But he still had a hole in his soul. It wasn’t just that Maria left him. He could understand that … well not really. They were the ideal match. She was his soul-mate.
It was the fact that Maria took over her father’s drug cartel when he was killed by El Pozolero, a rival drug lord. That Maria hit back hard, led a war against El Pozolero’s organization and cold bloodedly killed all who opposed her. She even plunged the knife into El Pozolero’s heart.
She was a changed person, and she was carrying his baby. He had to find a way to see his son. He may not be able to rebuild his relationship with Maria, but he had to have a relationship with his own off-spring.
He pulled out of the parking lot and took the Sixth Street on ramp to I-5 north.
He had to go to Mexico. He had to see Maria in person, to explain his desperate need to be part of the boy’s life, to bring him into the family.
As soon as he reached freeway speed, he knew something was wrong. The Blue Bomber took off like a cheetah. He touched the brake to slow it down. Nothing happened.
The speedometer clicked past sixty, seventy, eighty. He stood on the brakes. Nothing. He pulled the handle on the emergency brake. Still nothing. He tried to take the car out of gear, but the gear-shift lever wouldn’t move. He tried to turn off the ignition, but nothing happened.
Fortunately, it was late at night and not many cars were on the road. He pushed the talk button on his steering wheel.
“Dial nine-one-one.”
“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”
“Hi, my name is Ted Higuera. My car is running out of control. I’m on I-5 northbound. I just passed the Dearborn off ramp.”
“Have you tried shutting off the ignition?” the operator asked.
“I’ve tried everything. It just won’t respond. I’m doing a hundred miles an hour and accelerating.”
“Stand by please. I’ll get the State Patrol on the line.”
The city swept past him at a speed he couldn’t have imagined. His hair stood out stiff in the breeze as he flew past the baseball and football stadiums. Speeding through the tunnel under the convention center gave him the feeling he was exiting the mother ship like on Battle Star Galactica. He came up out of the tunnel and saw the Ship Canal Bridge in front of him.
“Oh God,” he gasped. Two lanes were shut down for construction.
He pulled his cell phone out of its cradle and swiped the screen. After Hope’s incident, he had prepared for this moment. He found the app called Kill It and tapped on it. The engine of his powerful sports car died.
The car flew towards the bridge. He stood on the brakes. Tires screeched, and the speedometer dropped from one-sixty to one hundred. He was trapped in his capsule like an astronaut returning to earth.
The speedometer said eighty as Ted said a Hail Mary and turned the steering wheel to the stops. The Beemer skidded into a spin as the speed bled off. It slammed sideways into a dump truck. Ted’s head banged into the airbag. The car continued on and glanced off a police car, going airborne. It flew over the side of the bridge and launched into space.
The events that took only seconds seemed to last forever. Ted was aware of flying through the black night, then the nose of the car dove, and he saw the black water of the ship canal one hundred and fifty feet below him. He braced himself for impact.
The car slammed into the frigid water and plunged below the surface. Ted held his breath while he was knocked around. The car took most of the force of the impact, and his seat belt kept him tightly secured to the leather seat.
The BMW bobbed back to the surface, but rapidly filled with water. Ted was stunned. He couldn’t quite take in what was happening around him. Water rose around his chest. The cold water snapped him back to reality, and he realized his peril.
He punched the button on his seat belt. It wouldn’t release. God spoke to him. He remembered the letter opener he picked up at a fabric store he went to with Maria
Holding his breath, he fumbled around until he got the console open, found the razor-sharp letter opener and cut the belt.
He pushed up with his legs and floated free of the sinking car.
****
The good-looking young reporter stood at the side of I-5 with a microphone in one hand and a tablet in the other. His wavy brown hair ruffled in the breeze as the sun climbed over the Cascade Mountains painting Seattle pink. The morning news anchor handed the story off to him. He stared at the camera a moment and nodded.
“Thank you, Todd. As you can see, the freeway is still closed.” He swept his hand towards the mass of flashing red and blue lights behind him. The camera followed to show a pack of police cars clogging the bridge.
“As far as we can tell, no one was hurt in this late-night accident. A source who doesn’t want to reveal his name told me the run-away car was doing well over a hundred miles an hour when it hit the construction equipment and went airborne over the railing. The driver was recovered and taken to Harbor View Hospital for observation. So far there’s no word of whether alcohol or drugs were involved.”
“NOOOOOO,” Assad al Allah shouted to his empty kitchen. “How did that infidel survive the accident?”
****
Ted’s head rang and his vision was blurry. When Abiba picked him up at the hospital, he couldn’t walk in a straight line. She offered to stay the night with him. He tried to shoo her home, but she would have none of it.
“The doctor said you should stay awake, that you should not be alone.”
And that was that. He and Abiba stayed up playing rummy all night.
This morning he sat at his desk, sipped coffee and stared off into infinity. There had been several reports of cars going out of control all over the country. Senator Jacobson died in such a crash. As far as he knew, Hope’s accident was the first.
