Read Online Fake: The Scarab Beetle Series: #3 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: C. L. Stone
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mean, I had to hack into some deep networks to even figure out this much.”
“Thanks Corey,” Marc said.
“Is Kayli there?” Corey asked.
“I’m here,” I said. Hearing Corey was good for me. He was safe. Had they told him what had happened to me? Or to Brandon?
“Just wanted to say hello,” he said. “You okay?”
Corey was being cute. “Yeah,” I said, my heart lifting at his concern, even if I wasn’t sure exactly how much they’d told him.
“We’ve got her,” Marc said. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay. Going to work on the cell phone when Kevin brings it. I’m tracking the messages I’ve gotten from them. Their emails are hard to trace because they’re from a different burner cell. Seems like they were all sent from the same phone, and it was bought here with cash, and these IPs don’t have any other activity. Their GPS signals that were stored are public places and random. They’re very careful.”
“Do your best. Call with updates,” Axel said before he hung up. “Let’s find this Randall Jones. That’ll get us closer to finding out where this core is.” He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t like that we’re looking for something illegal.”
“Maybe we should give these kidnappers access,” Marc said. “And then let them all go down with the Feds.”
“Maybe,” Axel said. “We need to get ourselves out of this mess, first. We may need to check out who is involved with this service. Anyone who needs an underground cell phone might be someone we’re interested in checking out.”
Marc smirked. “It’ll be like an Academy payday.”
My eyes widened, and I looked over at Axel, who was unreadable at first, but his eyes were shifting from the road, to the dash, to the mirrors and then over to me. When he met my gaze, he held it for a long time. There was a slight shake of his head. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?” I asked, because I hadn’t made the connection yet. I only heard Academy payday and I was wondering how uncovering a core would be that. I thought they didn’t get paid.
“The Academy won’t use the cell phone service,” he said. “But imagine who would use such a service? Someone who wouldn’t want to be overheard enough to risk possible jail time for a conversation over the phone.”
I hated to play Devil’s advocate, but I had to. “We don’t know why they would need one,” I said.
“So it’ll be better if the Academy investigates, wouldn’t it?” he asked.
I wanted to say it wasn’t our business what they were doing, but at the same time, maybe I was wrong. Simply having an illegal cell phone line, and buying into it, was a good indicator of corruption. I wondered if the Academy would keep such a service for themselves though. Or was it too great a risk to be discovered that way. I mean, right now there were bad guys looking to get access to this core they discovered. The Academy seemed, from what I understood, to operate in plain sight using everyday items that blended in. Anything sophisticated attracted attention.
The car was quiet as Axel drove on. Mt. Pleasant didn’t have a mountain on it at all, as far as I knew. The highest point in Charleston was any of the buildings downtown. Still, Mt. Pleasant was a collection point for the high-end middle class and wealthy who preferred suburbs over islands and couldn’t get one of the limited homes downtown. Mt. Pleasant homes and shops were newer, the roads well maintained and without need of historical permits.
After what seemed like an eon of staring out the windshield, Axel pulled into one of the ritzier subdivisions. These homes had garages at ground level, and the homes were built on top of the garages. Being close to the water, it served as protection against hurricanes and flooding.
He slowed through the neighborhood, gliding through the streets. A few blocks later, he made a circle, selected a house and parked in the driveway.
Was he insane?
“Thanks Corey,” Marc said.
“Is Kayli there?” Corey asked.
“I’m here,” I said. Hearing Corey was good for me. He was safe. Had they told him what had happened to me? Or to Brandon?
“Just wanted to say hello,” he said. “You okay?”
Corey was being cute. “Yeah,” I said, my heart lifting at his concern, even if I wasn’t sure exactly how much they’d told him.
“We’ve got her,” Marc said. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay. Going to work on the cell phone when Kevin brings it. I’m tracking the messages I’ve gotten from them. Their emails are hard to trace because they’re from a different burner cell. Seems like they were all sent from the same phone, and it was bought here with cash, and these IPs don’t have any other activity. Their GPS signals that were stored are public places and random. They’re very careful.”
“Do your best. Call with updates,” Axel said before he hung up. “Let’s find this Randall Jones. That’ll get us closer to finding out where this core is.” He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t like that we’re looking for something illegal.”
“Maybe we should give these kidnappers access,” Marc said. “And then let them all go down with the Feds.”
“Maybe,” Axel said. “We need to get ourselves out of this mess, first. We may need to check out who is involved with this service. Anyone who needs an underground cell phone might be someone we’re interested in checking out.”
Marc smirked. “It’ll be like an Academy payday.”
My eyes widened, and I looked over at Axel, who was unreadable at first, but his eyes were shifting from the road, to the dash, to the mirrors and then over to me. When he met my gaze, he held it for a long time. There was a slight shake of his head. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?” I asked, because I hadn’t made the connection yet. I only heard Academy payday and I was wondering how uncovering a core would be that. I thought they didn’t get paid.
“The Academy won’t use the cell phone service,” he said. “But imagine who would use such a service? Someone who wouldn’t want to be overheard enough to risk possible jail time for a conversation over the phone.”
I hated to play Devil’s advocate, but I had to. “We don’t know why they would need one,” I said.
“So it’ll be better if the Academy investigates, wouldn’t it?” he asked.
I wanted to say it wasn’t our business what they were doing, but at the same time, maybe I was wrong. Simply having an illegal cell phone line, and buying into it, was a good indicator of corruption. I wondered if the Academy would keep such a service for themselves though. Or was it too great a risk to be discovered that way. I mean, right now there were bad guys looking to get access to this core they discovered. The Academy seemed, from what I understood, to operate in plain sight using everyday items that blended in. Anything sophisticated attracted attention.
The car was quiet as Axel drove on. Mt. Pleasant didn’t have a mountain on it at all, as far as I knew. The highest point in Charleston was any of the buildings downtown. Still, Mt. Pleasant was a collection point for the high-end middle class and wealthy who preferred suburbs over islands and couldn’t get one of the limited homes downtown. Mt. Pleasant homes and shops were newer, the roads well maintained and without need of historical permits.
After what seemed like an eon of staring out the windshield, Axel pulled into one of the ritzier subdivisions. These homes had garages at ground level, and the homes were built on top of the garages. Being close to the water, it served as protection against hurricanes and flooding.
He slowed through the neighborhood, gliding through the streets. A few blocks later, he made a circle, selected a house and parked in the driveway.
Was he insane?
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