25
Lee couldn’t believe he had found someone like Jennifer.
After she dropped him off at his apartment and he unlocked the door and entered, it struck him that he had been with Jennifer for nearly all of the past forty-eight hours. Walking into his apartment used to feel like coming home. Now it felt empty and he felt incomplete.
At 8 p.m., he sat propped up on his bed contemplating the changes Jennifer had made in his life…and several changes he still needed to make. His phone rang.
“Hello…7:30 a.m.?...With the CEO?…You want Jennifer at the afternoon office party?…I’ll make sure she’s there.” It was his second-level manager, Barry’s boss.
He picked up the post-it adhered to the nightstand beside his bed and glanced at the number before keying it in. He didn’t need to. He’d memorized it twenty-four hours earlier.
“Hello.”
“It’s Lee, Jenn. I guess you really did give me your phone number.”
“After our twenty-hour date and after today does it still surprise you?”
“After this weekend I don’t believe anything about you will surprise me.”
“How should a woman take that?”
“I just meant that now that I know how amazing you are nothing you do will amaze me.”
“You’re really pretty good at pulling your foot out of your mouth. But you’ve probably had a lot of practice.”
Despite the mile between their apartments he could see the smile on her face. “Thanks a lot. The reason I called is you need to meet me at the parking lot at North Fourth and Park Avenue about five ‘til one tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. No. Been there, done that, Lee. I don’t think it’s a safe place to meet.”
“It’s safe for people who drive black SUVs. I’m the one who should be worried. I’m in the white sedan.”
“I won’t be armed and I won’t chase you. I promise.” There was laughter in her voice.
“So, you’ll be there?”
“Silly guy, of course I’ll be there.”
“I’d better go. The CEO called me with orders to brief all of upper management about the incident early tomorrow morning.”
“Do you think you’ll get much flak about some of the things we, uh, rather, I did?”
“If I do I think I’ve got enough political and news-media clout at the moment to give it right back to them. I wouldn’t be giving them anything they didn’t deserve. After all, they were the ones who created the conditions exploited by the terrorists.”
“Will you give them flak like you did with Barry yesterday? That was impressive, Lee. Thanks for standing up for me.”
“You deserved it. Besides, it felt pretty good to me, too.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. See you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. Walking into his work area with Jennifer on his arm was something he couldn’t wait to experience. As he lay on his bed he planned his presentation for the CEO. He was still fleshing out his indictment for outsourcing a critical computing system when his thoughts faded from gray fuzziness to darkness.
****
Monday afternoon Lee slipped through the turnstile and watched a black SUV roll up to the gate shack, where Randy stood on duty. When Jennifer’s window slid down he heard Randy’s nervous voice.
“Is that you in there, Jennifer?”
“Who did you expect?”
“Right now any black SUV makes me pretty jumpy.”
“I’m really glad you’re OK. Lee and I were worried about you after hearing all the shooting.”
“Thanks. But you’d better park that thing. Here comes Lee.”
By the time Jennifer found a parking spot, Lee stood alongside the SUV. “Grab my hand, Jenn. Let’s give Randy something to talk about.”
She took his hand. “You don’t waste any time, do you? You’re a smooth operator, Lee Brandt. Tricking me into holding hands.”
“Aren’t I.” He squeezed her hand, while the two walked towards the gate shack.
“Brandt,” Randy’s voice sounded across the parking lot. “Is this a social visit or work?”
When they approached the gate shack, he replied. “Both, Randy.”
“Remember last time?” Randy smirked at them. “Are you sure you want to do this again?”
He smiled. “Very sure.”
Jennifer filled out the visitor’s form and then produced her driver’s license.
Randy remained quiet through the rest of the guest-badging process. But as the two walked towards the turnstile the security guard cast his slur.
“Really robbing the cradle aren’t you, Lee?”
Jennifer dropped his hand, whirled, and leapt in front of Randy. “Look, idiot! I’m twenty-five years old—at least as old as you. I have a master’s degree, and I work for the government. The only one robbing the cradle was the doofus who hired you!”
Randy’s face turned white and then back to a glowing shade of embarrassed pink.
Jennifer ended her stare with her coy smile. “Gotcha, Randy.”
Randy’s rigid posture relaxed when he recognized Jennifer’s feigned anger. “Whew. Lee, I’d hate to see what it’s like to really make her mad.”
“Believe me, that’s not something you want to do. I’ve done it.”
Jennifer returned to his side and looked up with her squinting frown. “Was that a Christian thing to do?”
He took her hand again. “Certainly. God has a sense of humor, too. After all, He created the duck-billed platypus.”
“How’d your briefing go this morning?” She squeezed his hand.
“It went well. You impressed upper management with your work and our story intrigued them. We’re not in any kind of trouble. On the contrary, we’re headed to a party in our honor. Barry didn’t plan it. That’s no surprise. It was his boss’s idea. The CEO will be there and he wants to meet you to thank you in person.”
