Moving Target by Blair Denholm

Author:Blair Denholm [Denholm, Blair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

‘Zé.’ Jack massaged his jaw as an idea occurred to him. ‘Tell me why the IT guys still haven’t gotten inside Farooq’s laptop.’

‘I can’t answer for them. But they are doing their best, I can assure you.’ Da Silva’s voice contained a smidge of shame. Perhaps embarrassed in front of Jack because his colleagues weren’t able to access this important part of the puzzle that remained stubbornly locked.

‘No offence, mate, but perhaps their best ain’t good enough. Listen. I know a guy in London. We’ve been friends for years. I’d trust him with my life, and there aren’t many I can say that about. Anyway, he’s a self-taught hacker. One of the best around. He’s helped me out on a couple of cases. Hell, if it weren’t for Micky Knox I may never have tracked down my kid in the north of Scotland and rescued her from a particularly nasty villain.’

Da Silva’s head half turned, then snapped back to the front as a car overtook them a little too close. He swore loudly at the other driver, calmed instantly and asked, ‘What are you suggesting?’

‘You borrow the laptop from the evidence room, Fed Ex it over the channel, Micky cracks the computer for you.’

‘Are you out of your mind?’ Even from side on Jack could see the man’s eyebrows had lifted a couple of centimetres. ‘I can’t remove evidence.’

‘Sure you can. All you gotta do is sign it out, replace it with another one of the same model, Bob’s your uncle.’

‘I can’t believe you’re even–’

Jack burst out laughing. ‘I’m just joking, Zé. I know your techies will be having another go at it tomorrow. But they might fail again.’ He held up a finger and said, ‘I’m sure if I asked Micky to fly over and have a look – under your supervision – he’d jump at the chance.’

‘I don’t know about that. I’m not sure the budget would allow…’

‘Forget it. Micky’s got more money than you and me put together.’ The dial tone was already playing as Jack called his friend.

Three minutes later and it was settled. Knox would book the next available flight to Lisbon and render whatever assistance he could to the investigation, no remuneration offered or expected.

‘But you’ll be in the Algarve,’ said Da Silva once the call was terminated. ‘How’s that going to work?’

‘Micky’s a big lad. Well, he’s not very tall, but you know what I mean. He don’t need me around to hold his hand. If your team cracks it before he arrives, he’s happy to spend a couple of days sightseeing.’

The last two minutes of the drive were consumed with Da Silva’s opening up about the stresses of his home life. It came as no surprise to Jack, the signs were all there in the man’s body language.

‘I knew there was something up.’

‘I always seem to be doing things that upset my wife. I try to be careful but she gets triggered by the slightest thing. Or maybe it’s the constant demands of the job, me getting home late that she doesn’t like.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.