The Abduction by Robert J. Walker

Author:Robert J. Walker [Walker, Robert J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-25T22:00:00+00:00

18

With bated breath, Ray leaned in close, his eyes locked on the screen. Now that Billy had broken through the security code, the contents of the USB were free to access. There was only one folder on the stick, and it only had a number, not a name: 4.18.21.9.4.18.15.16.15.6.6.19

“What the heck do you think that means?” Billy asked.

Ray narrowed his eyes as he perused the numbers. “My first guess is some sort of code. It isn’t an IP address, is it?”

Billy shook his head. “No, too many numbers separated by periods.”

“Okay. I just wanted to rule that out. Anyway, we’ll figure out what the code means later. Open the folder, and let’s see what’s inside.”

Billy did this. They saw that inside the folder, there was just one file, a basic text file. Billy scanned it quickly for viruses, and as soon as he had ensured it was clean, he opened it. The document contained nothing but what seemed to be a string of indecipherable sequences of numbers.

“Damn, and here I was thinking that cracking the USB’s security was going to be the tough part,” Billy murmured. “How do you even begin to make sense of these strings of numbers?”

“I don’t know,” Ray said, “but do me a favor, give me a printout of this file. I’ll take it home and pore over it … maybe I’ll be able to crack this code.”

“I’ll print out a few copies,” Billy said. “I’d like to have a shot at cracking this, too. I’m sure Phelps would as well.”

“Smith, too,” Ray added.

Billy printed out a few copies of the strange file. Ray took these and distributed them to the relevant people, keeping one page for himself.

By the time he was done, it was almost the end of his shift. Although, for most of the day, his focus had been on the case and solving its various mysteries, he couldn’t deny that thoughts of the beautiful flight attendant he would have a date with later that evening had frequently popped into his head. Now that he was about to head home and get ready for his date, his mind was almost entirely occupied with the eager anticipation of the coming encounter. He was still surprised by the fact that Cat had actually asked him out on a date, but he wasn’t about to let his puzzlement about this dampen his excitement. After all, this would likely end up being the most enjoyable experience he’d had for a while, and it would be good to get his mind off this frustrating and tragic case for a while and just relax.

Just as he was about to leave the police station and head home, though, Phelps came looking for him, catching him right as he was about to walk out the front doors of the station.

“Captain, have you discovered something new?” Ray asked, doing his best to disguise his annoyance at being stopped on his way out.

“You … you were right about Manuel Alvarado,” Phelps admitted sheepishly. “I’m sorry for busting your balls about it.

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