Chapter 2
Zen
Ten Months Later
B eing the Savage Legion’s IT specialist means I have a fuck ton of responsibilities, and my own corner office is located next to the meeting room at our clubhouse. It’s my personal space where no one bothers me unless there’s a good reason. The office has no lights, because I don’t need them. The room is lit up by a huge bank of twelve monitors that cast an eerie glow.
When someone knocks on my door, I glance over my shoulder and see Evan’s face pressed against the small safety glass window.
I raise my voice so he can hear me and tell him, “Come in,” and release the electronic lock. The security might seem over-the-top, it’s not that I’m worried about my club brothers coming into the office when I’m not here—just that some of my club brothers have the tech skills of a feral monkey, and I don’t trust ‘em not to push a button they shouldn’t.
Rigs’ son is all big eyes with a curious expression as he glances around my small room. He’s a prospect and I’ve been promising to mentor him in what I do and show him my set-up. He’s still deciding what he wants to do in life, when he was younger, he had his heart set on being a tattooist because he loved drawing. But after hanging out with Vapor and Haze at their tattoo shop, he came to learn that he’s got a low-grade needle phobia.
He pops the door open and sticks his head in the room. “Is now a good time for our talk?”
“Yeah, now is as good a time as any, come in,” I tell him as I grab a rolling stool from under a nearby table and pull it out for him to sit on. He drops down onto the stool and says, “Wow, I’ve never seen a room like this before. Why do you need so many monitors when you can only use one at a time?”
I think over his question for a minute, trying to figure out how to explain it in layman’s terms. “It’s kind of like having more than one tab open on your computer. Having multiple monitors makes it easier to keep track of vast amounts of data all at once.”
I cue my system to pull up the security feeds from all our locations. “Each monitor shows a single view from one of our security cameras for a total of five seconds before moving on to another camera. As you can see, they’re mounted in strategic locations around our sites. The Savage Legion security firm is responsible for security at all our sites. I’m just a backup set of eyes.”
Gesturing to the monitor in the upper right-hand side, I explain, “The first monitor is showing five second clips from all the exterior cameras around the outside of the clubhouse.”
His expression brightens, “I caught sight of the front gate, where I’ve been for the better part of today.”
“Yeah, you prospects do an outstanding job of securing the gate.”
“My old man gives us a daily list of who we’re allowed to let in, and he sometimes adds some names of people who were recently banned. We follow it strictly, ‘cause you know how strict my dad and Siege are.”
I shoot him a rueful grin. “I sure do. The Savage Legion club officers take security very seriously.” Getting back to the task at hand, I draw his attention to the second monitor in the first row. “This monitor is showing five second clips of the inside of the clubhouse. Our club officers forbid cameras in restrooms and bedrooms. Anywhere else is fair game. We have them in the bar, stairwells, and dining areas.”
“How about downstairs?” He asks.
“I can’t tell you all our secrets because you’re not a club brother yet.” I use a teasing voice to take the sting out of the fact that prospects don’t have access to all levels of security. Though truth be told, downstairs we don’t have any cameras—it’s where we hold people and question them. While tapes can be wiped, we ain’t risking any footage getting into the wrong hands. We might not be a one-percent club, but that doesn’t mean we’re choirboys when it comes to our enemies.
He nods thoughtfully, “I think that’s fair.”
I tell him, “As you can see from looking at the cameras inside and outside the building that the clubhouse is rocking with brothers, prospects, club girls, and even a few visitors, mostly women invited by my club brothers. The night is early yet, but so far, there hasn’t been any brawling by the brothers or catfights among the club girls. Hopefully, it’ll stay that way. Your fellow prospects are behind the bar, busting their asses to keep the drinks flowing.”
Evan responds confidently, “The bar is one of the more difficult assignments, along with kitchen duty.”
Shooting him a knowing look, I say wistfully, “I remember those days, working my ass off to prove my value to the club so I could earn my bottom rocker.”
“Yeah, that’s literally the job description of a prospect.”
I swivel in my chair and eye the cameras from the strip club the Savage Legion has a vested interest in here in Las Salinas. “I’m sure your dad talked to you about the strip club we have a partnership in on the outskirts of town. It’s small, discreet, and usually doesn’t draw a lot of troublemakers. It’s only open at night and is a nice little moneymaker.”
I move right on to the next business without pausing, because he’s pretty young and I don’t want to get involved in a conversation about the strip club any more than he does. He can ask Rigs about that kind of shit. “We also still keep an eye on the bar in town that our club sold to Mel and Tracker. We retained a silent partner interest, so it’s important to watch over our investment. Our club brothers still love going there and our strong presence keeps out the riffraff.”
“Yeah,” Evan responds, “I know Tank hangs out there a lot with his old lady.”
“I noticed on the security feeds earlier that people were coming and going all day at our onsite garage. We’ve always done brisk business because there are few garages in Las Salinas. It takes four or five brothers to keep the place running efficiently. It’s a critical stream of income, so I don’t see the club giving up that business venture anytime soon.”
“That makes sense,” he responds in a serious tone.
