Chapter 7

Alex was in the conference room teaching Mandy how to use the software his dad and he used to track people when Grace came in with Lyric.

Alex had to take a moment because Janice had done a complete makeover of the teen hacker. Lyric now had shoulder-length blond hair and wore clothes that clearly hadn’t come from Goodwill. He had to admit that Janice had done an excellent job.

“Alex is training Deputy Grayson on how to use the tracking software. I want you to sit in and learn what we can do,” Grace said.

“We?” Alex asked, scandalized.

“You, young man, can zip it,” Grace fired back before turning to Mandy. “If these two give you a problem...”

“I can handle them,” Mandy assured Grace before she left.

“You were asking how you can see a deputy’s bodycam,” Alex said, reminding Mandy where they left off. “If the device has the software loaded, it’ll be on your list here.”

Alex showed her on his monitor. He switched on Mandy’s, and it suddenly showed the side of Alex’s head.

“What if it’s not on the list?” Mandy asked.

“Then you turn on the switch on their phone that searches for devices nearby, and it’ll load the software onto the bodycam. Depending on the device, it can happen immediately or take a little time. I’ll preload the app on all the new dash- and bodycams before you hand them out,” Alex said.

Alex glanced over at Lyric; she had a look on her face like she was seeing him in a new light, and it shocked her. What was it his dad always said about ‘assuming’ anything? Assume made an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me.’

Before Mandy went into brain overload, Alex called the session quits. She had to get back to the station to arrange her new office.

Later, Alex was in his office working on a plan to secure Mandy’s new space when there was a knock on the door.

“Permission to approach?” Lyric asked.

“Permission granted,” he said, eyes shining.

“Show me what you’re working with.”

Alex wouldn’t have thought anything about it if her gaze hadn’t been directed downward. But it was.

“Seriously?! Here in the office?” Alex asked.

Lyric stiffened. It looked like one of those cartoons, the ones where the red starts at their neck, and stuff blows out of the top of their head. In her case, nothing shot out, but her face was red.

“Boys!” she huffed. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“Good. Because it would be a little awkward at home if you’re perving on me,” Alex teased.

“I obviously gave you too much credit in the brains department earlier.”

“I was smart enough to track you down.”

“Were you now, Webster?” Lyric asked.

Alex didn’t understand the reference but assumed it was a reference to the dictionary—a way of mocking how smart he was.

“There may be a pop quiz later about not using your own PC to launch a DDoS attack,” Alex said and realized he was a dork.

“Yeah? What do I get if I pass?”

“What do you want?” Alex flirted back because he apparently couldn’t help himself.

“I want to see the source code for your different apps.”

That had the same effect as having a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on his head.

“It’s not mine to share,” Alex said. “It’s my dad’s software.”

“I just want to look. I promise not to change anything.”

Lyric had gone from flirt-worthy to someone Alex should be wary of.

“The answer is... ‘no.’”

She gave him a confused look.

“If you’re not busy, haul the trash, vacuum, and then run to the store and buy a coffeemaker and coffee. Grace spends too much money downstairs.”

Lyric held her hand out.

“I need money.”

Alex’s dad had taught him to always keep enough cash on him to cover expenses for a few days, just in case he needed to escape for a while. Alex used to hide the money in his sneakers back in Philly. He’d gotten out of the habit here in Conclave because no one was brazen enough to walk up to him in the street and try to take his stuff. He pulled a hundred out of his wallet.

“Should I get lunch, too?” Lyric asked with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

“Go to A Salt and Battery and get Grace and me Philly cheese steaks, one with onions and mushrooms with fries and the other plain with onion rings. And get receipts for everything so I can be reimbursed. Oh, and I want my change back,” Alex said.

“Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look,” Lyric said with a chuckle, leaving Alex eying her warily.

“Lunch is ready!” Lyric called from the conference room.

“This is a pleasant surprise. Is that coffee I smell?” Grace asked.

“I bought a coffeemaker because I thought it would be nice to have for clients,” Lyric said.

Not only had she just taken credit, but she’d also ordered Alex’s sandwich with mushrooms and onions. And instead of his onion rings, there was a small side salad with no dressing. He wrapped his sandwich back up and handed it to Grace.

“I can’t eat this,” Alex said and walked out.

He went out the back door and got on his bike to ride out the Aldrich farm. Grace had told him the fence was going in and that posts were being set for the cameras and lights on motion detectors. Alex was tasked with the security setup and wanted to ensure the contractor placed everything where he wanted.

On his ride, he had time to think about Lyric. The momentary attraction was gone. While he wouldn’t cause either Grace or Janice trouble with how he felt about Lyric, he wouldn’t do anything to help her. The one thing he would do was tell Grace he would no longer supervise the hacker. She was too immature to listen to what he said, so there was no point.

When he arrived, Maddie was once again his guide.

“My dad has put me in charge of security,” she explained.

“Then I’ll help you set this all up so you know it inside and out,” Alex promised.

“Won’t that put you out of a job when we add the other fields?”

Alex shrugged.

“I suggest you at least let me check your work, but if it saves you money, I’m fine with that.”

The two of them walked back to the grow area, and Alex saw that the first part of the system, the underground utilities, had been put in place. The conduits would house the cables to hardwire the cameras and other gizmos to the command center housed in the drying barn. They would also hold the low-voltage electrical wiring.

“They have the posts up for the security cameras and are starting to put in the fence posts. My dad wanted to know what all this is about and why it costs so much,” Maddie asked.

“The biggest mistake people make when installing a security system is they cheap out. If we did that, a quick search on the Internet would show every would-be thief how to defeat such a system. The inexpensive systems also don’t have things like recording audio or imaging in high definition.”

“How would you defeat a cheap camera?” Maddie asked.

“You planning a heist of your own product?” Alex teased.

“No, just curious.”

“The easiest way is to wait for bad weather, or if you want to get creative, use smoke bombs to hide your movements. We used to use lasers to blind the camera CCD, the sensor. A sufficiently powerful laser can actually damage the CCD by either overloading the circuit or melting it,” Alex explained.