Worst Date Ever (Scandals #3) (4 page)

“I agree.  That’s not the first place I’d look,” I told him.  “If they’d gotten hacked, it would be national news by now.  Let’s start with the insurance company’s investigation.  Did they give you a copy of the report?”

He clicked some keys and one of the screens brought up the images of a typewritten report. 

I took a moment to scan quickly through the words and charts on the screen.  “Looks pretty comprehensive.”

“I gave them my watch, and they told me what time it was,” Darius grumbled sarcastically.  “They were in my hair for weeks.”

I looked at his shaved head and smiled.  Who said IT geeks didn’t have a sense of humor?

“Did they run any actual tests?” I asked.

“Sort of, but they were entry level IT.  I gave them all of our IP addresses and they ran some BOTs for twenty-four hours to try and hack into the data storage and the web pages, but my password protection schemes held up.”  Darius sat up straight and smiled.  “They gave us a passing grade and were very impressed with my security…one of them even tried to hire me.”

“Unethical much?” I snorted.

“Yes…but kinda funny.  Did they really think they could tempt me away from here with a grunt insurance job?”

“So, you really like it here?”  I knew we were straying off topic, but this was good information about the overall mindset of the company. 

“What’s not to like?  I get to spend my days doing what I love, playing with computers and programs.  I’m surrounded by hot singles.  And I have a boss who is fair, honest, creative and committed to doing the right thing for everyone.  Plus, I have a vested interest in this place.”

“Did Michael date anyone in particular?”  I tried to sound casual.

“Michael usually took the new female clients out on practice dates, more to find out about them and help them through the process than because he was interested in them.”  Darius’ expression grew sober.  “Then he met Tamara.”

“Was she a client?” Liberty asked.

“No, she was a hospice nurse.  Michael’s mom was dying of cancer, and Tamara took care of her.  She and Michael fell in love, but she understood that his image as one of Austin’s most eligible bachelors was important to the success of the business.  They figured that as soon as Linked got established, they could come out as a couple.”

“How many people knew about them?”  I could tell from Darius’ attitude that he had really liked Tamara, too.

“Just me and Chloe as far as I know.  Tamara might have had some friends that she talked with, but I have no idea about any of her personal information.  She kept her own place and would sneak in and out of here at night.  We set up a file for her as if she was a customer to help explain any accidental sightings and even made it look like she had gone on several dates.”

“But she never actually dated anyone else?”

“No, and neither did Michael after they hooked up. He never so much as looked at another woman.  Tamara was his perfect match.”

Interesting.  To hear this from Darius, a man who had absolutely nothing to gain or lose by lying, went a long way toward convincing me that Michael wasn’t guilty.  But then, Darius wouldn’t have known about what went on behind their closed doors.  There could have been an argument…or one of them could have cheated…or Tamara might have been breaking up with him or vice-versa.  It wasn’t rock solid proof.  I looked back at the report on the screen.  

“So the insurance investigators declared the data loss couldn’t be from the outside…then what?”

“They ran their proprietary protection programs on our servers, workstations and even the laptops we take home.”

“And they discovered some malware and routines?”  I was picking up bits and pieces from the report.

“Everything was clean except for Michael’s workstation.”

My dyed black eyebrows arched.

“There were links to the deep internet.”  Darius’ tone was flat.  He and I both knew the seriousness of that evidence.

“I’ll bet that made their day,” I commented.

“I don’t think they knew what they’d found.  The trail ended there in a complicated matrix of fake names and IP addresses.”

“Untraceable.”  I had done a lot of roaming through the deep net just to acquaint myself with what was out there, and I hadn’t touched the tip of the iceberg.

“It’s all constantly changing and evolving.  The insurance dudes couldn’t get past the first layer.”

“But they thought they had all they needed to know.  Your system was impenetrable from the outside.  Problem was, Michael’s private work station was hacked which opened a door that allowed the identity of those people to be sucked out and disappear into the deep internet.”

Liberty shook her head and frowned.  “I’ve been reading a lot, but I haven’t seen anything about the deep internet.  What is that? It sounds bad.”

Darius nodded toward me to make the explanation.  “It
is
bad.  Some people call it the 
invisible
 or 
hidden web
.  Everyone knows about the world wide web…you know
www
.  But we’re not talking about that.”

Liberty was confused, but she was with me so far.

“Well, now it gets shady… less than 10% of the all the networks connecting workstations and servers and clouds… what everyone calls the internet is actually visible to and used by the general public.  The rest is a sort of underworld that operates below the surface that average users can’t access.  You have to know what you’re looking for and where to go to get to the deep net.”

“Why?  What’s going on there?”  By now Liberty had leaned forward and hung on my every word.

“Drugs, human trafficking, child porn, murder-for-hire, weapons for sale, even human body parts,” Darius told her.  “Anything that’s not legal or moral or ethical can be found in the dark web.”

“You remember all the news about that
NSA
guy Edward Snowden stealing government information back in 2013 and sending it to the Russians?” I asked her.

Liberty nodded.  “I think I saw something about him on TV.”

“Snowden copied top-secret files, then transferred them via the deep net to Russia.  Our government never would have known had he not come forward and announced what he had done.”

“Through
The Washington Post,
I think,” Darius commented.

“Right,
The
Post
.  But it was so well hidden that our best spy guys didn’t notice it until it was over.”

Liberty considered that startling piece of information. “So, couldn’t we go there and trace what happened to Michael’s customers?”

Darius snorted.  “Not hardly.  You use browsers like
Explorer
,
Firefox
,
Chrome
? Right?”

