Page 89 of Moonstruck
Asa gave a stilted nod. “I can do that.”
Everybody but Archer and Aiden were in attendance for the meeting that convened the following morning. Asa left the seat to his left empty for Avi—like he always did—putting Zane to his right so there would be no weirdness. When Avi entered, he zeroed in on the empty seat immediately but ignored it for the chair on Zane’s right, plopping himself down and pulling it closer so Zane was tightly sandwiched between them.
Asa wasn’t sure if Avi was attempting to intimidate Zane or bond with him. Zane didn’t seem sure either. He eyed Avi warily, especially when he gave Zane a wide grin, patting him on the top of the head, flattening his curls. Zane looked to Asa for clarification but there was none to give. Avi had locked their mind-meld tight, keeping his thoughts of Zane under wraps.
Asa gave Avi a hard stare, but he just leaned back in his seat, rocking it with more force than necessary, causing it to bump Zane’s chair with a rhythmic thumping sound that made Asa roll his eyes. Avi was clearly handling the situation like the adult he was.
Calliope started the meeting without any pleasantries. “Here’s what we know about Frederick ‘Freddie’ Deetz. Owner of Gecko Games, eccentric weirdo, dresses like Willy Wonka and Michael Jackson had a poorly styled love child. There have been numerous rumors about sexual harassment, and several women have been quietly paid off. The fact that nobody picked up on what a potential problem this guy is would almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.”
A picture appeared on the screen. The man was younger than Asa had imagined he’d be—no more than forty at most. In the picture, he wore a purple suit with a yellow shirt and had a slicked back, almost pompadour like, hairstyle going. Calliope was right. This dude was suspicious looking.
“One of his company’s most popular games,Voyeur, allows the player to play as either the hero or the villain. As the hero, you have to survive the villain’s psychological torture. As the villain, you have to make choices that you think would cause the most trauma to the hero. Like the movieSaw, but you can decide whether you’re one of the victims or Jigsaw himself.”
“Jesus,” Zane muttered.
“Do we have any proof he’s involved in these games, though?” Thomas asked.
Calliope sighed. “No. Unfortunately not. His business computer was easily hackable, but there was nothing there. His home system is locked down tight, which leads me to believe that he keeps the goods at home where he can relive his greatest hits.”
“Great. We have nothing,” Zane muttered.
“Well, yes,” Calliope agreed. “But I have an idea. It’s a little bit crazy.”
“We have a man rotting alive in a box on a property owned by my family,” Thomas managed. “I think we’ve moved past a little crazy. What’s your plan?”
“How fast can you guys get to Malibu?” Calliope countered.
Thomas waved a hand. “I can have a jet on standby. We can be there in a few hours if need be. Why?”
“Freddie might surround himself with armed guards on his creepy little island fortress, but in California, he has a minor security detail and a top notch alarm system. It shouldn’t be hard for a full team to breach his walls.”
“Why does it sound like there’s a but coming?” Atticus asked.
Adam snickered. “But coming,” he repeated, earning a glare from August and a slap from Noah.
“But,” Calliope said, “when I drew up the plans for his house on the water, I noticed he also has a panic room, and if he manages to get in there, we’ve lost him and there’s a good chance he virtually wipes his system so we can’t ever find the evidence we need.”
“What are you proposing, Calliope?”
“A leap of faith,” she said with a sigh. “Freddie’s drawing a lot of power into his beachfront mansion, and I’m pretty sure that means he runs the game from that system. If that’s the case—and if you truly believe Jerry wasn’t lying—then I think I can lure him into chasing me down a wormhole. If he tries to hack my system, I can back-hack him, get access to everything and get the dirt we need to not only prove what he did but get evidence needed to expose him.”
“Well, that sounds ideal,” Jericho said, sounding like he was also waiting to hear the flaw in the plan.
Calliope sighed. “But once I do that, he’ll know we’re onto him and he’ll run. Or worse, he’ll successfully hack me and find something on my computer he should never see and try to blackmail his way out of trouble.”
“Yeah, that sounds like more than a leap of faith,” Lucas said. “That sounds like a suicide mission.”
“This is where the leap comes in,” Calliope said. “Our only option is to simultaneously go after him. I distract him with the hack, while you get past security and take him out in whatever manner you see fit. But this has to be precise. Strategic. If either of us are off, it could ruin everything.”
Thomas looked at Asa and Zane. “How sure are you that he’s the guy?”
Asa looked at Zane, who said, “I don’t think Jerry would have lied about this.”
Asa nodded. “He doesn’t seem like the type to take a secret to the grave. Once he knew he was dead either way, he sang like a canary.”
“Can we do this with only five, Calliope?” Asa asked.
“Aiden can meet you there,” Thomas said. “He’s close and in-between assignments.”
