"I just want to know what I am getting into," Joe said, looking Kevin unflinchingly in the eyes. "So I can be prepared."

"Fair enough," Greg said, walking into the room. Kevin put his gun away and sat down on the sofa where Joe had been. Greg took Joe's arm and led him to the chair vacated by Kevin and gave him a gentle push. "Sit," he said, then sat down on the chair's arm on Joe's left.

Joe looked at Greg's apparel. He was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, complete with black cap atop his blond head. His right hazel eye was staring at him as his left one stayed in the corner as though glancing behind him.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Fenton Hardy?" Greg asked Joe. Joe gave a brief nod. "Well, he has been investigating the problems at Thompson Security and Hanover Industries," Greg continued. "And he has been getting too close for comfort."

"Jim said I would make some money out of this deal," Joe said. "How? Am I supposed to take out Hardy or something?"

"No, he is just a glitch in the system," Kevin said. "We're getting five million dollars to put Hanover Industries out of business."

"What does Thompson Security have to do with Hanover Industries?" Joe asked.

"Thompson Security is one of Hanover's best customers," Steve informed Joe.

"So you got a job there to sabotage them, but are rigging it to look like Hanover is to blame," Joe surmised.

"Right," Steve agreed.

"What kind of contribution do you expect from me?" Joe asked.

"Thanks to the fire," Steve said and, when Joe raised his eyebrows at him, he added, "and yes, it was my handiwork, you now have high level security clearance."

"You have already proven you have iniative," Jim stated. "So what we expect you to do is insert a virus into the various computers."

"Why not just infect the mainframe?" Joe asked. "It would be quicker."

"And easier to locate," Steve pointed out.

"What does the virus do?" Joe asked.

"It locates accounts with balances over one hundred thousand dollars and transfers one percent to another account," Steve explained. "Of that one percent, we get a tenth."

"Wait a minute," Joe said, confused. "Thompson Security isn't a bank."

"No, but with the satellite system installed, it has access to over a million banks," Freddie pointed out.

"Okay, you said the virus takes one percent, but we only get a tenth of that. Where does the other percentage go?" Joe wanted to know.

"In a dummy account set up for Hanover," was Steve's answer.

"What?" Joe asked in confused again. "Hanover is involved in the plot to destroy his own company?"

"It's in his name, and it would take a bit of work for it to be found, but no, he's not involved," Greg said. "We are just making it look that way."

"And you are getting five million from the virus?" Joe repeated.

"Right," concurred Freddie.

"So whoever is in charge of this operation doesn't get anything out of it?" Joe observed.

"The person in charge," Kevin said, careful not to reveal who the head man was, "gets Hanover in trouble with the IRS."

"He isn't paying taxes on his extra income," Freddie said with a side-splitting guffaw.

The virus was clever, Joe thought, but it still didn't explain the problem with the security cameras or the missing shipments. "Some of the offices at Thompson have cameras," he said aloud. "How am I supposed to input the virus in those rooms?"

"That's where Kevin comes in," Greg told him, looking over at Kevin to explain.

"I invented a program to take care of that little problem," Kevin told Joe. "The cameras are all on a delay," he explained. "After you load the virus, which takes roughly three minutes, you input the program. The program puts the satellite into a loop. It effectively erases five minutes for each time you hit the enter key, allowing the cameras to view only what happened before the loop was begun and after the loop was programed to end."

"So it only works for five minutes, tops?" Joe asked.

"Right," Kevin agreed. "However, the loop can actually be inserted anywhere and, as I said, it can last as long as you want it too by hitting the enter key."

'That's how they did it at the bank,' Joe thought. "They started the program before going in. They must have downloaded the virus into the bank's system while they were there.'

"Genius!" Joe declared in awe. "You could do anything with a program like that. Why just use it for Thompson Security?"

"Thompson Security and any place they are operating," Freddie amended.

"Because the program requires a certain chip in order to function," Kevin informed Joe. "The only chip in existence, made by Jim and myself, is located in the satellite Hanover made for Thompson Security."