Was there some kind of connection? It seemed too coincidental that both he and his sister should have their cars go bat-shit crazy. The police were optimistic that they’d be able to get some good clues from his car. It wasn’t destroyed like Hope and the Senator’s.
A strange, disjointed thought floated around in his head. Could this be on purpose? He’d read some doomsayers claim that modern cars could be hacked. He hadn’t thought about it too much. Was it really possible?
“Morning, Hero.” Bear stood in his doorway with a box of doughnuts in his hand. “Am I early?”
Ted stood, overcome by dizziness. He grabbed the back of his chair to steady himself. “No. No come in. Whatcha got?”
“I stopped by Top Pot on the way in.”
Ted craned his head. “You got a chocolate in there?”
“Does a bear go in the woods?” Bear set the box down on the coffee table on the far side of the office. “What’s this emergency meeting about?”
“Mary Beth’ll be here in a few minutes. I’d like to tell you both at the same time.”
Abiba arrived with her silver tray filled with the coffee service. “Morning, Mr. Ted. I must say you look like you’ve been in the wars.”
Ted took the offered cup of coffee. Abiba made the best coffee in Seattle. “I’m doin’ better. Thank you for stayin’ with me last night.” Abiba gave him a motherly smile. “Don’t worry. I’m all right. I just got banged around a little bit. I’m going to be fine.”
“Morning, everybody.” Mary Beth walked through the door.
Dressed in a flower-print dress, pumps with two-inch heels, and her short brown hair pinned up behind one ear, she looked ready for a shift at Nordstrom.
“Morning, MB.” Ted waved towards the chairs around the coffee table. “Now that you’re here, we can get started.” He took a chair himself and nibbled his doughnut.
“Doughnut?” Bear asked, as he flashed a half-smile at her. “Top Pot only makes the best doughnuts in the universe.”
She glanced back at Bear with a frown on her face. “No, thanks.”
“The reason I called the meeting this morning, is that something’s come up. I have to
leave town for a couple days. I want to make sure everything runs smoothly in my absence.”
Bear had a sparkle in his eye; Mary Beth turned down the edges of her lips.
“We don’t have anything major going on right now.” Ted looked at Mary Beth’s sour face. “MB, you have the Williams case. I’m sure you can handle it. Bear, you’ve got a penetration test coming up. I assume you’re ready for it?”
Bear mumbled and polished off a crueler.
“I turned our findings over to Microsoft. They’ll take care of the Wall Street Virus. I think I can take a couple personal days.”
“You want me to make reservations for a flight to Cabo?” Abiba asked.
Ted’s mouth flew open. “How did you know …”
Abiba shook her head. “You’re going after the girl, aren’t you?”
“Ah … yes …”
She flashed him The Look. “I wouldn’t do it, Mr. Ted. Nothing good’s going to come of it. You go after that girl, it’s going to come a cropper.”
Ted shook his head to clear it. How did Abiba know these things? “Yeah. Alright. I’m going to be gone a couple of days, that’s all. You all know how to get a hold of me. I’ll have my phone on and answer all my emails and texts. There shouldn’t be any big decisions to make; each of you will continue to run your departments. I’m still not comfortable with this hacking stuff. Bear, keep following up on that. And while you’re at it, see what you can find out about hacking cars. Somethings going on that we don’t understand yet.”
His head swam for a moment. With a giant force of will, he brought his mind back into focus. “MB, do you think you’ll have to do an extraction for Jane?”
“It’s her only chance. I just hope she’ll see that and get her and her kids out of that house.”
Ted forced himself to concentrate. “You’ll need backup. If you do the extraction before I get back, call Chris. I’ve already briefed him on this.”
“A lawyer? You’re giving me a lawyer for back-up?”
“Yeah.” Ted smiled. “Lawyers are pretty scary. Besides, he can handle himself in a tough situation.”
Mary Beth slumped back in her chair and didn’t respond.
****
Ted sat in the plush first-class seat on the Alaska Airlines 737 and dialed the ranch’s number for perhaps the hundredth time. Maria’s phone hadn’t been in service for months.
After about ten rings, Theresa’s phone went to voice mail.
“Hi Theresa, this is Ted. Please listen to this message. I’m on an airplane now. I’m flying down to talk to you and Maria. I know this is my baby and I want to be part of his life. I’ll contact you in a few hours when I’m on the ground.”
What am I doing? This is insane. There’s no way Theresa will let me near Maria. They lived on a huge ranch with hundreds of employees and their families. There were dozens of armed guards and most of the employees were armed. The only way in was through the front door.
****
The plane stopped in San Diego to take on extra passengers, then was off again. The flight attendants barely had time to roll out the beverage carts when it happened.
“Chuck, we got a problem,” the pilot said to her copilot who was reading his Kindle.
The copilot dropped the Kindle and focused on the control panel. It was blank. System by system all the electronics had shut down.
“San Diego Control, this is Alaska 314, do you read me?” the pilot said into her microphone. There was no response.
“What’re you thinking, Chuck?”
