26
(Season
3 Episode 4)
The
Rat
“What the hell did you guys
steal?” Sidney asked when Hank had finally finished telling his story.
“Some kinda diamond necklace. Other than that, Tobias didn’t tell me.” Hank
replied.
This confused Sidney. She had never heard of a diamond necklace
worth billions, maybe some kind of historical artifact. Sidney had a hard time buying that, though. Historical artifacts were worth a lot but
stealing them and finding a fence to move it was borderline impossible. One-of-a-kind artifacts were just that; one-of-a-kind. When they got stolen, everybody knew it, so
if it turned up it was easy to trace it back to the source.
“Where is it?” If she could get it,
maybe that would help.
“I don’t know,” Hank answered. “Bias didn’t tell me where he hid it, just
said he was putting it in a place for you.”
Sidney felt the ambulance hit a
bump as it headed into the parking lot and she knew it was her cue to get gone.
She had no interest in talking to
Detective Eugene Sellers. At least, not
yet. There were still pieces missing,
pieces she needed in order to formulate a plan. Before the plan was formed, the cop would only
get in the way.
She felt the pressure. She was in the shark tank and they were
circling. Her entire life had come to a
crashing halt in the span of one hour. To make matters worse, the man she would go to
for help was bleeding out in a helicopter.
She was alone.
She shook her head. She had to focus. If she didn’t stay on the move, she would die.
“Okay Hank, this is my stop.” She
said standing as the ambulance slowed.
“Be careful, Sid.” Hank said,
concerned.
Sidney nodded. “Call me when you find out about Bias.”
Hank nodded and with that, she
unhooked the door and as the ambulance pulled into the E.R. vestibule, she
hopped out hitting the wet grass and rolling out of sight.
The next move was clear. She needed to get some shoes, and maybe some
pants. Then she needed to see The Rat.
She took fifteen minutes and
searched the cars in the parking lot, eventually finding one with a gym bag in
the back. She smashed the window with a
rock and snatched it, managing to find some sweat pants and a pair of shoes two
sizes too big for her. The bag probably
belonged to a nurse or doctor on third shift who planned to work out after work
since the clothes were still clean.
Most likely, they kept the bag in
the car because they were afraid the locker room was unsafe. The thought made Sidney crack a smile. Even in the situation at hand, she couldn’t
help it.
The bag also had some small bills
and change in it, possibly for a vending machine. She took it, the pants and the shoes and left
the bag behind, not wanting to linger any longer. Even in the cover of night, it only took one
curious security guard or drive by police patrol and she would be locked up.
It would be even easier to have
her killed in prison or jail.
From there she used her smart
phone to plot a couple of well-timed PARTA Bus rides. She used the remainder of the money she had
lifted to get to the Kenmore area of Akron.
Kenmore was the kind of place that
all the street signs were numbers. It was
dirty and lended itself to low rent convenient stores with bars on the windows,
intermingled with ancient, dirty, peeled paint, colonials and duplexes.
Either way, it was not the place a
lone white woman wanted to walk through at two in the morning. She didn’t have a choice. The Rat was the only guy she knew that would
have the answers for her.
Still, she cringed. She had only met Rat twice and neither time had
been an enjoyable experience. She
doubted this would be any better.
She finally arrived at the
address, a three story house riddled with damage and dirt. Loud rap music boomed out the window, a mix
of Kanye West and Jay-Z. The place
looked like a gang hideout.
Which was, after all, exactly what
it was.
She walked up the steps to the
door and knocked loudly. The door swung
open and a man the color of midnight answered. He was an obvious lifter, standing there with
his shirt off and abs glistening with sweat. Inside behind him, ebony men and woman bumped
and grinded all over each other. It was
a party with more chance of becoming an orgy than ending.
“I don’t give a fuck if the music
is too loud, it ain’t getting turned down and you should know better than to
come over here and complain.” The man
said gruffly, before drinking something out of a red plastic cup.
Sidney shook her head, almost
having to yell to respond. “I’m not here
for that, I’m here to see Rat.”
Now he was really confused. “You’re here to see The Rat?”
Sidney frowned, not liking what
the man was thinking. “Business, not
pleasure.”
He chuckled, a low rolling sound. “Yeah, has to be. He’s upstairs on the top floor.”
The man opened the door, letting
her in. She passed and headed for the
stairs.
“Hey, when you’re done with the
business, come see me if you want some pleasure.” The man called after her,
smiling.
With abs and arms like that,
Sidney found herself considering it. She
pushed the thought away. Somehow, it felt disrespectful to think funny thoughts
with Tobias and Hank in the hospital.
She climbed the stairs, passing
the second floor bedrooms and bathroom to the attic apartment. She banged on the door and she could hear
scuttle and scrambling noises inside.
“Who is it?” Rat’s high squeaky
voice pierced the beats that were still rolling up the stairs.
“Sidney Thomas.” She answered. “Open the door, Rat. I need your help.”
“Sidney?!” He chirped from inside.
