“It sounds crazy, I know.” I break off a bit of the dry blueberry scone I have no interest in eating and pop it in my mouth. Too much caffeine on an empty stomach can do a number on my guts.
“Nah, doesn’t sound crazy to me. Sounds pretty straightforward. Someone wants to fuck with you, but they want to do it from the safety of their computer.”
I am flooded with gratitude that he believes me.
“So do you think you can help me track down who is doing this?”
“Oh yeah, no prob.” He opens his battered laptop. “We know that it’s someone in the neighborhood, someone who belongs to the pool, or at least was at the pool that day.”
I think of what Krystle said, how Dustin might be the one behind all this. “Were you at the pool that day? I mean, maybe you saw something.”
He shudders. “I hate the pool. Hate everything about it, the sun, the noise. My mom used to force me to be on the swim team when I was a kid.”
“You know Heather? Lives across the street from you? She took a photo that day that looks just like the one in the fake profiles.” I explain in detail what I mean about the angle.
“Hmm.” He types something into his laptop. “That could be a clue. I can look at her photos.”
“You can do that?”
“Sure, if she stores them in the cloud or on Shutterfly.”
I am struck by the realization of what I am asking Dustin to do. Hack into other people’s computers.
“Look, if someone’s been attacking you online, there will be evidence.” He’s revved up like an engine that’s been gunned. “I mean, how did they get into your computer to access your work photos, for example?”
“I have no idea.”
“I know you don’t.” Dustin rubs his knuckles together feverishly, his high-pitched words running together. “But I do. I mean, I will if I look at your devices. I’ll be able to tell you if they have physical access—like, are they in your house, using your computer—or if they’ve installed a program that’s being activated remotely.”
Dustin’s agitated state unnerves me, making it hard to focus on what he’s saying.
“So we’re looking for someone who has a fair amount of experience with computers?”
“Not necessarily. They could just have money and have hired someone to do their dirty work.”
“That’s a thing?”
He guffaws as if he can’t believe my stupidity. “I can name like half a dozen dudes who could do this stuff in their sleep.” He grins, showcasing two rows of small, square teeth that remind me of corn kernels. “It’s what I plan to do when I graduate. I’m gonna skip college—don’t tell my mom—and be a paid hacker.” He waves an arm toward the other customers in Starbucks. “There’s probably at least one, maybe even two or three, guys in this room right now. Starbucks is a perfect phishing pond.”
I look around at all the people. Whether young, old, or middle-aged, almost all are bent over some kind of device, whether it’s a phone, an iPad, or a laptop.
“A phishing pond?”
“Let’s say your nemesis wants to fuck you over. Let’s say they hired me. I would follow you to a place where there’s public Wi-Fi—like Starbucks or the library or the pool—and bring my own portable network.”
I smile as if I am able to follow him. “All right. Those are all places where I’ve used the Wi-Fi, but I only sign on to the public Wi-Fi when I’m at Starbucks or wherever.”
He snorts. “That’s what you think. Let’s say I camp out here with my laptop and my own open Wi-Fi network, which I rename ‘Starbucks Wi-Fi,’ or if I’m at the pool, I call it ‘Bethesda Pool Wi-Fi.’ A certain number of customers are going to think they’re connecting to the real Starbucks or pool network; but in fact, it’s a trap.”
“Okay. Then what happens?”
“Well, since I control the router, and my router can store data, anything you access while you’re connected to my Wi-Fi network can be captured,” he says, his knuckles twitching at warp speed. I can see red blisters along the sides of his fingers from all that rubbing. “Info like credit card numbers, usernames, and passwords—and not just for email accounts but for bank accounts, social media. Anything.”
“I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t. Most people are complete idiots about online security.”
I open my mouth to object, but he continues. “And that’s not the biggest danger. The biggest danger is that someone installs either malware or spyware on your device.”
I remove my laptop from my bag and put it on the low table in front of us. I may have been carrying around the instrument of my own torture. “Would you be able to figure that out by looking at my computer?”
Dustin nods.
“How long will you need it?”
He rolls his eyes in irritation. “A few hours? A few days? I don’t know what I’m going to find. But I’ll need your phone, too.”
The request sends a shot of panic through me. Giving up my laptop is one thing, but my life is on my phone. I turn the small device over in my hand. “Is that really necessary? All my contacts, my calendar, everything is on here.” I wonder how anyone will reach me in an emergency. What if something happens to Cole?
“You don’t have another phone you can use?”
“No.”
“You know you can buy a pay-as-you-go phone. Then have your calls forwarded to that phone.”
“You mean like a burner phone?”
“Yeah. You can get them at any convenience store.”
I think about it for a moment, but the thought of being separated from my phone fills me with dread.
“I’m not ready.” I shake my head. “I can’t just give up
