Aaron's Gambit

Chapter Four

Aaron had barely finished arranging his new desk when Celeste burst into the room like a storm. Her phone was pressed tightly to her ear, her tone sharp and urgent.

“Yes, boss, I understand. We’ll handle it,” she said, pacing the floor in short, tight steps. Her eyes darted toward Aaron, and she waved frantically for him to open his tracker app. She mouthed, We need to move now!

Aaron fumbled with his phone, hands trembling slightly. The app—something he’d barely gotten familiar with—loaded slowly, adding to his growing anxiety.

“Hurry up,” Celeste hissed, ending her call abruptly. She leaned over him, her finger pointing at the screen. “We’ve got a live one. Target’s on the move in Vancouver. We have limited time to pull this off.”

Aaron’s mouth went dry. “What are we doing exactly?” he asked, voice shaky.

“Tracking a guy and pulling files from his system,” Celeste said, already pulling a laptop from her bag. She set it up in record time, her fingers moving faster than Aaron could follow. “No time for questions. Just keep up, alright?”

Aaron nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Celeste’s screen lit up with maps, data streams, and blinking icons. “Okay,” she said, “last ping places him at a café near Granville Island. But he’s moving. Let’s triangulate.”

Aaron stared, confused but intrigued. “Triangulate how?”

“Cell towers, GPS, WiFi logs. Pick your poison,” Celeste said, her tone clipped. “You, search for open networks nearby. I’ll pull up public camera feeds.”

Aaron hesitated but began typing. The tracker app showed several WiFi signals around their target’s last known location.

“Got a list,” Aaron said. “But none of these match his device… Wait! There’s one at a café called Java Haven. Signal’s strong.”

“Perfect,” Celeste said, glancing at his screen. “That’s where he is. Let’s hope he’s still connected.”

The tension in the room thickened as Celeste’s fingers flew across her keyboard. “Alright, I’m spoofing the café’s network. Setting up a dummy access point. If he connects, we’re in.”

Aaron watched her, amazed and terrified. “What if he notices?”

Celeste shot him a look. “Then we’re screwed. But he won’t. People don’t think twice about public WiFi. Now focus.”

A few minutes later, Celeste’s laptop pinged.

“Got him!” she said, a triumphant grin breaking through her stress. “He just connected to our network. Let’s see what he’s hiding.”

Aaron leaned in, his heart pounding. Celeste pulled up a data stream showing the target’s activity.

“He’s logged into his cloud storage,” Celeste said. “Perfect. Downloading his files now.”

Aaron’s relief was short-lived.

“Wait,” Celeste said, her smile fading. “Something’s wrong. This isn’t his profile. We’ve got the wrong device.”

Aaron’s stomach sank. “What do we do?”

Celeste slammed her fist on the desk. “We find him again. Fast. He’s probably moved. Check the tracker app for nearby signals.”

Aaron scrambled to comply, scanning for other networks. “There’s another one nearby, at a bookstore down the street.”

“That’s gotta be him,” Celeste said. She reset the dummy network and pointed at Aaron. “You’re up. Set the trap.”

Aaron hesitated, his hands hovering over the keyboard. “What if I mess up?”

“You won’t,” Celeste said, her voice firm. “Just follow my lead.”

The second attempt was even more nerve-wracking. Aaron typed commands under Celeste’s watchful eye, his palms slick with sweat.

“Intercepting now,” Aaron said. “He’s connected.”

Celeste nodded. “Good. Now spoof his credentials. Redirect his cloud sync to our server.”

Aaron followed her instructions, his fingers shaking. The progress bar on his screen moved agonizingly slow.

“Come on,” Celeste muttered, pacing behind him. “We’re running out of time. If he disconnects again, we’re toast.”

At 80%, the connection started to falter.

“Signal’s weakening,” Aaron said, panic creeping into his voice.

“Boost it,” Celeste snapped. “Use the repeater. Now!”

Aaron grabbed a small device from the desk and plugged it in. The signal stabilized, and the progress bar inched forward.

“90%, 95%... Almost there,” Aaron said, his voice rising with hope.

“Don’t jinx it,” Celeste warned.

Finally, the bar hit 100%. The file was theirs.

Aaron leaned back, exhaling a shaky breath. “We did it.”

“Not yet,” Celeste said, her tone grim. “We need to cover our tracks. Wipe the logs, erase any trace of us.”

Aaron nodded, diving back into the system. “Logs erased. Fake network down. We’re clean.”

Celeste clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice work, rookie. You might just survive here after all.”

Aaron managed a weak smile, but his mind was racing. This wasn’t the job he’d imagined. And now, he was in too deep to back out.

But as they packed up and left the office, Aaron felt an unexpected rush of adrenaline. For the first time in a long while, he felt alive. This was dangerous, sure—but it was real. And as much as he hated to admit it, he kind of liked it.