The ghost at the table – Draft 03 – Chapter 3

Logan

The text message lit up the screen with a starkness that made my heart stop. Lily, gone. Just like that. The blood in my veins turned to ice, then boiled in an instant.

“Dead,” I muttered to myself. My fingers clenched around the phone so tight I thought it might snap. She was more than a friend; she was the little bit of right in all my wrongs. And now, they had taken her from me.

“Those bastards,” I growled. The farm management, playing God with their chemicals and disregard. Lily was collateral damage in their profit margins. Not anymore. They would pay.

I paced the room, each step a drumbeat of the rage building within. My past, a shadow I’d outpaced, appeared before me, clear as day. Moonbeam, Chartreuse, Dragon – names that once meant something in the undercurrents of cyber shadows.

Moonbeam could dance through security like it was child’s play. Chartreuse could charm secrets out of a stone. And Dragon… Dragon knew how to expose the rot at the core. Once upon a time, they were my crew, my allies in the digital trenches.

“Logan Robinson,” I whispered my name to the empty room, a reminder of who I was and what I had been capable of. It wasn’t just the speed of my typing that had made me valuable in the RAAF. It was the quickness of my mind, the ability to see patterns where others saw chaos.

“Think, Logan, think!” I slammed my fist on the desk. The laptop rattled, the vibration mirroring the tremor of anger coursing through me.

They thought they could bury this. Bury her. But I knew better. I knew how to dig up secrets, how to shine light on lies. Lily deserved justice. And I was going to give it to her, by any means necessary.

“Time to call in some favours,” I said to the night.

I sat down, cracked my knuckles, and hovered my fingers over the keyboard. This was rural Australia, but the internet connected us all. Distance meant nothing in cyberspace. Friendship, though, that meant survival. And revenge? Well, that was about to mean retribution.

—

The screen blinked on. My fingers flew, each keystroke a hammer of justice. I pulled up the encrypted chat, one that hadn’t seen light in years. Moonbeam’s icon still glowed. A crescent moon against a dark backdrop. Always liked their flair for the dramatic.

“Need your eyes,” I typed. Straight to the point.

Seconds ticked by. They always had a knack for suspense. Then, two words that meant the game was on: “I’m here.”

“Security systems,” I said. “Farm management. Need access.”

“Details?”

“Offline. Secure line.”

“Five minutes.”

Moonbeam never wasted time. Five minutes meant five. Not a second more. The clock was ticking.

Meanwhile, my mind danced with another ally. Chartreuse. Their charm could whisper secrets out of the most tight-lipped. We needed inside information. Something to shake the roots of farm management.

“Chartreuse,” I muttered, as if saying the name could summon them.

“Logan,” they answered as if they were right beside me. But it was just memory’s echo.

“Could use your touch.” I wasn’t speaking to them, not really. It was a rehearsal. Preparing for the call I’d make after Moonbeam.

“Details?” Chartreuse would ask, just like Moonbeam did. Always about the details.

“Manipulate. Influence. Control,” I’d say. Those were Chartreuse’s domains.

“Consider it done,” they’d reply with that silky confidence that could sway a jury or crumble an alibi.

I glanced at the clock. Four minutes passed. One to go. Moonbeam would be ready. And then, Chartreuse next. The plan was taking shape, like a shadow emerging from dusk. Allies of old converging in the present. For Lily.

“Time,” I whispered, and on cue, the secure line buzzed. Moonbeam was punctual as ever.

“Let’s start the hunt.”

Moonbeam’s voice cut through the static. “In.”

“Good.” I was all business, adrenaline a bitter tang on my tongue. Moonbeam was in. Chartreuse would be next. But the real ace up my sleeve? Dragon.

Dragon knew dirt. Dragon knew dark secrets like a priest knows sins. I needed that kind of knowing.

“Dragon,” I said to myself. Old friend. Shadow in the cyber world. Unseen but felt by those with dirty hands. He pulled threads until empires unravelled. That’s what I needed. Unravelling. Justice.

