“We’d like you to proceed, but we want you to be very, very careful. I’ve met Marcus Jameson many times. He’s a sleazy son-of-a-bitch, all charm and always looking for an edge. I can now see how’s he’s become the political powerhouse he is today. You’re going to need to proceed methodically and cautiously. Jameson is not afraid to sue, has a crack legal team that could even make life difficult and expensive for the Sentinel, and he’s well-connected at all levels of California government and at the Federal level. He’s a dangerous adversary.”
Knowing Morris preferred George to think things through before responding, they continued in silence for a few minutes longer after they turned onto the Embarcadero. George started with an obvious question.
“Assuming we verify what our guy claims, when do we bring in the police?”
“Sterling, Marsha and I agreed that as soon as we verify the existence of the Trojan, we should contact the Fraud division of the SFPD. Most likely, they will bring in the FBI. The FBI is very thorough and their process of building a case often takes time, so we’ll build our own case in parallel.
“You also need to keep this quiet. Don’t talk to anyone in the office about it. If word leaks out that we’re investigating, Jameson will cover his tracks. He’s smart.”
“I know this may seem like an inappropriate question, but can I talk to Janey about it? I suspect she may be able to help more than you might imagine.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Easterly winds blowing off the Bay made this chilly morning quite cold.
“Okay. Sure. I know that Janey is a real genius when it comes to this stuff and from what Miguel told me after the holiday party, she helped him out with some of our stuff even then. Obviously, she’ll have to keep this very quiet. But then again, she’s a security guru, so I’m sure she can do better than we can.”
Miguel and Janey had met at last year’s holiday party and had hit it off immediately. They left the party for a while and spent time in Miguel’s office doing whatever they do. Afterwards, Janey had told George that it was one of the most fun parties they’d attended. She had loved the change of scene. It was a far cry from her tech parties. Not only did she get to meet people from a different crowd, with Miguel, she got to see more of how her and other’s tech products were used in the real world.
“I think we need to have a codename for your source and this investigation,” Morris continued. “It should be something commonplace that wouldn’t alert anyone if they heard it, but not so common that we would get confused if we heard a reference to it.”
George thought for a moment and suggested, “How about ‘Michael James’? We can talk about Michael James and everyone will think we’re still looking into the serial killings. I have a feeling that case will take a while to resolve.”
“Not a bad idea. If we really need to talk about the murders, we refer to them directly or to Mark Johansen. If not, we use Michael James. Okay. Let’s do it. I’ll pass this on to Legal too. That way if they need to refer to the case and Jameson is watching them, he won’t get a red flag.”
“So what about the Unbreakable security software on my system? Should I use the tool to remove it?”
“Ultimately, yes. Make sure you get together with Miguel before you leave this evening. Assuming the tools are real, he’ll remove the Unbreakable software from your system before you get in tomorrow morning. I will work with him to decide which other systems we’ll remove it from. Mine for sure, but there may be others.”
“Why not remove it from everyone’s systems. Couldn’t we make it look like the Sentinel just changed security vendors?
“If it weren’t for the fact that he installed a virus that remains even after his security products are uninstalled, I’d say yes. But if suddenly, everyone at the Sentinel stopped sending information to him, that would be a red flag. No, we’ll just do a few critical systems. For now, the rest is business as usual. Plus at some point, we may decide to do our own sting or work with the FBI on a sting by supplying bogus information that will flush him out.”
“Of course,” George responded, somewhat embarrassed. “I should have thought of that.”
“Look George, I’m going to set up a small circle of us to work together on this. Jameson is smart. He’s a security guru and world-renowned hacker. We have to be careful, so we need a team to back each other up. We’ll review each step before we proceed. That way we can minimize our mistakes and hopefully avoid overlooking something that can ruin our investigation.”
“But do you think we will actually be able to publish a story here? That could be dangerous.”
“You know George, there’s always been this battle between the public’s right to know and the harm information can cause. Many argue about shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre and throughout my career, I’ve pretty much always come down on the public’s right to know. But this time, I’m not sure. Sterling and Marsha were in the same boat. To keep this under control, we’ll be trying to limit how much of the story we tell. This is a case where the greater good may win the day.”
They made their way back to the office in silence.
“I suspect we’ll be doing a lot more of these walks in the coming days.”
“Looking forward to it Morris!”
George stopped at the café downstairs to grab a sandwich and a drink. Arriving at his cubicle forty minutes later, George was surprised to find Miguel hitting every basket he shot, even from a couple cubicles away.
“Do you play?”
“Yeah, I love basketball. I was a star in High School, but got crushed in college. I was just too short. But I’m in a league. You should join us.”
“Well, I may be tall, and I’m pretty good here in the office with the mini-basket, but on the court, I’m just not that coordinated.”
Miguel smiled. “Let’s go to my office. We’ve got a lot to talk about.
