Текст книги "Equal Access"
Автор книги: A. E. Branson
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter Nineteen
For it is not My desire that anyone shall die – declares the LORD God. Repent, therefore, and live!
–Ezekiel 18:32
When Pap was ready to go to the hospital to pick up Mam, Shad requested to be dropped off at the bookstore. As he expected, Pap scrutinized him with a furrowed brow as they stood in the living room.
“Don’t you want to see Dulsie?”
“What I want and what needs to be done aren’t exactly the same.” Shad steadily returned Pap’s gaze. “Except for the part about tracking down what happened to her last night.”
Pap’s frown deepened. “Back up the buggy a minute.” He briefly glanced at the carrying case hanging from Shad’s shoulder. “How is the computer gonna help figure that out?”
Shad drew a deep, calm breath before responding. “I finally determined who would want to see me terminated right now.”
Pap arched an eyebrow. “Sounds like you should be having a chat with the sheriff.”
“It’s not that easy. This person is in a different jurisdiction and will be regarded as a low priority there. Time is of the essence.”
“Attempted murder is a low priority?”
Shad fixed his gaze on Pap’s. “Trust me. Until the police have more to go on than my word, they’ll consider the other person to be a low priority.” Shad stepped toward the door. “I’ll explain more in the car.”
Shad knew his explanation wasn’t going to be entirely to Pap’s satisfaction, but his goal right now was just to make it to the bookstore so Shad could have the internet access he needed. Pap didn’t take long once they got into the maroon Toyota to follow up with his questions.
“So who became your prime suspect?”
“Someone from my past.” Shad already had determined just what information he was willing to release.
Pap glanced at him as he steered the car toward the road. “Why would they be after you now?”
“I had a chance encounter with him about a week and a half ago. I know from my past he was involved in criminal activity. I have knowledge but not evidence he’s still involved. In order to obtain that evidence as quickly as it needs to be done, I’m gonna have to get it myself. If you’ll drop me off at the bookstore I’ll be able to begin that process. This is the best thing I can do for Dulsie right now.”
“How is the computer gonna help you?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Pap frowned. “Aren’t there legal issues about obtaining evidence illegally?”
“Why do you assume I’ll be hacking?”
“Why do I assume the bear takes a dump in the woods?” Pap glanced at him again. “In your current situation maybe you shouldn’t be flirting so much with law breaking.”
“You realize I know this is coming from a man who risked being prosecuted on a felony to keep me out of the state system.”
“That was different.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is.” Pap’s frown deepened. “Your mom and I had a choice to obey man’s law or to obey ... why ever it had to be us to take you in.”
“My encounter with this person really wasn’t chance.”
“Come again?”
“It’s not for my own sake I need to turn him in. It’s not even just for Dulsie’s sake. This guy needs to be removed from society. I was meant to find him.”
Shad watched Pap during the seconds that passed. Pap stared at the road and the furrow in his brow seemed to vacillate between increasing and decreasing. A good half minute elapsed before he finally replied.
“Great,” Pap grumbled. “Now you’re starting to sound like Maddie.”
Shad felt a smile creep upon his lips entirely of its own volition. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
Pap didn’t give up trying to wrestle more information from Shad, but he did agree to swing by the bookstore. Once there Shad strode directly to the little café established in the corner of the building and ordered an iced tea. He then set the beverage and his incriminating laptop on a small, white table and seated himself in one of the two imitation wrought-iron chairs around it.
Phase one of his plan involved gaining access to Wally’s computer. There were several ways this could be accomplished, but Shad chose to try what could get him in the fastest. A Remote-Access Trojan, otherwise known as a RAT, had been an almost natural evolution from the earlier Trojan horse programs used to sneak into computer systems. But such programs, thank God, didn’t work until they were activated, which was why they had to masquerade as games or in attached files. So if Shad wanted the RAT he sent to Wally to start work right away, he had to deliver it under a guise Wally wouldn’t suspect.
Shad also had to assume Wally would be up to date on such security as virus detection and firewalls. Both the man’s business and his personal interests, especially the prurient ones, implied Wally would be very “computer savvy.” But the mind of a hacker was a different animal from that of someone simply proficient in technology. The particular little rodent Shad planned on using was one of his own creations, used only once before to show Nolan what vulnerabilities were actually in the office system. Its unique signature should get it by the virus scans and remain unnoticed by the firewall. But Wally would still have to activate it.
