Bryce

The Second Semester

Chapter 30 - Counter Attack

            When Bryce encountered Curtis on Tuesday morning at the gym, he looked concerned.

            “Why the serious expression?  Didn’t Justin pan out?”

            “Oh, I was able to talk to Barczak last night,” Curtis replied.  “Actually, he’s a more interesting guy than I thought.  Anyway, he says he can do the analysis of a video and tell where it has been altered, so that’s some kind of encouragement.  But he doesn’t know how to go about tracing the origins of an e-mail.  He said he’s heard of such a thing, but can’t do it himself.”

            “I guess that means we have to talk to Hunter.  Have you seen him?” Bryce asked.

            “Not yet.  I’m hoping to catch him here at the Fitness Center,” Curtis said.  “Oh, and Justin said proving a video was altered is a lot easier if you have the original, but that’s not absolutely necessary.”

            Bryce gave a sarcastic laugh.  “I don’t think Cory is going to supply us with that.”

            “Just something to keep in mind,” Curtis added.

            A few minutes later, the guys noticed Hunter Matthews enter the gym.  They immediately went to establish contact.

            “Hello, Hunter.  How you doing this morning?” Curtis began.

            In his usual monosyllabic manner, Hunter replied, “Hi,” and started to turn away.

            “Listen, Hunter, we kind of need your help with something,” Bryce tried.

            “Why would I help you?” Hunter asked.

            “Well, maybe because you’re a good guy, and it’s a good cause,” Curtis tried.

            Hunter did not look interested.

            “Or maybe because it’s a computer problem,” Bryce suggested.

            That got a much more definite response, but still way short of enthusiastic.  “What kind of computer problem?”

            “I overheard you say the other day you could trace an e-mail back to the computer it came from,” Bryce supplied.

            “Yeah.  That’s kind of interesting,” Hunter said, looking positive for the first time.  But then he relapsed into his usual mode.  “But I just did that.  Anything new?”

            Curtis and Bryce looked at each other.  What would appeal to this guy?  Desperately, Curtis asked, “Could you just take a look at an e-mail and give me some idea?”

            “Just an e-mail?  Like the one I analyzed before?  Where’s the interest in that?  I already did that.” Hunter responded.

            “Well,” Curtis cautiously added, “there’s an attachment, but it’s kind of sensitive.”

            “An attachment?  Do you know where the e-mail came from, or are you completely in the dark?” Hunter prodded.

            “We think we know.  Does that make a difference?’ Bryce asked.

            “Sure,” Hunter replied, as though it were the most obvious thing on earth.  “If I could compare the e-mail with settings on the original computer, it would be a shoo in.”

            “Hold on a minute,” Bryce said to Matthews, as he pulled Curtis aside.  “Maybe we can sneak Hunter into Cory’s apartment during the meeting this evening.  You know he’ll be there.”

            “But how can Hunter get into Cory’s apartment?  It’ll be locked,” Curtis objected.

            Bryce smiled.  “My innocent looking partner has informed me of some unusual skills he picked up in his misspent youth.  If I’m not mistaken, breaking and entering is among them.  He told me he learned about computers by breaking into the school principal’s office at night, and no one ever suspected.”

            “Let’s try it,” Curtis said with some enthusiasm.

            Returning to where Hunter was now involved in his workout, Curtis said, “I think we have a way of getting to the original computer.  But it involves breaking and entering.”

            That news evidently did not faze Matthews, but he was still hesitant.  “You never did tell me why I should be helping you guys in the first place.”

            “There’s the excitement of something different,” Curtis suggested.

            When that did not seem to work, Bryce added, “And we’ll pay you for your time and work.”

            That made an immediate difference.  “Oh!  A job!  Why didn’t you say so?  I thought you were just trying to mooch off me, like those other guys before break.  I don’t come cheap,” he warned.

            “How much?” Bryce negotiated.

            “No haggling.  I charge a hundred dollars an hour for this kind of job.  Or any part of an hour,” he quickly added.

            Curtis started to object, but Bryce immediately accepted.  “Done.  But only if you produce results.”

            Hunter looked insulted.  “I always produce results.”

            “You and Curtis work out the details, but I can tell you now it involves work this evening, okay?” Bryce continued the negotiations.

