Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
After Rod dropped him on campus, Wyl headed to Ailbe’s office and knocked. “Ailbe?”
“Wyl…good to see you,” Ailbe said and stood, extending his hand. “Come in and have a seat.”
“Thanks.” Wyl shook Ailbe’s hand. Ailbe’s palm was damp.
“I’m glad you’re helping me with this project,” Ailbe said. “Every year, I do this myself, and it’s a big drain on my time.” Ailbe sat. “Having an expert lend a hand will not only make my task easier, but it will also add an authenticity that has been absent in previous years.”
“I’m unsure about the authenticity, but I’m happy to help. Rod won’t want me working all the time, but I can spare a few hours a day.”
“Perfect. That is all I ask. I know you two are honeymooning, which makes your generosity even more valuable.”
“Thanks. Now show me where I’ll work and give me a stack of projects. I believe they were due today?”
“That they were, and a stack you shall have,” Ailbe gathered papers for Wyl to work on.
“Follow me, and I’ll set you up in the vacant office next to mine.
” He led Wyl out of his office and down the hall to the right.
He opened the door to the vacant office, turned on the lights, and laid the stack of projects on the empty desk.
“This looks fine,” Wyl said, “and there is a computer, so I can check things if needed. Do I need login credentials?”
Ailbe handed him a small piece of paper with his network login information. “I took care of that for you. Here are your login details.”
Wyl figured Ailbe could monitor what he did and would know everything Wyl checked. Any email messages he sent would be archived. “Thanks, Ailbe.”
“You know where my office is. Come find me if you have any questions.”
“Will do.”
Ailbe left the office, and Wyl sat at the desk, thumbing through the stack of projects. He arranged them in sequence order as near as he could. He turned to the computer atop the credenza behind the desk to start working.
He worked through three projects, checking a few things on the computer as he scanned the code. Warm hands gently squeezing his shoulders startled him. He expected Rod, then a voice reached his ears.
“Since it’s nearing lunchtime, why don’t we tour the facilities before I treat you to lunch?” Ailbe said.
“Ailbe, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“You did seem rather preoccupied with your work,” Ailbe’s hands still resting on Wyl’s shoulders. “You’re quite muscular under that shirt.”
“Rod likes his husband a bit on the beefy side,” Wyl chuckled. He suddenly realized what Ailbe was doing, and it made him uncomfortable.
“We need to talk about the involvement of students,” Ailbe said.
“Student involvement?” Wyl was curious about that aspect. “I thought the submission of their projects was the goal.”
“Oh, that is most of it.” Ailbe removed his hands. “But I want the students to input their own projects. They’ll spend time in the lab once we determine the projects will work.”
Wyl shuddered, hoping Ailbe didn’t notice. “Wow…so this isn’t only grading papers, it’s also production.” He didn’t like being touched by any man except Rod.
“Right. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t deserve an A,” Ailbe said.
“Sounds interesting. I’m eager to see this process.” Wyl knew the end goal of Ailbe’s plan but had not yet explicitly determined how the combined student projects would achieve it.
“Let’s take a walk.” Ailbe led Wyl down the hall to the lab. “Here is where we do much of our work in this program.” The lab was a well-lit room with 30 Mac computers.
“This is quite a setup.” Wyl studied one computer. “What are the specs on the Macs?”
“The best money can buy,” Ailbe boasted. “i7s, with 64 gigs of RAM and two terabytes of flash storage. There is nothing these computers cannot do.”
“Impressive,” Wyl said. “Connection?”
“Running through the campus network, of course, this lab has a dedicated fiber connection with a 10-gigabit pipe. All thirty computers can access the web simultaneously, and the capacity isn’t even stressed.”
Wyl had never seen a lab this well-equipped outside of US government facilities. “I can hardly wait to see the students at work.”
“We’ll get to that next week,” Ailbe said.
“This week, you and I will each review submitted projects to ensure there are no errors. Next week, I’ll have them all in the lab putting their projects together and working to ensure everything goes as planned.
By the 28th, they’ll have completed the data entry, and we can do a trial run of the project. ”
The 28th for a trial run? Wyl thought. That must mean the 29th is the day he plans to launch the cyberattack.
“Well, let’s get to work,” Wyl said, “starting with lunch. Where are you taking me?”
“We have a decent canteen here on campus,” Ailbe said. “We can grab a couple of sandwiches and come back to my office for a chat over lunch.” Ailbe winked as he said the word chat.
