Page 8 of Guarding Truth

He grabbed the cell phone and swiped to answer it.

“Hello, Mr. Styles? This is Principal Rodgers from Ivy Covington’s school calling.”

Ivy.

He cleared the sleep from his throat. “What trouble has my niece gotten into this time?” The twelve-year-old couldn’t seem to go a day without some sort of incident. He wasn’t cut out for parenting a normal preteen, let alone Ivy with her off-the-charts IQ. It had been almost three years since Tessa had died, and he and Ivy still acted like outsiders in Savannah.

“You’ll need to come pick her up. A teacher caught her hacking into the school computer to change another child’s grade.”

He almost asked if she was positive it was Ivy, but this had his niece’s signature written all over it. The girl loved to push the boundaries of her intellect.

“Ivy’s behavior is escalating,” Principal Rodgers said. “These calls are becoming a weekly habit. Last week it was skipping calculus, but hacking is a serious offense. I could expel her for this.”

If Ivy got kicked out of the private school that was costing Caleb a small fortune—he didn’t have a backup plan for this. He put his elbows on the table and rubbed his eyes. If only he had a second to shave first, but time wasn’t on his side today. “I’m on my way.” He disconnected the phone and surveyed the mess he’d made on the dining room table. This was what he got for bringing work home.

Computers, papers, and half-drunk cups of coffee littered his table, creating a physical manifestation of his out-of-control stress levels. He thrived on neatness and order, and the mess made his skin crawl.

He tucked his Bluetooth earbuds in and called Blake Abernathy, his long-time friend and co-owner of Cyberskies Security. Blake picked up before the first ring finished. “Are you on your way to the office?”

Caleb searched the table for his keys and found them under a stack of unopened mail, reminding him how much he’d neglected basic life chores the past few weeks.

“Blake, I’ve been working around the clock since the bank robbery on Friday. I took home all the laptops scheduled to be sent to the bank to make sure they have the latest security updates. But I’ve got a situation at Ivy’s school I need to attend to first.”

Caleb could hear him typing in the background. “You always have an Ivy situation. But we’ve got a predicament of our own. Turn on the news. First United Bank was robbed. About an hour ago.”

“What? Was anyone hurt?” Caleb’s head pulsed, but there was no time to grab an aspirin. A second bank robbery? He dashed out the front door of his apartment. “Tell me more.”

“It was the same scenario as Friday’s robbery. Gunmen walk into the bank, spray-paintRushmoreon the bank wall, and walk out while throwing wads of cash in the air.”

Rushmore. The thorn in his side. Caleb ran a hand through his hair, which was much shaggier than he liked it. He mentally addedget a haircutto his running to-do list and hit the stairs, wishing his three-story historic apartment building had an elevator. “Rushmore is a group of hackers. Why are they walking into banks with guns blazing? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I agree. We received that email threat from them about a cyberattack on the bank, but I didn’t expect them to walk into the bank and rob it. I’m taking their threat seriously and have called the FBI. We can’t let the hackers win, Caleb. Everything we’ve worked for will go up in smoke if Rushmore decides to attack the bank systems.”

“All it would take is for one bank employee to open an email with malware. Our business would go up in smoke. No one wants to hire a cybersecurity firm that let hackers freeze personal bank accounts and steal money.” He’d lose every cent he’d invested in Cyberskies. His livelihood, everything he had, would be worthless with one cyberattack.

Caleb held the glass front door open for his neighbor, Abigail Prewett, who struggled with groceries in her hands. The older lady tried to talk to him, but he pointed to his earpiece that he was on a call and she waved him on.

He stepped out of the building and took a deep breath. October in Savannah gave the town a reprieve from the humidity. If he didn’t have multiple crises on his hands, he might consider ditching work.

A sigh filled the other end of the phone and brought him back to reality. “Sorry, Caleb. I didn’t mean to dump this on you. You’re just as stressed as I am, plus you have Ivy’s behavior issues to deal with. What are you going to do about her acting out at school?”

He found his Honda CR-V parked in the lot outside the building. His thoughts shifted between the hacker threat and Ivy. Rushmore could cost him his entire company if the bank’s security systems failed.

But whatwashe going to do about Ivy?

He connected the Bluetooth to the car speakers and stashed his earbuds in the center console. “You know I always have a plan before I act. But with Ivy, I’m at a loss. She’s brilliant but misguided. After losing Tess and her husband in that car accident, she’s all the family I have left, but I’m not qualified to be her parent. I’m an analyst, and the things she does aren’t logical.”

“Maybe you’ll have to find new ways to challenge her.”

“I’ve tried. I’ve always created ciphers and puzzles for her to work on. I’ve taught her a lot, but she’s got it in her head that she’s ready to be a white hacker and help save the world. She’s trying to grow up way too fast.”

“You’re the perfect parent for her, Caleb. She’s got that same eidetic memory as you. You understand her in ways most can’t.” True, he saw the world around him in a series of mathematical equations, something he had in common with Ivy. And he knew both the blessings and curses of their eidetic memories. Caleb remembered everything with perfect recall, even the things he’d like to forget.

But while Ivy’s genius level impressed everyone, it came with disadvantages. “She’s twelve going on thirty. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her skip those grades and start high school. She’s not ready. I just want her to have a normal childhood.” At thirty-three and single, he’d assumed the fatherhood ship had sailed. And now this.

“You’ve got this. I know you two will find a rhythm. This parent gig is still new for you both.”

“Thanks, Blake. Between the hacker threat and a headstrong preteen, I’ve hit my max for problems.”

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