Worst Date Ever (Scandals #3) (17 page)

“Good for her.  Is that normal?”  He pointed to the screen at a code that kept repeating.

I realized he wasn’t listening to my whole Alex promotion, so I dropped it and focused on the flickering numerals.  “Those are probably repetitious commands for one of your games.  But I’ll keep an eye on it.”

The rapidly scrolling lines were hypnotic, and after about an hour, I felt my eyes glazing over.  I glanced over at Cody and saw that he had nodded off.  I gave him a little nudge, and he bolted upright.

“What?  What?” he stammered.

“I’ve got this covered.  Why don’t you go take a nap?”

“I’m fine.  Not sleepy at all.”  He wiped his chin in case there was telltale drool.

“Then can you cover for me while I stretch my legs?” I asked.

“Sure, no problem.”  He blinked his eyes and yawned. 

“May I use your restroom?”

“Of course.  There’s one down the hall on the right.”

I stood and did some torso twists to loosen my bunched muscles.  After a quick trip to the bathroom, I went to the kitchen.  “Would you like a Coke?  Or a beer?”

“I’ll take a Coke.  Lots of ice.”

I filled two glasses with ice and Coke and carried them and a bag of pretzels back to the office.  I knew better than to have liquid around computers, so I put our glasses on the far end of the desk.  Cody noticed and smiled his appreciation.  He took a drink and returned his glass to the same spot.  I opened the bag and offered him some pretzels.  He took a handful.

“Thanks.”

I sat down and put a pretzel in my mouth.  I liked to suck all the salt off until the pretzel was soft.  I felt Cody staring at me, and I turned to confront him.  “Anything wrong?”

“I’ve never had dinner with any one that has blue hair,” he commented.

“Neither have I,” I retorted.  “It was purple last month.”

“I like the blue.”

“Really?”  I totally didn’t believe him.

“It wouldn’t work on just anyone, but it suits you.”

Okay, now I was feeling a little insulted.  “Why would you say that?”

He leaned back in his chair and studied me.  “I think that you sometimes feel invisible, so you like to show that you’re creative and different from everyone else.”  His serious expression relaxed into the familiar grin.  “Or maybe you’re going for the shock factor.  Either way, I think it’s cool.”

I wanted to protest and to tell him he was all wrong.  But he hit too close for comfort.  I never analyzed my fashion choices.  It was just that I had gotten so tired of people saying I looked weird…that I was too skinny or my hair was too straight or my lips too full…I had started to dress the part.  I figured if I went over the top, I would beat them to the punch.  When Goth came into style, I embraced it because people would be afraid to make fun of me.  It had provided me with a protective cocoon.

Until I met four strangers who were my family.  They didn’t judge and they didn’t criticize me.  They ran the gamut of stuffy preppie Dallas to wild-child biker Reno…from super-model athlete Killeen to fresh-faced, homespun Liberty.  Damn…I fit right in the middle!

This was a new revelation, one that I needed to think through before I talked about it.  “So, were you a surfer like your brother or did you stay in your room and play
Call of Duty
?”

“I was more into
Age of Empires
,” he admitted.  “But I spent a lot of time at the beach.  For a while I thought it would be cool to be a lifeguard.”

“I’ll bet.  That fits right in with your hero mentality.”

“You act like that’s a bad thing.  What’s wrong with wanting to help people?” he asked, a little defensively.

I knew that had come off sounding mean spirited when I hadn’t meant it that way at all.  I tried to soften it with a smile.  “Nothing.  I think it’s great that you’re doing something worthwhile…and that you love your work.  How many people can say that?”

“It sounds like you’re not one of them.”

He was painfully perceptive.  “Don’t get me wrong…,” I said.  “I love working in cyber security.  I’m just tired of being behind the scenes.  I miss out on all the excitement. Everyone else goes on adventures, and I always stay behind to watch the equipment.  I didn’t even get to fly the drone.”

“The drone?”  Cody cocked his head to the side expectantly.

I told him all about Reno and Jenny’s almost deadly search for her sister, a trip that had taken them into a drug lord’s compound, through a mountain and across the border into Mexico.

“Sounds like
Romancing the Stone
,” he commented when I had finished.

“Yes, it sort of was except they were after a person instead of an emerald.”

That started a discussion of our favorite movies, our dream vacations and the person we’d most like to have dinner with.

Liberty returned in mid-afternoon and, after a quick lesson on what to watch for, she took a turn watching the computer screen while Cody and I went outside on the patio to get some fresh air.  After about fifteen minutes, I felt guilty leaving her alone, and returned inside.  While she and I kept an eye on the screen, I started quizzing her on science and math questions that might come up in her GED exam.  Cody joined us and added questions about history and geography, which were his favorite subjects.

When our eyes were crossing and our brains were drained, we knew it was time for a break.

“I don’t know about you, ladies, but I’m ready for a pizza,” Cody announced.

At this point, I would have eaten anything, but pizza sounded wonderful.  “We have John’s casserole, but we can save that for later.”

“Good.  I’d rather have pizza,” Liberty said. “Thin crust, mushrooms, peppers and black olives on mine.”

I wrinkled my nose.  “I’ve got to have pepperoni on mine.  The mushrooms and black olives are okay,” I added my order.

Cody took his phone out of his pocket and looked up
Mama Roma’s
.  He placed our order and put it on his credit card. “About forty minutes.”

“Cool.”  Liberty stretched, then moved into some serious yoga poses.

I couldn’t help but be a little envious at how lithe and graceful she looked.  I vowed to get her to teach me some moves…when no one else was looking.  I was really afraid I’d get all twisted up and fall down.  That was an ugly that I’d rather not share with anyone outside my family.