            “No problem.  I generally spend my evenings in the computer lab,” Hunter replied.  “But I take it this will require at least one hour or part thereof.  I want half up front.”

            Again Curtis began to object, but again Bryce cut him off.  “Done.  Walk back to my dorm room when we finish here and I’ll hand you the cash.  And you can meet my partner, Damon.  You’ll be working with him this evening.”

            Bryce and Curtis carefully watched to see Hunter’s reaction to the mention of a partner.  There was none.  Just a practical question.  “Why?”

            “Why what?” Curtis wondered.

            “Why will I be working with this other guy?” Hunter elucidated.

            “Because both Curtis and I will be tied up, keeping the owner of the apartment and the computer occupied, among other things, and Damon has the skills needed to break in,” Bryce informed him.

            Hunter considered that.  “Okay.”  For the first time since they had known him, Hunter smiled.  “Two kinds of specialized skills,” he noted.

            Bryce was able to get in his normal workout despite the time spent talking to Hunter Matthews because neither he nor Damon had a class before 9:30.  Consequently, it was after his usual indulgence in the hot tub and sauna with Curtis before he met with Hunter, and led the way back to Clay Hall.  Along the way, Bryce attempted to engage Hunter in conversation, but the other had returned to his monosyllabic reticence when there was nothing about computers to talk about.  All Bryce learned was that Hunter, too, had a room on campus.

            At the dorm, Bryce let them into his room, and told Hunter to make himself at home while he went to wake Damon.  Damon no longer reacted violently when awakened, especially when Bryce woke him with a kiss.  He did sometimes want to engage in some intimate play, however, and that was not advisable with someone in the other room.  Bryce had to firmly resist temptation.

            “Not now.  There’s someone in the other room who needs to meet you.”

            “Meet me?  This is a hell of a time to meet someone,” Damon complained.

            “Can’t be helped.”

            “Who is it?”

            “Hunter Matthews.”

            “Who’s Hunter Matthews?” Damon wanted to know.

            “You remember last night ...,” Bryce began.

            “Yeah,” Damon said with a dreamy expression, reaching for Bryce again.

            “Not that part of last night,” Bryce insisted.  “When everyone was over here, and we talked about that video.”

            “Oh, that!” Damon commented with disappointment.

            “Yeah, that.  Well, Hunter is the guy who we hope can trace the thing back to Cory’s computer.  But he needs access to that apartment.  We’re thinking of putting some of your special skills to use this evening while Cory is at the fraternity meeting.  You think you can break in, so Hunter can get at that computer?” Bryce outlined the plan.

            “Unless he has some kind of alarm system or special lock.  An ordinary lock should be no trouble,” Damon assured his partner.

            “Well, get up and put on some clothes.  We don’t want to distract Hunter,” Bryce joked.

            A couple of minutes later, Bryce and Damon emerged back into the lounge room.  Hunter was seated at Bryce’s computer, playing with some program Bryce had never seen before.

            “What’s that?” Bryce enquired.

            “Oh, I was just checking out some of the specs.  Not bad for a commercial model,” Hunter responded.

            “A commercial model?  What else is there?” Bryce asked.

            “I put together my own computers.  I find it more satisfactory that way,” Hunter informed him.

            “Oh,” was all Bryce could think to say.  Then, remembering Damon standing next to him, he added, “Hunter, this is my partner, Damon Watson.  He’ll be working with you this evening.”

            Hunter rose and shook hands with Damon.  “If you can get me to this computer these guys are so concerned about, then I’ll do my part.”

            “I’ll get you there,” Damon promised.

            Bryce went to the place in his desk where he kept extra cash just for unexpected expenses like this, and extracted fifty dollars.  “Here you go, Hunter.  That’s half for the first hour.  If it runs over an hour, I’ll cover that, too, of course.”

            “Of course.  That was our agreement,” Hunter responded.  “I have to get to my lab before class, so I’ll go now, but I’ll see your friend at eleven.”

            Hunter let himself out.  Bryce had the distinct feeling he had forgotten Curtis’ name, and hoped he would not forget the assignment.  Sometimes all one could do was hope.