“Chat, eh? That sounds interesting.” If Ailbe wanted to play a game, Wyl had to play along. “After our chat, I can delve into more projects.”
“Follow me,” Ailbe said.
“Lead the way.” Wyl figured Ailbe thought he was a pushover, precisely what he wanted him to think.
* * *
O’Brien strolled down the hallway of the Arts Millennium Building on the Galway University campus. Reaching his destination, he softly tapped the doorframe of Declan Knowlan’s office.
Declan looked up from his desk. “Yes, sir?”
“Mr. Knowlan, I’m Chief Superintendent O’Brien of Garda. Might I have a word with you?” O’Brien saw a brief flash of alarm in Declan’s eyes.
Declan forced a smile and stood. “Certainly, Chief Superintendent. Won’t you come in and have a seat?” He motioned to the guest chair near his desk.
“Thank you.” O’Brien entered and sat in the comfortable cloth chair.
“What can I do for you, Chief Superintendent?” Declan occupied himself, straightening the papers on his desk before he sat and looked at O’Brien.
“Mr. Knowlan, may we have a private conversation?” O’Brien nodded his head toward the open door.
“Aye. Let me close the door.” Declan rose from his chair and moved around the desk to shut his office door. “There,” he said, “now what warrants your visit?”
“I’ll get straight to the point, Knowlan,” O’Brien said.
He dropped the familiar Mr. from his name.
“We know MacGowan telephoned you at unusual times within twenty-four hours of each of the suspicious student deaths. I need you to tell me about the nature of those phone calls, and in return, I might consider a deal.”
“And what makes you think I have anything unusual to report?” Declan perched his butt on the corner of his desk, one foot dangling, with the other foot planted firmly on the floor, remaining above O’Brien in a superior position.
“Knowlan, you and MacGowan have a habit of talking on the telephone every afternoon. On two occasions, you had an unusually brief morning conversation.”
“I assume you have recordings of these conversations, Chief?” Declan calmly folded his arms across his chest.
“Not exactly, but the coincidence between the two calls and the two murders is something I want to follow up on.” O’Brien removed the small notebook and pencil from his pocket. He flipped open the notebook and wrote.
“Chief, on both occasions, Dr. McGowan’s lab was experiencing problems with network connections.
He called to find out if my campus had similar difficulties.
It was a simple yes-or-no question that required no further explanation.
I fail to see how that ties to a criminal investigation.
” Declan glared at O’Brien, his brow furrowed and his jaw firmly set.
“I assume you reported these problems to your IT department?” O’Brien asked.
“Chief, the outage was temporary. There was no need to submit a trouble ticket or get IT involved.”
“I see…” O’Brien made notes.
“Chief, if you have an accusation, make it. Otherwise, you’re wasting my time.” Declan stood to open the door.
“Very well.” O’Brien folded his notebook and stuffed it and the pencil into his pocket before heaving his ample frame from the office chair, huffing as he stood.
He stopped in the doorway and faced Declan.
“I’m watching you, Knowlan. Coincidences are never coincidental.
” He paused. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again. ”
O’Brien turned and left.
* * *
Back in Ailbe’s office, Wyl and Ailbe sat to enjoy their lunch. Wyl was in front of the desk, and Ailbe was in his usual seat.
“So, how long have you been gay?” The crinkle of waxed paper crowded Ailbe’s words.
“That is an unusual question, Ailbe,” Wyl tugged at a small bag of crisps to open one end.
“You and Rod seem so different. I figured you had a military man tucked away somewhere for weekend trysts. You know, something on the side?” Ailbe bit into his chicken salad sandwich and chewed as he gazed at Wyl.
“Actually, I never dated anyone until Rod came along.” Wyl aimed an unblinking stare at Ailbe. “During my time in the Marines, I frequently got transferred, so I didn’t develop relationships. Too difficult to sever whenever I moved on.” Wyl fingered a crisp into his mouth and crunched.
“That doesn’t answer my question about you being gay.” Ailbe reached for his bottle of cola. The cap hissed briefly as he twisted it open.
“Rod is the first person I let myself be close to besides family. I never considered being gay or straight and struggled with my attraction to Rod. But we worked through that, and now I can’t imagine myself with anyone else.” Wyl bit a good-sized corner from half of his cheese sandwich.
“We’d make quite a team, you and me,” Ailbe said. “We could own the world with our combined expertise and experience.” Ailbe’s cold, calculating stare conveyed his seriousness.
