explained usually warranted caution.
And his tingle was resonating in an alarming manner.
Chapter 3
Michael spent the remainder of the afternoon at his apartment scanning the manuscript for Abe, while trying to arrange the handoff of the Turkish delegation to Aldous – which didn’t go as he would have liked. They wanted a night on the town, complete with security, so he was going to be on deck with them from when their meetings ended until at least eleven in the evening.
Circumstances having conspired against him, Michael called Abe apologetically, and they deferred the electronics sweep to the following morning at ten. Abe was appreciative and understanding – Hey, it happened. See you tomorrow; don’t stay out too late .
Michael hardly had time to glance at the manuscript as he juggled the cumbersome task of manually scanning each page with making his telephone calls – though his native curiosity had been aroused by Abe’s description of the contents. Abe would let him peek at it once it became apparent his office was clean and there was no scheme to censor his e-mail. If so, super – and if not, also fine by Michael. Hell, he didn’t even have time to write his own masterpiece let alone pore through someone else’s. Still, a part of him was intrigued, which was one of the reasons he’d offered to scan the doc and give the office the once-over.
Finally finished at five p.m., he compressed the document and copied the file to a flash drive for Abe and then put it on his keychain – that way he wouldn’t lose it. It stood to be a late one, so Michael grabbed a couple of energy bars and guzzled a bottle of orange juice before leaving the apartment to keep New York safe from the Turks – or perhaps it was the other way around.
He talked to Jim, his electronics security contractor, and they agreed to meet at Abe’s building the following morning. Michael explained that it would be a quick one, as it was just Abe’s small office and a few cubicles and reception area. He also made a mental note to touch base with Abe’s tech guy to get a feeling for his acumen and background.
Which reminded him to call Koshi.
“What do you really think happened to the e-mail, Koshi? I mean, can you think of any scenario that doesn’t involve voodoo or internet Gestapo?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, the most likely is that he accessed his e-mail account from another computer at some point and it stored his password or had spyware on it. Or someone knows the password because he told them, and he forgot he did. That happens as you get older, I hear...” Koshi’s jab was obvious, but Michael ignored it.
“But then why delete only that e-mail?”
“Dude, you don’t really know what else is missing at this point. You just know that he noticed that one is gone and freaked. He could have a third of his logs wiped and I get the feeling he’d never register it. I really wouldn’t want to go down the alternative theory road. It’s a little far-fetched, and frankly kinda nutty – ninjas stole my best seller?”
Koshi was right.
“It does seem odd, doesn’t it?” Michael agreed.
“Look, here’s what we know. There’s an older gentleman, very nice, but still, older, who’s insisting that the spirits stole his e-mail. On the one hand, we have military-grade encryption, complete lack of any realistic explanation, and a universe of alternative theories – maybe his tech consultant logged his password or maybe it’s just not that tough to guess for someone close to him, for example. On the other hand, we have insistence it’s none of those, and that only this one e-mail is missing. Somehow, this is way more complicated than anything I’ve ever seen.” Koshi paused, allowing the silence to underscore his point.
“I know, I know…” Michael agreed.
“Where would you put your money, if you were a betting man?” Koshi asked.
“Okay then, don’t waste a ton of time on this, but do probe
And his tingle was resonating in an alarming manner.
Chapter 3
Michael spent the remainder of the afternoon at his apartment scanning the manuscript for Abe, while trying to arrange the handoff of the Turkish delegation to Aldous – which didn’t go as he would have liked. They wanted a night on the town, complete with security, so he was going to be on deck with them from when their meetings ended until at least eleven in the evening.
Circumstances having conspired against him, Michael called Abe apologetically, and they deferred the electronics sweep to the following morning at ten. Abe was appreciative and understanding – Hey, it happened. See you tomorrow; don’t stay out too late .
Michael hardly had time to glance at the manuscript as he juggled the cumbersome task of manually scanning each page with making his telephone calls – though his native curiosity had been aroused by Abe’s description of the contents. Abe would let him peek at it once it became apparent his office was clean and there was no scheme to censor his e-mail. If so, super – and if not, also fine by Michael. Hell, he didn’t even have time to write his own masterpiece let alone pore through someone else’s. Still, a part of him was intrigued, which was one of the reasons he’d offered to scan the doc and give the office the once-over.
Finally finished at five p.m., he compressed the document and copied the file to a flash drive for Abe and then put it on his keychain – that way he wouldn’t lose it. It stood to be a late one, so Michael grabbed a couple of energy bars and guzzled a bottle of orange juice before leaving the apartment to keep New York safe from the Turks – or perhaps it was the other way around.
He talked to Jim, his electronics security contractor, and they agreed to meet at Abe’s building the following morning. Michael explained that it would be a quick one, as it was just Abe’s small office and a few cubicles and reception area. He also made a mental note to touch base with Abe’s tech guy to get a feeling for his acumen and background.
Which reminded him to call Koshi.
“What do you really think happened to the e-mail, Koshi? I mean, can you think of any scenario that doesn’t involve voodoo or internet Gestapo?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, the most likely is that he accessed his e-mail account from another computer at some point and it stored his password or had spyware on it. Or someone knows the password because he told them, and he forgot he did. That happens as you get older, I hear...” Koshi’s jab was obvious, but Michael ignored it.
“But then why delete only that e-mail?”
“Dude, you don’t really know what else is missing at this point. You just know that he noticed that one is gone and freaked. He could have a third of his logs wiped and I get the feeling he’d never register it. I really wouldn’t want to go down the alternative theory road. It’s a little far-fetched, and frankly kinda nutty – ninjas stole my best seller?”
Koshi was right.
“It does seem odd, doesn’t it?” Michael agreed.
“Look, here’s what we know. There’s an older gentleman, very nice, but still, older, who’s insisting that the spirits stole his e-mail. On the one hand, we have military-grade encryption, complete lack of any realistic explanation, and a universe of alternative theories – maybe his tech consultant logged his password or maybe it’s just not that tough to guess for someone close to him, for example. On the other hand, we have insistence it’s none of those, and that only this one e-mail is missing. Somehow, this is way more complicated than anything I’ve ever seen.” Koshi paused, allowing the silence to underscore his point.
“I know, I know…” Michael agreed.
“Where would you put your money, if you were a betting man?” Koshi asked.
“Okay then, don’t waste a ton of time on this, but do probe
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