“Sorry, you misunderstand me. I’m still negotiating terms.”
“Proceed, young lady.”
“I’ll produce a picture, a Polaroid, and then I’ll burn it. We don’t do smart phones, computers, or email. Too risky.”
“Okay, that’s fine with me.”
“But wait, there’s more. I don’t come back here once I leave. There’s only one exit from this room, and you’ve got those goons lurking about. No, when the job’s done, we meet in public. I understand you don’t go outside, but you can send Tia to the meeting. Agreed?”
“I don’t like it. That’s not how I do things. But just for curiosity’s sake, where would you like to conduct business if not here, young lady?”
“I’ve got a couple of places in mind, but nothing definite right now. We’ll let you know when and where. Maybe Peter will drop by to tell you. Regardless, when we figure out the particulars, just send Tia with the money and we’ll provide the proof. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it, but don’t just run away after it’s done, cash in hand,” he said, lying back on the table and opening his robe. “I may have other business that requires your attention. Now, if there’s nothing else, you’re dismissed.”
*
We were making our way down the spiral staircase after leaving Laird’s room when we heard from above us, “Don’t go that way.”
I turned to see Tia beckoning us back up the stairs, and Leecy asked, “You want us to follow you? What, do we look stupid?”
Shaking her head, Tia said, “It’s not like that. I just want to talk.”
Climbing the stairs, we followed Tia behind the red curtains into a computer room.
“What’s this place?” I asked.
Ignoring me and smiling at Leecy, Tia said, “You’re quick. I like that. And smart. I like that even more. I can see now how valuable you and your teammates can be to my organization.”
“Your organization?” Leecy asked. “I thought CCP was your father’s business.”
“CCP is defunct. My father hasn’t worked in twenty years or more. Don’t concern yourself with him. I, however,” she continued, waving her hand at the computers and workers in the room, “can offer you a permanent position with my growing organization. This position is highly lucrative, and will allow you three to stop living job to job for a change.”
“Sounds too good to be true,” Leecy said. “And we know what that means.”
“Smart girl. Sure, it pays to be cautious,” Tia purred, “but hear me out before you rush to judgment.”
“Well? We’re listening.”
“All you have to do for me is not find the people who planted the device.”
“I’m sorry,” Valerie began, walking toward one of the metal cages, “did I just wake up and miss something? I was under the impression you worked for dear old Dad. You don’t? And what is this place? What organization? And the cherry on top of this shit sundae is you’re asking us to walk away from a two million dollar payday. Like I said, sorry, but lady, that’s one too many unanswered questions.”
“Fair enough. Let me begin again. I don’t work for my father; I work for myself, and if all goes well, soon I’ll head a much bigger organization. What you see before you is just a hobby when you compare it to what I’ve been offered. And now, I’m offering you a job. Do you want it or not?”
“Slow down,” I said. “We don’t even know what you do or what the job is yet. What do you do exactly?”
“I’m a computer hacker, and a very good one.”
“I bet all you hackers say that. We’re not computer people. We have no way to know if you’re legit or not. Why should we believe you?”
“Fair enough, Mr. Heely. Come over here,” she said, walking past Valerie. She picked up an iPad from a small desk in the center of the room, then with the wave of a keycard she opened a cage. “Keep your eyes on that monitor,” she added, pointing at a flat screen mounted on a pole inside the cage. She was typing on her iPad. “I’m slaving this screen to my iPad,” she explained. “Keep watching the monitor.”
The JP Morgan Chase emblem appeared on the screen for a second before being replaced, albeit briefly, with a picture of the CEO, and then numbers filled the screen.
“Okay, so you hacked JP Morgan Chase,” I said. “You’re a hacker. So what?”
“Oh, Peter,” Leecy said. “Do you know what you’re looking at?”
“No, I don’t.”
“But that’s impossible,” Leecy said, continuing to stare at the screen. “JP Morgan Chase only reported the theft of email accounts. But that’s not emails. Those are account numbers, amounts, and access codes for every client handled personally by the CEO.”
“That’s correct,” Tia said. “And for now, JP Morgan Chase’s computer security has successfully blocked my attempt to liquidate those accounts, but what they don’t know is that I’m still in the system. In two days’ time, I’ll have enough computing power at my disposal to bypass their new security measures and drain the accounts you see listed here, along with every single JP Morgan Chase holding.”
“But that’s impossible,” Leecy said.
“If you believe that, then keep an eye on the news coming out of America, and I guarantee in three days, JP Morgan Chase will be begging your President for another bailout.”
“Amazing,” Val said, “truly amazing. And terrifying. What else have you done? Are you behind the Target attack, too?”
Smiling a toothy grin, Tia said, “Yes, of course I am. I’m behind all the attacks being reported in the US, including Sony.”
“If that’s true, then you’re really good, because the Secret Service and the FBI are chasing their tails blaming Chinese hackers.”
“Yes, I know. It’s what I want them to think.”
“And investigating who planted the device in your system somehow interferes with what you’re doing?” Leecy asked.
“Yes, that’s correct. My partner insists on complete anonymity. I can’t afford to have you three poking around, but as I’ve said, I would employ you to work for me, instead.”
