The Gambit (10 page)

Grey paused. I held my hands out and shrugged, coaxing him to respond.

“Fourteen accounts. Fourteen accounts with identical balances, and the serial numbers associated with the accounts are sequential, but all the names on the accounts are different. They have to be squatter accounts, people who are involved that hold the account in their name. It was like these fourteen people never went to the bank to begin with. Someone on the inside opened up the accounts and got the paperwork signed outside of work. Once I isolated the accounts, I looked into the balance history of them. That was when I discovered that seven of the accounts each had one-hundred thousand dollars in them from the day they were opened. The
other
seven, one by one each had one-hundred thousand dollars wired into them. The time between the first deposit of 100K in the eighth account and the last deposit in the fourteenth account of the same amount was—guess…”

“Three months?” I blurted.

“Three months. Exactly the amount of time the VP has been in charge at my bank. The icing on the cake is what I found earlier this week when I went to the bank in person. After crunching the numbers and working around the false profits, the amount that had been stolen was seven-hundred thousand dollars. The same amount that was split and wired into the remaining seven accounts in Baltimore.”

“No shit…” I mumbled. I was stunned at the level of corruption that was going on. His idea echoed in my mind like a bell being rung. “Grey, are you really thinking of
taking
it?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed beside me. He had his glasses on and many papers in his hands, it made him look like a professor. He was intelligent enough to be one.

“Owen, have you heard of Bitcoin?”

“Yes, I have. The feds hate it. It’s essentially a currency they can’t control. It’s decentralized.”

“You’re correct. So, think about this. If I were to hack the main server in Baltimore and get the needed credentials to those fourteen accounts, I could write a script that wipes out the money in each of the accounts and combines it all together. But then, where would we be able to hide 1.4 million dollars? The answer is Bitcoin. We could trade the 1.4 million to a Chinese bank and in exchange get Bitcoin. The great thing about the Coin is essentially it can be stored anywhere…like a flash drive, for example. We could sell the Coin on the Darknet, in increments, and only when we needed the funds on the go.”

“
On the go
?” I asked, confused. “I am the one on the run, not you.”

“Dude! Do you not realize the magnitude of what’s going on here?”

“Of course I do—”

“No, let me finish.
We
know the truth, Owen. We are right, and whoever created this lie is
wrong
. If we expose this and execute it properly, this is going to be the biggest government scandal in history. You are not going to make it on your own, not with just your street bike. They have too many eyes watching and too much power. I am going to help you, and if you don’t take my help, I can promise you that you won’t make it very far after you leave my house.”

His words sank in. The truth he had just spoken of was undeniable.

“Well, once you take the money, won’t they come after you too?”

“Not that it matters anyway, but
that
is the best part. Once those accounts are wiped out, what can the VP do? Nothing. He is a sitting duck. He can’t report to corporate the money was taken, because if he does, the crime he committed will be visible. If he doesn’t stay quiet, he will shoot himself in the foot. That is what will keep me off the radar. Plus, part of the script I’m going to write will make it seem like the money just vanished. I will leave no trace that I was ever there to begin with.”

“Goddamn man, you’re a fucking genius!”

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stood up.

“Why thank you, Owen, for complimenting me with such eloquent wording.”

“Smartass…” I mumbled.

“In the meantime, though, you’re going to need some cash.”

He walked around to the side of his bed and picked up the edge of the mattress. He pulled out a handgun and laid it in front of me. I stared at him in disbelief.

“You can’t be kidding me,” I said.

“Owen, you’re already a terrorist. What’s a little armed robbery gonna hurt?”

“My reputation! I’m not a
real
criminal, man.”

“But, you’re a politician,” Grey retorted with a sly smirk.

“Good one,” I quipped.

“Dude, regardless of what you do, you are the media’s bitch right now. They are going to tarnish you any way they can. Whoever is feeding them this false information knows they have the power. We have to shake them up a little bit, and prove to them that you aren’t just going to give up without a fight.”

I shook my head in agreement.

“You’re right, Grey. I think you’ve got a good plan.”

“It’s a damn good plan, at least for now. I know I can execute the script properly, too.”

“What a résumé you have, you went from hacking the school computers to hacking banks.”

“Progress is key,” he said and winked.

Grey sat down and started opening programs on his desktop. I carefully picked up the handgun and held it in my hand. The weight of it alone was formidable, and thoughts about robbing a bank tomorrow with it were even more nerve-wracking.

“All right Owen, I put some fresh sheets and pillows in our guest bedroom. It’s one door down.”

I gave him a peculiar look. “Are you trying to get rid of me already?”

