Chapter Twenty-One

There were gaps. Books leaning here and there, spaces in between. Kate stood next to the bargain bin on the sidewalk, arms full of paperbacks, some more worn than others. Tried not to think about what she’d wear for dinner tomorrow. She’d said yes. Kate shook her head at herself.

Fast beat of footsteps from the right, coming closer, speeding over the ground. She glanced over, toward the sound, registered gangly limbs.

“Watch out!” Someone was running toward her, full tilt, a blur of motion.

There was no time to move. Nowhere to move to. Cars on the road, the bin beside her. Kate braced herself and waited for the impact.

Sneakers skidded, tripped over the pavement. Came to a stop. A laptop bag swung against her leg, one corner rapping against her knee. “I almost killed you,” Jeremy gasped. Tufts of hair, quivering from the motion, added to his shocked expression. The last time she had seen him, he’d been kneeling beside Mr. Wendell’s dead body. She could only hope he was as good at fixing computers as Dr. Garreth said he was.

“You’re standing on my toe.”

“Sorry.” He moved back. “Running a hundred and fifty minutes a week can lower the risk of heart disease, reduce blood pressure and strengthen your bones.” Jeremy caught his breath.

He was heavier than he looked. Kate wriggled her toes in her shoe. Everything still worked. “Check my blood pressure. You’ll find it’s off the charts.”

“Maybe you should take up jogging.”

“I thought you’d be by later. I really hope you’re here to look at my computer.”

“That’s the plan.” He stretched his arms out and cracked his fingers. “Where’s the patient?”

“Inside. Does Dr. Garreth let you wear that to work?” Kate gestured at the slogan on his jumper. It’s Only A Flesh Wound. Red letters on black fabric.

“What?” Jeremy looked down at his chest. “Oh, that. Today’s Sunday.” He shrugged.

“Right. Do you think you could take a look at another laptop for me while you’re at it?” Kate held the door open for him. “The laptop’s…well, daunting. Do you think you could set it up for me to use? Or access the contacts? Only problem is, there’s bound to be a login password.”

“And you don’t know what it is?”

“No,” Kate admitted.

“That might be a problem. Depends what kind of security we’re talking about, but I could take a look. Nothing’s impossible.” He dropped his backpack on the floor, and a binder popped through the open zipper. His laptop bag was lowered more carefully to the ground.

“Thanks for coming by. I really appreciate it.”

“I live for this stuff.” His eyes slid toward her computer, checking out the model the way other men would look at women. By the way his features fell, she assumed hers didn’t impress.

Kate pulled out her desk chair, brushed a few bread crumbs off it. Offered it to him. “The seat of honor is all yours.”

Jeremy took a pair of silver-rimmed glasses from his pocket and slipped them onto his nose. They gave him a more studious appearance, balancing out the lightning-bolt effect of his hair.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Nah. I’m sorted.” Jeremy yanked a one-and-a-half liter bottle of cola out of his backpack and set it down next to him. “Do you mind?”

“So long as you don’t spill it, no.” Kate moved her empty tea cup, making space for him. Beneath the table, his knee jiggled up and down as he reached for the keyboard. There was a stain in the denim, about a quarter inch in diameter, uneven edges. A few more droplets trailing down the leg, becoming smaller. “That isn’t what I think it is, is it?”

“Hmm?” Eyes on the monitor, the error message.

“The marks on your jeans. Please tell me it’s paint.”

Jeremy looked down. “No, that’d be blood. Damn. Protein’s a bitch to get out of fabric.”

Kate stared at the spots darkening his jeans.

“Good news and bad news, Kate.” Jimmy stated, turning from the screen.

“A verdict?” Kate blinked. “Already?” She thought he’d have to take the machine apart.

“Yeah, piece of cake. Your hard drive’s damaged.”

“Can you fix it?”

“No. After a certain number of read-writes, the head wears out.”

Kate’s heart sank. “I’m hoping that was the bad news.”

“Don’t worry, it is. The good news is that all you have to do is buy a new one and replace it.” Jimmy shut the computer down. He pulled out his own laptop, opened the internet browser. His fingers flew over the keys. “I suggest you pick from one of these.” He angled the screen so she could see. The price was well within her range. Lower than she thought, actually. “You don’t need anything high-capacity, so these are fine. Order now, and the hard drive could arrive in three or four days.”

“I’ll pay you for your time, too.” It sounded too easy. There had to be a catch. “What does replacing a hard drive involve?”

