Ironically, his situation hadn’t changed much. Shad still couldn’t just go to the sheriff because he had nothing but conjecture. He still had to investigate Wally. But the main change Shad was noticing was in his determination to have the man put away. Any quarter he had been willing to grant to Wally was now completely nonexistent. Wally almost got Dulsie killed. Wally was going to pay for this. By the time Shad was done with him, Wally was going to wish he’d only had his arm ripped off and been beaten with it.

Shad stared at the blood and water slowly dripping from his hands. The washer had finished filling some time ago and shut off. He had a target. He had somebody to focus on. He was going to get the man who hurt Dulsie.

Shad finished scrubbing out the shirt and jeans with intensive vigor. He sprayed the clothes down with a stain remover before tossing them into the washer and nearly slammed the lid shut. Then Shad strode through the house and out the front door. He stopped at the white railing, gripped it in his hands, and gazed across the landscape of the farm.

As much as he relished the thought of hanging Wally upside down and naked from a honey locust tree, Shad had to figure out a plan to turn the man over to the police. When Pap said not to go anywhere, Shad knew that didn’t include hiking around on the farm. He needed to do some of his best thinking.

Chapter Nineteen

For it is not My desire that anyone shall die – declares the LORD God. Repent, therefore, and live!

--Ezekiel 18:32

When Pap was ready to go to the hospital to pick up Mam, Shad requested to be dropped off at the bookstore. As he expected, Pap scrutinized him with a furrowed brow as they stood in the living room.

“Don’t you want to see Dulsie?”

“What I want and what needs to be done aren’t exactly the same.” Shad steadily returned Pap’s gaze. “Except for the part about tracking down what happened to her last night.”

Pap’s frown deepened. “Back up the buggy a minute.” He briefly glanced at the carrying case hanging from Shad’s shoulder. “How is the computer gonna help figure that out?”

Shad drew a deep, calm breath before responding. “I finally determined who would want to see me terminated right now.”

Pap arched an eyebrow. “Sounds like you should be having a chat with the sheriff.”

“It’s not that easy. This person is in a different jurisdiction and will be regarded as a low priority there. Time is of the essence.”

“Attempted murder is a low priority?”

Shad fixed his gaze on Pap’s. “Trust me. Until the police have more to go on than my word, they’ll consider the other person to be a low priority.” Shad stepped toward the door. “I’ll explain more in the car.”

Shad knew his explanation wasn’t going to be entirely to Pap’s satisfaction, but his goal right now was just to make it to the bookstore so Shad could have the internet access he needed. Pap didn’t take long once they got into the maroon Toyota to follow up with his questions.

“So who became your prime suspect?”

“Someone from my past.” Shad already had determined just what information he was willing to release.

Pap glanced at him as he steered the car toward the road. “Why would they be after you now?”

“I had a chance encounter with him about a week and a half ago. I know from my past he was involved in criminal activity. I have knowledge but not evidence he’s still involved. In order to obtain that evidence as quickly as it needs to be done, I’m gonna have to get it myself. If you’ll drop me off at the bookstore I’ll be able to begin that process. This is the best thing I can do for Dulsie right now.”

“How is the computer gonna help you?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Pap frowned. “Aren’t there legal issues about obtaining evidence illegally?”

“Why do you assume I’ll be hacking?”

“Why do I assume the bear takes a dump in the woods?” Pap glanced at him again. “In your current situation maybe you shouldn’t be flirting so much with law breaking.”

“You realize I know this is coming from a man who risked being prosecuted on a felony to keep me out of the state system.”

“That was different.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Yes, it is.” Pap’s frown deepened. “Your mom and I had a choice to obey man’s law or to obey ... why ever it had to be us to take you in.”

“My encounter with this person really wasn’t chance.”

“Come again?”

“It’s not for my own sake I need to turn him in. It’s not even just for Dulsie’s sake. This guy needs to be removed from society. I was meant to find him.”

Shad watched Pap during the seconds that passed. Pap stared at the road and the furrow in his brow seemed to vacillate between increasing and decreasing. A good half minute elapsed before he finally replied.

“Great,” Pap grumbled. “Now you’re starting to sound like Maddie.”

Shad felt a smile creep upon his lips entirely of its own volition. “I knew you’d see things my way.”

Pap didn’t give up trying to wrestle more information from Shad, but he did agree to swing by the bookstore. Once there Shad strode directly to the little café established in the corner of the building and ordered an iced tea. He then set the beverage and his incriminating laptop on a small, white table and seated himself in one of the two imitation wrought-iron chairs around it.

Phase one of his plan involved gaining access to Wally’s computer. There were several ways this could be accomplished, but Shad chose to try what could get him in the fastest. A Remote-Access Trojan, otherwise known as a RAT, had been an almost natural evolution from the earlier Trojan horse programs used to sneak into computer systems. But such programs, thank God, didn’t work until they were activated, which was why they had to masquerade as games or in attached files. So if Shad wanted the RAT he sent to Wally to start work right away, he had to deliver it under a guise Wally wouldn’t suspect.

Shad also had to assume Wally would be up to date on such security as virus detection and firewalls. Both the man’s business and his personal interests, especially the prurient ones, implied Wally would be very “computer savvy.” But the mind of a hacker was a different animal from that of someone simply proficient in technology. The particular little rodent Shad planned on using was one of his own creations, used only once before to show Nolan what vulnerabilities were actually in the office system. Its unique signature should get it by the virus scans and remain unnoticed by the firewall. But Wally would still have to activate it.

Shad’s exploratory hacking over a week ago had already gotten him into the intranet used by Wally’s business. During that perusal Shad did notice employees sending email that included proposed improvements and new gaming technology. And a look at Wally’s mailbox had revealed he sometimes forwarded such postings to his home computer. One store manager in particular came across as an efficient and communicative woman who kept abreast of the latest trends. Shad used her email address to bundle up his RAT as an attachment so he could launch it as a forward from Wally’s work computer.

Then all he could do was wait for the rodent to emerge from its lair.

Shad was just getting the RAT sent from the intranet site as Pap returned with Mam. Pap stood behind Shad and watched the monitor of the laptop.

Although his dad could identify virtually every fauna and flora that crossed his path, the digital realm remained a bit mysterious to him. But Shad still didn’t want Pap to have any knowledge of what he was doing.

“You’re making me nervous,” Shad grumbled.

“Come on, Dear.” Pap imitated Shad’s tone. “We aren’t wanted.”