            In his Psychology class, Bryce considered that Hunter Matthews would make an interesting personality study.  Well, maybe not interesting, but out of the ordinary, anyway.  He had his own study of Damon outlined, and a first draft written, but he wanted to hone it a little more before letting Damon see it.  Undoubtedly his partner would have comments.

            After class, there was an hour before Bryce was to meet Damon for lunch.  He spent the time in the library, working on his various term papers in response to the comments on the drafts he had submitted earlier.  As he left, he remembered Hunter’s comments about books and libraries becoming obsolete, and devoutly hoped he was wrong.  Bryce liked libraries, and reading something on a computer screen was simply not as satisfying as reading a book seated in his recliner.  The two went together.  The word ‘library’ comes from the Latin word for book, ‘liber.’

            Approaching the University Center, Bryce noticed Curtis approaching from a different angle and hailed him.  “How’d things go with Hunter?” he asked.

            “Whew!” Curtis dramatically wiped his brow.  “I’m glad I thought to bring Justin along as a translator.  I don’t think I’m any more stupid than most, but after the first sentence or two I had no idea what those two were talking about.  Fortunately, Justin speaks both English and computerese.  He assures me that Hunter not only understands what we want, but that he’s quite capable of carrying out the job.  Seems they’ve shared several classes, even though Justin is a senior this year, and Hunter a junior.  Justin got Hunter to agree to also search Cory’s computer for the originals of those tapes he used to make his pastiche.  I just hope they have time to complete the task before out meeting ends and Cory returns home.”

            “If necessary, we can think up some way to delay him at the house,” Bryce decided.

            “Justin paid me a compliment, I guess,” Curtis revealed.  “He said he really enjoyed Sigma Tau Alpha during his time at U of C, and would not want to see it destroyed as soon as he left by leaving Dwyer as president and Blaine as the power behind the throne.  He’ll do all he can for us.”

            “I’m sure Justin’s not the only one to feel that way,” Bryce insisted.  “You’ll make a fine president, and keep us on an even keel.  Maybe instead of keeping out everyone who’s not WASP, we can be exclusive by keeping out bigots.”

            “Bigots are hard to identify ahead of time, but it’s an admirable goal.  I’ll see what I can do along those lines if I get elected,” Curtis stated.

            “Not ‘if.’  Think positive.  ‘When.’” Bryce encouraged him.

            Damon had arrived, and clearly was ready for lunch, so Curtis went his own way, meeting with Maddy somewhere.  Even in the midst of crisis, romance could not be neglected.  Bryce and Damon decided that it had been too long since they had a dose of Caroline’s brand of common sense and a taste of her Bourbon balls, so they took off for Rebecca Ruth Hall.  She was clearly glad to see the two of them, chatting about her music camp during the break, and listening with more than usual attention to their account of their week on Puerto Rico.  She also fed them well, and rewarded them with her signature Bourbon balls.  However, she expressed herself disappointed that Bryce had done no practice whatsoever with his karate during the break, praising Damon for not neglecting his swimming.  That caused both guys to grin, as swimming was, indeed, part of the vacation plan, whereas karate was not.  Still, Caroline insisted on heading out to the gym early, so she could put Bryce through a couple of exercises before class began.  Bryce was quite relieved to discover that most of the other students had done no exercises during break either.  Caroline almost had him believing he was entirely out of line.  When their PE classes were over at 3:30, Damon reported with a grin that the swimming instructor had praised his performance.  Bryce could not say the same.

            Back at the dorm, Bryce again gave his attention to studying for class and working on those term papers.  Damon did some of that, but shortly before time to depart for their dinner, Bryce noticed him playing with a couple of instruments which looked like long metal toothpicks.

            “What’s that?” Bryce asked.  “I don’t think I’ve seen that before.”

            Damon looked a little diffident, replying, “Tools of the trade.  I might need these for our special project this evening.  It’s been a while since I used them, so I figured I would get in a little review.”

            Bryce whistled.  “Lock picks!  I never saw anything like that before.  Show me.”

            And so Damon demonstrated, including on the lock to their joint lounge.  He took his time, but was able to open the several locks available to practice on.  Bryce congratulated him, proclaiming everything was in the bag as far as their evening program was concerned.