"So we could get our hands on basically any info we needed," Joe said, thinking of some of the contracts Thompson Security held, including the Department of Defense.

"We could," Kevin agreed, "but it's too risky. It's only a matter of time before the program is uncovered and a counter-program is initiated."

"When that happens, the original program can be traced to the computer where it originated," Jim finished.

"So we discredit Hanover and destroy his company and somebody's paying us to do it," Joe summarized. "What if the boss decides to use us as patsies?"

"Not a chance," Greg said. "Not only would our employer never reneg on us, but if we cut out and end the program before we're caught, there's no evidence."

"But we still have that Hardy brat to worry about," Kevin reminded him. "He saw all of us."

"No problem," Freddie said. "I'll take care of him."

"Coffee's ready," Shandra's voice floated through the door seconds before she did, carrying a coffee pot. Biff followed her carrying a tray filled with saucers, cups, cream and sugar.

After they had finished their coffee, Biff and Joe said their goodbyes and made their way back to Biff's house. Once there, Biff called Frank and invited him over.

After he arrived at the Hoopers, Joe brought Frank up to date. "And here is the file I copied," Joe ended, handing it to Frank.

"Great!" Frank enthused. "Maybe now we can find out what the Lolp file contains." He then related the events of his day.

"Did Kevin leave any of the files behind?" Joe asked when Frank had finished.

"He forgot one," Frank said with a grin. "I checked the specs on the contract to the one on the computer but I didn't find any discrepancies."

"Then why are you so happy?" Biff demanded.

"Because I checked the contract against the computer print-out which was made at the onset of the project and there was one discrepancy," Frank explained.

"The one that cost Hanover the contract," Joe surmised.

"Right," Frank affirmed. "Each project requires a print-out prior to the work begun and another print-out on completion. The completed print-outs do match the pre-work print-out which is what has been being checked."

"But you back-tracked and found the problem," Biff guessed. "Why didn't the company think to do that?" he asked.

"Because after the contract has been input into the computer, it's not supposed to be changed," Frank told him.

"And if the final print-out matches the contract which has been input into the computer, there is no need to recheck the written contract," Joe finished.

"When are they going to let you have the program?" Frank asked Joe.

"Probably tomorrow," Joe answered. "That's when I get the virus."

"You can't use the virus," Biff stated.

"No," Joe agreed. "But if I can get my hands on the virus and the program, then we will have the evidence we need."

"But we still don't know who is behind the campaign against Hanover," Frank pointed out with a frown.

"What about Shandra?" Biff asked. "She made sure I was occupied while you guys were talking," he said to Joe.

Joe started to argue that she was innocent but changed his mind. "I don't think she's in charge," he said with a small shake of his head. "But I don't see how she can't know about what's going on. She would have to be really stupid and she isn't."

"What are you going to do?" Biff asked.

"I think it's time Jim and Shandra went on a date," Frank said, looking at Joe. "Maybe you can find out what she does know." Joe nodded his agreement. "Be careful though," Frank warned. "If anyone finds out who you really are, you're as good as dead."

"I will," Joe promised, stifling a yawn. "Sorry," he said with a lopsided grin.

"I'm going back to Hanover tomorrow," Frank continued. "First, though, I want to see if I can find out what is on the disk you have," he said to Joe. "Call me if you run into any trouble. Otherwise, I'll see you here at midnight after your date."

The next morning, Frank was up early and on his way to Phil Cohen's house. Phil was a computer genius and Frank had decided to ask him to unlock the secrets of the Lolp file while he went to Hanover Industries and picked up where he had left off the day before.

Twenty-five minutes after leaving the disk with Phil, Frank pulled through the gate at Hanover. He was surprised he hadn't been stopped by the guard as he had been on the previous day. After parking the van, he went to the gate to speak with the guard.

Not seeing anyone in the booth, he took hold of the knob and pulled. Frank's eyes went wide in surprise as he saw the guard lying on the floor, unconscious!