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Randall loved academia. He felt at home on a college campus. His own alma mater was the first place he’d been able to completely relax and immerse himself in learning. As Nora drove, he studied the website for The University of Washington. UW pegged itself as one of the world’s preeminent public universities. Founded in 1861, the campus covered over seven hundred acres and served fifty-four thousand students.
“They have a tab on their website for sustainability. There’s a nature blog, green certification, you can even take the pledge—whatever that is.”
“Those things aren’t bad in and of themselves, Randall.”
“I know that.”
“Do you recycle?”
“I’m not home enough to recycle. I’m barely home enough to pay the rent, and I didn’t say sustainability was bad.”
“You didn’t say it, but your tone...”
He snapped the cover closed on the tablet. “You have to admit that a good percentage of the cyber attacks taking place are committed by militant environmentalists.”
“That would be an excellent topic for a paper. Why don’t you submit one to the director?”
“Why are you defending them?”
“I’m not defending them.” She pulled into a visitor parking place in front of the building which housed Marine and Environmental Affairs. “There are people who are generally concerned about our environment, and I respect that. What I can’t abide is when their methods put other people in danger. That’s not acceptable. That’s not how we do things here.”
“Well, I have a feeling Professor Dresden is not one of the good guys.”
“On that, we agree.”
Randall had found the professor’s schedule online. She had office hours from one to three, which meant she should be there. Unless she’d run already. He stood beside the rental car, bouncing on his toes. “How do you want to do this?”
“Take your backpack.”
“Okay.”
“I want you to wait outside her office.”
“This gets better and better.”
“You can hack into her computer?”
“Of course.”
Giant trees paralleled the brick walk leading to the building. The sun was shining through the new shiny leaves, students were splayed out on the lawn—both alone and in groups, and the temperature was perfect. Hadn’t he heard that Seattle was rainy all the time? Not today. Perhaps today was their day. Perhaps they’d break the professor’s plan wide open and be home by sunset.
He doubted it, but a guy could dream.
Nora stopped short of the doors and pulled him to the side. “Walk me through it.”
Which was so typically Nora that he had to smile. She didn’t really understand the details of the cyber war they were fighting, but she could put the pieces together better than anyone he’d ever met.
“Think of it like a phone trace. As long as you keep the bad guys on the line, the good guys can run a trace.”
“But not if they hang up.”
“Correct.”
“So I need to get Dresden on her computer.”
“Or cell phone. Whichever she reaches for is fine. Once I get into one, I can access the other based on what I find there.”
“How can you do that?”
Randall shrugged. “Everyone accesses their work email from their phones now. In fact, studies show that we access 97% of the sites we use on our desktop, from our phone.”
“How much time do you need?”
“As much as you can get me. Put your phone on silent, and I’ll buzz you when I’ve found what I need.”
“I’ll also patch you in so you can hear the entire conversation.”
Randall pulled an earpiece from his backpack and stuck it in his ear. “Ten-four, boss.”
“We’re going to work on your attitude when this is over.”
“Uh-huh.”
Dresden’s secretary couldn’t claim she was busy or not in—the professor had an open door policy and they could plainly see her sitting there at her desk. In fact, she looked up and smiled slightly before her eyes narrowed in concern.
Nora stood in the doorway, introduced herself, and when Dresden had walked to them she handed over her credentials. If it rattled Dresden, Randall couldn’t tell. The professor was a small woman, mid-fifties, freckled skin with long reddish hair braided down her back.
Dresden motioned toward the chairs in front of her desk. “You’re both welcome to come in.”
“Mr. Goodwin will wait outside.” Nora held off until Randall walked out and took a seat, then she closed the professor’s door.
He smiled at the receptionist and took a seat as Nora began to grill the professor. He’d ascertained since working with her that Nora had two interrogation styles. When she thought it was beneficial, she could be subtle and gently lead suspects to the corner they’d box themselves into. Then there was her other style, which more resembled a demolition expert with a very big sledgehammer.
“We know your plans to destroy the Lower Snake River dams.”
“Perhaps you’re confusing me with someone else.”
“I rather doubt it. You do understand that you’ll go to jail for the rest of your life.”
“Those dams are a hazard to the wildlife. That water provides a lifeline to the Orca population, but of course I’m not admitting to anything.”
“We also spoke with Jonathan Coleman.”
“I don’t believe I know that person.”