            “You just make certain Cory stays away for as long as possible.  I have no doubt that bastard would love to have me thrown in jail if he found me in his apartment,” Damon admonished.

            “I’d come visit,” Bryce joked, which led to some horse play, after which they went off to eat.

            At seven o’clock, Bryce and Damon met by prior agreement with Hunter Matthews.  After a quick review of what they were looking for, Damon and Hunter departed in the direction of Cory’s apartment, while Bryce directed his footsteps towards the fraternity house.  When he arrived, he did not see either Cory Blaine or Harry Dwyer, and almost panicked, thinking they had decided for some reason not to attend this meeting.  Keith Hamilton pointed out that it was still twenty minutes before the meeting began.  At quarter past seven, Cory appeared with Harry in tow, to the immense relief of Bryce and his fellow conspirators.  Putting on a show of nonchalance, Bryce greeted his foes.

            “Evening Cory.  Hi Harry.”

            Cory looked at him as though he were an overgrown insect.  “Where’s your black boyfriend this evening?” he enquired, his voice dripping with venom and disdain at the words “black boyfriend.”

            If there had been any hesitation on Bryce’s part, that would have eliminated it.  “I assume you’re speaking about our brother Damon,” Bryce replied, stressing the words our brother.  “He’s not feeling too well this evening.  Maybe something he ate.  But it’s nothing serious.  I’m so glad you asked after him, and I’ll be happy to pass on your concern.”

            Cory gave Bryce an acidic look, then he and Harry passed on into the meeting room without comment.

            Those in the conspiracy to delay things scattered about the room, and when the meeting began spoke at random, asking that something be repeated, or bringing up extraneous points in order to delay matters.  Saturday a week would be another trash pickup day, and time was spent wondering whether it would be light enough at seven in the morning to dispense with the flashlights.  Some guys wanted another party soon, but Bryce pointed out that if it were not the coming Friday or the next, it would have to be delayed by two weeks.  There would be a poor turn out on April 2, as that was Good Friday, and even students who were not very religious might hesitate to party on Good Friday.  As the party on the Friday before Spring Break was a financial disaster, they could not afford another.

            This gave Cory the opening he wanted, so he launched into an attack on Curtis for pressuring the brothers into having that party.  Fortunately, as suggested by Bryce prior to the break, the Secretary, Terry Hoffman, had the minutes of the entire semester at hand.  Curtis appealed to those minutes to support his contention that, far from pressuring the brothers into having the party, he had opposed having one on that date.  The minutes did not reflect the opposing positions quite as strongly as some remembered them, but two things emerged.  First of all, the motion to have the party was seconded by Harry Dwyer.  Second, Curtis was on record as opposing the meeting date.  Cory attempted to claim the minutes were inaccurate, but Terry strongly objected to that, and also pointed out that those minutes had been approved at the following meeting without objection.  Both Cory and Harry had been present at that meeting.  That conflict took up about twenty minutes.

            This was followed by a lengthy discussion of when the next party would be.  Bryce’s point about avoiding Good Friday was echoed by several other speakers.  When it was suggested that the coming Friday be the date, it was further objected that, again as Bryce pointed out, they could not afford another poorly attended party.  Was three days enough time to get out the information?  Eventually, amid much moaning about the necessity of getting a party approved by the Pan-Hellenic Council, the date of the next party was set for March 26, the Friday before Palm Sunday.  Bryce and several others moaned when they realized that it was also the date of the second major exam in their English class.  Many of the other brothers were upset about the fact that the next day would be a trash pick-up day, which would deprive them of the opportunity to sleep off any over-indulgence at the party.  Even so, it was the best option available.

            Throughout much of the meeting, Blaine and Dwyer kept looking at Curtis, expecting him to make the announcement of his withdrawal from candidacy for office, presumably.  For his part, Curtis played dumb, and from his place as an officer at the head of the room merely smiled  every time he encountered them looking at him.  By the time the meeting was over, those two were clearly frustrated.

            Thanks to these items, and to the general tactics of the delayers, it was quarter to ten before the meeting broke up.  That, of course, gave Cory and his allies something more to complain about.  Bryce was quite pleased, however.  About fifteen minutes earlier, he received a call on his cell phone, which he had on vibrate during the meeting.  He stepped out into a hallway to answer.  It was Damon.  All he said was, “Mission accomplished.”

