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“What’s your special today?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone and Lara almost asked if she’d heard her.
“Well, we’ve been having some issues with the electricity, but the Salisbury steak is baking in the gas oven, so that will be done. But we can’t get you a fountain soda, because those aren’t working. And Abby is worried about the refrigerator, so we’ll throw in pies for free if you want them.”
“I’ll bet the pies will be a big hit here. Thank you. I’ll need Salisbury steak dinners for…” She looked into the dining room at Adelaide.
She mouthed, “Seven.”
“Seven, please.”
“Great. They’ll be ready in fifteen minutes. Who will pick them up?”
She shrugged, then said, “Spencer.”
She paid with Tate’s credit card, then turned to pull dishes from the cabinets. As she entered the dining room, she asked, “Seven?”
“Henry and Maya are at the construction trailer, and someone will run their dinners out to them.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Tate entered the dining room and watched her set plates on the table. “Salisbury steak for dinner. Free pie because they’re worried about it spoiling and want to get rid of it.”
He shrugged. “Bonus.”
“And, I said Spencer would pick it up.”
Tate grinned. “I’ll tell him.”
Adelaide looked up at Tate and pointed to her computer screen.
“A scrambler can be uploaded through apps. Somehow they crawl in through apps attached to software. The most common is messenger or chat apps. The easiest way to check is to look at a couple of businesses affected.”
“It wouldn’t explain the power in houses and vehicles.”
“I bet it does. Every business largely uses the same basic word processing systems and they come in a package. So, you’ll have a document app, a spreadsheet app, an email app and lately, an internal messaging app. I’d bet that’s what they all have in common. If a house has the same software, they'll have the messaging app, even if they don't know it. Who can we ask about this?”
Tate shrugged and Lara said, “What about a point-of-sale app? I don’t have a messaging app on my software at the bakery because I have a single license, but most of the businesses use point-of-sale apps. I know Shianne has one in her boutique.”
Tate turned to her. “What about the sheriff’s department?”
“They do as well. People are always in there paying fines and fees.”
Adelaide began typing and reading her screen as she and Tate stared on.
“Yes. Lara’s right. Someone can also upload a remote scrambler through point-of-sale apps.”
Tate nodded. “Lara, can you call Shianne and ask her what software she’s using and what time her power went out—if it did?”
He turned to Adelaide. “You talk to Spencer about this and see if you can drill down the bug they’re using. I’ll call the sheriff’s department.”
Lara pulled her phone from her pocket. She decided the kitchen would be quieter for her to chat with Shianne, so she ambled to the kitchen once more. Tapping Shianne’s face in her phone, she listened as it rang on the other end. Spencer thumped through, nodded, then kept going toward the stairs.
“Hey Lara. Where are you?”
“I’m at Tate’s. Is your power out?”
“It is. It happened a while ago. I’ve closed the store because I can’t cash anyone out.”
