Amber stood up, suddenly fearful that as the bar hit one hundred percent, the computer would sound its soft tone again, announcing the installation had been a success. Amber drained the rest of the wine, ready to set the glass down loudly at the same moment. And then she saw what she had to do. The only way to get the device back.
She waited a few more seconds, and then as she went to replace the glass she let her hand flail out and connect with the wine bottle, sweeping it over and onto the floor. There was a loud crash that drowned out any noise the computer might have made.
“Oh -I’m so sorry. I’m so clumsy…”
“Fu…” Lily brought herself under control, but still looked pissed. “It’s OK.” She turned to grab a cloth, but Amber came with her, and as she passed the laptop she saw the screen had returned to how it had first looked, the software either running or not, she had no way of telling. She let her hand trail along the counter top as she pretended to reach for a cloth, and she slipped the USB out and into the pocket of her jeans.
“I said it’s OK.” Lily’s voice was aggressive now. She’d wadded up some kitchen roll, and was bending over, mopping up the mess.
“I’m sorry. I should go.” And with that she made her way to the front door, and with Lily not far behind her, opened it and stepped outside.
She half walked and half ran, until, once she was a few streets away, she pulled out the phone Billy had given her and called him, using the encrypted app.
“You got the software in?”
“I think so. I don’t know. ”
“No, you did. I’m listening in right now. She’s on the phone to James. I’ve got her whole system. You did great.”
The next stage of the plan was more simple. Billy was able to listen in to Lily’s laptop even when it was off – the microphone could record and send the audio just as long at the computer had an internet connection and power. Lily might notice that her battery was running down quicker than usual, but that would likely only prompt her to keep it plugged in. Otherwise, the software was invisible. As a result he was able to call Amber when he knew that James was at her house, though the first two times this happened Amber was at work, and wasn’t able to act on it. On the third time, however, she was.
The hardest part was to break into James’ apartment. In theory, this was the only difficult part, but Billy had coached her on how to use the lock pick set that he’d owned and practiced on years before. It wasn’t difficult, after a bit of practice, to open the transparent practice lock, but it was a different challenge to do the real thing, in a corridor where other students might appear at any moment.
Amber climbed the stairs, wishing she could have Billy on the phone confirming once again that James was still at Lily’s house. But he’d only said he would contact her if James left. She got to the door described by Billy and looked left and right. There were four other entrances in sight, but no one visible, so she pulled the pick from her pocket and inserted it into the lock. It was no good, she couldn’t stop her hand from shaking, and she had to pull the tool out again to reset. She stood in front of the heavy, wooden door, with the golden circle of metal holding the lock barrel. This was easy, she could do this. But as soon as she lifted her hands again she saw the shake, so instead she went for a walk, up and down the corridor, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.
Two girls passed her. Giggling and laughing as they went. Neither of them even glanced at her as they passed. Amber waited a few moments and followed them to the stairwell. Watched them down to the ground floor, and out the front door. A lone male came back in, and she flattened herself against the wall – blinking in surprise at how she’d called him a lone male. Was she some kind of undercover cop now? He came up one flight of stairs, but then went off into the corridor below her. Amber breathed deeply. She returned to James’ front door.
This time she knelt down in front of the door to get a better angle with the tools. The way Billy had shown her, he made it look incredibly easy to use the lock picking tools, but while she had managed to break his transparent padlock in seconds, it was much harder with the real lock she’d practiced on. And she simply hadn’t been able to try out her new skills on a standard door lock – there was no door she could practice on without being seen.
But she inserted the tension wrench into the bottom of the lock, and with the same hand applied just a little force. The idea was to take the pressure off the pins that held the lock closed. Then she inserted the pick above the wrench, and began pressing, and twisting and gently lifting, trying to get all of the upper pins to line up, and thus open the lock. She felt the lock’s tension reduce – at this point the lock should turn, but when she tried, it was still stuck, and she had to start over. All her focus was on the lock, she simply hoped that no one was going to come and see her here.
The tension reduced again, and this time she was more careful. Slower, but more careful, which was the way Billy had told her to do it. This time she used the tension wrench to turn the cylinder, and – as easy
