The Gillespie Five (A Political / Conspiracy Novel) - Book 1 (42) (16 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

bb0@r49, whose real name was Michael James, had just logged on when he got the alert.  A series of them.  He scanned them twice, not believing what he was seeing.  Quickly he logged on to some of the channels he normally populated, sending private messages to a few people.  They confirmed they had received the alerts as well.  Opening a private room, he invited them in.

  dude WTF?  been spammed, like 30 messages

me 2.  all from gr@yg@nd01f

same here.  think itz a prank

definitely no lulz if it is.

no way fag, gr@yg@nd01f don't fuck around like that

so what do we do

shit bored anyway.  nothing but newfags on tonight.  i'll scan it

might as well.  maybe itz a hidden lulz.

whatever you stupid fag.  im telling you this is legit.  no lulz.  you in B

maybe.  got a date.

with yer hand

lol

suck it g. 

  can't. your mom beat me to it

fuck you

both of you shut up!  anyone else getting tagged

  ya, z0n3 said he got hit, just asked.  think there are more?

IDK.  probably.  G knew a lot of us fags

  i'll check 2

let u know l8r.

  say hi to your hand for me!

Michael closed the chatroom and opened another, sending a single invitation.

<µβ> whatz up?

Michael noted the change in response from his last conversation with µβ and realized this was yet another member of µβ stepping in.  He wondered again, how many there were.

his logic bombs triggered

<µβ> figurz.  just a matter of time

what now?

<µβ> already looking into it

right on

<µβ> just sit tight.  we'll be in contact.  keep monitoring

roger dodger that.  over and out

<µβ> @@ stupid fag

Laughing, Michael logged out.  He didn't know what µβ was up to but he figured gr@yg@nd01f was in good hands. 

Speaking of which
, he thought.  Pushing his long hair off his face, Mike reached over and pulled up his favorite porn site.

Time for that date
, he thought, as anticipation coursed through his sixteen-year-old body.

01110100011010000110010101111001001000000110001001100101

it has begun

  Good.  Let’s make sure everything stays on track.  You know what to do

stir up the hornet’s nest

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, sir. We checked and double checked."

Commander Lee looked at the report, then back at the two detectives.  Of the seven disappearances the night that Thomas Moore, Frank Borne and Wayne Bevels had disappeared, there had been one other that looked as if it might be connected. 

He wasn't going to beat himself, or his men, up about not finding this earlier.  There was just no way that they could have determined that these disappearances had been in any way connected until first Ben, and then Sally Borne, had come forward.  They were still questioning the other disappearances to see if there were any more connections but, so far, nothing had come up.

"Course it doesn't mean that the FBI has anything to do with this.  Just that the kid seems to be at the center of it," Lee said.

"Actually, sir, they may be right."

The commander gave him a questioning look.

"Several months ago I remember hearing one of the presidential hopefuls, Mitchell Gillespie, talking about taking a stand against hackers.  He seemed pretty serious and I heard rumors on the chat lines about something going on."

"Chat lines?"

The detective nodded.  "Yes, sir.  Chat lines, chatrooms, or boards are where a lot of people online can go and meet people, including hackers.  In fact, there are lines specifically set up just for hacker and hacker wannabes." 

When Lee continued to look at him without saying anything, he followed with, "I’ve been going to school, training to be a data forensics specialist so I can take on cyber cases.  Part of that is understanding how cyber criminals think, act, etc and where they hang out."

Lee tried to absorb half of what the young detective had just said.  When more questions came instead, questions he probably wouldn’t understand half the answers to, he asked, "Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Then get the senator on the phone and find out if he knows anything about our three, now possibly four, missing persons.  Let me know what you find out."

He reached for the phone, "I'll let Mr. Moore and Mrs. Borne know, and see if they know anything about this fourth person before I update the chief."

01100011011000010110110101100101001000000110001101101111

Ken Moore was reaching for the phone to try and call Alex again when it rang. 

"Hello?"

"Mr. Moore?"

"Yes."

"This is Commander Lee.  We confirmed the connection with your son to one other disappearance the night he went missing."

"Who?"

"Uday Najim.  Ring a bell?"

"No. But then I hadn't even known about these kids my son was playing soccer with until Ben, and then Mrs. Borne's visit.  What did the FBI say?"

"We haven't reached out to them yet. That's our next step. But the FBI angle is gaining legitimacy."  He told him what his detective had mentioned about Gillespie.

"I’ve heard that name.  When will you know more?"

"That is a good question.  The FBI is never one to reveal information readily."

Ken could hear the resignation in the man's voice, as if he had dealt with them before.

"But I have some resources that might be able to help expedite things.  We will let you know the minute we are able to confirm the information."

"Thank you."

The minute after telling his wife the news, Ken called his brother at work, thinking Alex may have gone in on a Sunday.  When he didn't answer, he called Alex's cell again.  When Ken still didn't receive an answer, he left another message for Alex to contact him immediately, wondering what his brother could be up to that kept him from calling back.  But, knowing that his brother had his own way of doing things, Ken decided that if he couldn't reach Alex by tomorrow, he'd go looking for him. 

The next call he made was to his P.I. to update him on the latest.  The P.I. let Ken know that he was hoping a few possible leads on potential witnesses to Tommy’s disappearance might hold some promise.  These leads had come in with the launching of the commercials. Ken heard the man’s edge of hope and knew it was filled with probably more hope than it deserved.  But he knew the investigator had been putting in long hours with nothing to show for it and was trying to make up for his lack of results.  So far, he had not come up with anything they had not already found between circumstance, chance, or the police.  And the investigator had to realize his days were numbered.

