Covered in Darkness

by Heather Sunseri

  “He did,” I said, “and I’m fine. But we don’t have time to talk about me. They have Sam. She’s being held in an old tobacco barn south of—”

  “Brooke,” he stopped me. “FBI raided the tobacco barn thirty minutes ago. Sam was already gone.”

  “What? How did—”

  “Dimitri called it in.”

  I turned a critical eye on Declan.

  “Declan didn’t tell you? I’m hoping he at least told you that Dimitri had a second GPS tracker on you. They saw that you stopped for a few minutes at one location, so when they arrived at that location, Dimitri got out while Declan continued to follow you. Dimitri snuck into the old barn, but they began firing at him and got away. I’m sorry.”

  “We have to find her, Ty. I promised her I would rescue her.”

  “We will. Dimitri gave me a statement—anonymously, of course—and I sent it on to Louisville Metro Police, as well as to Special Agent Marshall. LMPD is working on tracking down any Russians who traveled to the United States in the last week. But back to you. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I closed my eyes, trying to block out the swarm of police tending to the men in the van.

  Declan took the phone out of my hand and raised it to his ear. “She’s not fine. She’s injured her shoulder. Her hands are cut up. She’s in shock. She’ll call you—”

  “Wait,” I said, snatching the phone back. I was not in shock; I was one hundred percent focused. “Ty, I need you to get my dad on the phone.”

  “I can’t.”

  “What do you mean? Why not?”

  “He’s en route to Louisville. Still in the air. When I arrived at headquarters, Special Agent Marshall was already assembling a team and gathering information about the bombing. As soon as Director Waller heard you were involved, he said he was on his way. My advice? Go get your shoulder checked out. As soon as your father lands, he’ll be expecting a full update from you. And even though you’re no longer FBI, you know how he feels about agents injured in the line of duty.”

  I sighed. “You’re right. I’ll get checked out. But tell Marshall that I have information for the director. These men are planning a massive attack on our country’s electrical grid unless multiple power companies comply with their demands.”

  “I think she’s starting to suspect that. Ryan Saltzman, I’m told, is on his way here. He refused to cooperate until he’d told his wife about Blake.”

  “I’d say Mr. Saltzman is feeling an enormous amount of guilt right now.”

  “You think he could have prevented what happened?”

  “It’s starting to look that way. Call me when the director lands.”

  Chapter 21

  I refused to go to the hospital, but since we weren’t far from the fusion center, Declan had the same doctor who treated my sprained wrist meet us there. We were in my office so that I could have privacy for the exam. Declan leaned against the door. I wasn’t sure if the concern in his eyes was for my injuries or for the events that transpired earlier in the day.

  “You have partial tears of two of the four muscles that make up your rotator cuff,” the doctor said. “You need ice and rest.” He had already cleaned and wrapped my hands with gauze.

  I barely listened as he told me I needed to keep my shoulder immobilized with a sling and to take ibuprofen for the pain and inflammation. And he said I should really take the rest of the day and the next day to ice the entire area. While he droned on, I thought about the bombing at Thompson’s. The Russian was sending a message not just to Ryan Saltzman, but to all the men in that room. I needed to know the identity of every one of them.

  “Miss Fairfax?” the doctor said.

  I gave my head a little shake and looked up at him. “Yes. Thank you, Doctor, for coming out on a Sunday.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He glanced at Declan, and I suspected the silent conversation between them had everything to do with how Declan had promised to pay for the “house call.” “See to it that she rests that shoulder. If she continues to use it, we’ll be looking at surgery.”

  “She’ll rest it. I promise.”

  I rolled my eyes at the doctor’s attempt to guilt me—and at Declan’s assurance.

  When I had my shirt back in place, Declan opened the door and ushered the doctor out to the exit.

  I found a bottle of ibuprofen in my desk drawer. Just as I popped three in my mouth, Jude appeared in the doorway.

  “Is it true?” he asked. “Do they have Sam?”

  I took a swig of water to wash down the pills. “Yes.”

  He plopped down in the chair across from me and hung his head. “This is all my fault.”

  “This is not your fault,” I said.

  He raked both hands over his face. “If I’d just insisted that I go with her last night to pick up some things. But she said she needed to make a couple of stops. That she would call me if she needed anything.” He shook his head. “I should have made her stay with me.”

  He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. “We dated once. We were close, but we took a break because we were both concentrating on our careers. I tried to convince her to stay with me last night. Not as anything but friends, but… I think our history made things awkward.” He leaned his head back against the chair. “I should have called you the minute I didn’t hear from her. I tried reaching her to make sure she got home okay, and to talk…” He shrugged. “I thought she was ignoring me because of the awkwardness between us. I should have been there.”

  “Jude, I want you to listen to me.”

  He looked up at me, blinked away the emotion in his eyes.

  “It’s never our fault when bad guys do bad things. Okay? Yes, you could have done things differently. I could have done things differently. But we do the best we can. Now, the best thing we can do for Sam is work this case.”

  “What do you mean? I’m not a detective.”

