Chapter 30 – Desk Duty
Monday morning Dave scheduled a meeting with Lynn and most of his staff – a debriefing as it’s called in the business – to go over her experience in detail so they could discuss how things could have been handled better so they could all learn from her ordeal. When Lynn told them about threatening to poop in her pants if Carlos didn’t let her go to the bathroom they all laughed. It broke the tension that had built up in all of them as they imagined themselves going through what Lynn experienced.
When she was finished everyone stood and clapped. Dave finished the meeting with a few comments.
“What was the most important asset Lynn used in this?”
Some said it was her fighting skills, others her calmness, or maybe her emotional stability. But Dave had his own opinion.
“Lynn has an incredible gift of resourcefulness and cleverness, coupled with a quick mind. I would have her to teach us how to acquire these qualities but, for the most part, these thing are innate and can’t be taught. But if you hang out with her enough, maybe some of it will rub off. We’re very lucky to have her as an asset in CSIC.” Lynn felt a twinge of guilt as she thought of her plan to go off on her own shortly.
Another round of applause, then the meeting broke up. Dave asked Lynn to stay to talk about her future assignments.
“This assignment was very taxing on you, both emotionally and physically. Frankly, I don’t know how you got through it. When I thought they had killed you I hated myself for giving you the assignment. I imagine you feel totally drained by it all.”
“No, not really. It was a great adrenaline rush. I haven’t felt so alive since before Jack died.”
“Well, regardless, I’m going to keep you here at the office for awhile on desk duty. I’ll find the most interesting cases I can for you to work your hacking magic on. What kinds of cases do you prefer?”
“Actually, I found the deadbeat dad assignments rewarding. I’d like to continue working on those for awhile. Not the ho-hum everyday ones. Give those to someone else. I want the challenging ones.”
“Good. I’ll sift through the cases and cherry pick the tough ones for you. But for now, take a couple of days off to recuperate.”
“Can’t do that. I need something to do – to keep me busy – to get my mind refocused.”
“Don’t argue. Get out of here.”
Lynn sat in her living room watching the TV news in the middle of the afternoon. If I just had another payback job or two, that would get my mind working again. But how do I find new business? Damn am I bored.
She picked up a newspaper and scanned the front page. Nothing there. But on the third page a headline caught her eye.
Rape Charges Against State Senator Dismissed
She thought, I wonder why the charges were dropped? Did he really do it?
The story below the headline had the answer. The Senator was charged with raping one of the woman on his staff, but a key piece of evidence was declared inadmissible – the semen collected from the woman at the hospital. His defense lawyers had it thrown out because the nurse who took the sample wasn’t certified to administer the test.
Lynn opened her computer to find more details and some photos on the newspaper’s web site. According to the woman’s testimony, the Senator had asked her stay late and help him finish a report. After everyone else was gone he made advances and, when she told him no, he hit her in the face, held her down on the couch, and raped her. The other evidence – a torn blouse, bruises, and her blood on his couch – was strong, but he testified that she didn’t stay late; that he was alone in the office. His lawyer claimed someone else must have committed the rape and she tried to blame her boss to ruin his chances in the upcoming election for governor.
If the rape kit had been admitted and showed it was the senator’s semen, he would be on his way to prison. Lynn’s mood lifted at the thought of taking the man down. This woman needs some justice, some payback for what he did to her, and I’m going to give it to her. How should I go about this? Should I let her know what I’m doing? . . . No, she needs deniability in case this comes back on me. Maybe when I’m done with him I can send her an anonymous email.
Back at the computer Lynn started digging into the financial affairs of Pennsylvania Senator Jeremiah A. Ritter, middle name Alphonse. There’s got to be something illegal going on here – he’s a politician. Kickbacks, payoffs, even blackmail. I need to find something that will get him a prison sentence. Most guys like him don’t bother to hide their criminal activities very well. They’re so arrogant they think no one will come after them.
It took Lynn the rest of the afternoon and half the night, but she found several things she could use, including a numbered account in the Bank of Mexico City with a large deposit every month. When she traced the source of the deposits she found it was an offshore bank in the Caribbean. With help from the Darknet, she tied that account to the AFL-CIO union in Philadelphia. What are they paying him for?
She hacked into the Pennsylvania Senate archives to see if he had a voting record of favoring the union, and found that for the past five years he fought every issue that would limit union power, like right-to-work laws and limits on union dues. That’s pretty damning, but being a union supporter isn’t against the law. There has to be something else I can nail him with.
