26
NanoUSA
1 March
Thursday, 10:50 a.m. local time
Simone left Vance’s office, fairly secure that, between the phone call Aidan had had with Vance and her own calming techniques, they’d gotten both him and Susan under control. At Simone’s urging, Susan had agreed to stay inside her hotel room in Tahoe today, feigning a migraine to her kids, since she was in no shape to pull off acting normal. And Vance was going to apply himself to task-oriented work at Nano for another hour and then fly back to join his wife. Aidan had bluntly told him that if either he or Susan deviated from this hunkering-down plan, they’d run the risk of compromising the rescue mission—and of further endangering Lauren’s life.
Love for their daughter had kept them in check—that and Aidan’s promise that either he or Simone would keep them in the loop every step of the way.
Simone was about to leave the building and check in with Aidan when she reached Ethan Gallagher’s office, which was adjacent to his boss’s. A woman was just walking in, and Simone caught her profile as she disappeared into the room and shut the door behind her.
June Morris.
Now that was interesting. Ethan had claimed to scarcely interact with the woman, and here she was going into his office for a closeddoor meeting.
Simone glanced around. The hall was empty.
Fortunately, Nano was sleek and modern, with lots of chrome and glass. Using that to her advantage, Simone flattened herself against the wall adjoining the large office window. Glass was much easier to hear through than a solid wall. It also had the advantage of allowing Simone a view of what was taking place.
To an outsider, June was invisible. Which meant she’d pressed herself against the back of the door to avoid being seen. Ethan, on the other hand, was pacing around the room, alternately rubbing the back of his neck and dragging a shaky hand through his hair. Perspiration was beading up on his forehead.
Definitely not the composed Ethan Gallagher who Simone was used to seeing.
“Someone broke into my apartment last night,” he was saying.
“Oh no.” June’s two-word response was low, but not so low that Simone couldn’t tell that she was strung tight. “What did they take?”
“Nothing,” he replied, stopping in his tracks. “That’s what’s got me scared shitless. Stuff was moved around and then put back as carefully as possible. And, June, whoever it was got inside my desk and to my stash.” He paused, staring at the door—and obviously at June—like a terrified rabbit. “My cash and pills were rearranged. Not stolen, just askew. Which means they didn’t want to take them. They either wanted evidence, blackmail ammunition, or I don’t know what. But whatever it was, they got it.”
June was silent for a minute, and Simone strained her ears to hear her response.
“Did you have a client list in there?” she asked tentatively.
“What? No,” Ethan snapped. “My records are all stored electronically, and encrypted. Happy?”
“Of course not.” A tinge of relief, but still a shaky voice. “No one’s contacted you?”
“Not yet, no.” Ethan was pacing again. “But it’s just a matter of time. They didn’t go through all that for nothing. Photos have probably been circulated to whoever’s behind this. I don’t know what to do.”
He looked like a small child about to cry.
“Sit tight.” June sounded so tightly wound that her calming words were almost laughable. “There’s nothing you can do until you’re approached.”
“How cavalier.” Now Ethan was visibly pissed. “May I remind you that if my ass is fried, your deliveries dry up?”
“You don’t need to remind me,” June choked out. “But we have to find out what they want. What else can we do but wait?”
“Right. Great. So it’s business as usual around here until a bomb goes off in my face.” Ethan sucked in his breath, striving desperately for control. “I’ve got to pull myself together. I can’t look or act weird, not when I’m holding down the fort for Vance while he’s in Lake Tahoe.” He ran a palm over his face. “You’d better get out of here,” he said. “The last thing we need is for anyone to make a connection between us. We’re screwed enough as it is.”
Simone shrunk against the wall as Ethan walked over to the window and peered out, perceiving what he believed to be a deserted hallway.
“Go now,” he told June.
“You’ll keep me updated?”
Ethan was nodding, but Simone didn’t wait to hear anything else. She couldn’t risk the door opening and June finding her eavesdropping.
She slid along the wall until she was back outside Vance’s office. There, she paused, opening a file folder and relaxing her stance as she seemingly studied the folder’s contents.
When enough time had passed, she slipped the file folder back in her briefcase and continued on her way.
The area near Ethan’s office was deserted.
* * *
As soon as she’d driven beyond Nano’s gates, Simone called Aidan and filled him in.