  “No, but you’re an analyst. And as Ty and I have always said, field agents get all the glory, but many of the biggest cases are solved by analysts. I need you to help me solve this case. I don’t need you to physically go find Sam. But I do need you to figure out where she is.”

  He sat up straighter. His jaw hardened with determination, and his dark hazel eyes seemed to focus. “Okay. Tell me where to start.”

  “I want you to start by compiling a list of the men who were in the dining room at Thompson’s this morning. I want their names, the companies they work for, and anything you can tell me about where they are and what they’re doing right now. I also want to know what they’ve told the FBI and the police.”

  “How do I find those things out?” He was staring at his clasped hands again.

  “Jude, look at me.”

  His head snapped up.

  “What have I been saying since I hired you? What is the one part of your job description that I said was most important?”

  “Developing and maintaining liaisons,” he said.

  “That’s right. You’ve trained for this. So has Carson. He’s going to be your go-to about everything related to the electric grid. He’s also going to help you track down people who can help. And you’re going to use your contacts within the law enforcement agencies. Remember, everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows something about something. Get on the phone and start having conversations. Eventually, someone will talk.

  “You can start with friends of Sam’s. Carson should be able to identify the cyber security analysts at other electric companies, especially the ones represented by the men at that breakfast.”

  “You’re right. I know all this.” Strength and confidence came back into his tone. “I’ll call Carson. We’ll get started right away.”

  “Don’t forget to sleep,” I warned. “And watch your back. Since we don’t know what these men want yet, don’t take any chances. Are you armed?”

  He nodded. “I’m a good shot.”

  “Good. Now go call Carson. Come up with a plan.”

&n
bsp; Jude stood and started to turn for the door.

  “Jude?”

  He turned back to me.

  “I’m an analyst first, but I also know how to work my people. I will find Sam.”

  Special Agent in Charge Erica Marshall of the Louisville FBI office appeared on the large screen in the conference room adjacent to the fusion center. Beside her were three additional agents. She didn’t bother to introduce them, and they didn’t look up from their laptops.

  “Glad to see you’re all right, Miss Fairfax.”

  I tried not to look at Declan, who stood just out of view of the camera. I supposed he didn’t want the FBI to see that he was involved in any way. I think he enjoyed flying under the radar while staying one hundred percent in the know. And while I wanted to be irritated that he was hovering over me, I also liked having him there while Ty was in Louisville.

  “Thank you, Agent Marshall.” I returned her very formal tone. I’d known Agent Marshall since I’d worked under her on the case involving outlaw motorcycle gangs developing deadly drugs in Lexington.

  “What can you tell us about the men who kidnapped you?”

  “One of them was definitely Russian,” I said. “I don’t know about the two who tossed me on the governor’s front lawn. They never spoke, but they looked Russian, maybe. The other man—the one who posed as a Louisville Metro Police officer—was American.”

  “You think he was an actual cop?”

  “A dirty cop? I guess it’s possible.” I lifted my non-injured shoulder. “He was dressed in full tactical gear, identical to the other members of the LMPD bomb squad.”

  “We’ve got agents checking. Now, tell me about where they took you.”

  “The tobacco barn? I thought FBI already raided that barn.”

  “They did. I want to know what you saw. Were there other men or women there?”

  “Just the two who drove me there, and the two who drove me to Frankfort after. And, of course, Samantha Clay.”

  “And you think they took Miss Clay because she discovered the malicious software that allegedly took down Louisville’s power?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me, Agent, but ‘allegedly’?”

  “Your colleague, Tyler Jamison, explained to us that Miss Clay found a piece of malware on Louisville Power’s server. And that this program appeared to allow hackers to take control of Louisville Power’s electrical substations.”

  She spoke as if Ty was someone she’d never met—as if he’d come in off the street to speculate about some conspiracy theory.

  “Not malware,” I said. “Ransomware. And so far, we don’t know what demands these hackers, as you call them, made. But they did want something, because—” I stopped myself. I studied the three agents sitting with Agent Marshall. One continued to type on a laptop, another appeared to be drawing on a legal pad beside his computer, and the third was scrolling on his phone.

  “Because what, Miss Fairfax? What makes you so sure that these cyber hackers took down Louisville’s electricity because of some mysterious demands that weren’t met? Are you even sure that this morning’s bombing was related to the malware?”

  “Ransomware,” I corrected. “And yes.” This conversation was going nowhere, and the agents behind Erica were pissing me off. “Agent Marshall, I apologize, but I’m going to have to call you back.”

  “What? You’re in no position to tell me—”

  I nodded to Jude, who cut the feed.

  I thought Agent Marshall and I had found a mutual respect for each other after the case with the outlaw motorcycle gang, but apparently not. She was doubting everything I was saying. And I certainly didn’t appreciate how the agents in the room with her appeared bored.

  I looked at Declan. “Can I borrow your phone? I need to talk to Ty.” What I really needed was a new phone.

  But as Declan pulled his phone from his pocket, I heard voices in the hallway, and I stepped out to find Ty and Director Waller walking toward me.

  Ty smiled. He walked past me and entered the conference room.

  “Hi, Dad,” I said as I walked into my father’s arms.

