Covered in Darkness

by Heather Sunseri

  When I entered the conference room, Ryan Saltzman stood. Ty was sitting at the head of the table, and the blinds were already closed on both sides of the room, blocking anyone from the hallway from seeing in—and blocking Ryan’s view into the fusion center.

  “Miss Fairfax,” Ryan said. His face was pale, and the skin beneath his eyes was dark and puffy. He wore an untucked polo shirt, jeans, and casual loafers. Day-old stubble marked his face.

  “Mr. Saltzman, I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said, casting a questioning look at Ty.

  “Thank you.” He looked down at his hands.

  “Ryan would like our help,” Ty said.

  I walked slowly to the other side of the table and gestured for Ryan to sit again. I took the seat across from him. “What would you like our help with?”

  “After you came to our offices last week, I did a lot of checking about you. You’re well-respected in the intelligence community and with law enforcement.”

  “I try to do my job with integrity,” I said hesitantly.

  “But you don’t take shit from anyone.”

  “I’ve found, as a woman in a world of mostly men, that it’s best to be clear about my authority.”

  He smiled. “I think if circumstances had been different, my Blake and you would have gotten along well. She always wanted to be seen as an equal among the men in her field. And you seem to have—”

  I cut him off. “Mr. Saltzman, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you said you needed our help? The FBI has already paid us a visit today, and I’d say they’re using a lot of resources to find you right now.”

  “Yes, they’ve already been to my office and my home this morning.”

  “In that case, maybe we should cut to the chase?” I kept my eyes pinned hard to his.

  He took a deep breath. “The FBI is going to try to blame me for what’s going to happen next.”

  “What’s going to happen next?” I asked.

  “The men who took over LP’s computer servers are going to do the same thing to seven other power companies. And when they do, these men—these Russian cyber terrorists—they’ll turn out the lights for the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

  “And why would the FBI blame you for this?” I asked.

  “Because I set it up.”

  Chapter 25

  “Did I hear you correctly? You set it up?”

  “I received a call last Tuesday afternoon from a man with a Russian accent. He told me that he had already infiltrated my company’s network, and he demanded five million dollars in bitcoin or he would take down the electricity to all of our customers. He gave me twenty-four hours to pony up the money.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I hung up on him.” Ryan tucked his hands under the table. “And I laughed. The idea that anyone thought I could come up with five million dollars in a twenty-four-hour period was crazy. I assumed it was some sort of joke. I called a meeting of my top management, and they all agreed that it had to be a prank.”

  Ty and I traded looks, but we remained quiet.

  “He called back the next day. He gave me another twenty-four hours. Told me the power would go down during the storms that were expected the following night if I didn’t comply.”

  The storms had been a sure thing, according to the meteorologists—the forecasts showed them hitting anywhere from early evening through the next morning.

  “But now the payment had gone up to ten million dollars, and that I had to provide him with the names, personal email addresses, and cell phone numbers of the CEOs of seven other power companies east of Kentucky.”

  “Why would he ask for that? I mean, I hate to state the obvious, but anyone could find that information.”

  “I thought the same thing, but Andy—my IT guy—says there’s a new form of ransomware these days where the crooks demand money or additional names to terrorize. Apparently in my case they decided to demand both. Andy said the hackers were likely to send an email to the other CEOs that appeared to come from me, ensuring that the receivers would open it and click on malware.”

  “You obviously didn’t pay them,” I said.

  “Cyber threats are not new to power companies, Miss Fairfax. Not even the FBI encourages the victims of ransomware to pay.” Ryan folded his hands on the table. “I thought we were safe. Andy scoured our network for anything that had been downloaded into our system that we didn’t put there ourselves. He found nothing.”

  “Did you hear from them again at the twenty-four-hour mark?”

  “No. Nothing. Like I said, we thought we’d been pranked. Not in a million years did we think some Russian hacker had found a way to crash our system.”

  “But they did. So, what did you do next?”

  “I received an email at nine o’clock on Thursday with detailed instructions for how to mitigate the coming power outage.”

  “Did you think they were serious then?”

  “I was starting to. I mean, they weren’t going away.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I called someone I thought I could trust at the bank and asked them how difficult it would be to produce that kind of money. I tried to keep everything hypothetical, but he sensed that I was in trouble. He told me I would have to leverage my home, my retirement account, and basically everything I owned, but that it was possible.” Ryan bowed his head and laughed. “He said it would take at least a day, but he could do it. My fear that this wasn’t a prank had set in. So I emailed them back and tried to negotiate. Told them I could send the bitcoin in twenty-four hours, and asked where to send it.”

  “But you were too late,” I said.

  “Yeah.” He cupped his hand over his forehead and massaged. “They said I’d get another chance once I’d followed their specific instructions for handling the power outage. I was ordered to have zero contact with the police, the FBI, or Homeland Security. I was advised on how to respond to the governor and to the media. And I was told to give them the personal contact information for the eastern CEOs. We were assured that they would return our system to normal working order if we followed these demands.