On their way to Miguel’s office, George couldn’t help thinking how lucky Miguel was. He had a private office! Then he thought about the insane hours Miguel worked, and how often Miguel was called in the middle of the night, on weekends, or while on vacation, and decided that maybe he wasn’t so envious after all. He’d never arrived at the office before Miguel, or left after him. Sometimes he wondered if Miguel lived here and if he had a life outside the office.
“Come on in. I have a lot to show you.”
“Is my source right? Is Unbreakable really stealing information from all of their customers?”
“No question about it. It’s an insidious and virtually undetectable Trojan. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve tried several anti-virus programs and none of them can spot it. I’ve also used some hacker tools. No luck there either. But your friend’s software spots it. Part of its genius is that it’s not always active. But it seems to know when to wake up and look at things and then it embeds the information it collects in other normal outgoing data which is split and untraceably rerouted once it hits the net. I’m pretty good at this stuff, but I can’t figure out how it works. I’ll tell you one thing though: your source is a genius and probably one of the best hackers I’ve encountered. I’m amazed anyone found this. Is it possible he worked for Unbreakable and knew about what they were doing? Could he be a whistleblower?”
“It could be, but he’s the same guy who’s been exposing these other Internet moguls. He gave me the leads for both Ryan Hamilton and Boris Yanofski. He claims he just wants to stop the perversion of the Internet. I’m beginning to believe he’s a good guy.”
George sat down in one of Miguel’s guest chairs suddenly overwhelmed by the implications.
On the one hand, he had a great story. On the other, this was so big that it could shake up the entire industry, and not just high tech. These days every government, every company, and almost every user employed security software to protect themselves and their information. What would happen when they found out that their privacy and security were just shams?
“Are you oka
y, George?
“Yeah,” George replied somberly. “It’s just hit me that not only is this real, but that it affects the whole world: business, politics, personal privacy. That’s a lot to take in.”
“No one should have this level of access to information. I applaud availability of information on the Net, but there have to be limits. Privacy is an essential part of life. Unbreakable needs to be brought down to protect everyone. And while there may be some fallout, I suspect that between us and the FBI, we can avoid panic. At least as far as we know, the damage has been limited. If we stop it soon, it can be contained.”
“You’re probably right, Miguel. But now I wonder why my informant didn’t go directly to the FBI. Why did he come to a news organization that could destroy any chance of containment?”
“Maybe he couldn’t go to the FBI. Maybe he’s wanted. Then again, perhaps he wanted to prove how good he is so that he’ll have credibility for his next, bigger stories. ‘Bigger’ might just mean more important to him, and he may need the Sentinel’s ability to reach the public to trap the others.”
“Well, I guess we enjoy the ride for now. There’s too much we still don’t know about our source. Did you find anything about him?”
“Zip. I’m sure the FBI will do better. In the worst case, you could ask Janey. She’s the smartest hacker I’ve met.”
“I talked to Morris about it and he gave the okay. I guess you two will get to work together on something. I’m sure Janey is looking forward to that. She was really impressed by you. And I can tell you that’s pretty rare.”
Miguel blushed and brushed off the complement.
“I’m the one who was impressed. This is going to be fun!”
“So, what do we do next? Did you get a chance to update Morris?”
“Yes. Morris contacted the Fraud Division of the SFPD and they told him they will be bringing in the FBI. From what he said, we’ll probably be spending a good part of the afternoon in a meeting with him, the FBI, Marcia Washington from legal, and Sterling Rockwell.”
“In the meantime,” Miguel continued. “I’ve used the tool to remove the Trojan from your system, my system, and Morris’ system. We should be able to communicate freely about this without signaling Unbreakable. For now, I’ve left their software on all other systems to avoid setting off any red flags. I understand we’ll be referring to this investigation as ‘Michael James’ and that this entire subject is confidential. Unless we have permission, this remains among a very small group. That’s all I have on my side for now.”
“Thanks Miguel. I’d better get going. The source sent me lists of offshore accounts, surrogate traders, and contact information for someone who was blackmailed by Jameson. I need to dive in so I’m prepared for the meeting. I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Enjoy it George. It’s not every day that story like this comes around.”
Maybe not every day, but George had two major stories on his plate right now with more promised for the weeks to come. Welcome back from Tahiti!
Chapter 5
“It's hard to determine where lies culpability.”
- Roger Mahony
1
Brittany Spangler stormed into the offices of The Sentinel and demanded to see George Gray.
In spite of the obvious agitation of the visitor, Joyce responded calmly, “I’m sorry Ms. Spangler, but Mr. Gray is tied up at the moment. I don’t think he’s going to be available anytime soon. Perhaps you’d like to make an appointment?”
Slamming her first on the reception desk, Brittany screamed at the top of her lungs, “I don’t need a fucking appointment. And I don’t need a receptionist to tell me who I can see and when. Get George Gray out here or I’ll be suing this paper.”
Joyce eyed Brittany Spangler. Over the course of her many years at The Sentinel, she’d had to deal with her share of crazies and Brittany was certainly one of them. Now the question was whether she should call security. Watching her pace and fume, Joyce decided that Brittany wasn’t dangerous. This was a performance designed to intimidate.
