Page 72 of Off Her Game
“Ravi?”
Quan nodded. “I did some research on other gamers I heard got sucked into the Stadium. Called a few friends. Most don’t last more than a few months before something bad happens either technologically like bank accounts tanked or framed for a crime. Or, they end up dead, usually from a fake drug OD. What’s Tom Smith making you do?”
“I’m supposed to provide info to help them bring down the organization and to get Symphis for Noah’s brother’s murder, maybe other murders. In exchange they help me get out alive. They made me fake date Noah to provide a link to communicate. It got real between Noah and I. Then it wasn’t real. I don’t even know what’s going on with the FBI anymore.”
“Shit timing to find something real in the dating world. I think Noah’s on the legit side of this, which is good because if not I’d firestorm him. That self-absorbed narcissist who calls himself Symphis doesn’t hold the monopoly on destroying people with technology.” His eyes drifted closed as if he sought calm. “What does this Symphis want from you other than you to play on his teams?”
“I’ve been playing like shit. So, not helping him there, unless he’s having people bet against me to win some money.” She squirmed on the seat. “He wants the code to break through the security onZoneworld Warrior Two. The FBI via one of Noah’s IT security experts allowed me to give him levels one through three security free.”
“Had a back door or something I’m sure. Stupid of them to give you a few levels. They put you in danger for no reason. Makes no sense. Why didn’t they give you the full code to begin with and when Symphis opened it they’d have him?” Quan asked.
“They can’t give me the real thing. They’ve already had too much backlash from the code for the first one getting out. What if he wasn’t the one to open it? Then NJ Legacy would be on the losing end of it.”
“Did anyone open the drive you gave them?”
“Not that I’ve been told, but I’m not in the loop. They were super pissed it wasn’t the whole thing. Rand, the guy who’s Symphis’s heavy onsite, got really scary about me bringing him all of it in two days. Tomorrow.”
Quan sighed loudly and reclined in his gaming seat. He started messing with a Rubik’s cube. “This stinks of foul shit. If all the FBI needed was intel on the Stadium or Symphis, then you could’ve told them where the next meet was.”
“They’re trying to stop the serial killing of programmers and people sucked in. They claim this is about saving the future of all gaming. I don’t—”
Quan held up a hand for silence. Distractedly he mumbled, “The one thing Symphis wants more than anything is the game code? Doesn’t make sense. Other than illegal bootlegs what’s he done with the code forZoneworld One?”
“I think he’s had his programmers modify it to make certain levels unwinnable. It doesn’t play like the true version.”
“I don’t think this is about gambling money or the stupid code. They could find some way to hack NJ Legacy for it or hack the game itself. It’s a test of you. Or it’s just some sort of deranged game he’s playing with you. Perhaps, revenge for something. Or, he likes you, which is even more twisted. No one can guess the goal of a sociopath.”
Nausea twisted through her gut. “Don’t you mean psychopath?”
“No. The guy’s too cautious to do this out of pure psychosis. This is deliberate. It’s a big game for him. I get a back feeling you’re no more than a small time distraction.” He met her gaze. “We’ve got to figure out who Symphis is.”
“He lives in Jersey. I need to break into the electric company grid to pinpoint where it might be usage hikes and see names.”
“That’s easy.” Quan fired up his computer. He patted the chair next to him for her to sit. Within minutes Quan was in the electric company’s records. He found high utilizing residentials and scrolled this list.
“Stop.”No way. Maybe.She pointed at the name on the screen. Martin Rodríguez. “That’s got to be him.”
“Martin? That teenager dipshit? Can’t be.” Quan paused and smiled at her. “I heard what you did to him in D.C. Bet no one else had the balls to point out his grundies.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tell me it wasn’t online.”
“It was everywhere. You’re a hero to gamer women and gave hope to a lot of guys who were already half in love with you. Guys who want you aware they know how to properly wear the pants in a relationship.”
“Glad I missed reading those messages.” She massaged her head. “I remember hearing rumors about Martin when he appeared on the scene last year. He’d come up from Honduras with his mom. He was related to someone involved with drugs.”
Quan did a search. A hundred articles on Matías Rodríguez popped up. “No mention of a Martin, but did say his mom moved to the U.S. a few years ago. They’ve tried leveraging her to find out about her son, but Matías cut ties.” He met her gaze. “That’s bullshit. What good Hispanic son cuts ties with his mother?”
“This may be way more complicated than we thought. There’s only one way for me to get out. I need to confront Martin. I can take him the code, personally. Or pretend I got the code. I can take it to his house instead of the Stadium.”
“Very dangerous. But ballsy. We’re going to need help. We’ll need a recording device to record what he says, but the device can’t be something activated remotely. He’s going to have blockers on that sort of tech. Who wrote the back door into the code you gave them before?”
“Sam at NJ Legacy. I don’t know his last name. You know him?”
Quan searched NJ Legacy’s employee list on his screen until he found Sam Miller. He tapped a finger against his lip as he stared at Sam’s headshot. “I remember this guy. We met a few years ago at a Tolkien Con in Vegas. Let me find out if the back door was opened.”
“How in the world are you going to contact him?”
Quan logged on to his mainframe on the desk and then into what looked like a forum for fantasy junkies. He posted a question. “Now we wait.”