“Sidney? What are you… I mean, I wasn’t expecting… Just wait a…
Giimme a second… Be right there!”
She could tell he was desperately trying
to prepare his place for her.
Sidney’s visit had obviously taken
him completely by surprise. He kept her
waiting for almost five minutes before, finally, the door unlocked and swung
open.
“Sidney, what brings you here?” he
said, out of breath.
Rat weighed, maybe ninety pounds
soaking wet. He was skin and bones with
an extremely long face covered in acne and acne scars. He wore a pair of heavy glasses and an old,
faded Metallica t-shirt. His super greasy
hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail in the back.
“I need your help.” She repeated and stepped past him and up his
stairs into his apartment, or at least what was supposed to be an apartment.
Nest would have been a better word
for it
It was one open room with a sloped
ceiling and a small bathroom off to one corner. It consisted of a mattress and box spring next
to a huge, three monitor, double tower computer set up that looked like it
should belong to a James Bond villain.
The floor was covered in trash and
junk. Everything from electronics to
empty Cheetos bags. She noticed the
reason he had kept her waiting; a small path cleared to the computer and bed
combo which he had made by pushing the grime and trash to either side.
The place smelled like a locker
room.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone today.”
Rat said as he passed her, headed toward
the computer.
Sidney raised an eyebrow. “When
are you?”
“Let me get you a seat.” Rat said as he waded into the garbage. He found and pulled a fold up camping chair, from
which he proceeded to brush away old Doritos crumbs and something…sticky.
“I’ll stand.” Sidney said, low and
forceful.
Rat looked up and seemed hurt, but
shrugged and dropped the chair heading back to the computer. “So, what can I do for you?”
Sidney was happy to be on to the
reason for her visit but she couldn’t help one more question out of curiosity. “So, what is with the neighbors?”
“Landlords, actually.” Rat
corrected. “I hide their money and make
their taxes go away and they don’t charge me rent. I can’t overstate the importance of a large
group of gang bangers answering the door when someone comes here looking for a
hacker.”
Sidney shrugged and walked to The
Rat’s side, accepting that answer. “How
do you deal with that music all night.”
“I’m on a Dracula schedule, Sid. I sleep when the sun rises.” He answered
simply.
“Fair enough.“ Sidney said, her curiosity curbed. “I need you to data mine someone for me. Fenton-”
“-Sanoma? You gotta be kidding me.”
Rat finished her sentence. “I did that one for Toby already, like three
weeks ago.”
Sidney took a deep breath. “I know, and now he’s in a coma. Took three to the chest tonight.”
The Rat’s face dropped. “Holy shit, really? You think it was this Sanoma guy?”
Sidney nodded. “I know it was. If he went to that much trouble, he’s not done
either. What was Tobias into?”
“Ever heard of the Cash Key?” Rat asked.
Sidney shook her head and The Rat continued.
“Okay, well, about four years ago there
was this hacker who went by the handle of ‘Cash’. Cash was an average player until he found some
back door into the F.B.I network. Nobody gets into that and this guy couldn’t
resist leaving a calling card. He changed
all the screen savers to a Wendy’s add for the ‘Baconator’. Needless to say, the Feds tracked them down
and took him down.”
“What does this have to do with
Sanoma?” Sid asked, hoping he got to the point soon.
“I’m getting there,” Rat answered.
“So Cash goes down, but he never gives
up the program he designed that got him in the back door. He puts that on an Micro-SD card, one of the
super small ones they use on digital cameras and sends it to his cousin, a jeweler,
with instructions to put it in a necklace and sell it to the first person that
comes in to buy it. The Feds work hard
to find it, but by the time they get to the jeweler, it’s too late and the card
is in the open.”
“I’m guessing this necklace ended
up in the hands of Fenton Sanoma?” Sidney asked, making the next leap.
“Couple of weeks ago he starts
putting out invites to buy, taking orders for the highest bidder.” Rat answered.
“Wait a minute,” Sidney was confused.
“This program was from four years ago. Companies and organizations update their
programs constantly.”
Rat nodded. “That’s the genius of the Cash Key. Supposedly it works off a fundamental flaw in
the operating system. They update
constantly but change the O.S. A
government agency. That’s a lot of money
to spend in defense of a program that might not even exist.”
Sidney considered it. If such an item did exist, it would be worth
billions, easily. Syndicates could use
it to find out who the under covers were and take them out. They could figure out schedules for evidence
movements and prisoner transports. You
could play with the F.B.I playbook in your hands.
Fenton was after the necklace. He probably had buyers who would be getting
antsy waiting. This was the big score
for him. The make or break deal of his career.
Tobias and Hank had stolen his retirement.
She began to form an idea. The basics of a potential plan that would deal
with Sanoma and the necklace.
“Okay, Rat. I need you to find me the dirtiest thief in the
area. Get me their information.” Sidney
said finally.
She now had no choice but to go
head to head with her creator.
END EPISODE 26
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