I was tired of sitting, too, but the extent of my exercise was to stand and lift my arms over my head, then bend over and touch my toes.  Cody also stood and flexed his shoulder muscles.

“Bored?” I asked him.

“I would be if I had to do this alone,” he admitted.  “But I’m used to sitting for hours at the computer.”

“It’s so different than being a fireman.  It must feed different sides of your soul.”

“I’m glad I can be both.”  He was unusually pensive as he explained, “I like to build things.  Firefighting is just the opposite.  All you can do is minimize the degree of death and destruction.”

“And save lives.”

He snapped back to being cheerful.  “I figure both of my careers do that.  Gaming develops their minds and firefighting rescues their bodies.  How about you?  Why cyber security?”

“I like the challenge of figuring things out.” 

“And you wrote these programs?”  He seemed impressed.

I nodded.  It was originally a school project, but I kept expanding it and adding complexity.  After I examined Michael’s system, I tweaked the program so that
Santa
can find where the money is coming from and where it’s going.  Sort of like a gift.”  I pointed to one of the three small icons on the bottom right of the screen that sort of resembled Santa Claus.

“He looks like a pedophile.”

“I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but it looked like Santa to me, so that’s what I called it.  I’m hoping it will find the BOT in your system, too.  The other two programs I loaded are
Trojan
and
Yukon King.”
I pointed to the icon of a horse and then one of a dog as I explained.  “
Trojan
is the one that told me Michael’s BOT had made a delivery to your machine, and it’s the one running now. 
Yukon King
will be used to ride piggyback on the data packet when it goes into the deep net.”

“
Trojan
…
Yukon King
, why those names?
”

“You love history.  When the Greeks couldn’t get into the city of Troy, they built a big wooden horse to carry an army inside the gates.” 

“And the Troy army thought it was a gift so they pulled the horse inside the gates,” Cody picked up on the legend. “That’s how they got into the city of Troy after ten years of trying.”

“It’s a great story.”

“How about
Yukon King?
  No, wait…let me guess.  Sergeant Preston, right?”

That made me smile.  “I thought that one was pretty obscure, but you guessed it.  I used to watch a lot of old VCR tapes. There were several episodes of the
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
 show from the 1950’s.  I never figured out if Yukon King was an Alaskan husky or a malamute, but either way, he had this amazing instinct for sensing and tracking criminals.  In a way the deep net is like the unexplored wasteland of the Yukon.”

The intercom buzzed.

“Must be the pizza…that was quick,” Cody went to the wall panel and answered.  “Pizza?”

“Yes sir,”
the young girl’s voice came through the speaker.

Cody pressed the entry button.  “Fourteenth floor, apartment A.”

“I’ll be right up.”

We waited patiently, but it took almost ten minutes before the doorbell rang.

“The elevators must be busy tonight,” Cody said before he opened the door.  “Hi.”

“Hey.  Two pizzas, no drinks?”  She took the pizzas out of the insulated bag that had kept them warm and held them out. 

“Perfect,” Cody said.  “Thanks.” He took the pizzas and handed the girl a twenty dollar bill for a tip.

“Thank you!”  The girl’s voice showed her appreciation for the generous tip.  “Enjoy the pizza.”  She stuffed the cash into the pocket of her shorts as she tucked the pizza bag under her arm and headed to the elevator.

I stayed where I could keep an eye on the computer screen while Liberty got three plates out of the cabinet.

“Soda or beer?” she asked.

“Beer,” Cody and I answered simultaneously.  He set the pizzas down on the dining room table.  “I’ll get it,” he volunteered.

“No, I’ve got it,” she answered.  She brought in two bottles of beer and a can of Coke and handed them to us.  “I love the smell of freshly baked pizza,” Liberty said as she opened one of the boxes and breathed in deeply.  “Mmm, but it smells a little different than I’m used to.”  She flopped the lid of the other box open and inside was a small black envelope. She picked it up with her thumb and forefinger, careful not to mess up the prints that probably weren’t there anyway.  “It’s got your name on it.”

“God…not again.  Is it…?” I was interrupted by Liberty coughing.

“I’m sorry…,” she barely managed to say between deep, ragged coughing jags.  “I don’t know what’s…wrong with me.”  She sat down as if she was too weak to stand.

“I’ll get you some water,” I told her as I left my post at the computer, went to the kitchen and filled a glass from the tap.  I handed it to her and she took several big swallows that momentarily stopped her coughs.

“Thanks,” she said.  Tears were streaming down her cheeks.  “That pizza burned my eyes…they won’t stop watering.”

Cody gave her a paper towel.

“Sorry…it was the closest thing I could find,” he said apologetically.

She smiled as she struggled to take a deep breath.

Cody looked at the pizzas suspiciously.  “Did you smell anything unusual when you opened the pizza box?”

Liberty had another coughing fit, and finally managed to answer.  “Like a peanut or something?”

Cody reached over frantically and slammed the boxes closed.  “Almonds maybe?”

“Maybe…but why would anyone put almonds on pizza?  Is that a Texas thing?”  She choked again and went into a cough spasm.  She took another drink that didn’t really help.

Cody took his phone out of his pocket and stepped into the kitchen.  I could hear his voice but couldn’t make out the words. 

“Can I get you anything?” I asked.

She held her hands up in the air.

“What are you doing?”  I looked at her with increasing concern.

“My mom always told me…to hold my hands up…to stop choking.”

“I don’t think you’re choking.  You didn’t take a bite, did you?”

She considered that and put her arms back down.  “No, but I don’t know what’s wrong.  My throat is burning…my eyes are watering…and I’m having trouble breathing.”  She was barely able to gasp out the last words.

Cody returned and gave Liberty a worried look.  “Let’s get you in the living room and on the couch.  The ambulance is on the way.”  His eyes defied the calmness in his voice.