Ralph smiled up at Happy as he reached over and hit the door handle. "Thanks Happy I appreciate the ride to school."
Happy grinned. "You got it squirt. Unless there is an emergency I'm picking you up after school as well. If there is you'll go home with Sarah and Allie will pick you up after work."
Ralph nodded. "I already knew this Happy."
Happy nodded. "I'm just practicing for when it is my turn."
Ralph smiled. "It'll happen when it is right."
They waved after Ralph shut the door and Happy took off as Ralph began walking up to the school. Ralph was mentally counting as he walked slowly. As he reached twenty five he looked over his shoulder and saw Happy pull out of the parking lot and head down the road towards the Garage. Ralph turned abruptly and began walking quickly back down the sidewalk towards the parking lot and turned left and walked behind the hedge and followed it for about seventy yards and turned and walked between two of the buses that were sitting there. He quickly made his way through the lot avoiding the cameras that continually scanned across the lot until he was able to dart out of the lot to the main sidewalk.
He looked and smiled as he saw the bus coming down the street. He looked at his watch and nodded. 'It is right on time.' He thought as he pulled out his Caltech ID. As the bus doors opened he stepped up and showed his ID and the driver nodded and closed the door as Ralph stepped back and sat down. Ralph glanced around and the bus was mostly vacant in the front half. He pulled his tablet out of his backpack and turned it on. He pulled two cables out of his backpack and connected one to the tablet. The other he connected to the USB power port on the front of his seat between his legs while both wires ran back into his backpack and connected to the satellite modem hidden there.
He executed a command and he watched as his tablet connected to a satellite and then connected to a server. He executed another command and he watched as his connection jumped through several dozen jumps and then gave him another command prompt. He inputted an IP address and he watched as he connected to a non-published Homeland website. He entered an id and hit ctrl-s-c-b and the screen flashed and then he had access to another screen. Ralph quickly input fake orders into the system and then he shut down the connection and put everything up.
He looked at his watch and smiled. Everything was perfectly timed. He saw his stop coming up and he reached up and pulled the cord before he stood and stepped forward. The bus began slowing and the driver saw him. "You know this isn't Caltech right?"
Ralph smiled and nodded. "We've a class off campus today."
The bus driver nodded. "Okay, have a good day young man."
Ralph waved at him. "Thanks, I hope you have a good day too."
Ralph made his way to the intersection and then crossed over the street and walked along the street moving across town for about twenty minutes keeping mental track of the time. He saw a garage door in a building open and he quickly stepped up and walked inside moments before it closed. He walked up the ramp until he came to an entrance and he stepped up and the doors opened automatically and he stepped inside.
The Homeland agent just inside looked over his desk at Ralph. "Can I help you young man?"
Ralph smiled. "I'm here to see agent Olsen. He should have me on a visitor's list. I'm Ralph O'Daly." He handed him a fake ID.
The agent inputted the name and pulled up the visitors listing for him and he nodded as he handed him back the ID. He pulled out a board and sat it down for Ralph's signature. While Ralph signed the agent pulled out a lanyard with a visitor badge on it. "Do you know where agent Olsen's office is?"
Ralph smiled and nodded. He took the lanyard and placed it around his neck. "Have a good day sir."
The agent smiled and pressed a button unlocking the next door and Ralph quickly moved through it. He moved down the hallway when he came to an intersection and instead of turning left to the elevators Ralph turned right and moved down a long back corridor until he came to a back stairwell. He reached his visitor ID up and slid it through the reader and grinned as the door unlocked and he pushed the door open and began climbing the stairs. He got to the fifth floor and he opened the door and stepped out after looking both ways down the hallway. He turned right and followed the hallway.
He slowed as he was coming up to the next agent desk and he waited. He watched his watch for a minute and then he looked up and the light on the camera outside went off but the camera kept swiveling. Ralph smiled as the agent saw the video feed died and he moved around to examine the camera as Ralph slipped down the other hallway while the agent was staring at the camera. Just as he reached another door he heard the lock click and he pulled it open and stepped inside and closed the door quietly.
He walked down the row of cells until he came to the eighth one whose light was on. He stepped up and looked inside to find Drew sitting there reading a magazine. He cleared his throat. "Why did you do it Drew?"
Drew jumped as he hadn't heard anything until Ralph cleared his throat and spoke. "What are you doing here Ralph?"