“Think, Logan,” I urged myself. His techniques. Data dumps. Leaks. The art of the digital strip-search. I could see it now. Farm management, exposed and raw in the public eye.

“Got to be clean,” I muttered. No traces. Dragon would appreciate that. The plan churned in my head. It had to be tight. Airtight.

“Logan?” Moonbeam prodded. “You there?”

“Plotting,” I answered, tapping fingers on the desk. My past life with the RAAF had made me fast, efficient. No room for sloppiness. I couldn’t afford it, not with stakes this high.

“Need your head in the game,” Moonbeam said. Sharp. Always sharp.

“Head’s here.” And it was. Focused. I could almost hear Dragon’s voice, gravel mixed with silk, telling me where to look. What to expose.

“Farm’s tech,” I started, “It’s older. Vulnerable.”

“Like taking candy from a baby,” Moonbeam quipped.

“Then let’s be the bogeyman.” I half-smiled, though there was no joy in it. Only purpose.

“Details?” A hacker’s favourite word.

“Start with financials. Work our way up.” Shell companies. Bribes. Shortcuts at safety’s expense. Lily paid for those. Now they’d pay.

“Got it.” Moonbeam was already typing. I could hear the keys clattering. They were good. But this needed to be perfect.

“Dragon would dig deeper,” I whispered. “Follow the money, find the filth.”

“Dragon’s out,” Moonbeam reminded me. “Gone silent.”

“Doesn’t mean his methods died with him.” I clenched my jaw. The screen in front of me flickered with possibilities. I could feel the puzzle pieces falling into place.

“Alright,” Moonbeam sighed. “Keep your shirt on, cowboy.”

“Shirts are optional.” I tried to sound light. It didn’t work. The weight of what lay ahead pressed down on me.

“Anything else?” Moonbeam asked, a hint of impatience now.

“Patience,” I replied, though it was really a note to self. “Lay the groundwork. Then we strike.”

“Like a snake,” Moonbeam added.

“Exactly.” Silent. Deadly. No warning.

“Okay. Let me work.” The line went dead.

I leaned back. Alone with my thoughts. With Lily’s memory. We were going to shine a light so bright, farm management would need more than sunglasses to hide.

“Let’s get to work, Logan,” I said to the empty room. Time to call Chartreuse. Time for the next move in a very dangerous game.

—

The screen glowed. My fingers danced across the keyboard, fast, like they did in the RAAF days. Memories of Lily flashed before me. Her laugh. The way she’d tilt her head when puzzled. Gone now. Anger simmered within me. It pushed me forward. Made my resolve ironclad.

“Time to dig,” I muttered, voice rough like gravel on a dirt road. “Find the cracks.”

I pulled up data. Financial records. Emails. Anything that could show weakness. The farm management wouldn’t expect an attack from within. They were arrogant. Sloppy. That’d be their downfall.

“Patterns,” I whispered to myself. “Look for patterns.”

Lily’s face haunted every click, every scroll. She was why I was doing this. Her death wouldn’t be for nothing. I owed her that much.

“Gotcha,” I said as something caught my eye. A routine transfer that wasn’t so routine. A breadcrumb. I followed it, hoping it would lead to a loaf. The digital paper trail was thin, but it was there. Careless. Just a slip, but sometimes that’s all it takes.

“Who’s your IT guy?” I scoffed at their incompetence. “Bet he can’t type 140 words per minute.”

My phone lay beside me, silent. I’d need Chartreuse soon. But not yet. First, I had to know everything. Every vulnerability. Every secret path into their armoured castle.

“Come on, Logan. Think.” I leaned in closer to the monitor. “What would Dragon do?”

Expose them, that’s what. Drag their dirty secrets into the unforgiving light of day. They’d squirm then. Like worms on a hook.

“Patience,” I reminded myself again. “Build the case.”

Hours slipped by. The room grew darker. Only the flickering screen kept the shadows at bay. But I didn’t notice. Couldn’t afford to. There was work to be done. Justice to serve.

