Skin and Bones Read Free

causes.”
    â€œThe orders that were lost in transit were special orders for the same guy,” Cody continued. “One I’d been waiting for for a couple of years. So I lost not only the shipment, but one of my best customers.”
    â€œAnd you think the lost shipments weren’t really lost?” Joe asked. “You think they were stolen or something?”
    â€œI sure do,” Cody said firmly. He stopped pacingand glared. “One shipment lost, maybe two. But three in five months? I don’t think so.”
    â€œWhat did the freight carrier say about it?” Frank asked.
    â€œJust what you’d expect: ‘Sorry—file a claim.’ Each time the order was changed to a pickup instead of a delivery. Not a pickup here in San Francisco, but one somewhere between the point of origin and here.”
    â€œWho changed these orders?” Joe asked.
    â€œNo one knows. It was all done on computer. The crates were signed for by someone using my name—I have copies of the receipts.” Cody rummaged around in a desk drawer and pulled out three orders with his signature at the bottom.
    Frank studied them. “Do these look like your signature?”
    â€œOne of them is kind of close,” Cody said, “but it doesn’t really matter. I’m talking about someone picking up one of my orders on a dock in Indonesia or a village in Nairobi. I sent the freight company my signature and asked them to send a copy to everyone along the shipping route, so signatures could be checked against it. But it didn’t do any good. And it probably wasn’t too smart, anyway. Now my signature is floating around the world, so anyone can copy it.”
    Frank scanned the receipt. He had the feelingCody was holding something back, that he had more to tell.
    â€œUm, there’s one more thing,” Cody said as if reading Frank’s mind. “Someone’s been hacking into my computer and leaving threatening messages.”
    â€œWhoa,” Joe said. “Like what?”
    â€œI’ve got some printouts upstairs,” Cody said. “I’ll show them to you.”
    The three went up to Cody’s apartment. A large living room stretched across the street side, over Skin & Bones. Behind the living room was a kitchen with an eating area at one end. A short hallway led to a bedroom and a large bathroom.
    Frank and Joe settled at the dining table while Cody got the printouts of the threatening messages. Over heated pizza and sodas, the three looked at the pages. “As you can see, they’re pretty standard stuff,” Cody said.
    â€œI’m watching you” was written on one. Others said, “You can’t escape” and “Close Skin & Bones or you’ll be sorry.”
    â€œBoy, there aren’t any clues on these at all,” Joe said.
    â€œThey’re hacked in, so there’s no originating address or number or anything,” Frank pointed out.
    â€œYou guys met Dave Cloud the last time you wereout here, didn’t you?” Cody asked. He waited while Frank and Joe nodded. “He and I used to be partners. He’s started an online computer supply and equipment auction site.”
    â€œI remember him,” Joe said. “He was a pilot and a technical wizard.”
    â€œThat’s him,” Cody said. “I told him all about this. He’s going to try to trace the hacker.”
    â€œWhat does your dad say?” Frank asked.
    Cody gulped a big slug of soda and shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t told him. Look, he seems okay with everything now, but he was totally against the store at first. He wanted me to be a cop or a government agent or something like that—follow in his footsteps, you know? He was afraid I’d go bust with the store. If I tell him what’s happening, all his worry genes will kick right in.”
    â€œBut you’ve reported the burglaries to the police, right?”