Mark Young - Off the grid

“Do you want to see what they can see?” Willy smirked at him.

“You can get into their system?”

“Does a bear-”

“Skip the jokes, Willy. Can you get me a look inside?”

“Can a-?” Willy stopped midsentence when he saw Gerrit’s expression. “Sure thing, Mr. G.”

A few minutes later, Willy handed the laptop to Gerrit. “Here ya go. Search away. See the camera stations listed along the top? Just point and click. If you hover over the site number, a window will appear to show you what you will be looking at and the location of the camera.”

“Say I want to go to the plant manager’s office.”

Willy reached over and moved the mouse to a midpoint. “Looks like they’re divided between interior and exterior locations. The interior are placed in geographical order. Here, start at this point.”

Gerrit watched as the first web cam popped up on the screen. It was a hallway in which he could rotate the view as needed. He manipulated the controls until the lens rested on a door identified as leading to the office of Security Management.

“While I poke around on this screen, I have a job for you and Redneck.” Gerrit crawled back to where the two men sat. “Alena, take the driver’s seat. Start looking for a car rental agency. There should be one near the airport.”

He turned to the guys. “We need to pick up two chase cars to go with this van. Alena can stay here with me, and you two split up after renting the cars and go solo. Willy, you have the handhelds handy? Everybody pick one up and stay in contact.”

Alena slid over and started the engine.

Gerrit continued. “Now, while she’s looking for a rental place, Willy, you help search this plant for weaknesses we can exploit.”

They began scanning the entire structure, searching each office before continuing to the next. Gerrit turned to Willy. “How can you do this? I mean some people have a problem just getting online while they’re traveling. Here, you’re accessing the plant’s interior security.”

Willy gave him a sly smile. “I can get inside just about any security system while miles away.” He motioned to a portable server he’d stashed in back. “That is J amp; W Enterprises’ own special creation. A mobile server that only needs a power source and provides wireless access to any nearby network. Once we’re hooked up, I target any place anywhere in the world. Cool, huh?”

“Yeah. But how do you gain access to this plant, for example? Their system must be self-contained. No hard wires to the outside.”

“It’s the beauty of wireless, baby.” Willy seemed to jump around in place with enthusiasm. “Mr. J. and I figured out how to piggyback on any wireless connections, even though they’re only transmitted to on-site locations. With our special contacts, we can have a satellite listening station zero in on a specific location, amplify the wireless signals, and transmit those signals back to us. We scan them until we lock into their system network, feeding back whatever we want to see. Just like now.”

Gerrit smiled. “Amazing. And you can do this from any location in the world?”

“As long as we connect with the satellite as it is rotating above the target. Impossible if the satellite is on the other side of the globe. Then we need to shift to another eye-in-the-sky orbiting in direct range to the target.”

“And who are these sources?”

Willy shook his head. “You’re gonna have to ask Mr. J for those. He just gives me the coordinates to access when needed. He keeps all the contacts to himself in case one of us gets captured.”

“What if Mr…Joe gets snatched?”

“Then we’re up a creek without a paddle.”

Gerrit turned back to the screen. He thought of Joe on his way to England. He realized the weakness in their network. If something happened to his uncle, he and the others would be left without any contacts. More important, they would not know who to trust. Joe only left him one name. Beck Malloy.

Gerrit focused on the target, trying to shake the thought from his mind.

A white-coated lab rat kept sneaking glimpses of Collette as she moved around the room, a man who could only dream of getting close to a woman like her-under any circumstances. She smiled to herself as she eyed him in the glass of one of the blank screens. Men are so weak. She learned early to use their weaknesses to her advantage. It had served her well.

“Now, you’re sure there is no way outsiders can invade this room with surveillance equipment. I don’t want them to catch me visiting this plant and I need to monitor whether we have any electronic intrusions here.”

The lab rat looked at her, his face reddening. Her glare probably made the guy believe she could read his dirty thoughts. “I’m sure this is safe, miss…”

“I need you guys to be able to tell me if anyone-anyone-tries to invade our security system. Let me know immediately.”

Lab rat shook his head. “Yes, sir…uh, miss.”

Folding her arms, she studied the screens that recorded all movement inside and outside the building. Her cell phone vibrated. She picked it up, listening for a moment. “Good. Have them escort you here with your equipment. We’ll set up shop in this room. I’m told there’s no monitoring here and you’ll be shielded from any external surveillance. I want you to make sure.”

Shoving the phone back into her denim trousers, she watched Lab Rat eyeing her reflection. “Like what you see?”

The man hurriedly focused on the live screens in front of him.

A tap on the door prompted her to open it. “Come on in, guys.” She turned toward Lab Rat. “Okay, now that you got an eyeful, get out of here and let my team take over.”

The man’s face looked the color of a red tomato as he scurried from the room. Her team filed in and slammed the door shut.

“I think we got beat, guys.” Gerrit turned the screen so the others could see. “Can you rewind that last bit of surveillance tape?”

“Sure thing, Mr. G.” Willy’s nimble fingers danced across the keyboard, sending the figures on the screen moving backward as the tape rewound.

“There, stop it right there. Now, start the tape. When I give the word, freeze it.”

Willy nodded as he punched in codes. The computer screen picked up a signal beamed to them by a surveillance camera in the hallway just outside the plant’s security office. Several men carrying large bags worked their way down the hall toward the camera. One of the men tapped on the door with his knuckles. The door opened and a woman emerged.

“There. Freeze that.”

Willy complied.

“Great. Now, zoom in on her face.”

“Okay.” Willy zeroed in until her image took up the whole screen.

“That’s her! Kane used this woman in Vienna. She’s the one who visited my hotel room.” He saw Alena give him a hard look. “Hey, I thought you guys were watching.” He saw her eyes cloud. “I guess you weren’t watching that close. She left a few minutes after knocking on my door.”

Redneck drew closer. “Wow. She looks like she could give Al a run for her money. And you let her get away?” He gave Gerrit a wolfish look. “Yeah, right.”

Alena scowled, looking at Collette’s face. “So, she came to your room and you…what?” She turned her head toward him, waiting for his answer.

“I think Kane used her to set me up.” Gerrit pointed at Collette’s face, trying to steer the conversation back to their operation. “This confirms they know we’re here and that they heard the conversation I had with Summers before they killed him.”

Redneck gestured toward Gerrit. “So what? We go in, find out what we need to know, and get out. If they get in the way, I’ll take them out. Very simple, jarhead.”