt the
warmness and softness of Candace’s chest as she pulled him tight. Somewhere in
the back of his mind he thought of his mother.

“We’ll bring him
back later.” Candace’s voice seemed to come from far, far away. “When he’s
ready.”

****

Ted couldn’t get
much work done that morning. Co-workers dropped by his desk, slapped him on the
back and asked him how he did it.

“Yo, Higgy,” Bear
said. “Don’t you think it’s time we got a little work done?”

“Huh? Yeah.” Ted
wiped the sweat off the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Say, Bear, what’s gonna
happen? Is Justin really gonna give me the raise?”

“I’ve known Justin
since we were kids. There’s no way to predict what he’s going to do.”

“Would he fire me?
I mean, I hacked into the payroll system. Most companies would fire an employee
for that.” Ted felt Bear’s searing glance. “I mean, am I in trouble? I know
Irena did it, but all she asked for was lunch for the staff. I broke into
payroll.”

“You’re a pretty
cocky son-of-a-bitch aren’t you? You’re only the second person who’s ever
penetrated his defenses. He doesn’t like to be shown up.”

“Oh shit.” Ted
felt his pulse rate rise. “What’s gonna happen?”

“Lunch,” Bear
said.

“Huh?”

“Lunch. I’m going
to lunch. You want to come?”

“No, I haven’t
gotten anything done this morning. I better focus on work a little.”

****

Ted’s fingers flew
across the keyboard. Not even consciously thinking about what he was typing,
the code just magically appeared on the screen.

He was outside of
himself. His sub-conscious took care of the mundane task of writing code while
his conscious mind replayed the scenarios. He may not be able to get another
job in Seattle if Justin wouldn’t give him a reference. He’d only been at YTS
for a few weeks. What would a prospective employer think?

“Hey Higgy… “

Ted didn’t hear
Justin’s voice.

“Higgy.”

Ted kept typing
away. What if Justin just reprimanded him? Maybe he could rescue his career.
Career? He was just worried about this job.

“Higuera, I’m
talking to you, man.”

“Wha?” Ted
screamed and jumped. He had a dazed sort of look in his eyes as he slowly
focused on Justin. “I’m sorry. I was concentrating.”

“How do you do
that? I’ve seen you like that before. You’re hands are typing away, but it’s
like you’re outside your body.”

“Do what? . . . Oh
. . . I’m just so focused, I guess, that I lose track of what’s goin’ on around
me. . . I guess . . . “

Justin brushed
back a few loose hairs that had escaped from his ponytail. “Well, that’s good,
I think.” He looked over Ted’s shoulder at the computer screen. “That’s pretty
elegant code. Where’s Bear? Isn’t he your partner today?”

“He left for
lunch. I couldn’t break away.”

Justin lowered
himself into a swivel chair and turned Ted to face him. “You’re pretty full of
yourself aren’t you? Pretty cocky.” He paused to let Ted ponder his statement.

“5% huh?” Justin
said. “That’s almost reasonable.”

It clicked in
Ted’s head. He realized what Justin was talking about.

“I’ll split the
difference with you,” Justin kept his voice low. “2 ½%.”

“I, uh. . . “Suddenly,
Ted felt overwhelmingly guilty. When Irena hacked Justin’s system, she asked
for a prize that involved everybody. Ted was just asking for himself. “You know
Justin, I’ve been thinkin’.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe we should
do something for the whole staff. Like Irena did.”

“Greed, Higgy.”
Justin pushed his chair back and stood up. “It’s what makes the world go
‘round.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m
feelin’ a little greedy.”

“Don’t worry about
it. Greed’s a good thing. No one else would do it for you. And don’t let this
go to your head. You’re going somewhere, Higgy, but you have a lot of learning
to do yet.” Justin stood and walked away without a backwards glance

****

“How’s the Caglione
project coming?” Bear twisted the lid off of his energy drink and plopped down
next to Ted.

“Almost done,
dude.” Ted turned away from his monitor. “Doesn’t it bother you though? Doing
work for scum like this.”

“Man, we’re
contractors. High tech whores. We work for whoever’ll pay us.”

“Yeah, but this
Rico Caglione guy. He’s about as low as they get. I’ve been doing a little
research.” Ted turned his flat screen monitor towards Bear. “Look.” He clicked
on his favorites button on the browser. “This guy has a record as long as your
arm.”

With a few mouse
clicks, Ted brought up Cagilone’sCaglione’s history.

“He’s been
arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery. He did time on
racketeering charges. His dad went to the big house back in the Sixties for
assault with a deadly weapon. His son's been arrested for drug dealing and pandering.”
Ted waited for a reaction from Bear.

Nothing came.

“Look at this.
Here’s an article about a rival strip club owner. He and his wife disappeared
in 1996. No one’s heard from them since. Caglione bought his clubs for way
below market value. Don’t you think that sounds fishy?”

Bear calmly sipped
at his drink.

“Then there’s
this.” Ted opened a
Seattle Times
article on his monitor. “Caglione’s
been accused of making illegal campaign contributions to three members of the
Seattle City Council. After the election, they gave him a zoning variance so he
could expand one of his strip clubs. They’re calling the thing ‘Stripper Gate.’”

“I don’t like him
any better than you do.” Bear pushed his swivel chair back from the table and
crossed his legs. “But, this is a good job. We’re not doing anything illegal.
We don’t have to break any laws and the pay’s good. Caglione never even
flinched when Justin told him our rate.”