Lynn went back to the Mexican bank account to look for other deposits and payouts. She found another monthly deposit that wasn’t as large as the AFL-CIO deposits, but she traced it back to its source – Voyeur Entertainment Corporation, VEC. She couldn’t find much about it on the internet so she went back to the Darknet for details. The company is a leading producer and supplier of child pornography videos. But what was the Senator’s connection? After some more digging she learned that one of the VEC studios was just across the river in Camden, New Jersey. She looked at the corporate officers – there were only two – but didn’t find the Senator’s name. “Hmmm. Where’s the connection. Why would VEC be sending Ritter monthly deposits into his anonymous bank account?”
She was about out of ideas when she realized she should examine the money transfers from the other side of the balance sheet. She hacked into the VEC accounting software and looked for expenditures matching the Senator’s deposits. She found the transfers, but the VEC account listed them as rental fees. That’s probably just a cover story to justify the expenses,” Lynn thought. . . . “But . . . But what if it is the rent payment! That means Ritter owns the building. And I can find that out from Camden tax records.
Lynn started to hack into those records when she realized in was almost 3 a.m. “Damn, I’m so close. But I need some sleep. I have tomorrow off so I can finish this in the morning. Besides, Jack warned me about hacking after hours – hacking is more easily detected when not many others are using the system.
She showered and climbed into bed, but she couldn’t shut her mind down. It was running full speed. That’s the problem with having A.D.D – you can’t turn it off at will. She directed it at what she would do if the Senator did own the building, and turned her mind loose.
I’ll take it to the police • but what could they do • renting space to a pornographic film maker is not a crime • the FBI could raid the place and shut it down, but the landlord wouldn’t be in trouble • I could get the local news media involved, but the worst that would do to Ritter is lose his election for Governor – maybe • but that’s not much of a punishment • I want him in prison • if he’s somehow involved in the business that might get him prison time • I’ll run down that angle tomorrow to see where it leads • but the lawyers will just get him off again • and even if they can’t it will drag on for a year or two • I want revenge for the woman he raped now before he can do that to someone else • what if he finds out I’m investigating him • will he send some goons after me? • they’ll be sorry if they mess with me • what time should I get up in the morning? • I want to get an early start on this • • • I forgot
to brush my teeth • that can wait ‘til morning • darn, I forgot to pee • I better get up and do it or I’ll wake up in an hour • • •
When Lynn got back to bed her mind had slowed down to a more normal pace, so she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
Lynn woke up the next morning with a new thought. Maybe she could connect Senator Ritter to the video company from his end – hack his computer. She used the approach Jack taught her – send him an email with a link he can’t resist opening, and when he does Jack’s invisible spyware is installed on his computer. It can’t be detected by anti-virus programs, and if they can’t find it they can’t erase it. It will open up the computer to Lynn’s probing from then on.
She found his email address at his campaign website and five minutes later had composed a message that he was sure to open. She emailed it to him using one of her online aliases and waited for the Senator to open it. She hoped he checked his email frequently, otherwise it could be a day or two before she could probe his computer.
While she was waiting she went into the Camden database of property owners to find who owned the building that VEC rented. Her instincts were right about that one – it was Jeremiah Ritter.
Senator Ritter lived in a luxury suite at the Ritter Hotel in downtown Philadelphia. Room service brought him his customary breakfast in bed this morning, which he ate while reading the Wall Street Journal. When he called for the maid to take away the breakfast tray, she brought his laptop computer to him. That was the second part of his morning ritual – scanning the online news services, checking to see how his investments were doing, and reading his emails. Sometimes he would visit a secret corner of his computer’s memory for a special treat.
Halfway through the emails – there were 23 of them this morning, mostly from friends and associates – he saw one from a Dorothy Bradbury. He didn’t recognize the name, but the subject line read Large Campaign Donation for Our Future Governor, so he went ahead and opened it.
Dear Senator,
We met last summer at the annual Ball On The Square sponsored by the Friends of Ritter Square, where I enjoyed the delightful conversation we shared. You impressed me with your plans for our state after you are elected Governor, and I asked myself what I could do to ensure your victory.
I went back to our home in Pittsburgh and organized a golf tournament and an exclusive dinner as fundraisers for your campaign. The response was excellent; we raised over $92,000. It’s being held in an account at the PNC bank awaiting transfer to the Ritter for Governor account at the Wells Fargo Bank in Philadelphia. The link below provides the routing information for the transfer.
www.PNCTransferRouting.com.
I look forward to meeting you at your Inaugural Ball.
Dorothy Bradbury
“Well thank you Dorothy Bradbury! I don’t remember meeting you, but there were so many people at the ball, and I was pretty drunk. It’s all a jumble in my mind. That’s a nice chunk of change. I’ll transfer it now before you change your mind.” Click.