The young copilot flipped switches and turned dials. “Nothing. All our systems are down. No radios. No GPS. We’re in a heap of trouble.”
“I’m taking her back to Brown Field; there’s less traffic there. We’re doing this by the seats of our pants, so stay alert.”
Chuck pulled the emergency checklist from its receptacle. “Let’s see. Emergency landings – no systems.”
He began to go over the items one by one. The pilot meticulously followed the instructions.
***
A murmur filled the cabin when the lights went out. The passengers were uncomfortable, but not panicked.
The panic came when the plane dove suddenly, and the oxygen masks dropped from the overheads.
Above the din of screams, the head flight attendant reached for the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said in a normal voice. The intercom was out.
Ted fought the urge to panic. There’s nothing I can do one way or the other. One minute he was looking out his window at endless tracks of ocean. The next time he saw the coastline and land out his window. What’s going on?
“Excuse me, Miss,” Ted yelled to the flight attendant. “It looks like we’ve turned around. What’s happening?”
The lovely Asian woman looked out the window. Her eyes widened, and her brow furrowed. “Um … I don’t know, sir. Let me check with the pilot.”
Chapter 15
The flight attendant stepped to the cabin door and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again.
“Hello. Lydia, Chuck, are you there?”
The door cracked open. “We have an emergency,” a female voice responded. “All systems are down. We’re heading back to Brown Field.”
“Should I tell the passengers?”
“Uh … Yeah. The intercom’s down, so you’ll have to talk loudly to them. Keep them calm. Prepare them for an emergency landing. We’re going in without radio contact. I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
The flight attendant took a deep breath and turned back to the cabin. She hustled aft and huddled with the other attendants in the galley. In a few moments, she made her way back to the front of the craft.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?” She waited a minute for the noise in the cabin to die down. “The captain has informed me that we have an in-flight emergency.” She almost shouted so that the people in the back row could hear her. She knew a co-worker was shouting the same message in coach. “It’s nothing to worry about. We train for these kinds of emergencies all the time. She’s turning the plane around and going back to Brown Field in San Diego. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, but it is our policy to always put safety first. Thank you.”
There were cries and moans in the cabin. An older man got up and opened the overhead compartment.
“Sir, please. You must remain in your seat.”
“I need to get my cell phone.”
****
The older woman seated next to Ted reached for his arm. “What’s think’s happening?”
“I have no idea.” He didn’t want to scare the lady. “We’re turning around. We’ll be fine.” Ted looked out the window, his stomach twisted in knots. The lights are all out, the stewardess didn’t use the PA system. Is this another hack?
“I was on my way to see my grandchildren in Cabo.” The woman dug her wizened fingers into Ted’s arm. “Are we going to crash?”
Ted winced at the firm grip. “Let’s do like the lady said and stay calm.”
The plane hit an updraft and the noise level in the cabin rose.
The jet settled on a northeasterly course and headed back to the safety of land and the airport.
Ted called the flight attendant over. “Miss, I’m Ted Higuera.” He handed her his card. “I’m a cyber security expert.”
She turned his card in her hands.
“I believe that the plane has been hacked. I think the bad guys are tying to kill me. They Don’t care if they take down a whole plane-load of people with them.”
The flight attendant’s face whitened. “I’ll tell the captain,” she said, and hurried away.
Well, that’s that. I’m in this up to my neck now.
The clock seemed to stop. The heat in the cabin increased. The air was stagnant. Ted fiddled with the vent controls over his head, but nothing helped. It stank like a locker room.
Ted wiped the sweat from his brown. Is this how it�
�s going to end? I’ll never get to know my son.
****
The pilot entered the landing pattern with all caution. Her co-pilot craned his neck looking for traffic.
Both pilots scanned the control tower for any acknowledgement of their presence. A green light flashed at them.
“We’re cleared to land,” the pilot said. “Landing checklist.”
Chuck began the landing process.
****
The passengers held their collective breath. The flight attendants did a final cabin check, asked passengers to assume the crash position, and belted themselves into their seats. The big jet settled closer and closer to the runway.
The wheels kissed the runway with a squeak and a cloud of dust. The pilots reversed the thrust to slow the plane down. They slowed and pulled off the runway onto a taxiway that took them to the maintenance hangars.
Inside the plane, people clapped and cheered. They had just been given their lives back.
The plane taxied up to the terminal and a boarding ladder was wheeled up to the door. As the flight attendant opened the door, two men in suits entered the plane and talked with the pilot.
“Will everyone please keep theirs seats,” the flight attendants yelled over the din. “We will begin de-planing in a few minutes.”
The two men came down the aisle.
“Mr. Higuera? Will you come with us please?”
****
Assad al Allah, the Lion of God, paced back and forth in the safe house. His compatriots cowered at his show of temper.
“How does he do it?” the Lion roared. “That’s the second time. How does this infidel, Higuera, manage to cheat death? It’s almost as if Allah himself was looking out for him.”
****
“Okay, Mr. Higuera, why do you think that you’re the target?”
Cyberwarfare Page 11