“You know why he
has us doing the penetration tests?” Ted felt like he was talking to a brick
wall. “The Attorney General’s investigating him. He wants to make sure that the
AG’s geeks can’t break into his system and find something they shouldn’t. We’re
helping a mob boss evade the law.”

“Listen, Higgy.”

Ted hated that
nickname. Ever since he hacked into Justin’s account, everyone had been calling
him “Higgy.”

“Just do your job.
You wouldn’t sleep too well if you knew about what some of the corporations we
work for do. The only difference between them and Caglione is that he sells sex
and they use sex to sell cars and TVs.” Bear paused to let what he had said
sink in. “Don’t rock the boat. Get this project done, deliver it to Caglione,
then go on to the next job.”

“I’ve got to give
him the report? I’ve never even met the man.”

“Better you than
me. Somebody has to deliver the report. What do you think my church elders
would say if someone saw me going into Ricco’s joint? I’d probably be
excommunicated. Besides, my wife would kill me if I went to a strip club.”

“What if someone
saw me go in? What’s the difference?”

“You’re single and
you don’t have any family here. Anyway, young guys are expected to go to places
like that.” Bear got up and left Ted stewing.

Ted didn’t
survive those terrorists to do shit like this.

****

“Are you ready to
do this, Chris?” Candace took Chris’ wrists in each hand.

This close, even
with her three-inch heels, he looked down into her eyes. “I … I don’t know.”

Sarah and Candace
had let the cat out of the bag. Over coffee and scrambled eggs,’l they told him
about Harry’s plan to get Chris back on his feet.

“I don’t ever want
to go back down there.” There was no panic in Chris this time, just dread. “I
guess I have to do it. For Dad.”

“Chris, you don’t
have to do anything.” Candace’s voice had a softness to it, a feeling of
empathy. “If you’re not ready, we don’t go.”

“Yeah, Chris-O.
You’re making the calls.” Sarah couldn’t stay out of the conversation.

“Look, I know Dad.
He’s not going to leave me alone until he gets his way.” Chris took a deep gulp
of air. “Let’s just do this thing.”

This time, Harry
met them at the marina. “Hi, Kiddo,” he called out, standing next to his
British Racing Green Jaguar XJ-R.

Candace got out of
her SUV and pulled the wheelchair out of the cargo area. “Come on, Chris. Let’s
get this over with.” She rolled the wheelchair up to Chris’ door.

He eased himself
out of the car and plopped down in the chair. His heartbeat sped up at the
smell of the sea air, the cry of the gulls. It didn’t matter what Amy said, he
allowed himself to be wheeled down the ramp to the floats.

The light breeze
ruffled his hair. With Harry on one side and Sarah holding his hand on the
other, Candace pushed Chris past the expensive yachts towards the end of the
float. She stopped just short of a shiny new red sailboat.

His breath came
faster. “Dad? That’s our slip. That’s the
Defiant’s
slip.”

Chris knew what
was coming, but couldn’t process what he was seeing. For his entire life the
Pacific Blue C&C 40 had lived in slip D-56. Instead, there was a fire-engine
red Chesapeake 43.

“This is your new
boat.” Harry lightly patted Chris’ shoulder.

“I don’t want a
new boat. I can hardly walk. How can I sail? I never want to sail again.”

“You’ve got to get
back on the horse.” Harry stepped in front of Chris and knelt down so that they
were eye-to-eye. “This is the first step to getting control of your life back.
You can’t let this throw you. She’s rigged for racing. I’ve already got a dozen
associates at the firm who are falling all over themselves to sign up as crew.
You’ll be the captain. I’m retired from racing. I’ll be there to advise you,
but this is your show.”

Chris ran his eyes
over the boat. She did look good. She was a couple feet longer than the
Defiant
.
Chris had always been a sucker for redheads.
Not quite as extreme a design
,
he thought.
Less beam, plumb bow, wider transom, open at the rear end.

“I’ve never seen a
boat quite like her.”

“She’s built in
Annapolis, Maryland to an Italian Design. Rossi-De Luca. Absolutely top of the
line.”

Chris stared at
the boat, awestruck. The sleek red hull was topped off with teak decks. Twin
stainless steel steering wheels filled the aft part of the broad cockpit. He
could see the electric winches for the halyards and jib sheets. Her tall mast
looked a little funny.

“What’s with the
mast?” Chris asked.

“Carbon fiber,”
Harry answered. “Half the weight, twice the strength. I special ordered it.”

She looked like a speeding
Ferrari, just tied to the dock.

“Is she fast?”
Chris couldn’t keep his eyes off of the red beauty.

“Greased
lightning.” Harry smiled. “And there’s something else. . . I named her after
you.”

Harry pushed
Chris’ wheelchair forward until they could see the side of the new boat. There,
painted in italic gold letters, were the words
Courageous, Seattle
.

****

“Holy shit, Dad.”
Chris painfully eased himself down the companion way and looked around
cautiously. “This is amazing.”

The
Courageous’
cabin was drenched in cherry wood. The galley, to his left, had white Italian ceramic
tile counter tops and splashboards with blue trim and a double stainless steel
sink that accentuated the rich wood. The cabin floor was teak and holly. To his
right, was the chart table and navigation station. The nav station was filled
with electronic gear: GPS, radar, SSB radio, chart plotter and breaker panels.
Tons of switches covered the space; all of the latest technology.