"That isn't what I asked you Drew, why did you do it?" Ralph demanded.
Drew looked at him for a moment. "To hurt you and your Mom like you both hurt me."
Ralph glared at him. "What about all of the times you hurt us before?"
Drew waved him off. "I never hurt you."
"You think so? How about when you left telling me you were going to the movies and never came back? I waited seven years for you to come back. It wasn't until after I met Walter, before we knew he was my Dad that you came back. And even then you weren't that keen on me." Ralph reminded him.
Drew looked at him. "Hey, I tried to get you and your Mom to move out with me to Maine. It isn't my fault she didn't do that."
Ralph shook his head. "I'm not even talking about that but that just proves my point. All you could see when you came back was what you wanted for yourself. You couldn't see how much good Walter and the guys were doing for me. You only saw your needs and didn't care about me or mine, or Mom's. You couldn't even help Mom out with the support you owed when you both thought I was still your son."
"Hey, Paige never should have told you about that." Drew said lamely.
Ralph smirked. "You think she told me about that? No, she always wanted me to think the better of you. After you went to Maine I'd done a bit of hacking and found you owed Mom a small fortune in back support."
Drew shrugged. "Things were tight."
Ralph scoffed. "Is that why you never sent me a birthday or a Christmas present? Not even a card? You just didn't have any money?"
Drew nodded. "That's right. I just didn't have any money."
"That's interesting considering I discovered your offshore bank account last week. You did a great job of covering your tracks for a novice. Imagine my surprise that according to the account history, when you left us you had over fifty grand in the account. And it continued to grow by leaps and bounds these past eleven years. As of last week you had nearly a two hundred and eighty thousand in there. I use to think Toby was the biggest degenerate I knew, but now I know it is you. You disgust me." Ralph told him.
Drew shrugged. "Oh well, it isn't like you are entitled to any of it."
Ralph nodded. "Oh I know that. But I just had to come see you one last time and see what you had to say for yourself. Enjoy your life in prison."
Drew smiled. "Oh don't worry about me. I won't be staying in prison that long. As a matter of fact I'll be moved here shortly to the state's system. The Feds can't touch me."
Ralph nodded. "I know, but you are still going to behind bars. Meanwhile my family and I will be walking around free. Goodbye Drew." Ralph walked back down the hall he came up from. He looked at his watch and as he reached the door he counted down eighty five seconds and the lock tripped and he pushed the door open and shut it quietly. As he neared the intersection where the agent's desk was he saw the guard was talking to tech support on the phone and not paying attention. He smiled as he quickly slipped by and walked down the hall to the stairs. He ran his visitor's pass through the card reader and the door unlocked and he walked through and closed the door quietly before walking down the stairs.
He emerged back out onto main floor hallway and walked back down to the hallway that went back out into the garage. He smiled at the agent and handed him his pass.
The agent signed the pass back in and waved as Ralph left.
Ralph quickly exited the garage and made his way back over to the bus stop and caught the bus back to his school. Ralph made it to his homeroom just in time for the bell. While he'd have an absence on his first two periods, since he was at his homeroom he wouldn't be marked absent for the day and the school's computer wouldn't call his parents. He'd hack the computer later and get rid of the absent marks.
"Ralph, Ralph. Where were you? Davis was mad you weren't in class." Tony whispered to him.
Ralph just shrugged. "I had something to do."
Tony nodded. "Well you better have a note from your Mom tomorrow. He said he was going to call her if you didn't."
Ralph nodded as he sighed quietly. It was too much to expect his plan not to have a hiccup.
Happy picked Ralph up after school and he smiled. That was better than them having an emergency. He sat quietly the whole trip. Happy tried to engage him a few times but Ralph just shrugged her questions off as he had a headache. Ralph walked into the Garage just ahead of Happy. His Mom was at her desk and his Dad wasn't so he figured he might be upstairs.
He stepped over and she smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Did you have a good day at school?"
Ralph smiled and nodded. "I've got a bit of homework to do, so I'll go upstairs to be out of everyone's hair."
Paige nodded. "Just keep it down. Your Dad is taking his nap."
Ralph smiled and quietly went upstairs and worked on his homework in the front room. He knew his Dad was the best person to ask for an excuse note. He wasn't use to duplicity yet. His homework wasn't that difficult and he was almost finished by the time his Dad got up and moved out into the front room.