“No, but with the kind of stress you’ve been under today, you should probably get some rest. You’ll need the energy for tomorrow.”

I felt a wave of anxiety as I imagined what the coming days might bring.

“You’re probably right,” I admitted.

“Plus, I highly doubt you would want to stay up all night and watch me write script.”

“You thought right,” I agreed. “You aren’t going to sleep? You’re crazy man.”

“Most people of my caliber would take a couple days to a week to encode a script as complex as this. We don’t have that kind of time. So, it’s not crazy, it’s
necessary
.”

“I’m glad you see it like that,” I said.

He glanced at me with a serious expression. “Owen, if you don’t want to rot in a federal prison for the rest of your life, every single thing you do from here on out
has
to be necessary.”

I nodded and let his comment settle.

“Also, if you don’t mind, can you make a pot of coffee before you hit the sack?”

I shot him a dramatic, exaggerated glare—as if his request was too difficult.

“Of course man, of course.”

I set my coffee on the faux wood of the table. Grey refilled my cup. The pouring sound, along with the bold aroma helped calm my nerves. Simple pleasures before a chaotic day. Grey sat down in front of me. I noticed he had dark circles under his eyes.

“Did you get any sleep?”

“No. I’ll sleep when it’s done.”

“How did everything turn out?”

He pressed his lips together and appeared nervous.

“The script looks great, but there is no way of being sure it will work until I hit enter. Once I’m remotely in their server, one incorrectly written command could mean a rejection—a failure in the execution of the script.”

It dawned on me
why
Grey had stayed up all night. This kind of hacking wasn’t to be taken lightly.

“We’ll see, I guess. I have faith in you, though. Any luck with the banks?”

He nodded.

“Since it was daytime there, I managed to find a Chinese bank willing to do the exchange into Bitcoin. They emailed me over the paperwork, and I signed it and sent it back. The account and routing numbers to the bank are embedded in the script. So the moment the money is taken from the VP’s accounts, it is immediately diverted into the Chinese bank. I have instructed them to send me an encrypted file with the Bitcoin. If everything goes smooth with the script, the last few steps will be an easy ride.”

“
Then
you can get some sleep.”

“Exactly,” Grey said with a smile.

“So, you’re
sure
there are no undercover officers at your bank?”

“I’m sure. We have paid security that comes to check the property in the evenings, and the only time they come in the daytime is to bring the biggest deposits. That’s why you need to leave soon—in the early morning activity is minimal.”

“Okay,” I answered, and took the final sip of my coffee.

He stood up and went upstairs. I looked at the empty mug in my hand and wished I didn’t have to leave at all…didn’t have to face my reality.

When Grey returned, I noticed he had something clenched in his fist. He walked around the dining room and went into the garage. He flicked on the light.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Hardly,” I replied.

I followed him into the garage. In the dim, yellow lighting, the exhaustion on Grey’s face was even more pronounced. I sat on my street bike and he stood beside me.

“Here you go, Owen,” Grey said as he opened my hand. He placed a flash drive in my palm, and I shoved it in my jacket pocket. “That is a ghost drive. If anyone were to stick that in a computer and tried to see what was on it, it appears as if it is empty.”

“Badass,” I said.

“Indeed, it is. You need to put the flash drive in the tower, or laptop, while the computer is still off. Once it turns on, in around two seconds press F2. On some machines, it may be F12. When it gives you the option of how to boot up, choose USB. It will prompt you to put in a password. This ghost drive essentially is an operating system you can plug in and use when you need to. It is how we’re going to communicate with each other.”

“So, how
do
we communicate? It’s not like I can login to Facebook and send you a message.”

He laughed loudly at my statement.

“No, that is the last thing you would want to do. There is a Bitmessage account already set up and accessible through this drive. Use the same password you used to get into the ghost drive to get into Bitmessage. It’s encrypted email, it circumvents the normal pathways on the web to avoid being monitored. It’s actually what Snowden used to leak some of his information.”

“No shit. What is the password?” I asked.

“It’s thirty characters long.”

“What the fuck, Grey! You better write that down for me.”

“Already have. Here,” he said, handing me a folded up paper. “It’s a random pattern of characters. It would take the fastest computer in the world over a million years to decode it.”

“Damn, talk about secure.”

“Right?” he said, grinning.

“So, Grey, where are you going after today?”

He glanced to the ground momentarily in thought.

“I have a friend in Virginia Beach I might go see…but mainly, I’m going to wait until you contact me through Bitmessage and tell me where to head next.”

I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him.

“Grey, I have no words for you deciding to do this, to help me.”