            Those who had gathered in the rooms shared by Bryce and Damon the previous evening made their ways separately back to that same meeting place after the SAT business meeting broke up.  They were joined this evening by Justin Barczak.  Naturally, they did not go as a group, in order to avoid arousing interest on the part of their opponents.  It was not until about half an hour after the meeting broke up that everyone was back and settled.  With Damon’s exuberant greeting of each new arrival, they knew success had been achieved.  Consequently, no one was shy about accepting the drinks offered by their hosts.

            “We got to the parking lot of that apartment building in plenty of time,” Damon reported.  “We saw Cory and Harry both leave for the meeting, and waited until they were well on their way, just in case someone forgot something and came back.  There’s no guard or concierge, so we just walked up to the second floor, where Cory’s apartment is located.  Hunter sort of acted as lookout while I paid attention to the lock.  He’s pretty useless as a lookout, as he kept wanting to see what I was doing.  It’s a pretty simple lock and key arrangement.  The building is old, and I don’t think the locks have been changed since it was built.  Before long, we were inside.

            “We didn’t want to create too much noise, or show too much light, in case a neighbor or someone knew Cory was out.  Fortunately, there’s a pretty powerful desk lamp we could use next to the computer, so no overhead lights were needed, and I made sure the curtains were drawn.  Hunter was like a homing pigeon.  As soon as he saw the computer, he went right for it, and didn’t pay attention to anything else.  He got into the guts of the machine, and began making satisfied noises.  I think some of it was just being interested in the computer.  He tried to show me things from time to time, but I had no idea what he was excited about.

            “Hunter had with him his analysis of the e-mail Curtis received yesterday, and I noticed him pull that out and begin comparing it to something on the screen.  That seemed promising, and he seemed pleased.

            “While Hunter was doing his thing, I kind of wandered around the apartment.  I didn’t touch anything so as not to leave fingerprints, but I looked.  This guy is a real case.  Would you believe, he has a copy of Birth of a Nation among his DVDs?”

            That left most of the others confused, but Bryce explained, “Birth of a Nation is a movie made in 1915 by D.W. Griffith, who, by the way, was a native of LaGrange, not so far from here.  It was technologically innovative for camera work and other things, but was also loaded with anti-black propaganda.  It glorified the Ku Klux Klan, which pretty much says it all.”

            “Yeah, well, that wasn’t all I found,” Damon resumed.  “The guy is evidently connected in some way with a lot of right wing extremists.  At least, I put my time waiting on Hunter to good use.  But as it got close to nine-thirty, I became worried that the meeting would break up, and we’d get caught there.  I asked Hunter how much longer he would take.  Do you know what the dumbass said?”

            “Obviously not,” Jack replied.

            “‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I finished that a little while ago.  I was just checking out his ....’  Well, I don’t know what the hell he was checking out, but I insisted that we check out of that apartment with no more delays.  I made sure everything was in the condition it was when we got there.  I even wiped Hunter’s fingerprints off the keyboard, so I doubt that Cory will know anything until we surprise him,” Damon concluded.

            He was greeted with a round of applause as he handed Justin a thumb drive.  “Here.  Hunter says the original videos are all on this drive.  I hope he knows what he’s talking about.”

            “Hunter’s a real hermit, with no social graces, but he knows computers,” Justin said.  “I’ll get on this as soon as I can.  I don’t know exactly how long it will take, but I can assure you that, with this, proving that the video sent Curtis was a pastiche will not be a problem.”

            “Hunter said he would send you a report, with all the specifications proving that the e-mail you got came from Cory’s computer,” Damon told Curtis.  “He didn’t seem to have any doubt about that.”

            “That’s a relief,” Curtis said.  “Once we get that report, and Justin’s, we can go on the offensive.”

            “Now it’s a matter of being patient, and not blowing our cover until we have all our ducks in a row,” Jack summarized.

            “Guys, I thank all of you.  Without your help, I could never have survived this attack,” Curtis said with feeling.

            “It’s in all our interests, and in that of Sigma Alpha Tau, that you win and Cory loses,” Tom declared.