“He did?” I asked, throwing John a surprised look. I did not think they would tell him everything. At least, I surmised, he didn’t know what exactly the videos Logan was being blackmailed with showed. I had to treat lightly.
“They also tell me you have some kind of plan? Care to share?” he asked without acknowledging my questioning look at John.
“Okay” I sighed, trying to sort through all the ideas and plans I came up with last night. “I gained full control over the laptop of the sports bar’s owner. I have complete access to all the files on it and his backup drives, and already found the videos on both. He’s one of those people who think Windows File History equals backups, and I couldn’t find any hidden drives on the computer, so I’m confident there won’t be any surprises. I’m going to spend the next week connecting to every device in their network and make sure the videos aren’t also on any phones, tablets, cloud storages or shared through other means.”
I looked around, waiting for anyone to ask questions. But none came up, yet. So, I continued.
“Yesterday, I said I’d brick every device and drive I’d find the videos on, but thinking about it, that would raise unneeded suspicions. I think it would be easier to avoid retaliation if his ‘backup’-drives and only the video files on the devices were corrupted. Looks more like a hardware failure than sabotage.”
“Sounds good so far. That’s why you intend to actually pay Logan’s debt? To make sure they have less reason to come after you all after you got rid of their kompromat?” Bill commented.
“Exactly. Claire was supposed to get the money from the bank.”
“Yes! I got it. And here’s the pouch you asked for.” she said, laying it on the small table.
“Perfect. So, next weekend I’ll place one of my actual business cards in that pouch, so he knows I work in a sizable security firm, and make the drive over to Austin in one of those nice armored SUVs. That should further deter them from trying anything stupid afterwards. Just before I’ll enter the bar, I’ll run the script on my C&C-server. It’ll send the command to the malware I have installed on their devices to replace all the copies of the videos, and a random selection of his other personal files, with corrupted files they can neither use nor restore. The copies on external drives would be replaced as soon as he connects them to any device infected with my malware.”
“Why do you have to make the drive yourself? You’re hurt!” Claire asked, her almost whining voice made sure everyone knew about her concern for my safety, and was met with general approval. I had a hard time refraining from admiring her acting skills.
“Because I’m the best suited to do it even while hurt. Who do you wanna send instead? Maybe John, who knows nothing about all this? Or your husband, who basically shut down when confronted with these guys? Your Golden Boy, who caused all this shit and will probably get a beating just for entering the place? Or would you rather send Ava or go yourself, after these guys all but dragged you two into their car when you met them in the parking lot?” I asked impatiently, earning me insulted and scared looks all around.
“Fine! Let Bill and his guys handle it!” Aaron protested.
“In case you forgot, I am one of Bill’s guys. I’ve been working and training with them for two years now. But there’s more to consider. I don’t want to give them any more reason to think of us as lucrative targets to extort. Of course, showing up with eight grand in cash in an armored car could do just that. But being able to hire people that can handle the whole thing for us would send a way worse message. Bill isn’t cheap.”
“I love you too, Kid.” Bill commented in played coyness, causing me to smirk.
“Still, I don’t like it!” Claire said, like the whole plan would fly out the window just because she didn’t approve.
“No, Mrs. Brown, your Kid is right. He knows how to handle himself and he’s the only one who knows how to look for the videos you’re worried about. Trust him, we trained him well.” Bill tried to reassure her. Then switched his attention back to me. “How do you want to make sure you got them all?” Bill finally asked.
“I think when he has the money, he’ll either talk about interest again or try to blackmail me with the videos. Either way, I’ll play dumb, laugh it off, and tell him to show me at least one of the videos. If I missed even a single copy anywhere, he’ll find it! Worst case, we’re back to where we started. If he doesn’t find any, I’ll know we’re in the clear.”
“Tim. What makes you think they won’t just beat the crap out of you when they find all the copies mysteriously corrupted? They’ll surely suspect something’s up.” John asked.
