The Hacker by Daniel Scanlan

Author:Daniel Scanlan [Scanlan, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781801107822
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2022-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

15

Off-Grid

Ericka lifted her head at the sound, unconsciously sliding her hand over the worn blanket to where her holstered pistol lay within easy reach. Likely just Tim and Clarke coming with groceries, but recent events brooked no other response than complete vigilance. Her leg throbbed as she lifted herself to peer out the front window over the porch. Rain dripped from the roof, onto the railing, and from there to the aged, sun-bleached deck planks. This place had seen much better days, but for what they needed now, it was perfect. The cabin was set near the base of the hills surrounding the south end of the Tillamook valley in Oregon.

A place selected for having no connection to her or anyone she knew, literally air-gapped from her life. Seized by the FBI years before from a California gangster, the Bureau kept it for the same reasons he did: it made a perfect safe house. They’d brought her here after several days in a military hospital where she chafed to be on the move, doctors warning that she would be six weeks healing.

Originally built by off-grid hippies in the seventies, it had its own water, septic system, canned propane for cooking and now, paid for by its last owner, a very expensive solar array and battery system. It had no connection to the outside world, nestled so close to the surrounding trees it was barely visible on Google Maps. As long as no one forgot the rule about no phones within five miles, it was a place entirely in the physical world with no digital presence.

Ericka recognized the sound that had jarred her from her nap, penetrating the lulling ambience of rain on the metal roof and dripping water from the eaves. To the sound of a vehicle tire splashing through a deep puddle, the old Land Rover appeared between the trees lining the driveway, pulling up in front of the porch. This was the other part of the off-grid protocol: no modern cars whose array of computers might decide to call home looking for software updates. The Portland office kept several old vehicles as part of maintaining this place.

Tim and Clarke got out, pulling up hoods against the rain, then waving to her before going to the back to root for gear and groceries. They came through the front door dripping wet, kicking off shoes before walking over to the dining table to dump several bags of groceries. Tim opened the back door, leaning out to scan the leafy wall of the nearby forest before returning to the kitchen. He maintained a high state of vigilance even in normal circumstances; now he never seemed to stop scanning and evaluating.

Clarke pulled off her raincoat and hooked it on a peg by the door before dropping into the blood-red leather armchair across from Ericka, eyeing it with disdain. “What is it about gangbangers? None of them have any taste. How’s the leg?”

Ericka smiled, sharing Clarke’s opinion. “It fucking hurts.”

“How’s the other one?”

“It fucking hurts too.

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