Ralph jumped up and ran up and hugged Walter. Walter smiled at him. "How's my boy?"
Ralph nodded. "Good but I might be in a little bit of trouble."
Walter frowned and pointed at the couch and Ralph turned and walked over and sat down. Walter sat next to him. "Why would you be in trouble?"
Ralph told him he needed an excuse note because he cut the first two period classes because he was so tired of hearing those two teachers drone on about something that Ralph could pass in his sleep.
Walter smiled and nodded his head remembering the numerous times he wished he could have skipped a class. "I remember those two. They are rather boring. But Ralph, you can't be cutting their classes anymore."
Ralph nodded. "I know. I just needed a break from them. But I can't tell Mom because she won't understand and I'll be punished for just not wanting to be bored."
Walter nodded. "I'll write you an excuse later and give it to you to give to the teachers and we won't tell your Mom."
Ralph grinned and hugged him again. "Thanks Dad."
They heard the Garage door open and then Cabe's voice. "Hey Walter, Homeland's been hacked." Cabe shouted out.
Paige was shocked but still managed to glare at Cabe. "Walter's laying down for a nap."
"Sorry kid but this is serious." Cabe told her.
Walter looked over the rails. "It's okay, I had just got up. Come up and get me Cabe."
Ralph swallowed. He hadn't thought they'd have detected the hack that quickly.
Cabe climbed the stairs as Walter walked over and got into the wheelchair. "When were they hacked?" Walter asked once Cabe got to the top.
"The day after Drew was arrested." Cabe answered as he walked over and began to wheel Walter down the ramp.
Ralph's eyes closed as he let out his breath. 'That was close. Now as long as Dad doesn't detect the hack I did today.' He thought. Ralph quickly finished his homework so he could spy on what his Dad found out. He bounded down the steps as Walter got out of the wheelchair and walked over to his desk and sat down. Ralph stepped up to his Mom. "Did you want to check me?"
Paige smiled. "I'll go over it here in a few minutes. I got to finish the billing on these two accounts."
Ralph nodded before he walked over and looked at his Dad. "Is it okay if I watch?"
Walter smiled and nodded. Ralph grinned and stepped over and stood just behind Walter's right shoulder and watched.
Cabe leaned over and whispered to Paige. "Boy, since finding out Ralph is Walter's they have grown even closer together than before."
Paige smiled and nodded as she whispered back. "But it also hurts a bit. They were already so much closer than Ralph and I are. I just wish I could connect more like Walter does with him."
Cabe whispered. "I can understand that. But the good thing is Ralph still loves you just as much."
Paige nodded.
Walter pointed at the screen and Ralph nodded. "I agree Dad."
Cabe looked over. "Don't tell me you already found the hacker?"
Walter grinned and they both shook their heads. "It wasn't a hack in the traditional sense. And agent Owens took a secured laptop home with him and accessed the system. But he forgot to register his IP address so the system flagged it as a hack."
Cabe rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me? They had me freaking out about this."
Walter smiled as he shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you."
Cabe laughed. "No, after Collins and Carlson that isn't a disappointment. It makes me glad over all."
Greetings! I trust this finds you all well!
Lucy - Thank you! Be careful what you wish for...hehe
Margaret - Thank you! *gasp* I can't believe you said that nasty four letter T word! lol
Marie - Thank you!
Mtrizee - Hrmm...someone bigger huh? Never know, it could happen. lol There is some Quintis coming up!
FergusKen - hehe Yep, a literal cliffhanger indeed! Well I could tell you now what is going to happen but then you wouldn't have a reason to read it later. lol
Railman - A TV movie huh? Boy wouldn't that be a huge honor! With the limited knowledge I had of the law I felt like you do but in trying to research about what possible charges would be leveled and sought, I found a couple of websites that help people understand the possible charges and such they could find against them and what the prosecutor would have to be able to prove. And they certainly made me understand what some prosecutors have sought in real life. Most shows teach you that they have to prove, motive, means and opportunity. But in order to get to that point they have to prove intent and it is the inability to prove someone's intent that determines charges. Now had Drew wired a bomb to go off under the driver's seat when the ignition turned on then that would prove intent. I hope that clears it up and I really hope the websites information was correct. lol
To the Adventure! -Tim