Shad’s exploratory hacking over a week ago had already gotten him into the intranet used by Wally’s business. During that perusal Shad did notice employees sending email that included proposed improvements and new gaming technology. And a look at Wally’s mailbox had revealed he sometimes forwarded such postings to his home computer. One store manager in particular came across as an efficient and communicative woman who kept abreast of the latest trends. Shad used her email address to bundle up his RAT as an attachment so he could launch it as a forward from Wally’s work computer.
Then all he could do was wait for the rodent to emerge from its lair.
Shad was just getting the RAT sent from the intranet site as Pap returned with Mam. Pap stood behind Shad and watched the monitor of the laptop.
Although his dad could identify virtually every fauna and flora that crossed his path, the digital realm remained a bit mysterious to him. But Shad still didn’t want Pap to have any knowledge of what he was doing.
“You’re making me nervous,” Shad grumbled.
“Come on, Dear.” Pap imitated Shad’s tone. “We aren’t wanted.”
They drifted to the nearby magazine section. Shad finished getting the RAT kicked off and made a quick job of looking over lodging options in St. Louis before he closed down the computer. Shad strode over to his parents and shrugged before opening his arms.
“Sorry about that. I do usually try not to be such a knot head.”
Mam took that opportunity to finally hug him. Shad wrapped his own arms tightly around her. It had been a long time since he’d hugged her like this – probably not since his wedding day. Then Mam shared news about Dulsie as they headed back out to the car to return home.
Dulsie was determined to dodge the pain medication. Any time the staff showed up in her room, Dulsie would put on a cheerful face and persuade them she really wasn’t in that bad a shape, acetaminophen would be fine, thank you. Whenever Dulsie thought no one was looking, though, Mam could tell that her daughter-in-law was becoming more aware of the pain. Both she and Jill tried to tell Dulsie there were stronger medications available that would still be safe for the baby, but Dulsie was determined to not take any chances.
That was Dulsie: brave, selfless, bull-headed. Shad found himself contemplating that if he could only give Dulsie back peace in her life, he’d take on even more agony to give that to her. Let God do with him what He willed, just spare Dulsie.
After supper, Shad went to his room and finished packing the clothes he’d washed earlier that day plus a couple more outfits from Pap. He had formulated a plan, and he had to be packed. Now he also had to share just a little more information with his parents.
When Shad went back downstairs, he found Mam and Pap exactly where he expected to. They were out on the front porch, sitting in the wooden lounge chairs Karl had built several years ago. Both were in a semi-reclined position, and Pap was just starting to light his pipe. Pap smoked an average of only two or three times a week because there were plenty of evenings he didn’t have time to indulge in that notoriety. Mam was reading a book, the pages of which were pinned down with her thumbs to keep the breeze that was blowing across the porch from flipping them untimely.
Shad half sat, half leaned on the railing, just to one side of them. He took a moment to appreciate the spicy, fruity aroma from the smoke before speaking.
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”
Pap looked up from his pipe in surprise and Mam closed her book.
“Now what are you up to?” Pap frowned.
“I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
“As in continuing what you started at the bookstore?”
Shad leveled his gaze at Pap and met his eyes for a few seconds. “There’s little else I can tell you.”
Pap and Mam looked at each other, and then returned their attentions to Shad.
“Why are you so secretive?” Mam asked.
“Complicity.”
“More hacking?” Pap narrowed his eyes. “When are you finally going to turn this over to the authorities?”
Shad took a deep breath. He’d rehearsed many times in his head what he had to say, so now seemed the time to say it.
“You two have done more for me than you’ll ever really know. Thank you. Now I get to return some of that favor.” He glanced toward Pap. “Most likely the sheriff will show up tomorrow with a warrant to seize my computer and give it a high tech combing through. You’ll be able to honestly tell them you don’t know where I went, and they’ll have to take time to look for me.”
Mam frowned. “Shad?”
“Don’t worry, I do want to talk to them as soon as I finish this business. I’ve got this planned out. I’ve got a backup plan. I’ll be back within a couple of days.”