“What about the wrap-up session Peterson mentioned yesterday?”
“That’ll be after the party. In Joe’s office on the first floor.”
Lee escorted Jennifer to the large second-floor conference room. He held her arm when they stepped into the doorway.
Loud applause greeted them.
When Jennifer stepped in far enough for everyone to see her, the room grew silent. He was growing accustomed to Jennifer’s effect on men the first time they saw her.
National Aerospace’s CEO started clapping again. The applause spread throughout the room. The party began. But Jennifer’s face still held the gaze of every man in the room. He couldn’t blame them.
His second-level manager seated the honored couple with the attending managers.
Lee would have preferred sitting with the IT staff. But he and Jennifer were being honored. He shouldn’t complain.
As the applause quieted, the CEO of National Aerospace remained standing.
Lee cringed at this turn of events. This man, politician that he was, could not stop talking once he started.
“Mr. Brandt, I think you should introduce your friend to everyone here, the girl who—”
“I am not a girl, sir.”
Please say he didn’t say that. CEOs should know better.
Jennifer, seated one chair away from the CEO sprang from her chair and faced him.
“I am twenty-five years old. I hold a master’s degree in computing security. I work for NSA and sometimes the FBI. Last weekend, sir, I believe I saved your bacon.”
After her outburst, Jennifer turned to the audience. “My name is Jennifer Akihara and now you know me.”
Lee heard several of his co-workers trying to stifle their snickers. Some weren’t successful. Others failed utterly. This left the tense audience not knowing what to expect.
No matter. The CEO was too stunned to notice, yet.
The audience began to laugh and he sought to legitimize the object of their laughter by focusing it on Jennifer, the person, not on her words or the CEO. He stood. “That, my colleagues, is Jennifer. Now you certainly do know her.”
Laughter erupted.
The festive atmosphere returned.
A few moments later Jennifer whispered into Lee’s ear, “I’m so sorry. I lost my temper. What should I do?”
“Find a chance to get his attention. Then tell him what you just told me. It’ll be OK. Just do it.” He placed his hand on her arm. “But later,” he gave her a big smile, “you need to ask God to take that temper away.” His suggestion drew a stare and a frown.
“But He’s the one who gave it to me.”
He held her gaze. “Yes, but the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”
Jennifer relaxed and smiled. “I think you just don’t want me mad at you anymore.”
He took her hand under the table. “And I think you’re right.”
The incident had ended well. He hoped the afternoon would also, because some important issues remained.
Nearly everyone in the room wanted to shake Jennifer’s hand and thank her for her role in protecting their corporation. From the small talk he verified that most people in the room knew few details of the threat. Lee had learned in the morning meeting that Computing Security and the CEO did not want to reveal the nature of the threat until the company had deployed an adequate defense for this type of cyber attack.
For the next thirty minutes Jennifer seemed to enjoy the party, but after a serving of cake and ice cream she began fidgeting in her chair.
“Jenn, you look like you’re ready to head down to Joe’s office.”
“You’ve got that right. There are too many gawking eyes in here.”
He leaned close to her. “I saw you apologize to the CEO.”
She nodded.
He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I don’t think he felt as gracious as he acted. You don’t become CEO of a Fortune 500 company unless you’re a good politician. The other requirement is a large ego.”
She returned his whisper. “I agree with your assessment. Can we please leave now?”
“As soon as I can courteously extricate us.”
Five minutes later, the two headed down the stairs towards Joe’s office.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced at him. “How far do you suppose they’ve gotten in the investigation?”
He shrugged. “Don’t have a clue. They’ve had less than forty-eight hours since we briefed them on Saturday afternoon. Here’s Joe’s office.” He knocked on the door. “Let’s go in and find out.”
Joe opened the door before Lee finished rapping on it. “Jennifer, Lee, come in. We’re going to move to the inner office now.”
He had heard about this more secure area, used for sensitive discussions, but he’d never been inside it.
Was his lack of a current clearance going to exclude him from part of this meeting?
Joe shoved a paper at him. “First, Lee, you need to read and sign this form.”
The form answered his question. Joe’s document authorized him to have specified access to information regarding the investigation. The justification was based upon the extent of his existing knowledge, his role in unraveling the plot, and his previous high-level clearance.
When they entered the room Jennifer began speaking before she sat down. “Sorry about forgetting to mention the paper with the addresses on it, Peterson. I left it in the driver’s side door pocket.”
Peterson sat at a table with a small stack of papers in front of him. “No problem. We found it Saturday afternoon shortly after locating your car. Your labels were completely explanatory—compromised PC IP addresses and hacker IP addresses.”
Jennifer sat down and leaned forward, but shifted her gaze to Stewart. “Were you able to gain further intelligence using the IP addresses?”
