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Back The Short Drop
Chapters (61)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PART ONE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. PART THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY
  59. EPILOGUE
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Bill says I cry if the wind changes direction. I suppose that’s true. Oh! I have what you asked for. I almost forgot why I was here. Such a space cadet. I found it.”

She reached into her bag and lifted out a small marble bust of James Madison. She put it on the table between them. His father had bought it at a yard sale as an undergraduate at UVA. Duke called it his first “important purchase,” and it had held a place of honor on his desk until the day he died.

They talked a few more minutes, Miranda all smiles, even as he walked her outside and they embraced once more.

“You look just like him, you know? Especially the eyes.” In the air, her fingers traced the features of his face. “Just like him.”

Back at the table, his food was waiting for him. He pushed the plate away untouched and held the statue in his hands, feeling its weight. Turning it over, he searched for the indentation in the pedestal. His thumb found it and released the panel concealing the cubbyhole in the pedestal. Originally intended for notes and the like, it was just big enough to hide a thumb drive. Still, he was a little surprised when it fell into his palm.

Duke Vaughn had kept a diary since he was an undergraduate at UVA. Always a believer in his own destiny, he claimed it would be instrumental when it came time to write his memoirs. Although Duke spoke of it often, no one had ever read a word, and so Duke Vaughn’s “diary” had become something of a family legend.

Gibson had seen his father back up his computer and hide the thumb drive in the statue a million times. After his arrest, the FBI had seized his father’s PC, which had contained enough incriminating evidence to destroy Duke’s reputation. The computer had never been returned, and, more than likely, the thumb drive was the last remaining copy of Duke Vaughn’s writing.

He plugged it into his laptop.

A single folder appeared on his screen labeled “PRIVATE.” Subtle. A window appeared, prompting him for a password. When he’d first become interested in computers and encryption, his first project had been his father. The first password he’d ever hacked. His first criminal act. Second if you counted the time he’d been pulled over for speeding when he was a kid. Gibson entered the password and the window disappeared.