“Yes,” Liberty confirmed.

“They won’t get you there,” I explained.  “Currently, there’s a browser called
TOR
…
The Onion Router
. I’m sure you’ve peeled an onion or two on The Farm.  And how do you do it?  One layer at a time.  The information is stored and transmitted in layers and, unless you know the secret handshake, so to speak, you can get only so far.  It’s all very dark and mysterious.”

“Wait.”  Liberty waved both hands to get our attention.  “You two keep talking about deep net and dark web.  What’s the difference?”

“Nothing.  They’re interchangeable terms.  Since it’s such a new phenomenon, the terminology is still evolving,” I explained. “It’s just personal choice.  My professor called it deep net, so I guess I just picked up on that.”

“Oh.” Liberty nodded her understanding, then smiled.  “You two are computer geniuses.  Why can’t you figure it out?”

Darius and I exchanged glances.

“We don’t have the time or the resources.  These network nodes…like IP addresses…come and go.  They’re set up to change constantly and not leave a trail.  We’d have to catch it in the process…or find out how this was planted into Michael’s workstation to begin with,” Darius explained. 

Darius spoke seriously.  “Listen, this is nothing to mess with.  I had a friend here in Austin who spent the weekend surfing the deep net, probably for drugs, but he didn’t have any luck getting through the maze.  Monday morning, he was visited by two men in black suits from DARPA!”

“DARPA?” Liberty echoed.

“The Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.  They check out really bizarre shit…like reusable unmanned spacecraft being test flown,
humanoid robot
s, battery-powered human exoskeletons…”  Darius realized he was drifting off course and stopped. 

“The problem is that nothing is as it seems.  It’s a place where people can drop off the face of the earth…either by request or because they’ve crossed the wrong person’s path.”

“Do you think that’s what happened to Tamara?” Liberty asked.

I shook my head.  “Right now, I’m not sure if she was the target or the bait.  But I believe the identity theft and her murder are somehow related.” 

Darius rubbed his head in what was probably a nervous gesture.  “I just hope you can find something before Michael gets framed for something he didn’t do.”

“Can I get a copy of the report?” I asked.  “Oh, and I’d like to see a list of all the clients who got their IDs stolen and the records of their dating files.  I have a feeling there’s some sort of pattern there.  I just have to find it.”

He took a blank CD off a pile on his desk and stuck it in the slot of his CPU.  A few more clicks of the keyboard, and the report and the dating records were burned onto the CD.  After the drawer slid open, he took the disc out, snapped it back into its case and set it in front of me.  “Just let me know if you need something else.”

“Thanks, I’ll study it later.  You’ve been very helpful Darius.”

“It was nice to meet you both.  I’m going to run down to the deli…mind if I ride down with you?” Darius asked as he escorted us to the foyer.

“That’d be great,” I started to reach for the elevator button, but there was a keypad instead of a down arrow.

“Building security,” Darius smiled.  “You can get up here and kill us, but you’ll have to put up with the decaying bodies because you can’t get down stairs.”

“That’s sick.”  Liberty noted as she followed us into the elevator, but she was smiling.

Darius punched in a code, and soon we were swooping downward at a dizzying speed that had Liberty clinging to the rail.

The door opened and we stepped into the lobby. Standing at the elevator next to ours was a tall thin blonde in a soft pink tailored suit.

“Darius!” the woman greeted him with obvious familiarity.

“Amanda!  It’s been a long time…how are you doing?”  Darius walked toward her.  She stepped toward him, and they embraced like old friends.

“You look so good…getting to the gym, I see,” she said, then glanced over at us.  “Who are your friends?”

“Oh, sorry, Tulsa, Liberty, this is Amanda.  When Michael first started his business she helped us with the social media stuff.  Those were heady times when
My Space, Facebook, Twitter
and
Instagram
came along, we were running a hundred miles an hour trying to stay current.  The three of us spent some long days trying to become relevant.”

“And nights.  And weekends,” she finished the thought.  “The easy part was getting noticed because that was Michael’s job. But we couldn’t afford to lose the teens and twenty-somethings.  Not then.”

“Sounds like there weren’t a lot a lot of people signed up in the early days,” I commented.

“True.  It was Michael’s dream, but Amanda was an amazing asset.  She was able to find the wave and help us catch it.”  Darius was clearly a fan.

“When did you leave Linked?”  I asked, curious why anyone would leave such a dream job.

“Oh wow…when was it Darius?  I don’t even remember.”

“Maybe four years ago.  By the way, your recommendation to hire Chloe was spot on.  She’s great.”

“Oh good.  She had quite a portfolio.”

“Are you still working at the dog rescue shelter?”

“Sure am.  I can’t abandon the animals.”  She tilted her head and gave him a flirtatious smile.  “What kind are you looking for?  We just got a mastiff lab mix that would look mighty fine walking next to a hunk like you.”

Darius shook his head.  “Michael would kill me if I brought a dog to the office.”

“I know a great doggie day care.”

“Yes, he would spend more time with them than me.  You know what kind of hours we put in here.”

“Michael still driving you hard, huh?”  She didn’t wait to hear his reply as if it was rhetorical.  “Look, I’ve got to run.”  She winked.  “Hot date tonight.  You all take care.  Bye.”  Amanda gave Darius a kiss on his cheek and a flutter of fingers toward Liberty and me as she headed to the elevator in time to catch a ride with someone else who was just getting on.

“She seems really nice,” Liberty said.

“She’s amazing,” Darius confirmed.  “Well…call me when you’re ready to get going.”