Stewart nodded. “Yes, we were. I’m not authorized to tell you how, or who was involved, but we’ve added several organizations to our incident-response team since Saturday. Suffice it to say the cooperation between this group of terrorists and the Mexican drug cartels has ended for now and—”
Jennifer focused on Stewart. “What about this terrorist organization’s collaboration with the cartel in Colombia?”
Obviously Jennifer wanted to complete her agenda before anyone could steer the discussion in another direction.
Peterson cleared his throat. “I’m not at liberty to provide you with names and specific locations. However, we do have that information. A plan was implemented to neutralize the current effort by the terrorists’ hackers. Columbia. Well, we have a lot of work to do before cleaning up the mess there. But for now, we believe the existing Colombian ties to terrorist activity in Mexico have been snipped.”
Lee had an agenda, too. He turned towards Joe Morrison. “Have you been able to determine the extent of the computing threat within National Aerospace?”
“Yes, Lee. Well, nearly. We’re currently completing a scan of every company computing device. We used the notes Jennifer made and the file she provided to create a network-wide scanning program. So far, we’ve found five infected machines, all in the commercial part of the house. Nothing on the military side. US-CERT helped us with the scanning program. You’ll hear more about it over the coming week.”
He stared at Joe, hoping he’d heard correctly. “So their access to sensitive information was, for all practical purposes, nil. That’s good news.”
Joe nodded. “Sure is. And based upon a phone call we got about an hour ago regarding somebody saving our CEO’s bacon, I believe she did just that.”
With everyone grinning at her Jennifer sighed. “Good. But after outsourcing DEDS to an offshore company I wouldn’t mind if it sizzled in the pan for a few seconds.”
Joe’s grin became audible. He snorted.
Peterson shuffled the papers in front of him until he looked satisfied with the one on top of the stack. “About the three suspects. Jennifer. As you know, the woman is dead, and suspects number two and three are in custody. They have not been given Miranda rights. We want to keep the military trial option open. While it remains to be seen whether they will be tried in a military or civilian court, I’m told that, barring outright acquittal, they will never be free again. Only the imposter appears to have taken your actions personally and sought revenge. Though I don’t know how you can distinguish revenge from jihad with someone holding to his worldview. Regardless, his attempts on yours and Lee’s lives will not go well for him. You both will be asked to testify against the perpetrators at some time and in some court. But other than testifying, you and Lee can get on with your lives.”
Peterson stood. “Well, that’s about all we—”
Jennifer glanced at Lee then back to Peterson. “We would still like to know how a SWAT team arrived at the back of the church at just the right time.”
Peterson slipped his papers into his briefcase. “The third suspect, the vengeful one, stole a car and drove to the city limits. Police started asking questions and we got a rough description of the man we thought was the perpetrator. A nearby neighbor indicated a man might have entered the back of the church before sunrise on Sunday morning. We got the information a few minutes before he got to you two. Captain Lewis arrived and began listening to what was going on inside about the time the three of you moved to the door. We only had one opportune moment to intervene and fortunately, Lewis was able to take advantage of it.”
Lee stared across the room at the wall. “But if the timing had been off a second or two I don’t think we would have made it.”
Jennifer took his hand under the table. “I think that’s where our Lord’s sovereignty took over.”
A smile spread across his face. “And I would say you’re probably right.”
Peterson cleared his throat again. “As a precaution we may have both of you watched for a while.” He focused on Lee. “So, Lee, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want on video, or in a report.”
“Hey, Peterson, why did you single me out? Jennifer is the one who needs to hear that.”
“You’re digging a hole, Lee. Be careful or I’ll plant you in it.”
He glanced at her, and then back to Peterson. “Can’t you lock her up for all the threats you’ve heard her make to me in the last three days?”
“Sorry. That’s not the FBI’s jurisdiction,” Peterson locked his briefcase. “I think you need one of three people to help you, a minister, a justice of the peace, or an undertaker.”
“What about a counselor,” Stewart suggested.
“Been there, tried that. Doesn’t work,” Lee quipped. “So I would opt for one of the first two.” He glanced at Jennifer and was surprised to see the calm, beauty-enhancing look he noticed for the first time on Sunday.
When the meeting ended several things were evident. One battle in the war on terror had been won thanks to Jennifer, the FBI, NSA, a local JTTF, and its member police departments.
Joe had performed admirably and with integrity as he guided National Aerospace through a crisis.
A second battle, one for Jennifer’s allegiance, was won by God, Himself.
The third battle, a battle for his heart, was won by a woman with a fiery spirit, a new growing relationship with Christ, and a demand for total honesty. She hadn’t only won the battle, but also the war. The time had arrived for him to run up the white flag. One unsettling question remained.
What might total surrender to Jennifer require?