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“If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done.”
~ Scott Adams
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Text scrolled down an extra-wide monitor, stark, emotionless and an absolute contrast to the red-headed computer geek sitting in his office chair. Bear’s brother, Mike, stared at him as if he’d spontaneously sprouted a second head.
“Come on, Mikey,” Bear said, careful not to touch anything in this cesspool his younger brother insisted on living in. The sooner Mike conquered his inner fox’s desire to mark and claim territory with his body odour, the sooner everyone remotely connected to Mike would rejoice.
“You want a breaker box for all high-end security panels?” Mike double blinked at him. Though he had red hair instead of black, a slight runner’s build and a different biological father, at times like this, especially when Mike scowled at him, Bear swore he looked at a mirror image of his younger self.
Raven, their sister, was adamant Mike would end up with Terry’s lean frame instead of taking after Bear’s bulkier figure, but Bear wasn’t so convinced.
Mike was only nineteen and would start his second year in the nearby university’s computer engineering program this fall. He spent the majority of his time in front of a screen. If Mike spent a little more time with weights, and a little less time gaming, he’d bulk up. But Mikey never seemed particularly concerned with his appearance. He marched to his own drum, and there was nothing wrong with that. At least not in Bear’s opinion, and he’d punch anyone who said otherwise. The only people allowed to mock Mike and make his life miserable were their sisters and Bear.
Workouts were the least of Mike’s concerns. If Terry ever found out his baby boy provided his older brother with illegal materials to commit crimes, he’d lose it. Terry was a private investigator who conducted business by the book. He might actually burst out of his khaki pants and polo shirt if he found out what Mike was up to “for fun.”
“Does Rayray know you’re visiting?” Mike asked. “She’ll be pissed she missed you.”
Bear shook his head. “Isn’t she out on surveillance anyway?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad are with Juni at some volleyball summer camp. You really picked your time.” Mike tapped his fingers on the keyboard and avoided eye contact. “Almost as if you wanted to avoid the family.”
Bear grunted and looked away. Geniuses were so annoying sometimes. Of course, he was avoiding the family. Well, not Rayray, of course. Twins before wins. But he couldn’t face his stepfather’s disapproval or Mom’s concern.
“Staying for roast night?”
Bear cringed.
“I’ll take that as a no.” His ’lil bro had somehow perfected the art of dry retorts since he saw him last. “Is that everything you need?”
Bear frowned and studied Mike’s tense mouth and crinkled brow. “Yeah, I guess. Unless you can think of anything else that will help with this job.”
Mike swore under his breath.
What was his problem?
“If I come up with anything else,” Mike said. “I’ll send it to your phone, but for now I’ll concentrate on what you’ve requested.”
“Thanks, bro. You’re the best,” Bear said, and meant it. Mike had become very capable at what he did and would make an excellent computer engineer one day. Or hacker. Or both.
“The breaker boxes will take time,” Mike continued trying to fill the awkward silence with tech talk.
“How long?”
Mike shrugged. “A day or two? I have everything I need. I just have to make them.”
Bear nodded. “Any luck on the owner or blueprints?”
Mike sighed, which in Mike’s world meant, “sort of.” Failure didn’t exist in Mike’s reality. Success was only a matter of time and equipment. “The owner is listed as S. Dow. The home address listed is for a West Vancouver convenience store.”
“Fake address.”
“Obviously.” Mike turned to his computer and pulled up a window. He leaned back to let Bear look at the screen.
“What’s this?”
“The official blueprint on file submitted to the city of Vancouver. I also sent the file to your email.”
Bear took one glance at the schematic and scowled. “Fake as well.”
Mike nodded and closed the window for the browser. “They didn’t even bother trying to match the actual dimensions of the building or topography of the site. It’s so lazy it’s insulting.”
Bear didn’t need to ask how Mikey knew what the compound actually looked like. He would’ve found aerial shots online or failing that, he’d use the drone.
“So, no name, no address, and no building plans. Why are you smiling like you just came out of a titty bar for the first time?”
Mike’s grin widened and hit the enter key on his keyboard. Bear’s phone pinged with a message. He pulled it out and tapped to access the text from Mike. The message contained a picture of a pretty woman, Asian descent, along with a name, address, and contact information. Mike even included a short bio of her professional affiliations and recent social media posts.
“Who’s this?”
“The next best thing.”