The Code Within: A Thriller (Trent Turner Series) by S. L. Jones Page B
Authors: S. L. Jones
Ads: Link
and the fact that the mafia had robbed him of being there to support her during the final days of her life was something he wouldn’t let go.
He imagined her fear and sense of loneliness and would never forgive himself, even though it wasn’t his fault. Now he had nothing to lose. In his mind, he represented the only chance for his fellow hackers to make it out of this miserable situation. The trick was finding a way to get back at them without getting his head blown off. He needed to make sure there was no way they could figure out what he’d done.
Running into Maximillian Soller in the hacker forums was serendipitous. His username, mi11Ion2, made it a fairly simple task for someone with Zander’s unique skill set to confirm his identity after tracing the communications back to his college dorm. It was the break he’d been waiting for. He knew it was a long shot. It would take some serious luck for his selection of the senator’s son to materialize into a problem for the mafia, but it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
For the time being, he had the advantage. Nobody knew his mother was dead. The hackers all lived in fear knowing the Bratva might be tracking their every move. As far as he could tell, the Bratva only tracked their movements by their cell phones and the video surveillance in and around the apartment building where they all stayed. The complex was owned by Kozlov, so he never felt comfortable there.
“What’s going on?” Zander heard one of the guards ask Mikhail.
“Dimitri is sifting through the logs trying to figure out who put the senator’s son in the queue,” Mikhail said.
The queue was what they called the list of hackers who were good enough to install their bots without getting caught. Zander knew Soller wasn’t a skilled hacker, and that was one of the main reasons he chose him. Maximillian Soller II was a time bomb he hoped would eventually go off. Zander was purposely sloppy when deleting the communications between him and Soller. He was equally as careless with the messages between the other hacker recruits. The more opportunities he left for the authorities to uncover something untoward, the more chances of the Bratva being exposed.
He was concerned about the length of time it would take Sokov to work through the logs to figure out who had done the deed. He decided he only had a couple of hours before they would come after him. The hackers had been put on lock-down before, so he needed to move fast to make sure he wasn’t trapped in The Dungeon.
Zander had never been so thankful for a dentist appointment in his life. He walked over to the guard and submitted himself to the routine search. When they were finished, he rushed through the dank catacombs of the building and out to the street. He took the bus straight to his apartment, knowing he wouldn’t need a dentist if he didn’t hurry.
Chapter 29
Woodley Park, Washington, DC
THE BENIGN CLOUDS above had delivered night early. Smells swirled through the air of the nation’s capital and propelled summer into full swing. Plants were in bloom, and a light breeze delivered hints of culinary creations from a line of restaurants up ahead.
Trent Turner cautiously walked down Connecticut Avenue toward the Marriott Wardman Park. Out of habit, he would take a detour into a store, this time a Starbucks, to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He decided it would be a good idea to double back through a neighborhood before making his final approach to the hotel.
Turner hailed a taxi outside the coffee shop and directed the driver to take Cathedral Avenue and then head down Woodley Road toward the Marriott. A cab was his best option to go in unnoticed. Just before turning into the hotel driveway, he noted the gray Chrysler 300 parked on the street. There was a black scrape down the front driver’s-side quarter panel. He sized up the damage with his rental car in mind and knew the car’s owner was somehow connected to his
He imagined her fear and sense of loneliness and would never forgive himself, even though it wasn’t his fault. Now he had nothing to lose. In his mind, he represented the only chance for his fellow hackers to make it out of this miserable situation. The trick was finding a way to get back at them without getting his head blown off. He needed to make sure there was no way they could figure out what he’d done.
Running into Maximillian Soller in the hacker forums was serendipitous. His username, mi11Ion2, made it a fairly simple task for someone with Zander’s unique skill set to confirm his identity after tracing the communications back to his college dorm. It was the break he’d been waiting for. He knew it was a long shot. It would take some serious luck for his selection of the senator’s son to materialize into a problem for the mafia, but it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
For the time being, he had the advantage. Nobody knew his mother was dead. The hackers all lived in fear knowing the Bratva might be tracking their every move. As far as he could tell, the Bratva only tracked their movements by their cell phones and the video surveillance in and around the apartment building where they all stayed. The complex was owned by Kozlov, so he never felt comfortable there.
“What’s going on?” Zander heard one of the guards ask Mikhail.
“Dimitri is sifting through the logs trying to figure out who put the senator’s son in the queue,” Mikhail said.
The queue was what they called the list of hackers who were good enough to install their bots without getting caught. Zander knew Soller wasn’t a skilled hacker, and that was one of the main reasons he chose him. Maximillian Soller II was a time bomb he hoped would eventually go off. Zander was purposely sloppy when deleting the communications between him and Soller. He was equally as careless with the messages between the other hacker recruits. The more opportunities he left for the authorities to uncover something untoward, the more chances of the Bratva being exposed.
He was concerned about the length of time it would take Sokov to work through the logs to figure out who had done the deed. He decided he only had a couple of hours before they would come after him. The hackers had been put on lock-down before, so he needed to move fast to make sure he wasn’t trapped in The Dungeon.
Zander had never been so thankful for a dentist appointment in his life. He walked over to the guard and submitted himself to the routine search. When they were finished, he rushed through the dank catacombs of the building and out to the street. He took the bus straight to his apartment, knowing he wouldn’t need a dentist if he didn’t hurry.
Chapter 29
Woodley Park, Washington, DC
THE BENIGN CLOUDS above had delivered night early. Smells swirled through the air of the nation’s capital and propelled summer into full swing. Plants were in bloom, and a light breeze delivered hints of culinary creations from a line of restaurants up ahead.
Trent Turner cautiously walked down Connecticut Avenue toward the Marriott Wardman Park. Out of habit, he would take a detour into a store, this time a Starbucks, to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He decided it would be a good idea to double back through a neighborhood before making his final approach to the hotel.
Turner hailed a taxi outside the coffee shop and directed the driver to take Cathedral Avenue and then head down Woodley Road toward the Marriott. A cab was his best option to go in unnoticed. Just before turning into the hotel driveway, he noted the gray Chrysler 300 parked on the street. There was a black scrape down the front driver’s-side quarter panel. He sized up the damage with his rental car in mind and knew the car’s owner was somehow connected to his
Similar Books
