“He has power because he has secrets. Let’s unmask him. If he inherited the stash of blackmail material from Lively, and he can access it wherever he his, then that means we can access it, too. Right?”
Wilson nods. “There’s always a way in. Let’s start with his private office here in D.C. How do we want to do this? His private military guys are going to be on high alert.”
Cole shrugs. “We can handle them. He wants a game? We’ll give him a game.” He gives me a hard look. “Want to see a part of our offices you didn’t know about five years ago?”
“Is it the secret armory behind your office?” I give them all my sweetest smile as they gape at me. “What? I’m very good at what I do. But I’d love to be better acquainted with it. If he has a private army, I want one, too.”
That’s not an understatement, either. They have bulletproof vests, high-tech comms equipment, and enough firepower to start a war. Or end one.
Wilson has a mobile comms center as well, and once he’s ready to go, we return to the parking garage. Jason leads us to a white Mercedes van. From the outside it looks like any other repair or service vehicle, but inside, it’s a tank.
He holds out his hand, and I take the boost. I ignore the tremor of fear that whispers, he said he doesn’t trust you. Yeah, well, he also said he loves me, and I’m putting all my faith in that.
Tag drives. Wilson gives me the world’s fastest lesson in hacking. My job is pretty simple. I just need to connect a portable transponder into Mack’s network. “The trick is that you don’t know what options you will have until we get there. It might be a USB drive, it might need to be a Smart TV. Hell, it could be the fridge. Rich people are stupid and connect a lot of shit to the internet. But for this, we need to be prepared that it’ll be trickier. So you’ve got a bunch of tools here…” He runs through them all. A tiny laptop that I can plug into the wall, which will search the electricity grid for wired network connections. A USB device with a radio transmitter, and a couple of different Bluetooth scanners with password decoders built in. Everything fits into a small black bag. “While you’re doing that, Jason will be right in lock step with you. He’s got your back. Cole will clear the rooms ahead of you. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“At the first sign of overload, we call in the Feds. If there is shooting, you get down.”
I nod.
“And if I can’t gain remote access, you may need to send the files my way.”
“Easier from the inside than the outside,” I whisper.
“Exactly. You remember. Upload it in chunks,” Wilson says. “That way if you’re interrupted, we still have some of it.”
“Got it.”
“We’re not going to be interrupted,” Jason growls.
“Fingers crossed,” I whisper.
“I’ll kill the power in there, give you time to get inside. When the power comes back on, you won’t have long before there’s company.”
“We’ll be quick.”
Tag pulls up in the alley behind Mack’s office. We get out of the van. I keep my eyes locked on the little red light on the keypad on the door. The second it blinks out, and Cole pulls the door open, a countdown clock starts in my mind.
Jason holds me back as Cole clears the main floor, then we creep ahead. We scan the rooms on the main floor, but I don’t see any obvious smart devices.
Cole radios from upstairs that the building is empty, and we take the stairs as fast as we can.
Jason leads the way to Mack’s office, which is locked, but Cole makes short work of that with a picking kit. He clears it, then we head inside.
I search the desk area while Jason scans for bugs and cameras.
Bingo.
“There’s an ethernet connection,” I murmur into my headpiece. “Connecting the laptop now.”
“Standing by to reconnect power.”
Jason sprays black paint over a small camera in the ceiling. “Ready when you are.”
The lights flicker back to life and the computer boots up. I watch as Wilson’s remote access runs an override into the backend of the system.
“Okay, you’re in. What are we looking for?”
We’d brainstormed a bunch of search words and key phrases, which he has bots looking for, but I’m also going to poke around manually.
Sometimes, nothing replaces good old human intelligence.
Or human stupidity. It takes me five clicks deep into a folder to find a virtual locked box. Might as well put a red flag on it. “Wilson, can you help unlock this for me?”
Ten seconds later, the folder opens. I recognize the file naming conventions from what was released during the Lively investigations. “This is it.”
“Copy it in batches,” Wilson reminds me. “Pick the stuff that’s most valuable first.”
It’s all valuable. Every image is a young girl who had her innocence stolen. Every email is proof that could put someone away for a long time.