“I’m on my honeymoon, Ailbe. Surely you’re not suggesting I dump my husband and set up housekeeping with you.” Wyl knew that was precisely what Ailbe had in mind.
“Be aware you have options,” Ailbe popped the last of his sandwich into his mouth.
They finished their lunch in silence. After lunch, Ailbe handed Wyl five completed projects to review.
The review was quite intensive, so five hours was a lot.
Wyl spent the afternoon inspecting the code, looking for any glaring errors.
Occasionally, he entered the code into the computer and used an internal code-checking application to validate it.
He found no errors. The work was solid and clean, and he was impressed.
By four o’clock, he returned the finished projects to Ailbe’s office.
“I’m taking off for the day,” Wyl said. “Rod and I are planning a quiet evening at home tonight.”
“Very good.” Ailbe took the stack of papers from Wyl. “You go and enjoy your evening. Come again in the morning when you’re ready. I’ll leave five more projects on the desk in that office.”
“Sounds great.”
“And think about our conversation at lunch. You could own the world.”
“Interesting proposal. See you tomorrow.” Wyl turned and headed outside, calling a cab to take him home.
* * *
Wyl entered the flat to a wonderful aroma. “What smells so good, babe?”
“Dinner for my hard-working husband.” Rod leaned in for a kiss. “How was your day with Ailbe?” Rod turned back to the stove, stirring the saucepan.
“It was good.” Wyl wrapped his arms around his husband from behind, nuzzling his ear. Based on Rod’s reaction when they had their play-the-game conversation, he wouldn’t share about Ailbe’s proposition at lunch. “Is it dinner time already?”
“No. You’re smelling the sautéed onions and peppers that go into the stuffing. I’m making stuffed pork chops. They must bake for an hour, so dinner won’t be ready for a while. What did you and Ailbe do today?”
Wyl ignored the question. “How about a martini?”
“I’m always up for a martini,” Rod said.
Wyl pulled two highball glasses from the cupboard and opened the freezer for cubes from the ice maker tray. The ice clinked into the glasses. “Twist or olives?” he asked.
“I don’t think we have any lemons, so olives. And you ignored my request for details about your day.”
“Not much to tell, actually.” The ice crackled as Wyl poured Boru vodka into the glasses.
“Did you learn anything new?”
“I believe the zero hour for the cybercrime is October 29th,” Wyl said. “Ailbe didn’t say exactly, but indicated the program should be running by then. Students will be in the lab next week, entering their projects and ensuring that everything aligns. We’ll be reviewing projects all this week.”
“I feel as if I’m on the outside looking in,” Rod said. “What can I do?”
Rod’s comment stung, given Ailbe’s proposition. He was glad Rod couldn’t see his face or his reaction. “Why don’t you come to the campus with me tomorrow. You can see where I am and what I’m doing.” Wyl faced Rod to hand him his martini.
“Do you think Ailbe will get nervous with me poking around? I don’t want to give him any excuses for more murders.” Rod took a big gulp.
“It’s not like he doesn’t realize we communicate. Whether you see the layout for yourself or I tell you about it, there is no difference.”
“I guess you’re right. But I don’t want to give Ailbe reasons to think we’re expendable.”
“We’re not expendable. And remember, we have ample forces on our side. “Wyl took a sip.
“Keep reminding me of those ample forces,” Rod took another gulp.
“Slow down there.” Wyl reached for Rod’s almost empty glass. “We can’t have a roll in the hay if you’re drunk as a skunk.”
Rod chuckled. “I’ll be fine. Make me another, and I promise to sip it slowly.”
“Don’t forget the mole on the student side.” Wyl refreshed Rod’s drink. “Garrett Burke is eager to do what he can to solve Fergus Rafferty’s murder case and keep an eye on anything suspicious in MacGowan’s classroom.”
“Wow. This mission sure is getting complex. At first, it was just a cybercrime. Now it’s a deviously thought-out cybercrime complete with murders, moles, and secret agents.”
“At least we’re not doing this alone, babe.” Wyl handed Rod his freshened martini. “All parties are covering the bases well.” He took another sip, pulling the olive into his mouth.
Rod set his martini on the counter, placed his hands on Wyl’s face, and looked directly into his eyes. “You better not let anything happen to you, Wylton Joseph Sterling.”
“As long as I have you as my backup, I’ll be fine,” he smiled and reached up to place his free hand over Rod’s. “Remember your promise to hold me in your arms on the ranch at Christmas.”