After hanging up, Ken turned to look around his house.  Running his hands over his tired face he thought about what he could do now and grimaced when he realized there was only one thing left.  At least until tomorrow.  And it was something he had grown to hate.  He waited.

Chapter Thirty-Three

To what do I owe the honor?

  You still got the same ole boring handle I see.  Why ya wanna go by your middle name is beyond me.  You need something sweeter darling.  More bodacious, hot, sexy, scary, ominous, anything but 'Yuri'. ;-p

Yuri rolled his eyes at the never ending argument. 

I don't have time for this.

  No time for my absolute hotness?  I'm wounded. : ‘(

What is it, Gregor?

  Dude, seriously?  You got to call me by that hideous birth name? Some brother you are.

Not for the first time, Yuri wondered why he couldn’t have been an only child.  Stabbing at the key board he typed, ‘What.  Is.  It?’

Just some splendishess gossip centering around none other than our favorite docTOR.

What about her?

Her latest files to be precise.  As usual I didn't find much, that is until I downloaded her diary after she dropped a few hints around the fact that she might be ready to make trouble for us.  Sending it to you now. 

His computer chimed and Yuri accepted the file transfer.

Seems she’s thinking about whistle blowing. 

Yuri opened the file and began skimming over the doctor's most recent entries. 
This could pose a problem
, he thought. 

Should we send someone to take care of it?

  Is she being tailed?

Honey why you gotz to wonder if sexy mama is doing her job?  Course I'm having her followed.  But so far nothing.  Got her email tapped too big bro.  So far nadda there either.  Other than the doctor needs to get her groove on.  Think maybe I should introduce myself into her life?  You know a little - bang, bang – up close and personal?

The thought of his fat, balding, cross dressing, transgender freak of a brother up close and personal with
anyone
made Yuri shudder. 

Just keep a tail on her.  Not sure if we need to shut that door or keep it open.  She might prove useful.

Lord how in the world is a moralfag like her gonna be useful?  She's gonna blow our ever loving plans!

Not for the first time Yuri sent up a silent thanks that, where the family's plans were concerned, they had all agreed to keep Gregor as far from the real details as possible.

I thought you liked her?

I wouldn't mind a little boot knockin before we take care of her.  But my bodaciouness is just too much to have just one honey bee.

  Just report in if you have something.  And Gregor?

What?

Make sure you don't fuck this one up.  The family is getting tired of cleaning up your messes.

Without waiting for a response, Yuri signed off and stood up from behind his massive desk.  Wondering what he should do about the doctor, he began pacing the hall of the castle that his family currently occupied in northern Italy.  Although, if someone were to ask him, he would have said that calling it a ‘castle’ or ‘castello’ was a bit of an overstatement. 

The doctor had been an issue since Gillespie’s first introduction of her.  But the initial hiccup in Yuri’s plans had been easily dealt with due to the years of training he had acquired in the fine art of strategic planning.  His family had taught him to not only expect, but anticipate, any issues that might arise in any plan he created.  And how to deal with them.  He had simply learned to treat everything like a chess match.  His family had mastered the art of strategic planning so well that the leading families had been reaching out to his for over three centuries to bring to fruition the goals they wanted to achieve. 

But the doctor’s
current
plans were not something he had expected, or anticipated, given her background.  And in them he saw a problem he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with.  He only knew that his plans, the beginnings of which were laid far in his past, were nearing fruition and he could not afford to allow anything – or anyone – to push them forward too soon. 

But, even as he paced, Yuri was not overly worried.  Not yet, anyway.  He would figure something out because it was expected of him and of his family.  And, because he always had.  This issue would be no different.  Even if the solution meant he had to remove the doctor permanently from the chess board, a decision he would find unfortunate given the many times she had unknowingly helped the families, he knew he would find a way to deal with her.

Yuri paused in his pacing to stand in front of one of the three large hearths that helped to warm the hall in the winter.  Looking up, he gazed at the centuries old tapestry depicting his family's crest, a lion standing over a bloodied unicorn.  Once, it had hung in the halls of one of the greatest castles ever built in Italy, at a time when his family had been held in high regard and feared both near, and in countries far, far away from his family's home. 

They had come from a long line of people whose power and prestige had begun with royal lineage from Russia.  That power had followed them to Italy during the twelfth century as his family joined in the crusades that led to the enviable increase of their already considerable wealth.  During this auspicious time, instead of the glorified status of Protectors – mere servants – his family had actually
led
the other families. For nearly two centuries.  That is until they had been betrayed. 

Accused of heresy, witchcraft and a myriad of offenses, the Church had arrested all that did not have time to flee, torturing them into confessions of offenses most heinous and seizing all of their land and money.  Then, to add insult to injury, the Church had granted the rights to the castle and surrounding lands to the very family that had betrayed them.   Five centuries later that family still owned and occupied
his
family's home, completely oblivious to how they had even obtained it. 

But not a single member of his family had ever forgotten.  Every child born, no matter how far flung the branch, had been raised with knowledge of the treachery and given the edict that it was their obligation to ensure that the family that betrayed them would one day be trampled beneath their clawed feet, the same as the unicorn in their family crest.

Staring at the tapestry now, Yuri knew that they were finally close.  Soon, not only would they have their revenge, but the others would once again look to his family to lead the way.  For this, not only would Yuri be rewarded, he would become a family legend, heralded as the man who finally claimed back the family's honor.  It was time for a tangled web, five centuries in the making, to unravel. And no one was going to get in his way.