“What about your excursion to the book store?” Pap’s eyes were narrowed.
“You can tell them about that. Believe me, the more they want my computer, the better for Dulsie.” Shad smiled gently. “I just wanted to give you the benefit of knowing I’m gonna leave before dawn. Don’t worry about me.”
“Oh sure.” Pap threw his hands into the air. “We won’t worry about you one bit.”
“Are you absolutely sure this is what you have to do?” Mam asked.
“I’m gonna use the law against itself. Hey, I gotta do something to keep up the Delaney notoriety.”
“Oh great,” Mam muttered to Pap. “Now he’s starting to sound like you.”
Chapter Twenty
There is always a right and a wrong way, and the wrong way always seems the more reasonable.
–George Edward Moore
Shad had to kill a little time around Jefferson City before he boarded the train, which included withdrawing a few hundred dollars at an ATM. If he was going to leave a trail for law enforcement to follow, it would be both convincing and convenient to pique their interest and make it a challenge. They would figure out that he went to St. Louis, but St. Louis was a mighty big place.
After he arrived at that destination, Shad had plenty of time to walk with his overnight satchel and laptop over twenty blocks to the hotel. During his online time at the bookstore Shad selected this establishment as his base of operation.
Since this was Thursday afternoon he had no trouble acquiring a room and paid for it with some of the cash. Despite his leisurely walk, July’s heat and the concrete conspired to make him sweat through the tan shorts and olive button-down shirt Shad wore, so he took a shower. After pulling on denim shorts and a teal tee shirt, he figured it was time to carry out the next part of his plan.
Shad took a nap.
Luckily his early morning and the afternoon heat combined into enough of a force to overcome Shad’s anxiety if the RAT had been activated, allowing him to fall asleep. When he awoke early in the evening, Shad took a stroll to a nearby burger joint to get a meal to take back to his room and eat. One of the reasons he didn’t dine at the restaurant was the storm blowing in. Large drops of rain began pelting the window in his room soon after Shad started eating, and he spent a while after his meal standing at that window and watching the wind create undulating curtains of water while lightning intermittently brightened the sky with outstretched bony fingers.
It seemed a bit odd that things like crowds caused him emotional discomfort, but Shad was actually fascinated by storms. Loud noises always gave him an adrenaline jolt, but Shad learned long ago to suppress any reaction more active than a slight wince. He had made use of an unseasonable storm that wasn’t predicted to propose to Dulsie.
Early in November, on a beautiful, bright day, they went hiking at a state park. They saw the storm blowing in and tried to retreat to the trailhead, but it was fast and overtook them just as they reached a small pavilion that was still a few hundred yards from the parking lot. The wind blasted rain and twigs into the shelter that provided little more than a roof, so Shad immediately turned his back to the gale and clasped Dulsie to his torso. It lasted only a few minutes, and Dulsie got wet, but he got drenched. After the isolated thunderstorm blew over, Dulsie laughed while she plucked off leaves and sticks that were plastered to his shirt. Shad told her that he wanted to always be there for Dulsie and share the rest of his life with her. Dulsie’s laughter faded into one of the sweetest smiles he’d ever seen.
It was the same smile she beamed at him on their wedding day as they stood at the front of the worship house, and before a room full of witnesses solemnized their commitment to each other. Shad unequivocally rated it as the best day of his life, but he knew it should lead to other “best days,” such as when they had children.
Shad stared into the storm and contemplated how much he had been ignoring the fact he and Dulsie really did have a child on the way. It was a reality almost difficult to wrap his mind around, yet in another sense it was a reality so stark he knew his life was forever changed. With an all too familiar twinge of guilt Shad remembered that for a split second, after he learned Dulsie had been shot, the thought surfaced in his mind things would be better for them if Dulsie lost the baby. Some father he was turning out to be.
The rain began falling more smoothly and the rumble of thunder was no longer preceded by loud cracks. As Shad watched the halos of light caused by the streetlamps try to penetrate the early darkness, he pondered the concept that for the next eight and a half months Dulsie and the baby were physically one. What she benefited from, the baby benefited from. Shad remembered the pure joy Dulsie was expressing just before he blew her world to bits. She would be a wonderful mother, which was one of the many reasons he’d married Dulsie.