  “So I did it. I emailed them the contact information they asked for. I avoided your calls. I lied to the press. I did everything they told me to.”

  This was why Ryan Saltzman felt responsible. Sitting in front of me was a broken man. But it wasn’t my job to console him at this point. “Why did you shut Samantha Clay out of the process?” I asked.

  “Andy warned me that Sam was close to Jude Zahn in your office. If she ran to Homeland Security, I wasn’t sure what these guys would do.”

  I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “Apparently, they would kidnap and hold Sam hostage.”

  Ryan shook his head. “I never meant for anyone to get hurt.” His eyes welled with tears when he looked up at me, and then at Ty.

  Ty stood and leaned into he table. “So, the power goes down. You and the other executives go into emergency PR mode, which meant lying to the governor, the director of KOHS, and your customers.”

  “I had to.” Ryan’s voice grew louder. “I’m sorry. But you have to understand. Once they followed through on the threat to take the power down, I had no choice but to follow their instructions. And I was now responsible for a million people who didn’t have power during one of the worst heat waves in Kentucky history. People were going to die because of me. And now they were demanding fifteen million dollars in bitcoin in twenty-four hours… or they would take another form of payment.”

  “Blake,” I whispered.

  Ryan swallowed hard. His face was red, his eyes bloodshot. “Yes. They took my Blake when I didn’t pay.”

  I fought against a swirl of emotions as I remembered Blake’s face in her final moments. I had to keep it under control; getting emotional was not going to help anyone. “Tell me about the breakfast,” I said quietly.

  “I knew who the Russians were targeting next, because I had handed over the names, so I invited my friends to Kentucky
so that we could speak privately. I didn’t want to risk phone conversations being recorded, and I certainly wasn’t going to put this in an email. So I simply called each of them and extended an invitation.”

  “At this time, did the other CEOs understand that they were being targeted?” I asked.

  “They knew, and they weren’t surprised to get my call.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because we were together for two hours before Blake showed up on Sunday.”

  I nodded for him to continue.

  He took a deep breath. “The Russians were supposed to give me until noon on Sunday to deliver the money. I had no idea that they were actually in Louisville; I had assumed they were doing everything from Eastern Europe or from Russia. But when Blake showed up, it became crystal clear that they weren’t actually giving me until noon—and I knew what they were going to take from me instead.” Ryan hung his head, and his body began to shake. “I’m so sorry, Blake. I failed you, and I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting the decisions I made.”

  When he looked up at me, moisture coated his face. “I am responsible for every bad thing that has happened since last Thursday, and for every bad thing that is about to happen. I set everything in motion.” With his jaw set, he swallowed and said, “The grid will go down, Director Fairfax, unless somehow all of the CEOs—including me—can come up with twenty million dollars each.”

  “Twenty million?” My voice went up an octave.

  “With each deadline missed, the amount went up.”

  “That’s a hundred and sixty million,” Ty said.

  “The Russians don’t really want the federal government to back off,” I said, thinking out loud.

  “Why do you say that?” Ty asked.

  “Because the government is an additional money tree for them to shake. You really think those CEOs can cough up twenty million dollars a piece? You heard Saltzman—he would have had to leverage himself to the gills just to come up with five. So the Russians needed someone with deeper pockets. Think about it. They could have killed Blake in some quiet way, doing their best not to draw attention to themselves. Instead, they used a bomb—the one guaranteed way to be sure the FBI would get involved.”

  “True,” Ty said.

  “And them kidnapping me? What did that accomplish, other than to make sure they had the FBI’s full attention? They want the government involved—because they want them to pay. They know the federal government can’t allow that much of the electric grid to go down, putting more than a hundred million Americans at risk.”

  Ty nodded. “So if the CEOs can pay the ransom, great. If not…”

  “The government will help them pay it.” I stared at Ty. “At least that’s what the Russians must think.” We both knew that our government would not negotiate with terrorists, but it had never stopped terrorists from trying.

  “Ryan,” Ty said, “was your IT guy able to identify or locate the malicious software installed on your system?”

  “Yes. But he said it could take weeks or months for anyone to come up with a fix or a decryption key.”

  “What does that mean?” I said. “The malicious software is still there?” I looked from Ryan to Ty.

  “Yes,” Ty said. “It’s nearly impossible to simply delete this type of program once it’s infiltrated the network. Even when the ransom is paid, the program isn’t deleted; typically the hackers insert another piece of software—the decryption key—to neutralize the initial malware program. Which means some will have to write a program to counterattack the malicious software. And Mr. Saltzman’s IT guy is correct: that could take weeks without a very specialized set of tools.”