“We also have eyes on Smoke’s office for a couple of reasons. His old lady is Siege’s sister and protecting her is smart because she falls in the category of a high-value target. Another reason is because Smoke is our club’s attorney, and we need to keep him safe.”
“Absolutely. I’m close with Serena. She’s a real nice lady. I’d hate to see anything happen to her.”
I vaguely remember that he picked up some extra shifts looking out for her when she first moved back to Las Salinas. I skip right over all that to get back to telling him about my position with the Legion.
“I also have four extra monitors running down the right side that take turns flashing images of the security cameras outside my club brothers’ private residences. They’re all motion-sensor, so I get an alert along with the security firm when one is activated at odd hours.”
“You watch the brothers’ homes?”
“Low-level monitoring. Obviously if a brother is seen as being a target, then we add extra monitoring. I don’t have to keep an eye on all the businesses while I’m here, as Tex organizes that through our security company. It’s more like a personal interest of mine. I figure that since I installed most of it, being that second set of eyes is no problem.”
Giving me a suspicious look, Evan points out, “You started with the things you do on a volunteer basis. I was more interested about your function in the club.”
“Well,” I tell him. “I’m responsible for setting up and running the club’s servers and I created specialized software for the club officers to track everything from financials to demographic information on all of us. I also created the software used by all our businesses and affiliates. If it’s computer or internet-related, I install and maintain it. I also deal with the hardware and wiring aspect, because in my mind if shit goes wrong you need to know how to fix it from top to bottom.”
“That’s really impressive,” he says enthusiastically. Hesitating for just a moment, he adds, “My old man said you helped him and my mom track me and other missing kids down. Are you some kind of hacker?”
I suck in a deep breath and hold it for a second before speaking, “That’s a loaded question. A lot of people see hacking as a dirty word. It implies breaking into secured systems for malicious reasons. In my humble opinion, if you’re being discreet, careful, and doing it for the right reasons, hacking can be a good thing. It has to serve a higher purpose.”
“Like when you found me, right?”
I nod, “Yep. I hacked into county records looking for properties under your abductor’s family name. That’s how we finally found you.”
“He was holding me in a cabin. I’d been there for days. Mattie had gotten too close, and he took her too. Then the Savage Legion brothers rescued both of us.”
“Tracking missing persons who might be at risk for being abused, killed, or trafficked is an important part of my job, but a lot of what I do is looking through public databases that anyone is allowed to access.”
“That sounds a bit boring,” he responds.
“It can be. That’s why I often design bots to crawl over public records to collect the information I need to track down a missing person. I’m only one man but I have connections with other trusted hackers in the field, a talent for organizing them into working units during an emergency, and I have the knowhow to create bots to target much-needed information in a crisis. All those things are force multipliers for a man in my position.”
“My dad always told me to keep my mouth shut and not involve anyone else is club business. You organizing a bunch of hackers seems to fly in the face of his advice.” The poor kid looked pretty damn worried, so I set his mind at ease.
“The hackers I call into service have all been fully vetted by our security firm and approved by our club officers. Plus I supervise them really closely and only give each individual enough information to complete his task. Critical information is on a need-to-know basis.”
“It sounds like you have all your bases covered.”
“I’m thirty-one years old and have been doing this since I was a teen.”
He quickly asks, “If I wanted to get into IT what would be the best avenue to explore?”
“I would start with taking some computer classes, getting a good mentor, and when you graduate, consider looking into taking computer science. Study hard and don’t be afraid to pull in information you find about the subject in books, online, and through social networking. Are you interested in learning about computers and networking?”
“I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure myself out, but I have a good friend who’s obsessed with becoming a hacker.”
“We wouldn’t be talking about Tex’s son, would we?”
Evan nods, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Yeah, Levi loves computers and knows all kinds of ways to get information. I think he’d be a good hacker.”
I run one hand through my hair trying to get a handle on my growing exasperation. I know all about Levi. He’s a boy genius, with a touch of high-functioning autism who has serial obsessions. His last one was chess. He went from knowing nothing, to winning the statewide championship for his school inside of a year. There are about twelve thousand things that could go wrong with a kid like that deciding he wants to be a hacker. He needs guidance, but the last thing I need is trying to wrangle a hot mess like him to the ground. So I say, “He’s still a junior prospect. Maybe I could talk to him when he’s your age?”
“I’m sure he’d love that,” Evan says with happiness shining in his eyes. Even though there’s a couple of years between them, it’s nice to see that Evan’s looking out for his friend. That’s what brotherhood is all about.
“Any more questions?” I ask, hoping and praying there weren’t any so I could scoot on home for the night.
Evan’s expression becomes shifty. “Just one. Do girls find hackers hot?”
Scratching my beard, I think over his question. I consider playing into the glamorous image he has of hackers, but decide to tell the truth, “To be honest, most women don’t give computer nerds a second glance. We’re pretty invisible to everyone, unless they want their computers fixed.”
“Roger that, Zen. I’m hearing what you’re laying down,” he says as he gets to his feet. I’ll keep all your good advice in mind.”
I reach out to shake his hand and say, “Let me know if you want to talk about IT some more.”
He gives me a boyish grin. “I’m sure I will. Thanks for your time.”