“Ms. Spangler, Mr. Gray is involved in meetings with Morris Levinberg and our security staff. There’s no way I can interrupt that meeting and I don’t see it ending any time soon. As you might imagine, if security is involved, the issue is quite serious. You’re welcome to wait, or as I suggested, you can make an appointment.”
Brittany glared at Joyce who waited patiently and calmly for a decision.
“Okay. I’ll wait. No. I’ll be back in an hour. If he comes out, tell George I’ll see him then.
“Thank you Ms. Spangler. We’ll see you in an hour, but as I said, the meeting may go longer.”
“Thank you Ms. Spangler,” Brittany echoed sarcastically. She turned on her heels and left.
Joyce typed a quick message to George so he could be prepared and got back to work.
Forty-five minutes later, Brittany returned.
“Well?”
“Ms. Spangler, I messaged George to let him know you wanted to see him but have had no response. He’s still in the meeting. You’re welcome to wait or - ”
“Yeah, I know. OR I can make an appointment. I’ll wait.”
Nearly an hour later, George Gray came into reception.
“Brittany, I understand you need to see me?”
“Yes, George, I do. Where can we talk?”
George glanced at Joyce who proposed, “Mr. Gray, Alcatraz is available.”
Brittany glared at Joyce, thinking she was being sarcastic. George touched her shoulder. Brittany turned and George could see the anger turn to charm.
“Joyce means that the Alcatraz conference room is available. Don’t worry. We’re not planning to lock you up in Alcatraz. You haven’t committed any murders, right?”
Brittany’s face transformed instantly from an overly confident young woman to that of a frightened little girl.
“Not you too?”
And she turned and ran out the door.
‘George,” Joyce joked. “That was brilliant. I couldn’t figure how to get rid of her!”
“Yeah, I guess I just have to accuse her of murder. I certainly hope she’s okay. That woman has some serious psychological problems.”
George headed back to his office to continue his research into Marcus Jameson’s illegal activities. He wanted to be prepared for his meeting with the FBI.
At 1:30, Morris came by George’s cubicle with Miguel in tow. Miguel looked a bit disappointed.
“Let’s head over to the conference room.”
Closing the door, Morris continued.
“George, as I told Miguel, Sterling Rockwell, Marcia Washington and I spent the morning working with the FBI. They’ll be taking over and our role will be supportive until the investigation is nearly complete.
“I know, this is right out of every police TV series you’ve ever seen. The FBI comes in and everyone else backs off. But you know, in this case, I think that’s for the best. They’re the pros and Marcus Jameson could be dangerous. Miguel, you’re clearly going to be the most affected by this but I suspect the FBI techs will be working very closely with you over the coming weeks. George, you’ll be hearing from them as well.
“Thus far, we haven’t given them Larry Samuelsson’s name. We’ve simply explained that once they are convinced they have a solid case, we have an informant who will come forward with additional evidence. They’ve agreed to keep us in the loop so you can contact Samuelsson and get his story at the right time. The meeting this afternoon will be short. Sterling, Marcia, and the FBI want to make sure we’re all on the same page. They should be back from lunch any minute.”
George wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or relieved. He’d spent the morning digesting and verifying all the information he’d been sent on Marcus Jameson thinking he’d be briefing the FBI. Now it looked like he had just wasted his time. His tenure as an investigative reporter on this case seemed to have come to an end before it began. Then again, it was his story an
d he would be working with Larry Samuelsson to put the final nail in the coffin. And, he still had the inside track on the murders.
His thoughts were interrupted with the entrance of Sterling Rockwell, Marcia Washington, and the two FBI agents.
Sterling Rockwell kicked it off.
“Miguel and George, I’d like you to meet Special Agents Barbara Fox and Clint Winston. They’ll be heading up the investigation. We spent the morning together going over what you and Miguel have found and laying out the ground rules. I know both of you will be disappointed, but the Sentinel will be taking a back seat on the investigation into Marcus Jameson and Unbreakable Security. When the FBI has enough to arrest Jameson, they’ll let us know and the Sentinel will break the story. George, this may be challenging since we have agreed that we don’t want to create a panic. Nonetheless, it will be a big story. And if we have to leave out some details, you can take solace from the fact that you helped stop a power-hungry blackmailer who has been corrupting our political process.
“The FBI will also be working with you to identify your informant. As you get more emails from him, you need to turn them over. However, the informant is not the most critical part of the investigation, so their focus will be on the information he or she provided.”
“Mr. Rockwell, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I do have a question. My informant has already given us two significant stories, Ryan Hamilton and his human trafficking, and Boris Yanofski and the murder of his wife. He or she has promised to identify other so-called unscrupulous individuals who have perverted use of the internet for their own personal gains. I can’t imagine that these investigations would have anything to do with Marcus Jameson and Unbreakable. So far, all the investigations and targeted individuals have been completely unrelated. Do I really need to turn over all correspondence from him or her?”
Agents Fox and Winston stepped to the back of the conference room and had a brief hushed discussion, then returned and took their seats.
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