then you're not secure.
― Anthony T. Hincks
Call a Geek
The run-in with Sage at The Wheat Sheaf really rattled me. The more I thought about it, I realized it couldn't have been merely a chance meeting. She was surveilling me.
And the moment I realized that, I wanted to kick myself for not using my cell phone to take a photo of her 'date'. He was probably an accomplice.
Needless to say, I felt very vulnerable and now I felt observed in my own house.
Once again, I spent a restless night and set my alarm early to be up in time for the appointment with the security techie Henry suggested.
I got up at seven, made myself breakfast and afterwards put on a fresh pot of coffee. Just after eight there was a soft knock at the kitchen door.
A bespectacled, young Arab man with a friendly smile waved to me from the window.
"You must be Naz," I said. letting him in. "I just made a fresh pot of coffee. I'm not sure if you can drink it or if you have dietary rules."
"No worries, Prof―nothing's haram or forbidden to me. I'm not a muslim and serving coffee is a symbol of good hospitality throughout the Middle East."
"Good to know," I laughed.
"I was born here and probably like you, regularly frequent Tim Hortons"
"Well, in that case," I smiled. "you might also like some croissants and jam to go with it."
"Cheese croissants? I'm in heaven!"
I liked Naz instantly. He had the same easy way about him that reminded me of Henry.
"Why don't you tell me about your needs over coffee, Prof, and then I'll inspect the house and grounds and together we'll plan your security system?"
"Sounds good to me," I smiled.
I told Naz about the threatening letter, the attack at the lab and the covert cameras surveilling the house. He got very sober as I detailed what had occurred.
"Do you bring sensitive documents home to work on them?" he asked.
"Not as a rule, but now I definitely won't―I'm afraid my cell phone and electronics might be hacked."
He nodded. "I only ask because I have experience building firewalls and constructing residential SCIF's―these are Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities designed to guard intelligence sources and practices. I know from Henry you're working on a project and you might need to guard against electronic eavesdropping."
"Actually," I explained. " I'm more worried about physical threats and intruders. I leave all sensitive documents and files at work."
"Okay, Prof, I'll analyze your home from that angle and see what you need to be safe."
After we finished our coffee, I took Naz on a tour of the house and he thoroughly examined each area and then continued on outside. About a half hour later he reported back.
He suggested motion activated lights on all sides of the house, a video doorbell and intercom, video cameras with infrared for night viewing and person detection, an alarm system with 24/7 monitoring and a cyber protection program that would protect all my devices from hackers and malicious intrusions.
"Sounds very comprehensive," I remarked when he finished, "but will I be able to manage all this? I mean, it seems very technical."
"I'll teach you the entire system and give you detailed instructions and be available to answer any questions, but honestly, once it's set up, it basically runs itself."
"Do it," I told him, "I need to feel safe in my own house."
True to his word, Naz worked steadily all day and by 5 p.m. had installed a state-of -the -art security system and even arranged with a residential alarm firm to monitor the house.
I learned how to arm and disarm the system, check the monitors and receive push notifications on my cell phone. By the time he left, just after six, I felt surrounded by a wall of electronic protection.
I felt safe and secure and celebrated my new-found freedom by ordering a pizza to enjoy with wine before the fire.
Outside, a light rain began to fall, but within the walls of my house I felt reassured knowing even if the power went out, I had a back-up generator to ensure my security system was still operational.
I had taken command and pushed back the darkness that threatened me.
Life was good.