  “You’ve seen some trouble today, from what I hear.”

  “Yes, sir. I have.”

  “What’s the verdict?” He nodded to my sling and touched the bandages on my hands.

  “Just a minor shoulder injury and a few cuts. I’ll be fine by tomorrow,” I lied.

  “Uh-huh,” Dad said. He turned and held out a hand to Declan. “Declan.”

  “Hello, Jack.” Declan shook my father’s hand.

  “It seems I’m only seeing the two of you when there’s trouble here in Kentucky.”

  “We should definitely try to do something about that,” Declan said.

  “We certainly should.” My father turned back to me. “For now, I need your assessment of the situation.”

  I gestured toward the door to the conference room. “Well, come in.”

  As we walked into the conference room, Jude stood.

  “Dad, I want you to meet Jude Zahn. He’s the lead analyst for Kentucky’s fusion center.”

  Dad shook Jude’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Jude.”

  “You as well, sir.”

  Dad took a seat at the head of the table. “Okay, tell me the facts and give me your best assessment.” He spoke to the entire room, but the order was meant for me.

  I told him about the ransomware, about Sam, about the meeting of the electric company executives, and about the bombing. I gave him a detailed account of my kidnapping.

  Then I added, “The malicious software had a signature: Spider Lightning.”

  “Do you have a copy of the software? Of the code?”

  “I have a copy,” Jude said. After I nodded, Jude left the conference room and returned with a thumb drive, which he handed to the director.

  Dad took the thumb drive and held it in his fist. “And what do you make of it—the Spider Lightning signature?”

  “My source tells me it’s tied to Russians. I plan to get more out of that source as soon as possible.” I paced the room. “The Russian who kidnapped me instructed me to tell my government that they expect their demands to be met by the end of the day Thursday, or the entire Eastern Seaboard loses electricity. And they don’t plan to stop there.”

  “Why Thursday? Why not… tomorrow? Or Tuesday?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “What are his demands?”

  “He didn’t tell me. But they’re going to blackmail the power companies, and they don’t want the feds interfering. Ryan Saltzman might be able to shed some light on the demands, but I don’t know if Agent Marshall has spoken with him yet. Apparently she was giving him time to tell his wife about their daughter.”

  “Well, I’m sorry for Mr. Saltzman, but if our country is under attack…”

  Those were my thoughts exactly.

  “How do you recommend that I proceed?” he asked.

  “Sir?”

  “If you were one of my agents, how would you recommend that we proceed to investigate?”

  I shifted on my feet. “First, I would recommend that you allow the director of Kentucky’s Office of Homeland Security to continue with her part of the investigation. I already have a confidential source that will be helpful, and I’m positive I can be a useful resource to the FBI.”

  Declan straightened, and I refused to look his way.

  “And then?”

  “I would bring Ryan Saltzman in for questioning, and I wouldn’t allow him to leave until we know exactly what the cyber terrorists’ demands were. I would demand every detail of Ryan’s interactions with these terrorists. I would also question every single man who was at that breakfast today. Then I would move on to the cyber security specialists at each of their companies. I would send an FBI cyber squad to each of the company’s headquarters and start looking for malicious software on their network. I’d find out if those companies have backups of their systems. And I would put those squads to work
on coming up with decryption keys to counteract the malware.”

  “What makes you think these other companies’ networks have already been compromised?”

  “It’s speculation, but why else would Ryan Saltzman be meeting with those CEOs less than twenty-four hours after his own power was back up?”

  When Dad didn’t say anything, I continued. “My analysts—Jude, especially—have been studying up on recent uses of malware, and more specifically ransomware. While I would never recommend that a company pays—because that’s what my training tells me—I’ve never dealt with a threat this big. And there’s nothing to say that the hackers won’t follow through with the attack even if the ransom is paid.”

  “Anything else, Director Fairfax?”

  “I would send an FBI cyber action team to Eastern Europe.”

  “Eastern Europe? I thought you said these men are Russian.”

  I angled my head, studying Dad’s eyes. It was impossible to read the director of the FBI, but if I had to guess, he had been testing me through this entire line of questioning. “They are Russian, but if I had to guess, they aren’t living in Russia. If they’re not hiding in Eastern Europe, they’re hiding here in the States. But I would at least have a team on the ground in Eastern Europe on standby, because nothing so far indicates their need to be inside the US to plant the malicious software.” Other than a few thugs kidnapping and harming a couple of girls to prove a point.

  Director Waller stood and took a couple of steps toward the door. “Thank you for your assessment, Director Fairfax. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind being available if the FBI needs you?”

  I almost laughed. “Are you serious?”

  “About what?”

  “You asked me for my analysis of the situation, and now you’re, what? Leaving? Taking my assessment of the situation back to your FBI agents? To the special agent in charge who wouldn’t know her right hand from her left?”

  Ty’s head shook in disbelief. Declan’s eyes widened. I didn’t even look at Jude.

  Director Waller walked to me, leaned in, and kissed my cheek. “I’m glad you’re all right. As usual, your assessment of the situation is… thorough.”