Welcome to my online cyber thriller, The Phisherman. To learn more about the story and meet the three main characters, click HERE. If you'd prefer to start at Chapter 1, click HERE. To select another chapter, click HERE.
The bumps of the plane’s rubber wheels bouncing on the tarmac at a hundred and sixty miles an hour were enough to awaken Nick from his deep slumber. He was glad to arrive at what he was sure would be the final destination of his hunt. He was disappointed at the same time. It was the best sleep he’d experienced in four days.
He flicked his phone off flight mode, only to be bombarded in seconds with numerous messages and alerts.
Unsurprisingly, the last three were from Ali.
More opportunities for her to give me a serve about being a … what was it she called me? Oh yes, a dinosaur, simply because I did not take her advice.
He decided to wait until he cleared Customs before looking through the long list of messages. Once he read the first one, it would be non-stop.
It didn’t take long to get through Customs once Nick waved his Agency badge.
He was reading Alison’s third message when he walked through the doorway into the public waiting area. Before the sliding doors had shut behind him, a deep voice called out, ‘Nick Davies?’
He knew it was Adam from Alison’s message.
He was surprised to see the last thing he expected. Alison had asserted that Adam was a geek. However, the guy was primped and preened in a designer suit and blond hair perfectly shaped by wax. And his clothing was tight enough to reveal a highly sculpted body beneath.
The arrogant nerd regards himself as a ladies’ man.
Nick’s assumption was ratified immediately when Adam’s eyes overtly followed an attractive stewardess with long black hair and bright red lips as she walked between them.
Adam turned back to face Nick with a smarmy grin.
‘Welcome to Oz, Nick, where the weather is always beautiful, and the women are even hotter.’
Nick had already decided that he disliked Adam.
Nor do I need the desk monkey’s help.
As usual, Nick tackled it head-on in Nick style.
‘I don’t know what lines Alison’s fed you, pal. But I’m all good with finding my way around. I’ve survived places a lot tougher than Sydney.’
Nick felt great satisfaction when Adam’s face crumbled in an instant, his swagger disappearing faster than a chocolate bar at a weight-loss meeting.
Ali should not have interfered before discussing it with me. I don’t need a babu getting in my way. Time to go for the kill.
‘You know what I need you to do, Adam?’ Nick mockingly asked before slowing his words to emphasize each one he spoke. ‘Go back to your desk and help Alison track this hacker online. If you want to help, that’s what you need to do.’
For a moment, Nick wondered from Adam’s deflated expression if he was going to cry. Nick was sure his reaction was the last thing Adam expected.
But lugging a pampered pen pusher around in the field is the last thing I need.
And there’s no way I could put up with that stench – it smells like the perfumed geek’s drowned himself in a vat of expensive cologne. My enemy will sniff him a mile away.
Heck, one whiff, and I want to run.
Adam looked up uncertainly, saying in a markedly quieter voice, ‘I might give Alison a call if that’s okay with you.’
Nick displayed the most disinterested face he could.
‘Buddy, do whatever you like. It doesn’t phase me, and it won’t change my opinion. I don’t care that you’re Ali’s friend. If you knew who I am and what I’ve done – trust me, pal, you don’t want to get in my way when I’m hunting prey. It will not end well for you.’
Nick knew he was saving Adam from facing things for which he was unprepared.
It’s for the geek’s good. He doesn’t belong in the field, no matter how hard he works on his pecs.
As Adam started speaking to Alison, Nick walked away to call Vengador.
It’s time to hunt.
Before Nick could dial Vengador’s number, two massive arms wrapped around him from behind and gave him the tightest squeeze he’d experienced for a long time. Nick was amazed as he was lifted bodily from the ground like he was a mere child.
Struggling free from the bear hug, he turned around to gaze at his old friend. Though multiple scars crisscrossed Vengador’s face, the fanatics hadn’t damaged any sensory organs on his face.
Unfortunately, the bastards removed other parts of his body.
Dark brown eyes, framed by those distinctive huge bushy black eyebrows, stared as intensely as the night Nick had pulled the man from the tiny cage that imprisoned him. His unique hooked nose and thin pursed lips were healthier, which was not hard considering the diet he’d been force-fed as a prisoner. His face was fleshier, and his skin was visibly olive, a stark contrast to the semi-albino tone he wore when he staggered from his dank prison.
The most prominent contrast, though, was his physique. It was apparent the man had been working on himself since Nick escorted him onto that chopper in Iraq a couple of years ago. When Nick carried the man into the moonlight two years earlier, he would have sworn Vengador weighed less than eight stone.1 His body was so emaciated, his rescuers wondered if he would survive.
