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This might not be the end at all. It might just complete the first chapter of a deadly story.
“I’m coming for you,” Boy muttered, and now at last, the tension that had filled him earlier began to abate. “I’m coming for you, and you’re going to have the night of your life. I’m going to give you a rollercoaster ride. Shock you, thrill you. And then, of course, you will die.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Sitting in the back office of the closest police station, Cami had gotten to work immediately. At this hour, although there was some activity in the lobby and down the corridor, the back office was hushed and quiet. She and Connor were there alone, under the bright overhead lights.
She located the Steadfast smart home company site. Now, how to get into a site that even the CEO had boasted was well secured? At this hour, there was no chance to use the human factor by sending an email or message with a tempting link. The CEO was on an airplane, and almost all the other staff would be asleep.
Did they have a twenty-four hour maintenance line? Cami looked, but although she found a few after hours emergency numbers, they all seemed to link up to people's cellphones. So, they had employees on duty who would keep their phones open and be ready to help if any customers needed it.
That meant attacking the systems and servers directly. It would work on the principles of an SQL attack, as it was called in security terms. SQL – or structured query language – would allow her to try to gain control of the database remotely. If she was able to do that, she could access the information inside, and if that happened, then they could see what was there, and who had left Steadfast last year.
She needed a way in, though. Lost in thought, Cami stared at her screen, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what the best angle of attack would be.
“I’m going to get us some food,” Connor said. “You need to eat.”
Cami looked up, surprised. It was late, and they hadn’t eaten all day. She suddenly realized she was hungry – and with any luck, some calories and energy would also provide brainpower.
“Thank you,” she said to Connor gratefully.
Remembering Kieran, who’d also be wondering where she was by now, she sent him a message, too.
“Still at work. Hunting a criminal. Might be pulling an all-nighter here,”she texted.
A couple of moments later, she got a quick“Good night, stay safe, missing you,”in return.
Then, Cami turned her mind to the problem at hand, puzzling over it, turning it over and over in her mind, needing a way to get at least partially into the database so that she could find a route inside.
Cami tried a few possibilities, experimenting with various programs that she'd run. In a system this big and this complex, none of them were going to work fast. But if she could just find the right one to work well enough to allow the unique code to open up that online record, then she was confident she could get back in from there.
“There are always security loopholes. Always,” Cami said. It was just a case of finding them. There could be gaps in the defenses, or software that wasn’t completely up to date.
And also, with a sense of excitement, she realized she might have a different way.
She now had the unique code of the home they’d just left, the one where the house sitter had been murdered.
Now, if she could use that in the online client login form, and inject some code to bypass the password requirement, she might have her gateway.
“Here you go,” Connor said, returning with two paper bags. “I got us chicken burgers and sodas.” The bags crackled as he set them down on the desk.
The smell was making Cami’s mouth water, but she was far too intensely involved in her research to take her eyes off the screen for as much as a moment. What code would work? Her fingers flew, tweaking the program, adjusting the parameters, searching for that entry point that would allow her program to trickle in, and then spread itself around the system, capturing all the data she needed.
She didn’t have it – she couldn’t get it – and then, she did. She was in.
Letting out a huge breath of relief, Cami sat back in her chair, taking her eyes off the screen for the first time in what felt like eons. At last, she had a way into the system. The screen in front of her was still blank, but she could see from the progress graph on the side that it was populating fast. With any luck, they would soon have an accurate picture of the workings of Steadfast and be able to get into at least some of the records.
It would take five minutes. Cami reached for her burger, unwrapped it, and took a grateful bite.
“You got something?” Connor asked.
She nodded. “Yes. I managed to find a way in. So we can see their systems, but that’s only the first challenge. We’re going to have to keep it very, very fast to avoid their security sweeps. And of course, we’ve got no idea how their records are organized, and how easy it will be to find it.”
“Can Steadfast trace this security breach back to this police station? Or to us?” Connor asked, his frown deepening again as Cami checked the progress of her software.
“No. They won’t be able to do that because I’m doing it through the dark web. They will be able to see which control console was used in the login, but that won’t necessarily point back to us. Not when the killer has also, clearly, been accessing it himself.” She took a deep breath. “And if we manage to solve the crime, of course, then it’s a moot point. Then I’m sure they won’t ask too many questions, and will just be very glad that their company’s name won’t be associated with any more murders.”
Connor nodded. “So, first step is to get into the systems?”