“And Kathryn Waters...”
“Ah, Kathryn.”
Randall heard the squeak of Dresden’s chair as she leaned back. It took him three attempts to guess the password for the school’s network. WashingtonBears? Their mascot? These people needed a new network director. Now that he was on the secure side, not the public one, he’d have quicker access to her data there once he managed to piggy-back onto her device.
“So you admit you know her?”
“Of course. Kathryn attends several of my classes.”
“She’s a high school student.”
“Yes. Like most universities, we’re accepting students at an increasingly younger age. There are advantages and disadvantages to that.”
“How would you characterize your relationship with Kathryn?”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to label it a relationship, though I pride myself in taking a personal interest in my students. Kathryn is...special...as I’m sure you realize if you’ve made her acquaintance.”
“And her coding skills no doubt served you quite well.”
Dresden actually laughed. It sent a chill down Randall’s spine. Sometimes they dealt with people who were mentally or emotionally unbalanced. Other times the perps they apprehended struck Randall as callously evil. Dresden was quickly falling into the latter category.
“Kathryn and I share a passion for protecting the environment, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“Can you tell me where you were three evenings ago at approximately nine forty in the evening?”
There was a slight pause. He could practically hear Nora smile. “Feel free to check your cell phone’s calendar if that’ll help.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you can either answer my questions here, now, or I can have the Department of Homeland Security pull you in, and you can provide your answers at their facility.”
“My. You must be very important if you have that sort of pull.”
Nora didn’t rise to the bait. Of course she didn’t.
The program Randall was accessing allowed him to see all mobile devices within a predetermined range. He’d set it to ten feet—so far all he saw was his, Nora’s, and the receptionist’s. Dresden’s was there, but not active at the moment. She was apparently careful enough to turn it off when she wasn’t using it.
There was a sigh, and then he heard her rustle in a bag. The dot turned green when she turned the cell phone on, and that was as good as a GO sign for Randall.
As Nora quizzed her on various dates—some relevant, others not so much—Randall downloaded her calendar, contacts, app activity including GPS, texts, and phone records. The director had managed to obtain a search warrant for the information. Nora could have simply demanded the phone, but they didn’t want to just stop Dresden, they wanted to prevent whatever she had planned. To do that, they needed to give her a little rope.
The entire download took less than three minutes. He buzzed Nora to indicate he had all the information they needed. She quickly ended the interrogation and strode out of the office, never bothering to look back at Randall. She wanted Dresden to believe they were a dysfunctional team. She wanted Dresden to believe she still had a way out of this.
Randall smiled at the receptionist. “Have a good day.”
“You too.” The girl must have been a student at the university. She nodded toward the direction Nora had gone. “That can’t be too easy.”
“No...easy isn’t a word I’d use in regard to my job.”
He jogged to catch up with her at the end of the hall. She flashed him a smile, and they strode back out into the sunshine. Five minutes later they were on the road headed back to the hotel.
“Why the hotel?”
“Because you need sleep.”
“I’m good—honest.” Unfortunately, at the mention of sleep he yawned.
“I need you at your best, Randall. Take a couple of hours.”
He glanced at the clock on the rental’s dashboard. Ten minutes after two. Then he looked back down at the data he’d retrieved. He was almost disappointed it was so easy to find. In fact, it made him a little suspicious.
“She rented a boat.”
“A boat?”
“For tonight. Well, the rental agreement that’s in a hidden file in her email—”
“Not hidden well enough, apparently.”
“It specifies that she has it for a period of twenty-four hours beginning at six p.m. Even gives the location of the boat and the code to get through the gate.” He glanced at Nora, as he attempted to stifle another yawn. “Think this is a set-up?”
“I do not. If I had to pick one word to describe Samantha Dresden, it would be arrogant.”
“She certainly didn’t sound rattled by your interrogation, which I would have been. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have been.”
“I think Professor Dresden sees it more as a chess match, and she’s quite certain it’s a match she will win.”
“So what’s she going to do with the boat?”
“I have no idea, but we’ll be there to see firsthand.”
She punched the speaker phone on her mobile and told the device to call the director. He picked up on the second ring. She succinctly described the meeting, assured him Randall would forward everything he’d found, and outlined her plan.
All that was left was to wait until six p.m. Oh, and apparently Randall was supposed to take a nap, which at the moment didn’t seem like a bad idea.
🙛