“A drug dealer. Nice.” Aidan was still sitting in the same seat on the Gulfstream that he’d been occupying since the team videoconference. “So the Chinese were checking Gallagher out after Cheng reported in. They wanted to know where he was getting his spare change. And what they found will lead them to assume he’s also immoral enough to commit industrial espionage. That only confirms what we already guessed—that Ethan Gallagher is not our mole.”
“It also explains why June Morris is so strung out.” Simone was driving as she spoke. “Sleeping with Robert helped get her the CFO spot. But holding on to that position is another matter entirely. It’s gotten bigger and more overwhelming as Nano has grown. And she no longer has the perk of sharing Robert’s bed to get his support.”
Aidan tapped his pen thoughtfully against his leg. “We’ve got tons of corporate drama going on at Nano and no clue as to who the insider is. Lots of suspects, not a single damn lead.” He blew out his breath, clearly wrestling with the situation. “Our mission is to rescue Lauren,” he stated flatly.
“But you also want the whole case wrapped up and all the involved parties punished.” Simone’s assessment was matter-of-fact. She knew Aidan only too well.
“Yeah, I do. But my attention needs to be focused on where I’m going, what Philip, Marc, and I are planning, and how we’re carrying it all out successfully. I need you to spearhead the other parts of the investigation, Simone—you and Terri. When all this is over, I want everyone who’s guilty to pay for his or her crime, one way or another.”
“Which brings us to this young woman you briefly mentioned—Jia li Sung.”
“I couldn’t get into detail, not with Vance still a loose cannon.
Now I can. Because it’s the reason I asked you to drop everything and leave Nano once Vance was settled in.”
Aidan went on to explain everything to Simone—Terri’s findings, her plans, and their hold-back-but-coiled-to-strike timetable.
Simone listened intently, then said, “The plan is strong and may very well hand us our mole. And while it’s necessary that we wait to initiate the text, I want to maximize my time. I’m supposedly heading back to my hotel to compile a comprehensive report on Vance’s department in preparation for my meeting with Robert and Vance tomorrow. No one expects me to be on-site. Once I’m in my room, I’ll call Terri and get briefed on the details of my job and drive to Stanford Business School right away. As for the electronic devices I’ll be using, you left the package Terri sent you in my hotel room for security purposes, locked in my safe.”
Aidan stated the obvious: “Clearly, you’re all in.”
“Did you doubt it?”
“No. But I’m not happy. Ideally, I’d call in one of our contacts and have him or her do the dirty work.”
“I’m sure you would,” Simone said defensively. “But we don’t have the luxury of time, and I’m perfectly capable of handling this. Plus, I’m as vested as you are in bringing down the insiders who had a hand in Lauren’s kidnapping. A college girl was taken—a vulnerable young woman who’s barely more than a kid. I intend to take an active role in closing this case.”
“And I respect that. But, Simone, planting the bug could be dangerous. You’ll have to work fast and get out of there in a hurry.”
“I’ll be fine, chéri.” Simone’s voice softened as she heard the deep concern in Aidan’s voice. “I managed just fine in Blockman’s office, no?”
“Yes.” Aidan blew out a breath. “But in this case, you’re invading someone’s home. And given the players involved, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way. Remember: in America, people can have guns in their homes. So, yeah, I’m worried.”
“You, who are about to put your life on the line by attacking violent killers, are worried about a little breaking and entering?”
The irony of Simone’s words wasn’t lost on Aidan. “Guilty as charged. But we’re talking about you, not me.”
“And I thank you for that. But I’ll take every precaution. You just concentrate on your mission. Terri and I will take care of the rest.”
“Terri’s in New York. You’re the one in Silicon Valley.” Aidan wasn’t ready to wrap up this conversation. “Not only am I worried about you planting the bug, I’m even more worried about what happens afterward. If things go as planned, you’re going to be alone in the car outside the apartment when two desperate people figure out they’ve been played. If I were them, I’d hop the first flight I could out of the country to a place with no extradition. And knowing you, you’d be in hot pursuit to prevent that from happening.”
“You’re right. I would.”
“I’m going to talk to Terri. Once Lauren is safe, I want her to hack into the TSA and place everyone we suspect on the No Fly List. They’ll be stuck in the US until law enforcement picks them up. And if they try to head to Mexico by car, California traffic will prevent them from getting very far.”
“Fine. So there’s no reason for me to follow them. But just in case I’m spotted, I plan on being armed. You have several guns locked in my hotel room safe. One of them is a Glock 27. I’m trained to use that pistol, and you know it.”
“You’ve never shot anyone.”
