Page 26 of Just Tonight

Not the bigger ones. Those would take far too long. They had security and firewalls already in place because they were going to be constantly bombarded by hacking attempts. Everyone would love to hold a big organization ransom, with the threat of publishing all the personal details of its customers. So she wasn’t going to join the queue.

She thought the smaller sites might be more promising. Like this one, for instance. This was the Boston Chargers, the local running club of the area where Barney Sutherland lived.

As she was researching it, Connor hung up, sighing.

“Well, after a full ten minutes of begging, I have got as far as the phone number of a minor secretary,” he said. “I’m going to call her now. Every minute that goes by is a wasted opportunity.”

“I’m trying another way,” Cami said, causing Connor to raise his eyebrows as he dialed.

“Good,” he said. “Hopefully, one of us gets there.”

While Cami listened to the phone start ringing as Connor dialed the secretary, she worked on the running club site, patiently trying to access it by a few different methods. Thinking it would work faster, she quickly got her laptop out of her bag and set it up on the hall table.

She felt like an intruder, standing there and turning the murder victim’s apartment into a makeshift office. It felt somehow disrespectful, but Cami had to remind herself that Debbie would most definitely want them to do whatever was needed to catch her killer.

The program on the laptop was faster than the one on the phone. While it ran, Cami listened to Connor, who’d now gotten hold of the secretary and was speaking to her.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s very important. Critical, in fact. We need to get hold of him tonight.”

He waited, listened. Sighed softly. “I understand your company regulations are strict, but this is police business and we’re dealing with serious crimes.”

He waited again. Spoke again. “How about you give me the name of your boss, then, and his number?”

Cami guessed that this secretary was just junior enough not to want to get into any trouble by giving out anyone’s number, because Connor seemed to be getting pushback there as well. He wasn’t getting the answers he needed and was getting blocked at every turn.

“Your boss won’t mind, I promise,” Connor said in his most persuasive tones. “He might even be angry if he found out you didn’t help the police.”

But then, as the secretary started arguing back yet again, Cami got into the Boston Chargers website.

Her program had managed to access the list of runners on the local club's database. Now, she needed to see if Barney Sutherland was among them.

Quickly, she scrolled down, going through the names, looking for the list of S names. She didn't have much time that she knew. This software was very slow, it was clunky, and every few seconds it paused to have a security update. Cami knew that the security update might be only the equivalent of a man with a flashlight in a large forest, but the fact remained that a man with a flashlight could still find people if he was lucky.

She bit her lip as the security check ran again. Just now, out of sheer inevitability, it would spot her. And then she was pretty sure this program would do what it seemed to do best. It would freeze, and she’d be stuck in it.

It released again and she scrolled forward as fast as she could, knowing that there might only be a few seconds to spare, wishing that the damned software would work just a little faster. And then, quickly rethinking her irritation and sending nice thoughts its way.

Good little program, she encouraged it silently. Go on, you’re great. You’re a real help. You’re wonderfully written.

Flattery would get you everywhere. Cami was convinced she felt it speed up just a little.

She reached the screen she needed. And there was Sutherland. Two of them. Andrea and Barney.

And a cellphone number attached to the name of Barney Sutherland.

With a huge sigh of relief, Cami quickly copied the number and exited the system, sending a silent thank you to the little clunky piece of software for having allowed her to flit in and out.

“I’ve got it,” she mouthed to Connor, who sounded like he was wrapping up his call.

“Okay,” he was saying. “Okay, fine. That’s great. Thanks.”

He hung up, too.

“Just as well you went at it from a different angle,” he admitted wryly. “That was one time where the human angle produced nothing but frustration. Now, let's see if we can get hold of Mr. Sutherland and if he's willing to tell us all about his company and why two of his control consoles have seemingly been overridden.”

He dialed the number, and Cami held her breath. This information had been hard won, and it would be all for nothing if Sutherland didn't answer his phone. Every ring ramped up her tension as she put her laptop back in her bag.

And then, a voice crackled from the other side, sounding surprised and a little annoyed.

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