Page 21 of Just Right

"Let's go stand at the bar," Connor decided. He wove his way to the bar that lined the right side of the cafe and stood in the corner with his back to the wall, surveying the room.

He'd left the only seat for Cami, and she took it, hitching herself onto it and looking around, taking in the bustle and buzz of this busy cafe.

With so many people here, Cami hoped there was a high likelihood that the hacker who'd written this program would be here, looking to send it out and trap more unwary users in his information-sucking web. But he wasn’t here yet, to her unease.

"Now, how do we find him?" Connor asked.

Cami stared at him, feeling worried. He was still looking very impatient, and she didn't think he was going to like her answer.

"We wait," she said.

Sure enough, his eyebrows shot up. "Wait?" he asked incredulously.

"I've got some software running that will tell us as soon as he connects up here. And he has often connected at lunch time in the past."

"You mean he’s not here? And this is the only way of finding him?”

“Yes.”

“We could be waiting here all week!” he spluttered. “How often does he come in?"

"He’s been here three times in the past week," she said placatingly. She didn't think her tone would work, though, and sure enough, Connor seethed.

"That's less than fifty percent of the time!"

"I'm not sure how else to do it," Cami admitted. "He's not going to come to us, and we don't know where he lives, or how to get hold of him, or even who he is. This is the only way to find him. He was last here two days ago, so hopefully he's due a visit today, and he'll soon be sitting here, trying to send out the malware to more people."

"We give it an hour," Connor decided.

"An hour should do it. He often seems to connect at lunch time. I guess that’s because it's busy, probably so he can target the most people online, and also because it's more difficult for him to be noticed."

Connor checked his watch, then looked around the room. Cami saw him look at his watch again, and she knew he was counting down the time. Most definitely, on the hour, he was going to say they must leave.

Where was this man, this invisible hacker? She was sure that he was going to sign in today. He'd never had more than a two-day gap in the past. She knew that Connor still didn't entirely trust the process she used to get this information. She wanted to earn his trust and that made it all the more urgent that her hunch paid off.

She stared down, willing him to sign in, willing her program to alert her to his whereabouts.

Just as she was on the point of giving up, it happened.

The code lit up. There was activity online, and that meant he was using the secret program.

"He's here," she said, feeling her heart speed up. “I can see his code. I can see it’s linked to a username. Landon Graham. That must be him, and he’s just logged in.”

"Where?"

"That's what we have to look for. He will have just arrived."

"I've been keeping track," Connor said. "There are only two people who've sat down in the last five minutes. Both have been on their own. One was over to the right, an older woman who looks to be waiting for someone. And the other is straight ahead."

He pointed to a studious-looking man in his twenties, who was staring intently at a large laptop.

"It's him," Cami said with a nod. It could be nobody else.

Time to ask some questions and to get answers from this mystery hacker.

Cami rushed over to the hacker, shoulder to shoulder with Connor, feeling her pulse race at the thought of the confrontation ahead. He looked like a normal type of guy. Studious, with spectacles and suspenders over a white, well ironed shirt. He looked preppy and ordinary and nowhere close to the mental image that Cami was sure most people had of what a hacker would be like.

He looked up in surprise as they sat down opposite him. He was clearly in his own little world, oblivious to the people around him. But as his eyes widened, Cami saw that he was quickly realizing who they were and that their arrival spelled trouble.

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