“And hopefully I won’t have to this time. These are white-collar criminals, not violent offenders. But if one of them has a gun and tries to use it, they’ll be dead before they can pull the trigger. Count on it.”
After they hung up, Aidan looked down to where he was gripping his pen more tightly than he’d realized. He’d never been able to talk Simone out of anything once she made up her stubborn mind. This time had been no different.
Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto
1 March
Thursday, 12:05 p.m. local time
Terri answered on the first ring. “Yes?”
“I’m at my hotel,” Simone began without prelude. She was squatting in front of her room safe, removing the package she needed while simultaneously locating her pistol and ammunition. Those she set aside for the moment.
“I’m holding the electronic gift box you sent Aidan.”
“Good. You know what you’re looking for?”
“Aidan told me.” Simone was already rummaging around. “I’ve got the key fob,” she said, extracting the item. “How does it work?”
“Think of it as a really small cell phone.” Terri explained the device in the simplest terms possible to Simone. “The difference is, there’s no speaker in the key fob, so no one can hear your side of the conversation. Only you can hear what’s going on in their location. The microphone is optimized to be very sensitive and to pick up sounds in all directions.”
Simone nodded, pursing her lips as she turned the device over in her hands. It looked totally innocuous. “So the conversations going on in Jia li’s apartment will be transmitted to my cell phone. I’ll have conferenced you in so you can listen and record what’s being said.”
“Exactly. Also, you and I can talk to one another without being heard, just as if we’ve placed them on mute.”
“Okay.” Simone looked inside the package and extracted the black box labelled: Windsor. “I’ve got the cell phone interceptor gadget.”
“The IMSI-catcher,” Terri clarified. She then went on to explain how it functioned.
“And I’m planting this exactly where at the Business School?”
Terri gave her a building and room number. “Just put it in the closet there. That’s all the proximity I need.”
“I can do this any time?”
“Sometime between now and four p.m.”
Simone blew out a breath. “Let’s get into the specifics of this twosided plan. For starters, how do we know Jia li will be away from her apartment when we want her to be? Especially since we don’t know for certain when Aidan will give us the go-ahead?”
“The Gulfstream should be landing in Osijek at one a.m. Croatian time, which is still four p.m. PST,” Terri reported. “Aidan and the team will already have their plan in place. The strike will be imminent.”
“That still doesn’t pinpoint the time.”
“Agreed. So I’ve isolated our window of opportunity. Jia li is registered for the winter session at Stanford Business School. She has no classes today, but she does have a seven p.m. meeting of her business club—a meeting that generally runs a minimum of an hour and a half and often as long as two.”
“In the room you just gave me.”
“Yes. According to her credit card receipts, she eats at the same off-campus café every Thursday evening at six. It’s a twelve-minute drive from her apartment to campus. Which means you can park outside her building and watch her leave, probably between five thirty and five forty-five.”
“Then our start time is pretty well set,” Simone replied. “But what about our end time? It’s possible we won’t hear from Aidan until dawn, Croatian time, which is about nine tonight, PST. That’s tight.”
“After her club meetings, Jia li and a few of her friends hang around and have a few pizzas delivered. It appears to be their weekly ritual. She stays in the same classroom for at least an hour, which gives us extra padding. It should be enough. You’re correct that there will be pressure. But you stand up well to that.”
Simone smiled at Terri’s typically brusque compliment. “I appreciate your vote of confidence. I got your specs on Jia li’s car. I know I’m looking for a BMW M4 blue metallic convertible—which should be more than easy to spot, just in case she’s already exiting the apartment complex when I see her. Now, what other details do I need to know up front?”
“I texted you Jia li’s photo and address.”
“I have both. Pretty girl. Nice garden apartments from the photos I saw online.”
“Nice but understated. No doorman or front desk—handy for someone who wants to keep a low profile and entertain visitors who prefer to remain anonymous. Jia li’s unit is on the first floor—apartment five, to the left of the lobby—so you won’t have stairs to navigate. On the other hand, it’s bound to be a higher-traffic area. Plus, you’ll have to find a way to get into the building itself, which will require a key card to gain entrance.”
“Understood. I’ll handle it.”
“Call me after you’ve left the school and again when you’re situated at the apartment,” Terri said. “I have my own homework to do in the meantime. Plus, Aidan already gave me his instructions about hacking into the TSA. I’ll penetrate their firewall and be ready to add the suspects to the No Fly List when Aidan gives me the go-ahead.”