“You’re more than welcome. Tell your folks I said hi.”
“Will do,” he murmurs as he walks out the door.
I sit there for a minute thinking over what Evan said about Levi wanting to become a hacker. Now that I’m more focused, I start to think that maybe he might actually be good at it. His single-minded determination would give him a genuine advantage, that much I was sure of.
***
After giving everything a final once-over and seeing nothing amiss, I close down my computer and head out to the bar to spend quality time with my club brothers and maybe hook up with a club girl. I love hanging out with my club brothers, and tonight’s no different. I know I gave Evan that spiel about women not going for computer nerds, but I left out the part where I do pretty damn well when I’m not in my office.
I stop dead in my tracks when I see that Evan is with his strange girlfriend—the blue-haired one that his dad banned from the clubhouse. I glance around, looking for Rigs, and find him drinking alone at the bar as he tries inconspicuously to keep an eye on them. They can technically be here because it’s a private club, but they definitely can’t drink. They’ve got fancy bottled water, so they’re clearly not trying to break the rules tonight.
I head over and drop down on the barstool right beside Rigs. “You decided to give her another chance, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know why I did that, she’s trouble.”
“Evan can be convincing when he wants to be. I guess you taught him to be strong and stick up for his girl, and it’s coming back to haunt you.”
Rigs rakes the fingers of one hand through his hair. “Mattie said we should give her a chance too. I guess she remembers what being an eighteen-year-old girl was like.”
I pick up the beer the prospect tending bar slides over to me and quip, “Ain’t nobody in this world gonna question your old lady’s good judgment.”
He snorts a laugh and drains his bottle. “She brought an older friend with her tonight. Evan said her dad got murdered last year, and this is her first attempt at going out.”
“I don’t see anyone else with them,” I shoot back after scanning the room.
Rigs waves off another beer and turns his chair all the way around to face them. “She just went to the restroom.”
Levi walks over from one of the pool tables and joins them. I say, “I think she might be Levi’s date for the night.”
Rigs gives me a strange look. “I doubt that boy has even discovered girls yet. Plus she’s too old for him, and even if she wasn’t, I don’t think he could handle her. She’s all decked out in black and is even wearing a black veil.”
My head whips around to look at him. “You mean like over her face?”
“No. It’s more like a hair decoration over her forehead and one eye. It’s weird though. I heard one of the club girls saying she was having a panic attack in the lady’s room.”
“Fuck me, wearing all black and a veil could be some kind of grief thing. You said this is the first time she’s tried to socialize since her dad died.”
After speaking to Evan and his girlfriend for a few moments, Levi runs back over to the pool table and elbows himself into another game with some other prospects.
That’s about the time I see the girl in black come back from the restroom. I snort a laugh. “That’s not mourning gear she’s wearing. It’s gamer gear, from a hugely popular online game. She’s cosplaying the Dark Maven character.”
“You seem to know a lot about the younger crowd,” Rigs comments quietly.
I glance over at him and admit to my flaws, “I’m like Peter Pan, a thirty-one year old guy who never really outgrew stuff I was into as a teen. I enjoy gaming, and as long as the other players are over eighteen, I don’t care if they’re young or old. As long as they can play the game and aren’t a complete asshole, they’re welcome in the groups I host.”
“Yeah, that’s great for you. I wish I had the patience for their gaming shit.”
“If you want to cut outta here, I’ll keep an eye on Evan tonight. I’ll make sure he doesn’t drink, go on any romantic midnight runs on his motorcycle with his weird-ass girlfriend, and remind him to fuck with a condom.”
“My boy is barely eighteen and this is his very first girlfriend. He’s more likely to injure himself by zipping up his dick than get laid.”
I try to keep the grin off my face because his son has a cute baby face and big, wide, innocent eyes.
After a thoughtful moment, Rigs asks, “Are you sure you don’t mind? I’d love some one-on-one time with my old lady tonight.”
“Yeah, no problem. Evan came to see me today for his IT orientation, and we had a good talk. I also want to keep an eye on that friend of theirs, she looks pretty damn uncomfortable.”
“I noticed that. I thought about checking on her but I’m Evan’s dad and look like a priest that just crawled out of the fiery pits of hell.”
I chuckle. “It’s not like you’re the Ghost Rider or anything.”
He gives me a blank look.
“He’s a comic book character,” I explain.
He shakes his head and mutters under his breath, “Kids these days.”
“Go home, Grandpa,” I say with a grin.
“Hey, none of that grandpa shit, I can still keep up with you lot. Just ask my Mattie.”
“If I had a pretty little wife like Mattie waiting for me at home, I sure as fuck wouldn’t be hanging around the bar talking to the likes of me. Go on, get out of here and rock Mattie’s world. You both deserve some one-on-one time together.”
Rigs is up and out the door so fast I’d have missed him if I blinked. That made me smile. There isn’t anything better in the whole world for me than seeing one of my club brothers happy. Yeah, maybe that means I have a shallow life, but it doesn’t matter. I’m happy with it.
After a couple of minutes, I decide to say hi to Evan and introduce myself to the Dark Maven. She’s currently sitting at their table, looking around the room uncomfortably. It’s painful to watch.