Read Online Fake: The Scarab Beetle Series: #3 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: C. L. Stone
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core in a warehouse or somewhere else. First, we need to figure out what a core is. When we find the core, we’ll keep an eye on it. We find these guys getting close to it, and we’ll jump them.”
“That’s our plan?” I asked, smirking. “Jump them?”
“We’ve got to find it first,” Axel said. “Then we’ll figure it out from there. For all we know, this core could be a nuke. Or a code that breaks into National Security. We’ll have to be careful.”
“I’ve got Corey figuring it out,” Marc said. He sat in the back with his head bowed, staring at his cell phone. He typed into it. “I told him this was Murdock’s Core and it has his Guard Dog security packet. He’s going to fill me in when they figure it out what it might be.”
“If it’s Murdock’s Core, why aren’t we chasing a Murdock?” I asked.
Axel shrugged. “The email said Randall, didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Marc said. “Randall Jones. The only thing in the email. No Murdock.”
That was kind of odd. Why call it Murdock at all? “How is Corey involved anyway?” I asked. “They said something about he wrote the security packet… doohickey thing?”
“He’s got some security software he wrote,” Marc said. “But it’s freeware. Free software. It’s a pretty sophisticated cryptic thing. Apparently whoever has this Murdock’s Core, they used his software for the security. So they assume Corey could hack it.”
“They said Corey could figure out the password, too,” I said. “They thought Corey could do it quickly. Can he really break into it if they’d gotten the real Corey?”
“Give Corey a few minutes,” Marc said, his eyes lit up and he lifted his head. “All I gave him was a name, and he’s already on the trail for what this thing is. He’ll be able to find out more. He might even be able to give us some good info about that cell phone once Kevin gets there with it.”
Axel took state road 17 out of downtown, crossed the bridge and headed north toward Mt. Pleasant. Old Historical Charleston neighborhoods cleared and we got into the suburban sprawl on the other side of the bridge.
Before we got too far, Axel’s phone on the dash lit up and he touched the surface to answer. “What’s up, Corey?”
“Hey guys,” Corey’s voice came through on speaker. “Looks like this Murdock’s Core is a burner phone service. Sort of.”
I sat up. He’d figured it out so quickly? I wanted to ask how he did it, but didn’t want to interrupt. I turned back to look at Marc, who only grinned proudly and mouthed something that I thought was, “Better than I thought.”
“What do you mean, sort of ?” Axel asked.
“More sophisticated. It’s a service not even on the Feds’ radar. Includes an eight-hundred number you dial into that keeps track of your phone numbers and voice mails at a central server. Technically, you can use any cell phone you’d like. If you want to be super careful, you can switch out SIM cards and it keeps track of your business contacts and lets you keep the same number, it just changes your ID number on your phone regularly. Better for business if customers don’t have to keep up with new numbers all the time. There’s more to it, but that’s all I can get without looking either at one of their cell phones they use, or figuring out where the core is. But the core is a central server that keeps the usernames and passwords required for accounts and manages the service.”
“So it’s an illegal cell service they want access to?” Marc asked. “This is illegal, right?”
“All cell phones are required to be regulated and tracked, at least in the States. Whoever this Randall is, he might be the owner or something. Someone has to run it. But yeah, one-hundred percent illegal operation if the government can’t regulate it. What I’m not sure about is how exactly they’re hitting cell phone towers for service and getting away with it without being traced by the FCC or the NSA. I
“That’s our plan?” I asked, smirking. “Jump them?”
“We’ve got to find it first,” Axel said. “Then we’ll figure it out from there. For all we know, this core could be a nuke. Or a code that breaks into National Security. We’ll have to be careful.”
“I’ve got Corey figuring it out,” Marc said. He sat in the back with his head bowed, staring at his cell phone. He typed into it. “I told him this was Murdock’s Core and it has his Guard Dog security packet. He’s going to fill me in when they figure it out what it might be.”
“If it’s Murdock’s Core, why aren’t we chasing a Murdock?” I asked.
Axel shrugged. “The email said Randall, didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Marc said. “Randall Jones. The only thing in the email. No Murdock.”
That was kind of odd. Why call it Murdock at all? “How is Corey involved anyway?” I asked. “They said something about he wrote the security packet… doohickey thing?”
“He’s got some security software he wrote,” Marc said. “But it’s freeware. Free software. It’s a pretty sophisticated cryptic thing. Apparently whoever has this Murdock’s Core, they used his software for the security. So they assume Corey could hack it.”
“They said Corey could figure out the password, too,” I said. “They thought Corey could do it quickly. Can he really break into it if they’d gotten the real Corey?”
“Give Corey a few minutes,” Marc said, his eyes lit up and he lifted his head. “All I gave him was a name, and he’s already on the trail for what this thing is. He’ll be able to find out more. He might even be able to give us some good info about that cell phone once Kevin gets there with it.”
Axel took state road 17 out of downtown, crossed the bridge and headed north toward Mt. Pleasant. Old Historical Charleston neighborhoods cleared and we got into the suburban sprawl on the other side of the bridge.
Before we got too far, Axel’s phone on the dash lit up and he touched the surface to answer. “What’s up, Corey?”
“Hey guys,” Corey’s voice came through on speaker. “Looks like this Murdock’s Core is a burner phone service. Sort of.”
I sat up. He’d figured it out so quickly? I wanted to ask how he did it, but didn’t want to interrupt. I turned back to look at Marc, who only grinned proudly and mouthed something that I thought was, “Better than I thought.”
“What do you mean, sort of ?” Axel asked.
“More sophisticated. It’s a service not even on the Feds’ radar. Includes an eight-hundred number you dial into that keeps track of your phone numbers and voice mails at a central server. Technically, you can use any cell phone you’d like. If you want to be super careful, you can switch out SIM cards and it keeps track of your business contacts and lets you keep the same number, it just changes your ID number on your phone regularly. Better for business if customers don’t have to keep up with new numbers all the time. There’s more to it, but that’s all I can get without looking either at one of their cell phones they use, or figuring out where the core is. But the core is a central server that keeps the usernames and passwords required for accounts and manages the service.”
“So it’s an illegal cell service they want access to?” Marc asked. “This is illegal, right?”
“All cell phones are required to be regulated and tracked, at least in the States. Whoever this Randall is, he might be the owner or something. Someone has to run it. But yeah, one-hundred percent illegal operation if the government can’t regulate it. What I’m not sure about is how exactly they’re hitting cell phone towers for service and getting away with it without being traced by the FCC or the NSA. I
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