Life Goes On 2
Chapter 52
A pall hung over the opening session of the State Senate. Paul Truesdale was alive, but in serious shape. What had been thought to be a heart attack, the doctors had speculated was a drug interaction with something Truesdale ate or drank. The cause had yet to be tracked down. His symptoms were consistent with consuming grapefruit juice with a medication he had taken, but Truesdale swore he hadn't consumed any. His wife, who had rushed to his side, had confirmed that he hated the oversized citrus fruit and wouldn't go near it. His doctors predicted that there was a good chance that he would recover, but he was not yet out of the woods. After the ceremonial opening, the senators resolved to demand an investigation of the food and drink at the hotel.
After the session adjourned and she was on her way to the airfield, Kate received a text from Castle. "Did you damage your Worldpass card?"
Kate hastily checked her wallet, but the card was in place and unscathed. Puzzled, she called her husband. "Castle, my Worldpass card looks fine, why did you ask?"
"Kate, I know you hate it, but I'm the primary on the account. I got an alert that your card had been tampered with somehow. Worldpass is blocking it and they're going to overnight a new one here. You won't need it until you get home, will you? I can arrange emergency cash at a bank up there if you need it."
"No Castle, I've got cash, and all I'm going to do now anyway is get on Topher's plane. But that is so weird. Some kind of computer glitch?"
"I don't know, Kate. Those cards have the latest technology to prevent scanning. Someone could have tried to steal your info and set off the alert."
The nervous server at the hotel flashed into Kate's mind. "Castle how would someone do that and how long would it take?"
"Kate from the promo literature I received about the card, someone could carry the malicious electronics in a briefcase, a purse, or even a large pocket," Castle related. "They could activate the scan within a radius of twenty feet, maybe more, and steal the information from every unprotected card in range. Information could be stolen from some cell phones too, and some tablets, and even laptops. Not ours, at least not yet. We have the latest encryption. We just upgraded. But the theft from the less protected would be almost instantaneous, a few seconds at most."
Kate closed her eyes to picture the mixer at the hotel. Her attention and that of everyone else in the room had been on Truesdale. No not everyone else, she realized. The server that had set off her cop intuition had managed to slip out. He also had huge pockets on his apron. She wondered if someone had learned of Truesdale's vulnerability, and the server had used it as a distraction for his real purpose, a mass hack. What had he stolen and how much? And from whom?
There was no point for Kate to remain in Albany. The senators would be returning to their home districts until the following week. She climbed aboard Topher's plane and spent the short flight trying to figure out her next move. If she called the other senators or sent them texts or emails, they could be intercepted. She hoped Castle would have an idea.
Vince Jervais hooked his scanner to his computer and downloaded his stolen information. It had been so fuckin' easy. Franny had tipped him to what pills her boss was on. All he had to do was look up the interactions. Grapefruit practically jumped off the page, beckoning him to use it. It hadn't been hard to slip it in with the other citrus juices used in the ceviche. The difference in taste was was covered by the chili peppers. People expected the food at mixers to be crappy anyway. The participants were supposed to be talking to each other, not stuffing their faces.
He scrolled through the listing of his haul. There were credit card numbers. They might come in handy, but they weren't his main target, just icing on the cake. He wanted contact lists. He needed to know who had some sweet thing on the side. There was nothing like a little blackmail to turn the screws on political blowhards. His employers wanted tax breaks. They wanted to get their own pet legislators in the Capitol. With the information he delivered, they would be able to achieve that and more. And he would have a big payday, a very big payday.
When Castle met Kate at the airport, he had Lily and the twins with him. While Reese and Jake had been fascinated watching the plane land, Lily was more interested in seeing her mama, even if the separation had been brief. She chattered about upcoming school and musical events, expressing the hope that Kate would be there. Kate had to put off any discussion with Rick until later. Even after the Castles were back at home, Lily hovered near Kate until bedtime.
When they were finally alone, Castle poured out two glasses of Kate's favorite red wine and settled next to her on the couch. "There's been something on the tip of your tongue ever since you got off Topher's flying toy.
Kate explained her speculations that information had been taken from all the senators and that their communications might have been compromised. "So Castle, how do I let them know? I thought about landlines, but hardly anyone has one anymore. Without using cell phones or email, what can I do?"
"Kate, as far as I know, no one has hacked paper yet. We have the addresses of all the other senators. We sent them Christmas cards, nice ones too, from the National Wildlife Federation."
Kate smiled as she recalled the exquisite paintings on the front of the cards. "Right, the wolves. Nothing like keeping the environmental message going. You want to send out 'You've been hacked,' cards?"
I was actually thinking about letters, overnighted with early delivery, or just using a messenger service. I like that new one with the new high powered electric scooters. Very cool. But 'You've been hacked' cards are not a bad idea. They could have a music chip with, oh, a change your password paso doble. I wonder if I could get Lily to write one. There could be invitations to password changing parties too. It could be a whole new thing."
Kate formed a "V" with her fingers and pointed it at Rick's eyes. "Castle, focus. New and amazing ideas in marketing, later. We send out sixty-two letters?"
"Sure," Castle replied. "I's just like sending out personalized campaign solicitations or requests for donations to FTC. We write a template and the computer inserts names and addresses and even prints the envelopes. All you have to do is sign the letters and we stuff them. Then we call the messenger service to come pick them up. They advertise that they work all night. We'll put their cute little tires to the pavement. You should be able to tip off almost all of your compatriots before noon tomorrow."
"Sounds like we have some work ahead of us, Babe."
Castle grinned. "Can't think of anyone with whom I'd rather have a personal stuffing session."
A/N Here's my take on the kids' ages. The boys would have turned six on November 2. Lily is a few months shy of nine. Her birthday is April 16. In the story, it's now early January in 2026. If I'm off, I apologize. It's been 158 chapters of Life Goes On and 52 chapters of Life Goes On 2.
