An Evil Mind

Vanessa smiles at me. “The best ones always do. Let’s throw him off with a little boisterous conversation, shall we? How are you doing in school, Isis?”

She raises her voice a little, and I play along and mimic her.

“I’m failing Chem,” I sigh. “I hate it so much – it’s worth than Calc by a thousand times. Also, I farted during the exam, and I’m pretty sure Professor Brown knew it was me because he wrinkled his nose and sniffed a lot and gave me a C- for ‘incorrect exposition’, which is Chem teacher speak for fart, I’m pretty sure.”

Vanessa laughs. “Well at least you know what you’re not going to be majoring in, hmm?” Her eyes stay on me, but she lowers her voice and aims it at Jack all in the same breath. “Have you got the recording?”

“I, on the other hand, enjoy Chemistry.” Jack says, his voice louder as well. “But I’d never pursue it as a degree. It gets far more complicated by third year, so I’m thinking of something simpler in the sciences.” His voice lowers again. “It’s on a USB in the napkin.”

Vanessa nods sympathetically. “When I was your age, I switched my major from Biology to Physics. Less icky cells, more clean and clear numbers. Much easier.”

She lurches, dropping her napkin on the floor and wrinkling her nose.

“Oh, damn.”

“Here,” Jack slides his across to her. “Use mine.”

Vanessa smiles and takes it in her lap. “Thank you. Are you ready for mid-terms, Isis?” She continues smoothly.

“Honestly I’m more ready for shrimp scampi,” I point at the menu.

“Of course! You two must be starving. Not that State doesn’t serve good food! On the contrary; I’ve heard they have a wonderful selection.”

“It’s mostly burritos, but I’m not complaining. My intestines do sometimes, though. Speaking of which, I gotta pee. Where’s the –”

Vanessa points towards the back and smiles. “On your left.”

I slide past Jack, who grips my hand and squeezes it.

“You alright?” He asks.

“Uh, I’m about to eat food. I’m all sorts of fine.”

He smiles, and lets go, and I start towards the bathroom. I catch a glimpse of our waiter watching me, but when our eyes meet he quickly looks away. Way to be subtle, suspicious guy.

Even the bathrooms are fancy – marble countertops and soap that doesn’t smell like a movie theater’s. I stare at myself in the mirror, my makeup less like a raccoon and more like a cat, and realize I’ve grown up. Not much. But a little.

Not much, but it’s a start.

***

When Isis is gone, I turn to Vanessa.

“She’s very pretty,” Vanessa smiles. “Much prettier than I assumed.”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. The girl you described on the phone…they normally don’t look like that. Humor comes to the plainer girls easier.”

Her backhanded insult doesn’t faze me. I clear my throat.

“Terrance’s admission is there. He says both their names very clearly.”

Vanessa smiles, looking over her menu intently too, but our focus is everywhere except there.

“An admission from a drug dealer isn’t enough,” she says. “But it’s a good start. This, and direct keylogs should be enough for our team to work with.”

“How are you going to get a keylog on them?” I frown. “Will is wary of me – I’ve tried to approach him multiple times, but he always slips away. Kyle is less smart, but Will’s warned him of me. They both avoid me.”

Vanessa stares at me, hard, and I know enough about her body language now to understand it’s an order to change the subject.

“She and I are going out,” I say quickly. “For several weeks now. She’s my first actual girlfriend in a long time.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Vanessa smiles. “You were always the playboy type.”

“May I take your order?” The waiter comes up behind us, and I grin.

“Yes, thank you. I’ll have an order of the shrimp scampi for the missing lady, and the salmon fillet for myself.”

The waiter nods, eyes scanning our table with a too-focused intensity. Looking for us passing evidence between us, no doubt. I spot a strange bulge in his waistband, expertly hidden but still obvious to me. My gut goes cold. A gun.

I never should’ve brought Isis here.

Vanessa taps her finger on the menu. “And I’ll have the lobster rolls. With the salad. Thank you.”

The waiter nods, taking our menus and briskly walking off.

“He has a gun,” Vanessa says lightly, stirring her tea. I nod, tempering my fear casually.

“In his waistband. I saw.”

“Now how are we going to go about this?” She purses her lips thoughtfully. “I’d rather not get you and your lovely lady friend hurt tonight. You are children, and she especially is an innocent civilian.”

“Who is he really?”

“I have no idea, but I can make an educated guess. His stance, the way he carries himself and walks - military trained. His accent is invisible, but his pronunciation and emphasis is clearly of an English-speaking Russian. I was born in Russia. I know it well.”

“Russian, then.”

“Specifically, hired muscle,” She elaborates. “The Gatekeepers may be a hacker group, but they have friends with a lot of money, and they no doubt learned we’re after them. It seems they’ve hired bodyguards for their members, Will and Kyle included.”

I almost laugh, but stop myself. “It’s so surreal – bodyguards for hackers? Royalty, maybe, or politicians. Not hackers.”

“You misunderstand,” Vanessa says quickly. “The moment serious goods come into the picture – meth, heroin, human trafficking – is the moment everything changes. There is huge money in drugs and people, and therefore huge stakes. Those bodyguards are there to protect Will and Kyle’s hacking ability, and therefore, the money. Drug and trafficking money funds seventy percent of all weapon purchases on the legal and illegal markets. It isn’t simply ‘hackers’, or ‘drugs’. It is power, and acquirement of it. Rebellions are funded. Gangs are formed. It is a vast and intricate web – by stopping these two boys, we will save many innocent lives.”

“No, you won’t. They’ll just turn to someone else. There are hundreds more like them.”

“Then we take down hundreds of them. One at a time.”

Vanessa’s voice is hard, so I drop the subject. Her attitude is very government – inevitable defeat wrapped in the illusion of doing the greater good.

“How do you propose I get the keylog onto their computers?” I murmur. “They won’t let me physically near them.”

“Then you must find someone they do let near them. Kyle is of least concern. Will is the major proponent. Key his computer, and we’ll have all the evidence we need to convict both of them. Didn’t you say Isis knows him?”

“No,” I say firmly. “Absolutely not.”

“She seems like a bright girl. I’m sure she’d do it if you asked. She seems to love you very much.”

“And that’s exactly why I won’t let her,” I grit my teeth.

“Let me do what?” Isis is back, sliding past me into her seat. “Were you two gossiping about me while I was gone? Ten million years dungeon for the both of you.”