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Skills – Back Against the Wall
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When Miss Ashley Dithers asked me to fix her computer I was all for it. We set a time and day and I was all set for a few hours of matching wits with spammers and data miners. I packed up a nice, fairly standard set of programs and pieces of hardware and headed to her place, a quiet section of town I'd always avoided
because
it was so quiet.
I also avoided the place because of the security measures employed by damn near every home owner in the neighborhood. If you looked at the statistics a black male will be pulled over by the cops if he stays there for more than ten minutes... and it takes fifteen to walk through the place. Fortunately I have transportation and a Reason to be there.
Her home wasn't quite fabulous, though there was certainly attention paid to appearances. The lawn was perfectly manicured. The flower bed was vacant, but even so it was well maintained. Out of habit I let my eyes scan for the visible cameras and spotted six!!
I hesitated. After shaking bad Thoughts from my head I exited my car, picked up my backpack and tool case and headed for the front door. Ashley answered the doorbell wearing a pink sweatshirt and matching jogging pants. On her feet was a pair of slip on designer shoes... also pink. I don't like pink, but on her it was not only acceptable... she looked good. Better than when I normally saw her; the perfectly starched and creased business suits always made her look anal retentive. Probably a good thing; bank managers have to be a bit stiff.
Inside the placed was in transition. From the rumor mill I'd heard about her recent divorce... with recent being a relative term. Given the somewhat ease of the comments I placed the divorce at no less than six months. The living room was filled with an assortment of boxes and new furniture. She asked that I pardon the mess. I chuckled softly and asked how things were going.
Just making general chat is easy... only when I know I'm being watched. And it wasn't just her gray-blue eyes on my body that had me on edge; the place felt like it was under scrutiny. Once inside her bedroom I took a moment to really look around.
"You feel it too? Like you're being watched?" That settled it. Though I jokingly said it was because of the security in the neighborhood I made it a point to quietly place several monitor programs on her computer.
I'd noticed that instead of a modem her tower was plugged into the wall. Nice and convenient if you plan on staying... or snooping. As I started my examination I came to admire Ashley; she was pretty good at hiding her sensitive stuff. Nowhere near my league, but her efforts would keep someone from simply opening her private files and uploading them anywhere with less than a thought and three mouse-clicks.
However... as I was about to load an anti-viri/spyware program one of my alarm programs beeped a message. Ashley asked if something was wrong and I quickly and smoothly dismissed it as a standard alert. But it was nothing of the sort; someone already had backdoor access to her computer. My program could easily kill their access... but I chose Plan B: Spy-vs.-Spy. I finished my work... all of it... while keeping Ashley occupied with idle chatter about the really mundane things that everyone knows.
I also gave her a demonstration of what I'd done. This was not because she needed it; I needed to buy enough time to activate the white noise generator in my backpack. I gave it five seconds to kick in... then told Ashley what I'd discovered and what I'd done. I also told her I wanted to make sure there weren't any camera's inside the house... those small, micro-mini fuckers that can be easily tucked away.
* * * *
The only hard part was shaking the feeling that Ashley would let something slip. I was jazzed at the possibility of busting her ex-hubby for trying to gain some form of leverage against her. Yet... the way she seemed to utterly... cool... bothered me.
What I discovered about the back door was sobering, but also very childish. The program gave the snoop complete viewing pleasure from the array of secret cameras hidden in
every
room in the place... including the bathroom. I also discovered that the door was hidden.
Just hidden
.
See... if you hide something you inevitably leave clues as to where it is. What was
not
on her computer... and I checked three times... was a program to warn the snoop when the gig was up. Arrogant; just what one would expect from a hubby. He even had a bonus; Ashley got the house. Since she didn't know, all he had to do was modify the program a bit... if at all. Even before I started prepping to trace the lines I figured he had at least one connection to his terminal in his law office and another at his new doss... probably in his personal office.
It took some time to get things just as I wanted them. Fortunately I was able to ghost a massive drive to a replay function. Just the thing for recording her going about her usual ritual. I timed the loop perfectly; Ashley was online waiting for me.
* * * *
Is it him?
Checking...
I glanced at the second monitor and smiled briefly. Talk about arrogant; he had a similar masking routine on the computers I'd predicted. Similar... but a bit outdated when compared to the stuff on Ashley's computer.
Confirmed.
Figures. Are there cameras as well?
Confirmed.
Show me.
Negative; action not recommended.
I... see. Thank you.
If I was a bit bothered before I was paranoid now. I'd spoken in my usual clipped Shadow-Speak. It's not something normal people deal with easily. Ashley broke our chat session. Via the main monitor I was able to watch her prepare for bed. Now... knowing you have eyeballs in the home, you'd think she'd take care to not get undressed in any light source. Not her; she moved as if there was nothing wrong. I wasn't sure if I should be happy... or terrified.
She didn't go into the bathroom... and I was glad. I wasn't sure, but judging from the camera angle on one of the mini-screens hubby had a thing for watching her pee. I was just surprised he didn't have one tied into the toilet proper... to watch No. 2; he's a sick fucker. Sick... but damn good at installing the cameras. I knew where they were because I'd pulled up a 3-D layout of her place. Don't ask; I'd have to kill you.
There was not one corner of that place we could not view. Well... beneath the bed, but unless you can teleport he'll see you. The microphones were a bit harder to place, but I wasn't too worried about them. They fed their input into her computer before shipping them his way... or wherever I chose to ship them. So... after about one hour of watching Ashley sleep in one position I looped the track, fed it his way... and commanded her computer to start playing happy hardcore.
Are we secure?
Yes...
Thank you. I was getting a bit tired of the cloak and dagger stuff.
*chuckles* Sorry... old habits die hard. Speaking of which... you played your part well.
I've been married to a lawyer for twenty-five years.
Long enough to have picked up more than a few useful tricks; that put my mind at ease... slightly. If she was good enough to almost hold her own against him I had to be
very
careful.
He even has a camera in the bathroom... aimed just right to watch you...pee.