My heart pounds as I carefully select the first hundred files and copy to the USB drive, which sends it to Wilson.
“We have company,” Wilson says. “Front entrance. Two guys.”
Jason taps his radio in acknowledgment. Then he kisses me. “Stay here.”
“You have to stop—” I cut myself off. “I’ll stay here.”
“This is where the good stuff is, anyway. You keep copying those files. I’ll be right back.”
I grab another hundred files. Then another.
I’m halfway through the folder when I hear a creak in the wall. Heart pounding, I select the rest and say a silent prayer as I drag it to the USB drive. Here’s hoping they go through.
I shove the computer deep under the desk as a panel on the wall opens, and Mack Evans steps into the room.
He’s armed, and furious.
He prowls in my direction, and not for the first time, I note the brotherly resemblance in the shape of their bodies, the way they hold their arms at their sides, the killer look in their eyes.
I much prefer Jason’s killer stare, if I’m being honest. This one has zero charm and is actually homicidal.
“You’re a nosy fucking bitch, aren’t you? Couldn’t let a dead man’s secrets die with him.”
“Nice to see you, too.” I won’t show him fear. I won’t give him that thrill. “I thought you had a lunch date with a politician.”
Mack sneers at me. “I’ll be late for it, I guess. Got stuck in traffic. Don’t have a motorcade…yet.”
“How does this end?”
“It doesn’t.” He gives me a chilly smile. “Why would you think it ends here? You might end here, but it, the grand experiment, it never ends.”
“You’re delusional.”
“You’re naïve.” His eyes flash. “This is fun. Is this what it’s like with Jason? No wonder he can’t resist you.”
He’s goading me. I won’t raise to the bait. “You have a weird idea of fun. This… what did you call it? This game? You’re playing it all by yourself.”
“Hardly.” He gestures the gun he’s holding, indicating for me to move. “Come away from the desk. Slowly.”
I shift my weight from one foot to the other. I can move as slow as molasses. I stop after a half-step in his direction. The files are still uploading, and I need to keep him talking.
“I heard a rumor that the UN is going to start an investigation into PRISM.”
“It won’t go anywhere.”
“You’re confident.”
“I hold all the cards.”
I wonder how many international leaders are implicated in the files I’m currently sending to Wilson. Keep talking. “Are they cards you got from Lively?”
“He was a fool. Obsessed with his craven desires. He lost focus on what really matters.”
“And that is?”
“Making the world a better place.”
“Is that what you think you are doing? Nobody elected you to this. Nobody wants you to do this. You are a single, solitary mad man.”
“This is what my country needs.”
“No, it’s not. And the sad thing is, you are far from the first person to think that—you are not an original thinker in this regard,” I spit out. Another half step, and I prop my hands on my hips. “We have played out this script many times before, and America always finds its way back to justice and dignity. Not perfectly. Not for everyone. But we’re working on it. Others are working on it, fiercely and bravely, and you will not stop them. Not today, and not ever again.”
“What do you think you’re going to do? Kill me and it will stop? I’ve set it all in motion, little girl.” His hand shakes as he spews venom at me. “Plus, I got to have my fun with your little friend Caroline. While you were distracting Jason with your sweet tits and wet pus—”
I pull my Sig from the holster on my back and pull the trigger in one fluid motion. “That’s enough out of you,” I say after he crumbles to the ground.
Jason bursts through the door. “Ellie!”
“I—”
“It’s—” He stops, eyes wide, and stares at his brother lying on the floor. “Did you…?”
“He really deserved it,” I say faintly.
He races around the desk and grabs my hand, but I don’t move.
“He really deserved it,” I repeat. The words hammer in my skull right along with, I killed your brother. Please forgive me.
“Come on. We have to get out of here. There are more of those mercenaries coming.”
“One more minute. It’s still uploading.”
“Ellie, leave it.”
I stand up, reluctantly. I want every last bit of evidence.
There’s a crack in the air, something sharp.
“Ellie!” His voice is sharp, urgent. Full of panic.
I turn slowly, the world around me disassociating from the sound of his voice and the sluggish pump of blood through my veins. What, I mean to ask. It doesn’t come out. I make it as far as opening my mouth, and then everything goes black.