“Chartreuse will get us in,” I finally concluded. “But first, I lay the groundwork.”

I cracked my knuckles. Took a deep breath. Scanned the information one more time. Felt the cold edge of determination sharpen inside me.

“Let’s make ‘em pay,” I said to the darkness. “For Lily.”

The cursor blinked. Taunting me. A digital heartbeat in the abyss of my screen. I had to move fast, stay sharp. Risks? Hell yeah, they were as real as the dirt under my boots back on base. Consequences? Could be dire. Didn’t matter. Lily’s voice echoed in the hollows of my skull, a siren call to justice.

“Focus,” I muttered.

I plucked my burner phone from the tangle of wires on my desk. The list of contacts was short. Precious. Moonbeam first. They’d have insights on security, ways around firewalls like smoke through cracks.

“Logan?” Their voice crackled through the line, distorted, always cautious.

“Need your eyes on something,” I said. Kept it lean. No room for chit-chat.

“Send it.”

Next, Chartreuse. Social engineering genius. Could charm a snake out of its skin. They answered with a laugh that didn’t reach their eyes.

“Logan, darling. What’s the play?”

“Inside info,” I replied. “Need you to weave your magic.”

“Consider it done.”

Dragon last. The big guns. A heavy hitter in the world of exposure. We hadn’t spoken in months. Last time left a bad taste, but this… this was bigger than old grudges.

“Dragon.” My voice was steel. “Got a job for you.”

“Logan,” he growled back. “This better be good.”

“Corporate rot.” I kept it vague, but he knew. He always knew.

“Sending details,” I said and killed the call.

Three conversations. Three lifelines tossed into the digital ocean. The weight of my plan rested on their shoulders now. But the core? That was all me. All for Lily.

“Time to dig,” I said to no one. To everyone. To Lily.

My fingers danced across the keyboard. Country boy turned tech maverick. I’d show them. For her. For justice. For the truth that needed to breathe free air.

Friendship was my weapon. Survival my game. This rural sprawl my battlefield. And I was ready to fight.

—

The screen glowed. Plans laid out like a digital blueprint; each step marked by the expertise of my old crew. Moonbeam’s code tweaks sang from the pixels. Chartreuse’s cunning social plays whispered in the subtext. Dragon’s data dumps roared between the lines. Together, a symphony of retribution.

“Every move calculated,” I muttered. My fingers paused, hovering above the keyboard. The farm’s management wouldn’t know what hit them. Their negligence, their guilt, it would be naked for all to see.

“Payback time.”

I could almost hear Lily’s voice, a soft echo in the room. She deserved this. They all did. Those who turned blind eyes, deaf ears, cold hearts.

“Justice,” I whispered. It wasn’t just a word. It was a promise.

Determination surged through me. Anger simmered beneath. Anticipation prickled my skin. Emotions in a cocktail, shaken, not stirred. One sip and you’re over the edge. I was already falling.

“Let’s dance.”

I initiated the first phase. A cascade of keystrokes unleashed Moonbeam’s craft, slipping past firewalls like shadows at dusk. Chartreuse’s charm offensive would be next, a velvet glove over an iron fist. Then Dragon’s payload would detonate, exposing the rot within.

“Friends in dark places.” I grinned despite the bitterness. Friendship had its perks. In this forsaken backwater, you needed every ally you could get. Especially those who thrived in the cyber underbelly.

“Almost there, Lily.”

The plan rolled out across the digital landscape. A stealthy advance towards the heart of corruption. No turning back now. This was it. The culmination of pain, planning, and a partnership with ghosts of my past life.

“Make ‘em squirm.” That was the goal. To drag the ugly truth into daylight. Let the world see. Let them judge.

“Justice,” I said again. It felt right on my tongue. The first volley had been launched. There was no retreat. Only forward. For Lily. For me. For the small town that thought it could bury its sins.

“Game on.”