Betty’s phone buzzed. It was Julia O’Connell, who sounded as if she was crying.
“We need to talk, because I can’t take this any longer,” she said.
“Okay, Julia, calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“Cassy’s been kidnapped, and I think they want her killed.”
“Jesus, who did this?”
“Reid and Clyde Dammerman,” she sobbed, and then the rest all came out in a rush. “It’s Abacus, and Cassy figured out an antidote, and they can’t let her use it. And I was a part of it. And I’m so sorry, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t…”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. First, where are you right now? Are you someplace safe?”
“I’m at home, I’m okay.”
“Just stay there,” Betty said as she moved off to the side. “Now tell me what’s going on. Everything. Starting with Abacus.”
“It’s a virus that Reid and Dammerman want to use. If the virus is introduced into our system, it will crash your computers.”
“What do you mean ‘your computers’?”
“The New York Stock Exchange. They want to bring down as many trading systems around the world as they can.”
“Our backup computer would switch on.”
“I don’t know about that. All I know is that they’ll blame the virus on terrorists. Russian hackers or someone.”
“I saw Spencer Nast with Reid and Dammerman on the floor. Is he a part of it?”
“Yes,” Julia said. “And so was I.”
“My God.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing. Or I never thought it out. But Abacus started as a theoretical design of mine. I wanted to see if something like that could be done. I even sent it over to some people in Amsterdam who fine-tuned it for me. Made it hackerproof.”
“Why didn’t you back out when you knew what they were really up to?”
“I’ve asked myself that very question a million times. At first it was just a fun thing, you know, like taking down the power when I was in college. And then Reid promised that I would be rich. I could retire, or open my own company.”
“That’s why Reid took the bank to cash. Probably even made some trades in the Caribbean to short the S&P.”
“I don’t know about that part, except that they kept talking about the debt bomb, which was going to explode anyway, and they were just going to help it along. It would be worse than the thirties, except we’d save our bank. We’d be on top of the world.”
“If I call the FBI, would you be willing to tell them the same thing you’ve told me? Even if it means you might have to go to prison?”
“Yes. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Then stay where you are. I’ll take it from here.”
Julia started to cry again. “I don’t know what to say. How to thank you.”
“Try to get some sleep; tomorrow is going to be a very long day.”
“Okay,” Julia said and she hung up.
Betty put the phone in her purse and spotted Reid and his wife talking to someone across the room, then she spotted Heather Rockingham alone and threaded her way across to her.
She’d picked up the girl at her hotel and got her into the gala using one of the complimentary tickets that were given each year to the NYSE. Once she and Heather had arrived, they’d separated to give Treadwell the false impression that they weren’t here to gang up on him.
Heather turned when Betty got to her. “Is it time?” she asked.
“Yes, we need him to make an admission, so let’s rattle his cage a little and see what happens.”
“Great.”
“Take this and put it in your clutch,” Betty said, holding out her hand.
Heather shook hands and took the device about the size of a book of matches that Betty had palmed, then turned and walked away.