Chapter 19
Spreading the Net
As soon as the door closed behind Hammer, Alina walked over and sat down at his laptop. Staring at his sign on screen, she realized she had no idea what his password could be. Instead of trying to guess, she signed on as a guest and pulled up her own e-mail account. Frowning, she considered her options.
A co-worker might be able to help. He was the regional IT specialist for their district. More importantly, he was a friend. Though she hadn’t known him very long, he seemed trustworthy. He had a level of formal training that Hammer’s very talented hackers lacked. Perhaps he could tear into the information in a different way that bring additional information. Then again, maybe college degrees didn’t matter when it came to hacking. She seethed at her lack of knowledge in that area.
Before giving herself time to overanalyze the situation, she sent him an e-mail asking for his help. She explained one of her students was missing and his family was exploring every avenue to get him back. With a little flattery and a lot of begging she sent him the information from the flash drive. Stressing the need for confidentiality, she asked him to text her as soon as possible. No sooner had she straightened the room and headed for the door than her cell phone jingled with notification of a text message.
‘Alina. Girl, I got your e-mail. Reading through it now. Sorry to hear about your student.’
‘Can you help? As soon as I realized we needed IT help, you name popped into my head.’
‘Brain the wonder brain, I know what they call me. I always wanted a cool geek name but somehow I got stuck with a really lame one instead. I can never seem to catch a break. You grabbed a nice little chunk of information from somewhere. What makes you think it’s got anything to do with your missing student?’
‘His abductor let us see a video of him and I snagged all the info from the hard drive and shoved it to a flash drive.”
‘No shit…’
‘I just found the video. Kid seems tough on the outside but I can tell he’s scared.’
‘I’m scared shitless for him. I think he got taken by some gang called the Grims. Will you help us?’
‘Let me think about this for a minute. Spend my Thanksgiving holiday with my sister, her homophobic husband and three screaming brats or spend it impressing you with what a super geek I can be. You win, hands down honey.’
‘Thank God. I don’t mean to sound like princess Lea or anything but you just might be out last hope.’
‘Music to my ears, girl. I’m so happy to have an out for the family gig, I could just about kiss you.’
‘Will you come to me when you find something? I’m at the Dirty Kingsmen’s clubhouse.’
‘That club with all the hot guys?’
‘That’d be the one. Know any of them?’
‘Just the one who kind of flirts with me on and off. Can’t remember his name but he’s a looker.’
‘The address was in the e-mail. I’ll tell the gate to be expecting you. Text me when you get here.’
‘Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.’
Heading downstairs, she tucked the cell phone in her jeans. She grabbed a coffee and muffin from the kitchen and headed out to the bar area. Her next order of business was to check on the young ones. She thought that Jaden’s little friend, Bull Dog had probably gone home by now. Naturally the two homeless kids would still be around. She found One’s brother out in the garage. Duncan was leaning over the hood of a car with one of the mechanics. She crept up behind them and leaned over to have a look. Both of their heads screwed around to look at her at once.
“I think it’s good to go. You did a good job.” Expecting them to laugh, she waited for them to get her humor.
The young man stated flatly. “It doesn’t have a carbonator, so it isn’t going anywhere til that’s fixed.”
Smiling slightly she continued to try to establish rapport with the young man. “Well I don’t think carbonators are necessarily necessary, are they?”
The man’s brow drew down and he glanced at the older mechanic. “Is she fucking with me? I can’t ever tell with women. They’re confusing.”
The older man began wiping his hands on a rag he’d pulled from hanging over his belt. “This is why bitches ain’t allowed in the garage. They aren’t confusing, they’re a goddamn distraction.”
Looking from one to the other, Alina commented. “I was just checking to make sure you gentlemen had eaten.”
“We’re fine, mam. Gotta get back to work though.” The man’s polite nod made him look even younger than he actually was.
The older man was a little blunter. “Go feed someone else muffins. We’re busy.”
Well, so much for establishing rapport. The day was early yet. Maybe she’d try again latter. She went back through the clubhouse and headed down to what she was coming to think of as ground zero. The room was full of brothers. They were buzzing quietly around the small team of half a dozen geeks. Hammer had a large map on one of the table tops.
Alina startled slightly to realize that Bull Dog hadn’t left. He was sitting beside a young girl with dark hair and brown eyes. Those brown eyes were currently filled with tears. Copperhead stood protectively at her shoulder. Alina was unsure what the question had been but the little did her best to choke out an answer.
“My father never let me near the clubhouse.”
Copperhead stooped down and caught her eye. “Can you remember your parents talkin’ about any locations besides the clubhouse? Anywhere you think they could have stashed Hawk?”
“I wish I had paid more attention.”
Grasping her hands, he spoke softly. “Just close your eyes and think. Did he come home talking about any certain location? Did he ever bring anything strange home that would indicate a business?”
“You mean like we always have day old bakery stuff and magazines?”
“Just like that, Twinkie.”
“Not really. I got the feeling they were into drugs mostly.”
“It’s okay. I know you’ll let us know, if you think of anything.”
Looking up, her eyes flew open. “I remember one thing. He used to come home smelling funny.”
“Funny how?”
“Like gasoline but not. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Hammer jerked his chin at Marlow, before turning back to speak to the little girl.
“How often did you notice it?”
“Not often. Maybe a couple of times a month…he was always really wound up…angry. He’d start drinking…”
Marlow kneeled, holding two foul smelling rags. “See if either of these smells familiar. One is kerosene and the other is diesel.”
Smelling the first one she shook her head, clearly unsure. Smelling the second, she grabbed his hand and drew it closer for a second attempt. “It was this one.”
Marlow tossed them to prospect to dispose of as he murmured. “It was diesel.”
Hammer frowned. “Not particularly helpful information, since every service station across the nation carries it. Still it’s a clue.” Looking down at the teen, he added. “You did real good, doll.”
“You’re going to find him. Please say you’re going to find him.”
“We will. You can bet the farm on that, doll. Now why don’t you go with Copperhead and get a bite to eat. We’ll let you know when you find something.”
“She ain’t goin’ to the bar. I’m getting’ her the hell outta here.”
Hearing enough, Alina stepped in.
“She’s safer here for now. We don’t know who might have seen her come here. Why don’t you take her up to Jaden’s room and let her stay there for a bit? We’ll get her out of here as soon as it’s safe.”
The other boy, Bull Dog, spoke. “Just for a little while. She’ll be safe up there, no one’s allowed to go up there.”
Copperhead jerked his head in acknowledgement. “I’ll stay outside the door.”
The little girl glanced around the room. “Inside the room. I’d feel safer with you inside the room. I can read to you, like we always do.”
Alina nodded. “That’s a wonderful idea. His room is upstairs, first door on the left.”