Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

The boy sent me a hesitant glance, as if he was waiting for me to indicate to him what the correct answer was. I answered him with an almost imperceptible shake of my head and was sorry already. I knew that if he answered a definite “no”, then Yassin might suspect us. Not because he’d seen me shake my head, but because that was his character. He didn’t like premeditated answers.

The boy answered, “I can try but I will need to upload a few programs and it may take some time.” I almost sighed with relief.

“Okay… So, do it. One of my men will follow each of your steps.”

“Wait a second. He owes me a list that he uploaded on his laptop and I still haven’t received it. I want the list now.” This was the time to stand up to him, because it was the only way he understood. “Who knows what the boy will manage to upload and what not, especially while someone is breathing down his neck on his every move.”

“Can you give him the list from another computer?”

“No.” Now I knew that he was collaborating with me. I already had the list and we both knew it. He added, “I can try and find the list again, but it may take hours.”

“What is so special about this list?” Yassin glared at me, even though he’d asked the kid.

“It is a list of the Civil Guard in Arizona.”

“And why do you need this list?” This time he looked at me when he asked the question.

“Knowledge is power.” I smiled, “I don’t need to tell you that, right? The Civil Guard is working against the drug smugglers and I have an obvious interest in helping the cartels.”

“Okay,” Yassin reluctantly agreed. “Give him his damn laptop for five minutes. No more!” He ordered the old gorilla behind him. “After five minutes you close his computer, even if his hands are still on the keyboard. Understood?”

The gorilla understood. I hoped the boy understood too, and that five minutes would be enough time for him. I didn’t know what he could manage in such a short amount of time, but that was all that we had. No more. He needed to figure out a way to signal our location, just as he had done when we were in the apartment. The gorilla came back shortly and in his hands was the kid’s black bag.

“I assume that there is an internet connection,” said the boy. His young voice was newly energized. Maybe it was the hope that he had found an ally, or the knowledge that he has a bit of control; maybe being with his laptop again was like holding a weapon.

“There is no Wi-Fi, but there is a cable in that corner over there,” The gorilla pointed to the empty wall opposite him. The boy dragged himself up from where he was sitting and limped to the other side of the room. He leaned against the wall for a moment and then slid down it until he sat heavily on the floor, next to the Internet outlet, with his back to the wall. Carefully, he took his computer out of the bag. He held it as if it were a hard-won trophy, a happy expression on his face. The gorilla stood behind him, watching his every move. The boy connected the laptop to the electrical outlet and then took out another cable and plugged it into the Internet connection. The gorilla stood above him, surveilling the screen. The boy’s young fingers started gliding on the keyboard like a piano player. A few minutes passed and the gorilla looked over at Yassin. There was a helpless look on his face. The boy’s fingers moved so rapidly he couldn’t follow them. Another minute passed and the boy looked at me. “I need your email address,” he said quietly.

“No!” Yassin interrupted.

“What, ‘no’?” I asked crossly. He couldn’t change his mind every five minutes. Or he could, but I didn’t like it.

“I will give him an email address he can send the list to.” He was a control freak. But then he explained, “Your email is probably being surveilled.”

I laughed with relief. “Don’t worry, my friend… I have email addresses that they don’t know belong to me. Do you really think I could manage my business with just one address?”

He glared at me coldly, and the smile on my face froze. “You don’t have anything to worry about,” I promised. I wished that they could really track my emails. I wondered what would happen if I gave the boy the email that the police were monitoring.

“Okay, continue,” Yassin ordered. The room started breathing again, our hearts began beating, the sea once again began to surge. I hated him for his ability to affect his surroundings so profoundly, maybe because I was part of them.

Letter after letter, I dictated my secret address to the boy. He said, “Sent.” I removed my cell phone from my pocket, and we all looked at it, expecting to hear the sound of an incoming message but nothing happened. Yassin started walking towards the boy and he cowered against the wall.

“There may be no internet reception here,” the boy said and added quickly, “Because of the metal walls. I suggest you go upstairs and try again. Make sure also that you can open it.”

What had he done? Sent a file with a location point and a S.O.S message? A file to be opened when? Would it need Wi-Fi to be received? Would a passing ship be able to receive it? I didn’t quite understand what was happening, I just knew that I had to get up to the top level of the ship to open the file. I nodded my head and looked at Yassin. I didn’t leave until I’d received an ‘okay’ from him. He nodded in acceptance. “Don’t touch the boy in the meantime,” I warned him and pointed at the terrified