To Catch a Thief

Chapter 6 - You Don't Know What You Have Until You've Lost It

Danvers Extraordinary Objects and El Marayah share part of the building that had once been their parents' gallery. Most of it is rental now, a gym on the bottom floor that Kara and Alex both frequent. The upstairs is where their businesses are housed along with a CPA's office and a small law firm. The rents cover the mortgage, and the work covers the payroll. That's why they need to get to work.

Morning updates are a regular part of the team's work, and today is no exception. Kara always says that teamwork makes the dreamwork. Though Alex rolls their eyes at the unbridled optimism, they don't disagree either with the general sentiment or with their sister's enthusiasm. The former is true and the latter is hard earned.

The office itself is a simple setup. There are four desks: Alex's, Kara's, Winn's, and one for any contractor working a job. The contractor desk is sparse, just a laptop, a single file, and a coffee mug at the moment. Alex's desk sits at an angle near a corner with large filing cabinets surrounding it. Her latest 'murder board' sits on one wall, pictures, notes, and sometimes just a word that make sense only to Alex but provide a visual for whichever case the group is working on. The other wall has a large whiteboard with three columns: prior thefts, physical skills needed to pull off the latest theft, and a few words more on the thief's psychology (like adrenaline junkie).

Winn has the most high-tech setup, naturally, and it's surrounded by a collection of action figures from some of his favorite movies and TV shows. Kara's desk is as sparse of paperwork as the one Sam is using. A small scanner and shredder sit in the corner, and paperwork goes into one and then the other (in the right order) to be added to her electronic filing system. Her biggest shortcoming is that mail is never prioritized, a reason why Alex insists on handling the bills for the business utilities and vendors and just chasing Kara down for her part.

"Okay, I need updates, people." Alex tosses a banded pile of mail over to Kara, who lounges at her desk, as they enter the office. It stops the general chit-chat and causes the others to sit up a bit straighter. "Winn, tell me you have something else for me on our hacker."

Winn pushes a McDonalds' breakfast wrapper from his keyboard, his fingers flying across the keys with an agility that escapes the rest of his body. "I tried to find the hacker's IP address, but the source field was Spoofed. A DNS search was also a dead end."

"I don't know what that means, but I think it means you have jack-shit."

"Not true. I do have one thing. The hacker signed their work."

"You have their name?" Kara asks around a mouthful of doughnut. Though her physique says otherwise, Kara thinks fried and glazed are important components of a balanced breakfast. Alex thinks Kara's abs are damdable liars.

"Their signature. Hacking a system is a matter of pride. You don't want to get caught, but you also want to take credit. It's a double-edged sword."

"It sounds like a dumbass thing to do. Who commits a crime and then signs their name?" When Winn refuses to meet their gaze, Alex asks, "Is that how they caught you?"

"I plead the fifth. Anyway, the signature in the Asian Art Museum's security system was 'Miss Mercer Owns You', and I've seen it before."

"So as a fellow hacker, you know this person?"

"I've told you before, Alex, I'm not a hacker. I'm a hacktivist. It's—"

"An important distinction." Alex rolls their hand in front of themselves. "Just tell me about this Miss Mercer. Do you or don't you know her?"

"I've seen the signature before. I've just got to," Winn gestures toward his computer, "find out where. I feel like it was a while ago."

"And this will help us find the person behind the robberies?" When Winn shrugs, Alex turns away. It's too early in the morning to get set off by the geek squad of one. "Kara, tell me you have something for me on the security front."