Yet there he was, standing a full six foot ten, his barrel chest trying to push its way through the navy blue football jersey he wore as it revealed the biggest six-pack Nick had seen. And his pant legs struggled to contain his thighs; they were like tree trunks.
Vengador was an intimidating sight to behold.
Nick was overcome by the presence of the man who had become a close friend over the last two years as they conversed online. It was good to see him in the flesh.
As they hugged face-to-face, Nick heard someone cough behind him.
He got a whiff of pungent perfume as Adam’s annoying voice whined, ‘Sorry to interrupt, Nick, but Alison wants to talk with you.’
Angrily, Nick stepped back from his friend’s embrace.
‘Sorry, Venga, but I gotta sort this out.’
Vengador held his hand up to signify there was no need to apologize as Nick snatched the phone from Adam’s grasp and walked a few steps away.
Speaking harshly into the phone, he demanded, ‘Hey, Ali, what’s the problem?’
He knew she was angry when she said his name – it was drenched in rage.
‘Hey, Nick, the problem is you. If you would stop and use that tiny brain for one moment and TRY to treat the people helping you with the tiniest bit of gratitude, you might find that people start to think you’re actually a human rather than see you as the most arrogant prick that walks the earth. How’s THAT for spelling out the problem, Nick?’
Nick was dumbfounded. Alison had jumped the gun, not Nick. She was the one interfering with a field operation about which she had no idea.
And she thinks I’m the arrogant one?
‘Look, Ali, I don’t know what your toy boy told you …’
‘What the hell is wrong with you, Nick? Adam has flown to Sydney to help you, and you’re treating him like he’s a useless male appendage. Maybe YOU should look in the mirror, Dick!’
Nick decided enough was enough.
Raising his voice, he shouted over her.
‘Alison, you need to shut it and listen to me.’
Then, a little gentler, he added, ‘Please.’
Nick felt the shock emanating from Alison’s end of the line as she went silent. She had seen him go off at others and himself. He’d never lost it at her.
He sensed Adam and Vengador staring at his back. He needed to step up and take control.
It is my operation, after all.
Knowing Alison would respond negatively to strong-arm tactics, Nick softened his voice to one filled with concern.
‘Ali, this could be a dangerous operation on the ground. Alan Watson is highly intelligent and desperate. And desperate people do stupid things that hurt people. You know that, Ali. You’ve seen it.’
When she tried to interrupt, Nick cut her off with a killer blow.
‘You said it yourself – Alan Watson believes he can hurt people in the physical world as much as he does online. You were the one pushing that he’s dangerous in person, Ali.’
He paused, knowing she’d have no clever comeback against her own words, then added, ‘I appreciate Adam flying down. Honestly, I do. I told him I’m grateful for what he’s done. But being in the field when we go after this guy is high-risk for someone like Adam. He’s not trained for that. So I suggested he return to his office for his safety. I was only looking out for your friend, Ali.’
He deliberately dropped his voice as he went for the jugular.
‘I was also thinking of you – you’d hate yourself if anything happened to him.’
The long pause told Nick she was considering what he said. And the majority of it was correct, at least in intent. Adam would endanger himself and possibly Nick.
The muscular pretty-boy needs to go back to his desk. Ali should understand that. After all, she’s a desk jockey.
Time to seal the deal and make her think it’s all official.
‘Look, Ali, my Agency support contact is here to pick me up. Adam can verify that. It’s all under control in the real world. What I need is for you and your team to increase the pressure in the cyber universe and keep me in the loop with what you find. Let me and the Agency boys deal with the flesh and blood. Is that okay?’
There was a long pause. Nick was sure Ali had bought his argument until she spoke.
‘That would be okay other than the request I got from the NSA today, Nick,’ she said in a scarily calm voice. ‘They want me to help them track the hacker who stole the Project 831 documents. So, what do I tell them? What do I tell them, Nick? Because it seems they don’t know about you being on a case which, from what I recall, is your fault. Maybe you can explain why the Agency is helping you in Australia when they know nothing about that back in the States.’
Nick was used to responding in the heat of the moment. And history proved he was brilliant at selecting the best option, though usually, that was because he followed his gut instinct.
So, that’s what he did.
‘Ali, I don’t know anything about the NSA. As you know, the cyber spooks aren’t the Agency. I assume our techies dragged them into it because they can’t do what you can. Obviously, the NSA can’t, either. That’s why they called you. And that’s why I brought you into it four days ago. If we’re going to catch this hacker, Ali, who are you backing – me, the guy on his tail, or the clowns four days behind and in the wrong country?’