“Swapping out the hard drive is a five-minute job. Installing it can take a couple of hours. Now let’s take a look at that laptop.”

“I was hoping I could use the laptop in the meantime, until my computer works again. Would I be able to use the internet on the laptop, maybe even access saved contacts?”

“If I can get into it, yeah.”

Kate lifted the laptop and passed it to him. Jeremy’s eyes widened. “This is some equipment, Kate,” he murmured. “Not new, mind.”

“Should I leave you two alone?” Kate laughed.

“Would you?” He turned the laptop on.

She wasn’t sure if he was serious or not. “No.”

“Too bad.” He took one look at the screen, nodded, and scrounged through his bag. “I have a copy of Con-Boot burned onto a CD. You boot up from the CD, and get into the windows password screen. It bypasses the authentication process.” Jeremy inserted the disc and moved back. “Here, take a look.”

Kate looked over Jeremy’s shoulder. “But it’s still asking me for a password.”

“With the CD, all you have to do is press Enter to bypass it, no password needed.” He hit the key. “And hey, presto, you’re in. The CD circumvents the login password, but you won’t be able to access any protected documents.”

“I was expecting columns of green figures, hours of slave-labor and furious typing. It’s slightly unsettling that this was so easy. Makes you consider going back to lock and chain.”

Jeremy shrugged. “You’ve got to know what to do. The only thing is, you’re going to have to keep using the CD to get in. You can’t set up your own password because we don’t know the old one to change it. Just leave it in the CD drive and you’ll be fine.”

Kate studied the screen. Everything looked vaguely similar to her own, only sleeker. The desktop wallpaper was of stars, night sky, black trees. Depths that seemed to move, even though they weren’t. “I can access the files, too?” Kate hoped she hadn’t just made Jeremy accessory to a crime. Cleaning Wendell’s room was one thing. Going through his laptop another. They still hadn’t found a relative to contact. Maybe there’d be something, a phone number, a name, saved on the laptop that would help.

“You should be able to.”

Kate clicked the address book icon. Scrolled. It was empty. There were no contacts. Not so unusual. Some people chose to save addresses in their e-mail accounts. She opened Windows Explorer. Kate double-clicked on a document titled ‘Notes.’

Password protected. It looked like death wasn’t going to stop Mr. Wendell from keeping his secrets. “Can I use the CD to get around this password, too?”

“Con-Boot only allows you to access the system or create a new ‘root’ account. It won’t work with this. But you can access the internet, sort your online orders, create new documents.”

“You’re a life saver.”

Jeremy rammed the plastic soda bottle, now a third less full, into his over-full bag. “A computer god?” He grinned as he hefted the bag. The contents rattled mysteriously.

“Let’s not get carried away.”

“Let me know when the hard drive arrives and I’ll try to come by after work to install it. And, if you don’t have time, it would be okay if your friend was here. The woman with the dark hair. From the house.” His ears were turning red.

“Elaina? I’m sure I’ll be here.”

“Right.” He backed toward the door. “I just meant, if she’s around.” He trailed off. “Right,” he said again. “Bye then.” And left.

Poor Jeremy. Elaina always made an impression.

Kate turned to the laptop. Stars blazing on the screen. She pulled up the web browser, checked her emails. Took note of new orders, typed up the invoices she’d written by hand.

The cursor blinked. Kate moved it back to the folders, clicking through the files. Most were .jpeg files. All required passwords.

Suddenly an image appeared on the screen. The picture was grainy and dark as though taken at night from a distance. Odd tilt to it. The view seemed to be through the first-floor window of a building. A house? Rows of books visible through one of the windows. Not a house. The architecture was too elegant, too expensive. A library? A door showed at the edge of the picture, marble columns. One of the windows was shielded by curtains, but the fabric wasn’t drawn closed, not completely. The space between yielded a glimpse into the room within. And the face of a girl. She was looking out from behind the glass, half-turned and caught by surprise, as though she had caught a glimpse of the photographer positioned outside.

Nymphet. The word leapt into Kate’s mind. Lashes thick and long and dark. Irises almost black, though that could have been caused by a trick of the light. Pale blue blouse, buttoned to the neck. Lips tinted red, conveying a sensuousness far beyond her age. Features like that of a porcelain doll. A girl-child. But it was the expression in her eyes that made Kate think of Lolita. That girl with her knowing gaze, caught from that voyeuristic angle, trapped behind glass. Like an object of obsession. It was unsettling.

Kate shuddered. According to the details on the file, the image was created over a year ago. Who was she? And why was there a photograph of her saved on the laptop?