“Sorry,” I said, “but we made a deal with Daddy.”
“Deals are made to be broken, Peter,” Tia said. “Mercenaries have no loyalty; they work for the highest bidder.”
“So, what? You’re making a counter offer?”
“I’ll have a significant counter offer for you, but I’ll need time to put the funds together, and that might take me forty-eight hours. I want you to know the offer I’ll be prepared to make at that time comes with a job description and a future. But for your more immediate needs, I can most certainly match Father’s offer, in cash, and pay you up front. Call it a signing bonus.”
“Why?”
Tia looked hard at the three of us, like she was deciding how much to tell us before answering.
“I’ve told you more than I should already. Peter, here, has proven to be knowledgeable about details of my business I thought were secret, and I’m willing to pay you three to prevent you from learning anything more. Does that answer the question to your satisfaction?”
“No, but it’s an answer.”
“One more thing,” Val asked, walking toward Tia. “Where are you getting the money? Stealing it from dear old Dad, or this partner you mentioned?”
Stepping forward to meet Valerie toe to toe, Tia answered. “No, I’m not stealing from Father, but that’s all you need to know. What do you care where the money comes from as long as you get paid?”
“Okay, message received,” Leecy said, separating the two women. “We’ll take our money and be on our way.”
“Hold on,” Tia said, startled. “I never said I had the money on me. I’ll have to get it together, and that will take some doing. Give me till seven o’clock tonight?”
“Okay, but at seven oh-one, we start looking for the people that planted the device.”
“Fair enough. Meet me outside the northern entrance of the train station at seven o??
?clock. I’ll have the money, and I’ll even throw in two black duffle bags free of charge. Will that work for you?”
“Sure, that works.”
Satisfied, Tia looked at me as if for the first time, and said, “I didn’t notice the bruises on your face when we were upstairs. Get into a little scrape, did we?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Oh, of that I’m sure,” she responded before turning to lead us out of the computer room.
Walking behind her, I could see the tip of the scabbard beneath the hem of her suit jacket. Looking at Val, walking beside me, she nodded her head as she noticed it too.
“So, I assume you’ll be leaving the sword at home for our little get together later?” Val asked.
Tia stopped walking at the elevator door and before pressing the button, turned to face Valerie, who was several inches taller and more than just a few pounds heavier.
“I carry the Katana at the request of my father to honor the memory of my late mother,” she answered. “She was Japanese. Father’s a great admirer of all things Japanese, especially the Samurai culture of early modern Japan. I’ll have my sword on my person, and I’m certain you’ll have your Glock 17, and the young miss will have her Sig Sauer P320. The only one of us that’s unarmed now, and will be unarmed later, is Heely. I must admit, I’m curious about that.”
Val inched closer to the much smaller woman, saying, “Nothing to be curious about. He doesn’t carry because we do.”
Tia’s laugh was light and lilting and short-lived. She pressed the button, calling the elevator to the second floor lobby.
“You have quite the crew here, Heely. Here’s hoping they live long enough to spend all that money. Now, my men, what’s left of them, are waiting in the lobby to show you out of the building. See you three tonight.”
CHAPTER SIX
THE CABLE CAR
THE CAB RIDE TOOK about five minutes and no one spoke. Paying the cabbie, we walked toward the park entrance and the debriefing we didn’t want to give. As we approached the ticket window, I saw Hodges reading a newspaper just inside the gate. Zach and Franks were seated on a park bench. Franks was eating a pretzel while Zach was busy on his computer.
Moving forward in the queue, I caught sight of Ryan walking toward the public restrooms. I saw Tammy waiting near the line for the cable car ride, and knew she’d jump in line just ahead of us on approach. We’d soon be trapped inside the car with her, telling her what happened.
The long line to purchase park tickets was moving slowly, giving me time to consider everything that had happened, and I made a decision. Turning to face Leecy and Val, I touched my ear, killing my communication with the rest of the team, and waited for Val and Leecy to do the same.
“I’m sorry, Leecy. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, and none of this would’ve happened.”
“Me, too, kiddo,” Val agreed. “I wish I could take it all back. I feel like we pushed you into it.”
“Stop being ridiculous,” Leecy said. “You really think I was leaving that room with the Neanderthal? No way that was going to happen. That freak got what he deserved.”
“Maybe so, but when we get in the cable car with Tammy, you two follow my lead, okay?”
“What’re you up to, Dad?” Leecy asked.
“Just promise me you’ll follow my lead?”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Sure thing,” Val said.
Buying three round-trip tickets, I joined the queue for the ride directly behind Valerie and Leecy, with Wakefield entering the line ahead of us as we approached. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the dressing down. Having suffered through them in the past, I knew what was about to happen and I knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. While we waited in the line, I surveyed the area, making sure we hadn’t picked up a tail. Spotting no one suspicious, I tried to relax, but failed miserably at it.
The young man taking tickets asked Wakefield, “How many in your party?”
She responded, “Four of us, round-trip.”