A message popped up on the screen. “Site is unavailable at this time. Please try again later.”
“Damn internet! It’s always something. Too many people online first thing in the morning. I’ll try later. But the money got my motor going this morning. I’ll spend a few minutes in my secret playground.” He clicked on the icon of a carnival merry-go-round that took him to a locked partition of his hard drive, where he chose a recently downloaded video.
Lynn was at her computer following Ritter through his keystrokes. A video titled “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, produced by Voyeur Entertainment Corporation, started running. It only took a couple of minutes to get to the shocking part. “He’s watching a porn movie! . . . Those girls are so young!” She watched a few more seconds, then turned it off in disgust.
Now he definitely has to go to prison – for a long time. How can I make that happen?
After some more internet searches she found the web site of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, ICACTF. She spent the next hour learning how they find violators, collect evidence, arrest them, and prosecute them. It sounded great to Lynn until she saw that the average time for them to get the case before the courts is twenty-seven months. That sucks, she thought. I have to stop this man now, not two years from now. I’ll have to do it myself – destroy him without waiting for wheels of bureaucratic justice to turn.
Lynn closed her laptop in disgust and contemplated what to do next. She thought about exploring more of the videos on the Senator’s computer to see if there was something that would get him arrested, but she couldn’t stomach the idea of watching more sexual abuse of young girls. She thought about the principle that got her this far in her investigation – changing perspective by looking at problems from the opposite direction – and decided to go back to VEC and hack deeper into their files. She found a library of films customers could choose from – she wasn’t about to watch any more of those. But when she opened the last file in the directory titled ‘PRIVATE’ she saw a list of videos and still photos that looked promising. Most had titles like ‘Bobs Favorite Girls’, ‘JR in Action’, and ‘VP Gang Bang.’
These didn’t sound like titles of films offered to the public, so she opened the first one. It showed an older man laying naked on a massage table. He waved his hand and said “Come to uncle Bob, my darlings.” Immediately six girls in their early teens swarmed the table and started performing sexual acts on him. Lynn shuddered and closed the file. As she opened the next one, ‘JR in Action,’ she had a fleeting thought. Could JR be Jeremiah Ritter? The first scene showed a younger girl being tied to the four posts of a bed by some older girls. She was crying and shivering because they had stripped her clothes off . Then an unclothed Jeremiah Ritter entered the scene, smiled at the camera, and climbed on top of the poor girl. As the girl screamed Lynn disconnected the link. She was angrier than she had ever been in her life. She felt her blood pressure rising. Her hands were shaking. She couldn’t think straight. She wanted to walk into Ritter’s office and blow his brains out – splatter them all over the wall. Then go the VEC studio, free all the girls they must be holding captive there, and castrate every man who worked there. These are crazy thoughts! I have to calm down so I can think again.
She walked into the kitchen, poured several ounces of bourbon into a glass, and drank it down in two gulps. It burned all the way down and took her breath away . . . her lungs filled with alcohol fumes, choking her. She doubled over in a coughing fit as her eyes flooded with tears. She thought she was going to pass out on the floor, but she finally sucked in a lungful of air and started to recover.
Damn! I’ve never had straight liquor before. I don’t know how people do that. After a few minutes everything started to return to normal – sort of. She wondered if her throat would ever quit burning. But the anger was mostly gone and she could think again. It’s obvious that Ritter does more than collect rent from VEC. The video clearly links him to the porn producer. If there was a way I could get this out to the public his career, and probably his marriage, would be destroyed immediately. But television news would never run the video, and without the video he would claim it’s all a smear campaign by his opponent. I need a new angle.
When she stood up to go back to work her legs were unsteady and she felt a little dizzy. It’s the bourbon. I drank it on an empty stomach. . . . Time for a little nap.
As Lynn lay on the couch, her mind was still working on her dilemma – plenty of evidence but none of it useful in the short term. Now if it was murder, the authorities would be all over him right now. But I haven’t found any evidence on that.
As her eyelids closed, pulled shut by some force she couldn’t control, she heard Jack speaking to her. That brought her back from the brink. She looked around and saw him sitting in the recliner watching her. He had a smile on his face.
“What are you looking at?”
“I always loved watching you sleep, Lynn. With your
face so relaxed your true beauty shows through.”
“Are you trying to seduce me?” Lynn asked with a naughty smile on her face.
“Not something us spirits can manage. At least not with an earth-bound human.”
“So what are you here for, my wonderful spirit husband?”
“To help you get Ritter. I’ll leave it as a question. Where does he get his girls from and what happens to them after he’s finished with them?”
“That’s two questions.”
“The answers will give you what you want.”
“What do you mean? What do I want.? . . . Jack. Jack?”