Page 34 of Guarding Truth
“It might make it easier to keep Ivy in line, but I’m not sure either of us will survive.” He offered a sad smile.
“The place won’t be ready until tomorrow, so you have time. For now, I think you and Ivy should stay at my place tonight. The police will patrol the area, and I’m sure I can coax some of my coworkers into sharing the night watch. We can’t stay here in case someone is watching your place.”
Caleb wanted to hit something. So many people now had to put their lives on the line for his and Ivy’s protection. “I don’t want to put anyone in harm’s way. I can stay up and take a shift. It would be just like our Army days. Besides, people are being attacked because of me. Look what happened to Theo. Apparently, I’m standing in the way of these maniacs getting what they want. And they’ve proved that they’ll use people to get to me.”
He heard the doorknob rattle and bolted for the door. Ivy flung the door open and fell into his arms, her tears wetting his T-shirt. The smell of her strawberry shampoo tickled his nose. He squeezed her tight, and she buried her head deeper into his chest.
“Oh dear, is everything all right?” The voice grated on Caleb’s already frazzled nerves. Nosy Abby from next door.
Another voice echoed in the doorway. Noelle introduced herself. “Abby, let’s talk about what you saw the other night of the burglary.” The woman he’d yet to meet was a lifesaver by distracting Abby. His neighbor meant well, but Caleb couldn’t handle the intrusion.
“But are y’all going to stay here tonight? I mean the break-in and now this?—”
Noelle cut her off. “We’re not sure what security measures we will be taking, but we’ll make sure to keep Caleb and Ivy safe. Let’s get you back to your apartment. Maybe you have information that can help the police catch these guys.” Noelle put her arm around the older woman and ushered her down the hall.
Juliette shut the door. Ivy refused to let go and twisted her hands into Caleb’s T-shirt. “I’m so glad you weren’t in the office today.”
Caleb finally let Ivy go, but the girl was glued to his side.
He made Ivy a peanut butter sandwich, and they sat in the living room. Noelle slipped back into the apartment after having tea with Abby and doing a perimeter sweep of the building.
His curiosity got the best of him when it came to finding out how much Ivy knew about the hackers’ program. He’d always been able to communicate with her on an adult level. If only she’d had the opportunity to just be a regular kid.
“Tell me about this program, Ivy.”
Juliette and Noelle parked themselves at the dining room table, within earshot of the conversation. Juliette caught his eye, and he nodded, appreciating the backup when it came to Ivy.
His niece took a big bite of the sandwich and talked with her mouth full, but he didn’t care. “It’s a nasty program, Uncle Caleb. Definitely ransomware. They’re just waiting for someone to connect to the internet so the hackers can have complete control of the bank’s system. Then I assume they’d send a ransom in exchange for access to the server again.”
He took a sip of water. “Could you recreate it from memory, Ivy?”
“Oh, of course I can. I spent time studying the program. I figured you’d take it away from me once you knew that I’d taken the laptop.”
At least she was being honest. But it confirmed his worst fear. “What did you find out about the program when you studied it?”
“That it won’t work.”
His heart stopped. “What?”
She shrugged. “Just what I said. They left out a piece of code. The program won’t launch. They made a mistake.”
Every muscle in his body tightened. His concern had been that the bad guys would realize that Ivy had memorized their program and would target her to keep her silent. But in his wildest imagination, he’d never thought that Ivy would be able to fix a flaw in the code.
He prayed the hackers never realized what Ivy had seen when she’d stolen the laptop. “Ivy, have you told anyone what you saw on the laptop?”
Her face blanched. “Just one person. My friend at school. Layna.”
Oh no. His throat constricted as if all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. “What did you tell Layna?” And who was Layna?
Ivy fixed her eyes on the carpet. “I wanted to wait until I had more information. But Layna’s brother works for the government. He’s going to get me a job as a white hacker. Then I can ask him for information on Rushmore.”
Oh, Ivy.
Her naivety would be her downfall. Why’d he let her skip all those grades? She was a guppy swimming in shark-infested waters, and he hadn’t even offered her a life vest.
Some kind of parent he’d turned out to be. This had Rushmore’s handiwork written all over it.
He clenched his hands into fists. His pulse hammered a steady thump in his ears. Rushmore had messed with his family.