Handing over my three tickets, we stepped forward into the cable car. I sat beside Wakefield, facing Leecy and Valerie, and nodded at the teenager as he closed the door. No one spoke till we were off the ground, high above the park.
Wakefield, gesturing for us to power down our earpieces, waited before speaking first.
“How’d it go? Any progress on determining if Tia is the hacker?”
I looked out the window, gathering my thoughts, and then turned slowly, looking at Tammy.
“Definitive proof. She told us she was behind the cyber attacks, and then demonstrated her skill. You can tell Interpol they can back off Jenny.”
“Good, so we can take her down, and put this one in the win column.”
“We will, but not just yet.”
“Why not?”
“There’s more to it than just the hacks Tia blamed on Jenny.”
“Well, I’m waiting. Let’s have it.”
“We don’t have anything concrete,” Val said, “only what Tia’s told us, which, now that I’m thinking about it, isn’t very much.”
“Yeah,” Leecy agreed. “She’s hiding something. She’s got a partner. She said she was going to be the head of a much larger operation. Maybe she’s working an angle? We need more time.”
Wakefield shook her head.
“Time is up tomorrow morning. Unless we have hard, irrefutable evidence that Tia is connected to something bigger than the hacks in the US, Jenny and Tia both go down. Although, I must admit, I have a great deal of respect for the Granger intuition, but that alone isn’t going to cut it with either Langley or our friend Robert Leeds at Interpol. I need proof.”
“Then we need more time,” I said.
“We’re out of time. If I had any time to give, I would hand it over, but without something substantial to motivate me into making that call, I’m sorry.”
“Okay,” Leecy said, “just hear us out, then.”
“You’ve got till the end of the ride.”
“First of all, the device that was found yesterday, the one Tia was so livid about,” Leecy said, “today is no big deal to her. In fact, she offered us two million dollars to look the other way, because she doesn’t want us interfering with whatever she’s involved with. Question is, what’s happened to Tia in less than twenty-four hours to bring about her change of heart?”
“She dismantled the device,” Wakefield countered. “She’s had a day to think about it and realizes it’s no longer a concern.”
“I’d buy that if not for the two million dollar inducement not to pursue who planted it.”
“I concede. Point made. Score one for the Grangers. What else?”
“Tia showed us her computer room,” Val began. “If I’m right, the computers Tia’s running are the ones she got from Jenny, and she’s staffed the place with dozens of top-level hackers. She showed us her hack on JP Morgan Chase.”
“You’ve seen this proof?”
“Yes. It’s definitive.”
“Can someone like Zach access her system?”
“I doubt it. Well, maybe if he was in the building.”
“Maybe we could make that happen when we arrest her tomorrow. If there’s proof on the system, it’s worth looking into, and if we find it, Jenny would be in the clear. Okay, that’s worth a try. I can find the time for that. Score another one for the Grangers. What else?”
“We’re supposed to meet Tia,” I said, “at the train station at seven o’clock to pick up our payment for doing nothing about the device.”
“The payoff. That’s normal. I don’t see a problem,” Wakefield said. “Do you?”
“Paying us off doesn’t make any sense to me,” Leecy answered, “and because that act alone is so odd, then I have to question her motives.”
“Yes, exactly,” Val agreed. “It’s just a feeling, but I think she’s setting us up.”
“She is setting us up,” I said. “But for what?”
 
; “Don’t you dare say she’s trying to kill you,” Wakefield said. “That doesn’t track.”
“Sure it does,” I said. “Now follow me on this. She’s angry about the device and accuses me of planting it. Threatens me with the sword. The next day she’s not angry. She’s willing to pay us serious money, too good to be true money, to look the other way? Come on. She wants us gone. Her daddy wants us around. She’s going to try to take us out.”
“But why, Ron? It doesn’t track. It just doesn’t.”
“It does if you consider this. I think her new partner planted the device to keep tabs on her. She confronted the partner about the device and made a deal. Now he’s her benefactor. It’s the terms of that deal she doesn’t want anyone finding out about.”
“When did she have time to do that?”
“Did we have eyes on her after I left yesterday?”
“No, I didn’t think that was necessary.”
“There you go. We don’t know what she’s been doing, but I do know one thing.”
“What?”
“Whatever she was doing kept her busy so long she didn’t have time to change her clothes before ten this morning. Have Zach hack the CCTVs at the train station and the airport. Tia went somewhere. We find out where she went, maybe we find out who she was with. Who knows? Maybe we even find out who this partner is.”
“It explains her odd behavior,” Leecy added.
“It’s still a stretch,” Wakefield insisted. “Any thoughts on who might have planted the device?”
“I have a thought,” I said.
“Before you share your thought, is this going to make me cringe?”
“If you thought what I just guessed was a reach,” I said, smiling, “you’ll think what I’m about to say is just pure fantasy.”
“Jesus Christ. I’d forgotten what it’s like working with you. Go ahead. Let’s hear it.”
“March of this year, Russia annexes the Ukraine’s Crimea region, justifying the action in part by saying they’re protecting their Black Sea Fleet after the overthrow of Kiev’s Pro Russian President by protestors, and to support the rebels.”