He shook his head. “There’s no need to thank me. The way I see it is we have two options. We let them win,
or
, we put up the best damn fight we’ve got.”

“Damn right, my friend!”

Grey paused and looked me up and down. “Did you forget something?” he asked.

I returned his question with a confused stare. He walked back into the house, and a few moments later he returned with the black handgun he had shown me last night.

“Remember, Owen. You’re are going to have to scare the shit out of them. I know it’s not who you are, but remember—it’s
necessary
. I’ll be watching the security cameras. When you reach the vault, I will unlock it for you. If it
happens
not to work, there is a woman with red hair who is in one of the offices. She is the manager of the bank. Only she will have the code to access the vault.”

“Got it,” I said.

Grey patted my back roughly. He stepped back and pressed the button to open the garage.

“Only backroads to Richmond, all right?” he reminded me.

“Yes, that’s how I got here. Backroads.”

“Good,” he nodded. “Just get in, get the money, and get out of there. The rest is up to me.”

“How will I know you got the money?”

“You won’t,” Grey answered. “Not until we speak again. Use the flash drive, and whatever you do—
do not
lose that password.”

“Anything else, Dad?” I asked in a childish voice, mocking him.

“Shut up,” he pushed me. “Good luck out there.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

I hit the ignition switch and quietly pulled out of Grey’s driveway. The air was crisp, and it was a clear blue sky. I inhaled the fresh air through my helmet and tried to enjoy my last half hour of peace. May God help me…

“Are we in the clear?” I asked.

“For now,” she answered.

“Keep watch for me, please.”

My assistant walked towards the glass door of the lab. I heard buttons being pressed and then a click. She had switched the settings to
Experiment in Progress
. Now, only staff could get in. We didn’t want
any
interruptions.

“Where did you say you got this sample again?” she questioned from across the room.

“Manhattan,” I responded while setting up the bone marrow sample on the slide.

“So how do you even know that cat was in the Danger Zone?”

“I don’t…but it’s worth a shot.”

“But is it worth the risk, Stefan?”

I looked over my shoulder to her. “Emily, no one is keeping you here. You aren’t being forced to help me with this experiment.”

She huffed.

“I am aware of that. Although, you know just as well as I do that the EPA and FEMA killed all the exposed stray animals for a reason.”

“And that, my dear friend, is exactly what we are trying to find out.”

“Just get it done quickly, okay?” she pressed.

“We both have a task at hand here. You do yours, and I’ll do mine.”

“Bite me,” she spat. “Well, at least if I go down you go down with me.”

“Indeed, I will. Do you think Professor Trantham would rat us out to the feds and betray our research? I highly doubt it. Now relax, please. You’re stressing me out.”

“Oh, you think
you’re
the stressed out one? Please…”

With the slide in the airlock of the electron microscope, I fired the beam. I waited for the image to process and began to examine the structure of the bone marrow. The nuclei looked hardly damaged. I had an additional sample from the same cat of more marrow, and I slid the transparency in the slot.

“What do you see?” Emily asked anxiously.

“Hold on,” I said.

This slide was the same. The marrow cells looked relatively undamaged. The doctorate program I was in was for Nuclear Engineering, but my two bachelor’s degrees were for Physics and Biology. I retained enough from my Biology days to know that this was
not
normal.

“Emily, last time I checked, Strontium-90 settles almost entirely in bones, correct?”

“Entirely in the bones, yes. Almost ninety-nine percent is deposited in the bones. It acts like calcium.
Why?
What did you find?”

With the cold metal desk in my hands, I felt my mind ignite. In my independent research since the dirty bombs outside of Wall Street almost two years ago, I have been playing the scientific lottery…and
today
, I hit the jackpot.

“Give me a scalpel, now,” I demanded.

Emily darted away from her position by the lab entrance and in moments returned to my side with a scalpel. “Stefan, is it
not
in the bones?”

“No,” I said, glancing at her. “It’s not.”

Astonishment filled her eyes.

“Your theory…that it might not be Strontium…”

“Yes. We need to look at the soft tissue—quickly.”

She nodded as I began slicing beneath the fur of the cat’s thigh. After a few moments, I removed the tiniest sliver of meat from the cat. I sliced that sliver in two and placed it beneath a new slide. If my theory was correct, when we stained the samples with a protein that isolated the microtubules, we would be able to view the cell division going on, or the lack thereof.

I looked at the new image that came on the screen.

What I saw was shocking. The cell nuclei were damaged, and as I focused the lens in on one section, I noticed what appeared to be the beginning of the process which causes cancer.