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expression numb. "Oh my
God."
"Internet video," Ingersoll said, "That that's impossible. It's a fraud.
Completely fake. You you can do
anything with digital photography. Nikonchik doesn't even own a video camera."
"Yes, I do," Cal said, "and the officers here can find it hidden under my
mattress in that prison hole you called a bedroom. It's a wrist cam. The
latest model. The original video is still on it."
"Where the hell did you get that?" Ingersoll said, Silent for a moment, the
ex-NSA agent turned slowly and stared at the skirl-suited brunette with the
prim bun on the top of her head.
"Gloria? You bitch," he said, his voice rising in anger. "You deceitful, lying
bitch!"
"Hey," Captain Sawyer said "watch that."
, The brunette Gloria rose from her chair. "Don't talk to me about lying," she
said, sneering at Ingersoll.
"I'm not stupid. Greg told me how you were planning to double-cross me. Nobody
plays me for a sucker."
"Gloria," Barrington wheezed. "How could you? I've always treated you like one
of the family."
"Sure," she said, "installing a camera in my room so you could watch me
undress, taping my phone calls.
Just like one of the family, you old bastard."
"Greg told you?" Ingersoll said. His hands clenched in fists. "Greg?
The two of you, screwing around, scheming behind my back? You told her about
my plans?''
The man with the scar shrugged. "Don't give me any holier-than-thou crap,
boss. Didn't take a rocket scientist to realize you weren't planning to split
the cash with anybody. I'm not stupid. I'm not Harry."
"Shut up, you idiot," Ingersoll said "Don't say another word." Then to Dexter,
"We've done nothing
.
wrong. There's no evidence, nothing that will hold up in court, We need a
lawyer. Now."
"Your privilege," Captain Sawyer said. "Sergeant Evans, read all of mem their
rights. Looks like we're taking the entire crew into custody."
"I refuse to say another word without receiving counsel from my attorney,"
Ingersoll said. He looked at
Barrington, then Gloria, then Greg. "I advise you all to do the same."
Judy looked at Dan. He appeared as stunned and baffled as she was. She
couldn't resist asking. "Who's
Harry?"
Cat laughed- "Captain, I'll tell you why Ingersoll wants Gloria and Greg to
shut up. Because they know that Mr. Ingersoll shot and killed his other
assistant, Harry, yesterday. Shot him point-blank in the head. I
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saw the whole thing myself. Greg dumped the body in the desert. He probably "
"You little son of a bitch!" Ingersoll roared, leaping forward suddenly. He
grabbed for Cal's neck.
His hands never connected. Sergeant Evans stepped forward, caught Ingersoll by
the shirt collar, swung him around, and threw him into a chair hard enough to
make the wood frame shudder. "NSA, huh?" the state trooper said
contemptuously. "Big deal."
"Thank you, Sergeant," Captain Sawyer said. "What a can of wotms. I suspect
we're better off at police headquarters. Ms. Dexter, do you agree?"
"Definitely," the ISD agent said, "though I suspect this mess will wind up in
federal court. Ingersoll and his rich buddy may have violated just about every
Internet security law on the books. Should make for an
extremely interesting trial. And there's murder to consider."
"You'll never pin this theft on me," Ingersoll said. He pointed a finger at
Cal. "He's the one. Calvin
Nikonchik, the hacker. He wrote the code, executed the operation. Not me,"
"What do you say to that, Griswald?" Ms. Dexter asked. "Seems like tonight
you're the one with all the answers."
"I say, send your assistant down to the guest house to check my computer. See
what he finds," Cal responded, "Riley," Susan Dexter said. "Go ahead. The main
office can survive for a few minutes without your bulletins. Look for the
watch with the minicam, too."
Riley Marx, accompanied by one of Captain Sawyer's men, hurried from the room.
He was back in less than ten minutes. In one hand, he held a wristwatch.
"Computer's wiped clean. Absolutely blank." The ISD agent shrugged his
shoulders, grinned. "Almost as if someone nuked the whole machine. Not to
mention al! backups stashed on the server."
Dan laughed. "Damn! I always thought you needed me to protect you, Cal. Looks
like it's the other way around." "No code?" Ingersoll shrieked. "But, but..."
If there was no trace of the genetic code on Gal's machine, then there was no
proof to link him with the bank heist. All Judy's computers contained was the
original code done for Dan's restaurant, and fragments of the heist. Nothing
that could be used as evidence. Her name, inserted in the looted bank files,
wasn't proof that she had committed the crime, either. Without the actual
code, there was no hard evidence that a robber)' had even taken place.
"Enough fooling around," Captain Sawyer said. "Time we got these people out of
here. It's going to be a long night, so we better start working."
The state trooper looked at Ingersoll, then Greg. "We'll come back in the
morning, with bloodhounds. To see if they can find a body." "Lies," Ingersoll
said. "All lies,"
"Sure," Captain Sawyer said. "That's what they all say, Sergeant Evans, you
take these three " He pointed to Judy, Cal, and Dan. " in your car. I'll take
Mr. Ingersoll and Mr Barrington with me
.
Stransky can have the pleasure of the two lovebirds. Agreed?"
"Sounds fine, Captain," Evans said. "Everybody up. Time to go bye-bye."
Wearily, Judy let the troopers take her arm. It had been an incredible
evening. One she would never forget It wasn't quite over, but finally she felt
as though things might work out, She hoped they'd let her shower at the
station. She'd be happy even to wear some clean prison clothes.
And maybe they'd finally give her a decent bite to eat, too.
Cal waved a hand at Captain Sawyer, like a little kid in school, anxious to
speak. "Mind if I say something to Mr. Barrington before you take him away?
Won't take long, nothing secret."
"Free country, kid," Sawyer said. "But, no profanity, okay?"
"Never," Cal said, He walked up to Barriugton, who was being helped out of his
chair by one of the policemen. "Mr.
Barrington, I just want to say that you're dead-on right."
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"Right?" the old man said, .scowling at Cal. "What do you mean?"
"Computers have changed the world, and there is no truth in the digital age.
Facts and figures can be altered, changed by one touch of an icon. Nothing's
safe; nothing's sacred. Records, files, data.
Not even the digital keys of secret bank accounts."
Barrington's jaw dropped. His ruddy features turned bleach white. Ingersoll, a
few steps to one side, groaned and covered his face with his hands.
Judy laughed. Despite having stolen a billion dollars, Barrington and
Ingersoll weren't a dime richer. The money had disappeared into anonymous bank
accounts across the world. Digital cash, it could only be accessed
electronically over die Net. And Cal had changed the digital keys.
The robbers had been robbed.
Unfortunately, there was still that mess back at Laguna Savings to clean up.
Worse, a stream of electronic cash, billions of dollars hijacked from
corporations and Joe homeowners all over the world had been stopped dead cold
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