Most people had to wait for a second chance at a better family life until after they grew up and had a family of their own. Quaid Delaney saw the opportunity when Grace offered him shelter and he seized it. Shad was one of those few people given a second chance during his childhood. Quaid’s legacy had drawn him in and turned Shad from the path of being a destroyer of families and childhood innocence to a defender. Now he stood here with a third chance, and Shad admitted he wasn’t getting off at a very good start.
His concern for Dulsie now included concern for their child. When somebody had almost killed her, he almost killed their first child. Their child. He had a child. It wasn’t on the ground yet, but Shad was responsible for their child. It needed him now to take care of its mother just as it would need him later to take care of it. It. Him. Her.
Shad told himself he had been flirting with cowardice. On the fifty percent chance he had a daughter Shad had allowed fear and anxiety to dictate his actions. His determination to bring Dulsie’s attacker – their child’s attacker – to justice had finally moved him to where he was supposed to be. He couldn’t allow fear to rule him again. After all, every Delaney knew it took balls to be a man.
Tonight’s storm subsided and finally midnight came. Shad sat at the small desk in the room and linked his computer to the hotel’s internet access.
The dirty rodent had performed its duty admirably. In a matter of minutes Shad had as much access to Wally’s computer as though he were sitting in front of it instead of his personal laptop in a hotel room.
First he perused Wally’s email even though Shad knew he wouldn’t find any messaging about arranging a hit on him. But there might be contacts to make note of. As Shad sifted through the different folders of the mailbox he began to notice patterns of people both Wally and his wife Lynette kept contact with. One address that drew Shad’s attention was for a young woman who made frequent references to “Tyler” and Lynette’s older son. Shad delved deeper and made a discovery that made his blood run cold.
Although not married, Lynette’s son and this woman had a son themselves. Shad berated himself for assuming that because the sons weren’t married they didn’t have any children. Worse yet, Shad discovered through more investigation that this Tyler was almost five years old. And late in the afternoon his mother was going to drop the boy off to spend the evening with his grandparents while she went shopping.
A whole new wrinkle had been added to Shad’s agenda. He couldn’t let Wally have access to this boy for even one more day. He was going to have to move more quickly than originally planned, but Shad needed to gather the incriminating evidence he had come here after.
So he proceeded to tap into what websites Wally had gone to. There might not be anything on Wally’s computer about attempted murder, but Shad was confident he could find something to support Wally was still engaged in other criminal activity.
The internet was a boon to molesters. Before the 1990’s they had been relegated to personal contact in back-alley bookstores and secret mailings to support their sense of community and gain access to images that offenders seemed compelled to hoard and share. But the internet, with its apparent anonymity, removed many of those earlier risks. It provided the means for them to swap and purchase pornography portraying children, as well as interact with each other.
The first few sites revealed standard fare about technology and gaming, but then Shad ran across something that immediately raised the proverbial red flag.
Wally had a slew of foreign proxies at his disposal. Proxies, which were also a hacker’s best friend, muddied the trail if someone tried to trace the user’s activities. Shad’s own warm relationship with them enabled him to fairly quickly pick up on a trail which eventually led to what was known as a floating site because it stayed at one address only temporarily, thus making it harder to track. He was delayed for a few minutes because he had to break the encryption for a password, but Shad finally got in.
As soon as he saw the words on his computer screen that touted childhood advocacy, Shad knew he’d struck the mother lode.
It was one of those activist websites that also operated as a message board. The language argued along a sort of reverse logic. Shad read through several tracts purporting arguments he was already familiar with.
“What parent hasn’t noticed children touching themselves during bath time? How long have they denied kids will look at each other in the famous game of doctor? Children are curious and wish to explore their sexuality, but the prudes who fear their own sensual feelings externalize that conflict and tell children to be sexless automatons. When they realize there are adults who are willing to help children in this exploration, they panic and demonize those who love children. Worse yet, they create feelings of guilt and shame in children for wanting and participating in this contact.”
He’d heard these arguments before. It seemed like another lifetime ago Shad had actually taken them under consideration. Now the misconceptions were so clear to him that Shad ruminated how lost a person must be to give credence to such ideas.