There was another long pause from the other end. Nick hoped common sense would prevail.
His relief was palpable when Alison replied, ‘Okay, Nick, let’s see how this plays out for now. I’ll stall the NSA for 24 hours. But that’s it. That’s all the time you have to wrap this up before I discuss what’s been happening with them.’
‘Thanks, Ali. So, I really need to go - Stevie’s here to pick me up and I need to go debrief the rest of the team asap. Can you help Adam understand what’s at stake, please? I think he had his heart set on being in the field with us, and that’s not going to happen. He would endanger himself and my team. Here he is.’
Before Alison could interject, Nick extended the phone to Adam.
‘Thanks for playing, pal, but this game’s over for you. You need to listen to her.’
Adam put the phone to his ear and said with his distinctively deep voice, ‘Ali? It’s Adam.’
Nick wasn’t waiting to hear more. He grabbed Vengador’s arm and dragged him towards the exit.
‘Come on, man. It’s time to disappear.’
Vengador looked troubled as Nick rushed through the doors and into the warm Sydney night.
‘We can discuss it later, Venga. Right now, we’ve got to go.’
It didn’t take long to reach Vengador’s car. Nick was not surprised to see it was a sporty coupe utility vehicle, unmistakably Australian. Nick had heard of the Aussies’ obsession with their utes.
Seeing Vengador’s beast, he could understand it.
Settling into the black leather seat with its red-hot trim, Nick asked, ‘What the hell is this thing?’
‘Welcome to my GTS Maloo, bro – Venga’s home on wheels.’
Vengador pressed the button and pumped the accelerator several times, allowing Nick to revel in the throaty sound of one of the coolest muscle cars he’d seen and heard.
Nick tried to say something but was too slow to be understood as Vengador pressed the pedal to the metal and raced away, accompanied by the sound of screaming pistons and the smell of burning rubber.
Within seconds, the 6-speaker enhanced audio system burst to life with an Aussie rock classic. Conversation was impossible until Nick regretfully reduced the volume.
After paying the parking fee and exiting the car park, Vengador drove toward the CBD just how Nick liked – as fast as he could. As Vengador casually dodged between traffic, constantly changing lanes to avoid the tortoises in their family sedans and probably leaving a trail of carnage in his wake, he chatted with Nick about the last couple of years.
Nick was rapt to hear how well Vengador had picked himself up after his challenging experiences with Delta Force and then as an imprisoned hacker. The conversation got noticeably intenser when Vengador informed Nick about Abaddon.
‘Nick, I’m telling you, this person is bad news. And I made it ten times worse when I provided him with some intel on 831 that one of my sources passed on to me. I know he’s coming after it. And knowing what it does, that’s not good for anyone. Trust me; I worked with this guy online many years ago in my vigilante days, and he can make your life hell in the real world. Unfortunately, I can’t help you much. He’s better than me in cyber skills. And in the real world, I wouldn’t have a clue what he looks like. Man, he could have been standing next to us at the airport, for all I know.’
Nick was unconvinced.
‘Venga, I don’t believe anyone could take you and Alison down together online – you’re like the smartest geeks on the planet. And if Abaddon wants to take me on in the real world, he’s the one going down.’
The conversation shifted when Venga slowed down and pointed out the hotel he’d booked Nick into for the night.
‘Make sure you get a good night’s sleep, Nick, so you’re ready to hunt when I pick you up at six. And I hope you can stick around for a few days after, man, so we can catch up properly.’
‘Sorry, Venga. I have to be back in DC by Monday morning. It needs to be a quick hunt. But if we can catch the son of a bitch tomorrow, we’ll have half a day to enjoy a few beers. And it is good to see you, pal. I can’t wait to go hunting with you. See you at six.’
With a wave of his hand, Nick watched Vengador take off in a cloud of smoke, then walked inside his luxury hotel. It wasn’t Agency standard.
But that’s probably a good thing, given the NSA’s now involved.
He checked in, navigated his way through the spacious lobby, then rode the glass-encased elevator up to the tenth floor. After admiring the magnificent view across Sydney Harbour from his balcony, Nick sighed at the thought of working through his messages and emails before bed.
If he’d known of the imminent storm about to leave him thunderstruck, he would have read them as soon as his plane landed.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter enough to click the heart-shaped LIKE button at the end of this chapter. Hopefully, you can see it’s about to get crazy as the phisherman and his phish rush toward the battle from which only one can survive! If you have any suggestions to help make the story better or want to encourage me as a storyteller (either would be nice), please leave a comment.8 stone = 50.8 kilograms