“They were just that — dots. There weren’t names attached to them. Those people were served a tagged video ad, and I tracked them when they entered a store that sold the product in that ad.”
“And since it was anonymous, you weren’t invading their privacy.”
“That’s right. All the campaigns I worked on were anonymous. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. That’s not true for other programmers I know.”
The confession was starting to feel more like an apology. He didn’t like that, and said, “But what about the work you did for One Percent Solutions? That sure as hell wasn’t anonymous. You were tracking individual people.”
“All I did was serve those people video ads, and then Dexter tracked them on his cell phone with an app I gave him.”
“That’s a cop-out.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You’re complicit.”
“To a certain degree, I am. Like I told you before, I needed the money to live. But I told Dexter what the rules were, and that he’d get in trouble if he broke them.”
“Afraid it didn’t work.”
“Let me finish. I also told Dexter that if I found out he broke the law, I’d turn him over to the police. That’s why he threatened me.”
“So you covered your ass. Big deal.”
“I meant what I said. If Dexter broke the law using the technology I gave him, I’d turn him over, which I’m still prepared to do. If not to the police, then to you and Special Agent Daniels.”
Gar was offering up Dexter, which sounded like a bunch of nonsense, considering that the programmer hadn’t even known Dexter’s last name.
“How do you plan to turn him over? Do you know where he lives?”
“Afraid not.”
“Then how are you going to do it?”
“Before I answer that, will you answer my question?”
“Which is what?”
“What laws has Dexter broken, besides threatening me?”
He counted them off on the fingers of his hand. “He’s responsible for multiple kidnappings and two murders. He’s also running a human trafficking ring with his biker buddies, and selling his victims into slavery. Now, how do you plan to do this?”
Gar opened an app on his cell phone and gave it to him. On the screen was an aerial map of the Tampa Bay area that covered from Saint Petersburg to New Port Richey. In the area between Dunedin and Tarpon Springs pulsated a single purple dot. The dot was moving in a southerly direction in a straight line.
“Use your finger to enlarge the screen,” Gar said.
He did as told and zoomed in. Major roads appeared on the map, and he saw that the dot was traveling south on Alternate US 19.
“That’s Dexter,” Gar said proudly. “The app that he’s using to track his victims sends out a signal every few seconds, which lets me track him by GPS. It’s a special feature I built, in case I needed to turn him in.”
His opinion of Gar changed. This was the right thing to do.
“Could Dexter know that you’re tracking him?” he asked.
“I can’t see how. The signal eats up the battery, but that’s true for most apps.”
“I want one of these.”
“You got it. It’s stored in my laptop. I’ll send one to you, and walk you through the installation. Special Agent Daniels can have one too.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
The purple dot turned off Alternate US 19 and drove down an unmarked road that ended at the gulf, then came to a stop. He guessed it was either private or a dirt road. The nearest landmark was the Sherwood Forest RV Resort, which was due south.
Daniels entered the restaurant, got an iced tea at the bar, and slid into the booth. He mumbled hello without looking up from Gar’s phone. The purple dot had stopped moving, and he wondered if that was Dexter’s hideout.
“What are you looking at?” she asked.
“Our killer,” he said.
Chapter 35
Lancaster had always despised people who walked around in public staring like zombies at their cell phones. These people were everywhere — in movie theaters, malls, and especially restaurants. Instead of engaging in normal conversations with their friends, they chose to be slaves to their iPhones and Droids.
And now, he was one of them.
His cell phone clutched in his hand, he rode shotgun while Daniels burned down State Road 54 toward Tarpon Springs. She drove like a hot-rodding teenager, and jockeyed between cars without slowing down. Behind them, four members of Daniels’s team were packed in an SUV, armed to the teeth. On his phone, the purple dot that was Dexter Hudson had not moved in the past twenty minutes.
“Why do you think he did it?” Daniels asked.
Lancaster shook his head, not understanding.
“Why did Gar give Dexter an app that could be traced?”
They had just left Gar at the Marriott with the remaining two members of the team. Before leaving, Gar had gone on his laptop, and sent each of them an app that would allow them to track Dexter. That app now resided on both their cell phones.
“I guess he wanted to go to heaven,” he said.
“You’re saying Gar has a conscience,” she said.
“I think so. Gar sensed that Dexter was up to no good, so he made the app traceable, in case Dexter broke the law.”
“How noble.”
“You’re not impressed.”
“I think Gar is complicit in Dexter’s crimes.”
“In what way was Gar complicit? He didn’t know that Dexter planned to abduct the people he was tracing, and sell them into slavery. For all Gar knew, Dexter was a private investigator trying to track someone down. Nothing illegal there.”
“I think you’re being way too nice here.”
He laughed under his breath. He couldn’t remember anyone ever accusing him of being nice, and he said, “Cyber technology is the Wild West, and there aren’t many rules. Most programmers know that cell phone technology is dangerous in the wrong hands. Give Gar some credit for hedging his bets.”
“I still think he’s a snake.”
“A snake who just helped us.”
“That doesn’t change a damn thing.”
State Road 54 ended at US 19. Daniels took a left on a yellow traffic light, forcing her team to run the light when it was red. Lancaster looked over his shoulder to see if there was a police cruiser lurking about, fearing they might get pulled over.
“Stop being so paranoid,” she said.
“You drive too fast. You’re going to cause an accident.”
She laughed. “Says the man who shoots out the tires of motorcycles and sends people to hospitals, that’s funny.”
He didn’t have an answer for that, and said nothing. US 19 was a collection of ragtag strip shopping centers and failed restaurants, which in a few years would be torn down and replaced by new strip centers and restaurants. A road sign announced Tampa Road ahead, and he told Daniels to put on her indicator, so her team wouldn’t be caught by surprise when she turned.
“You really have issues with my driving, don’t you?” she said.
“It could be improved,” he suggested.
“Coming from you, that’s absurd.”
“I’m not going to apologize for what I did to those bikers last night. But I didn’t put anyone else’s safety at risk. The way you drive, everyone on the road is in danger.”
“I have a clean driving record.”
“So far.”
Tampa Road bisected neighborhoods with upscale homes and plushly landscaped yards. As Daniels raced down it, the purple dot on his cell phone disappeared.
“Shit,” he swore. “Dexter just went dark.”
“Meaning what?”
“The app on his phone has stopped transmitting.”
“Why would that happen?”