“The truly healthy pedophile will advocate lowering the age of consent laws and support other pedophiles who wish to do the same. They must assert their rights as well as the rights of the children they love.”
A realization stirred in the back of Shad’s mind that both before and after his disorder had come out of latency, he was actually offended that people used the term “pedophile” when they really meant “molester.” Although Shad couldn’t deny being one he was certainly not the other, and he didn’t appreciate the assumption that everybody with his disorder got lumped with the misbehavers. It was as bad as assuming someone who had been molested was more likely to become a molester in turn. The victim became the accused.
More lines of argument were familiar to him.
“Sexual activity is private and the government should stay out of the bedroom.” And yet the site also insisted, “The pedophile is an object of discrimination and therefore must demand the same freedom to human rights which are the pillars of our democracy.”
The activists desired more than to make their behavior legal and protect their privacy. They really wanted to transform society’s view of reality by eliminating any judgment that such actions were wrong. Heck, not only was this activity normal and natural, they claimed, children should be taught in schools this was an acceptable standard of behavior. And any troglodyte who continued to insist such actions were wrong must be silenced or legally forced to embrace it.
In other words, once “child love” became legal, perpetrators still should rally to compel legislation that any resistance to it must be made illegal.
Eventually Shad had enough of the misguided defenses and he clicked around to see what other offerings were available. Both a chat room and a bulletin board were accessible. Shad was particularly wary of the chat room, especially this late at night. So he surfed to the bulletin board to see what messages had been posted.
The wording was somewhat cryptic and evasive, but Shad knew exactly what was being offered. There were announcements for buying, selling, and swapping pornography. But worse yet, there were posts of times and places other children would be available for access to members of this website – and any other takers informed of the opportunity.
Shad’s blood ran cold. Merciful God, he’d uncovered a sex ring.
Part of the bond for this particular group of offenders was location. Most of the places advertised were in the St. Louis area. Others were scattered across the state or the neighboring state of Illinois. For Shad’s purposes, they had the quality of providing information that would allow law enforcement to track down their identities and save their victims sooner.
Shad began copying pages of the bulletin board to the flash drive in the USB port. As he moved further back in the board’s timeframe, a particular message from about a week ago caught his eye.
“Need assistance concerning a former candidate. May try to upset the apple cart. Any suggestions that can be offered will be greatly appreciated monetarily.”
Shad recognized Wally’s alternative messaging address. Had he just found the link to attempted murder?
He copied the message and exited the website. When Shad opened the folder for the messages, however, he was disconcerted to discover most of the correspondence older than a couple of days had been deleted. But nothing was really deleted unless....
Shad delved deeper into the computer’s files and managed to uncover the remnants of discarded data. There seemed to be significant activity associated with Wally’s message.
At first Wally seemed to solicit several responses to his post, but Shad determined there was one that Wally had more contact with than the others.
“I can’t help you myself, but I know of a couple of people who could do whatever you need done. Location is Jefferson City, what travel is involved?”
Wally responded. “Jefferson City would be perfect. Target actually lives in that area. Time to come to the end of his road. Can your people do that?”
The reply was, “I’ve talked it over with someone. If the price is right he’ll take care of it for you.” It listed a phone number and time to call, but no name.
Looking up the phone number would be child’s play for Shad, but he needed to save that task for later. Incredible. Not only had he proven Wally was still an offender and a participant in a sex ring, Shad also had evidence Wally really was connected to trying to murder him. This was enough to put the man away for a very, very long time. This was for Dulsie and their child.
Shad copied the messages. He glanced at the clock in the lower right corner of his computer screen and was surprised to see it was already after four o’clock. He’d better get out in case either Wally or Lynette was an early riser. The rest of what he needed to do, he could do on his own computer.
When Shad looked up the phone number, he was disconcerted again to see it was one of the business lines of a local department store at the mall, and the time given would have been after hours. That wouldn’t give him any name. But he could look up the identity of the correspondent in the messages. That person would be complicit in the conspiracy of murder as well.
It required some more of his hacking skills, but Shad finally uncovered the information that revealed the identity and location of the person Wally had been in contact with. Shad already knew he was in Jeff, but when he saw the name, his blood ran cold again.
Victor Phillips. Victor Phillips? Vic Phillips?
The same Vic who was helping out with Charissa?