  I massaged my forehead. “Ryan, you have to tell the FBI everything.” My father had been right about one thing when he visited the fusion center: the FBI were experts in dealing with cyber attacks. The Russians had been naïve to think the FBI couldn’t defend our grid. But could they do it before it was too late?

  “They’ll accuse me of cooperating with the hackers. Because I did. I lied to the press, to you—I kept the attack from the police and the FBI, even while millions were suffering without power. I—”

  “Ryan.” I touched his shaking hand. “We are way past that. I’m going to strongly encourage you to cooperate fully with the FBI. Do it for Blake.”

  I found Alli at her workstation. “Alli, Ty said you wanted to see me—that you had information?”

  Alli stopped typing and looked up. She hesitated, then pushed away from the desk. “When you hired me, I told you that I would be working on my master’s thesis while also working this job.”

  “Right,” I said.

  When she paused, I understood.

  “Alli, if this internship has turned out to be too much, I completely understand.”

  “No,” Alli said. “That’s not why I needed to talk to you.”

  “What is it then?”

  “My master’s thesis actually examines the vulnerability of our nation’s critical infrastructure. As you know, there are sixteen critical infrastructure sectors. In my thesis, I examine what attacks on certain sectors might look like, and how debilitating an attack on one sector can be to the whole nation.

  “I’ve been using the takedown of the power grid in the Ukraine as a model for what could happen to the electric grid in the United States, and how such an attack would affect transportation, healthcare, water… you get the point. That’s how Senator Reiner and I met. I went to DC to attend an energy conference. He recognized me at the airport, and we struck up a conversation.

  “The point is, I’ve done a shit-ton of research on the subject. I’ve gathered everything I can from open source documents. And I just thought… well, if you need help understanding what happened in the Ukraine, I’d like to help.”

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the desk behind her, studying this young, twenty-something girl in front of me. She was obviously smart. And tough. She hadn’t run for the door yet.

  “Listen. This case is proving to be very dangerous. You know what’s happened to Sam. I completely understand if you don’t wish to get involved any more than you already are. So feel free to decline. That said—I could use someone to come with me to the FBI offices. Someone who understands everything that’s going on.”

  “To the FBI offices in Louisville?”

  “Yes, but only if—”

  “I want to go,” she answered eagerly. When I hesitated, she added, “My dream is to work for a federal law enforcement agency—NSA, FBI, DHS—whoever will give me the job. I want to come even if you don’t need me to speak on the matter.”

  “Okay.” I liked her enthusiasm. “We’ll leave in thirty. Right after Jude’s presentation.” I turned and yelled to Jude. “Okay, Jude, you’re up.”

  “Brooke?” Alli said before I walked away.

  “Yeah?”

  “Is anyone looking for Sam?”

  “Of course.” I took a step back toward her. “LMPD is examining the area where they took me yesterday.”

  “Okay.” I could tell she was doing her best to hide any fear she was feeling. “I didn’t know her, but she seemed nice, and—”

  I touched her shoulder. “I’m going to get Sam back. Now, let’s go hear what Jude and Carson have found.”

  Truth was, I shouldn’t have been making any promises about Sam. I wanted to believe we would get her back, but I knew the FBI was more concerned with keeping the grid functioning, and the LMPD was stretched thin in the aftermath of the blackout, and now with the bombing as well.

  We all assembled in the conference room: me and Alli, Marti, Ty, Jude, and Carson. The whole team—except for Sam. She wasn’t technically a part of our team yet, but I already thought of her as one of mine. I hoped she would still want to work with us when I found her.

  And I would find her. I had to. I was not about to lose a member of my team.

  Ty raised a screen to reveal a whiteboard that took up one entire wall, and Jude began ta
ping up photos of the CEOs, giving a brief summary of each as he went. Their power companies represented New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Atlanta, Columbia, and Jacksonville.

  “Not one of these men has called me back. However…” He lifted a finger, then turned and placed another photo on the board. “Olivia David did return my call.”

  I was confused, and apart from Carson, it looked like everyone else was too. “Who is Olivia David?” I asked.

  “She’s a police detective who was on the scene yesterday. She went through five of the seven hotel rooms where these men stayed the night before. And she discovered one interesting thing about their stay here in Louisville.”

  He paused. Apparently Jude had a flair for the dramatic. “Go on,” I prompted.

  “Three of them had receipts for Churchill Club and Spa. So Detective David followed up about that with the concierge of the hotel. And he told her all of the CEOs went to the same health club, and all at the same time.”

  “They all went to the same health club at the same time,” Ty repeated. “Unusual, and pretty bad optics on the heels of a major blackout, but I’m failing to see significance.”

  Carson smiled. “It’s not just any health club. It’s an extra special health club, if you know what I mean.” He waggled his brows.

  I gave my head a shake, irritated. “Pretend I have no idea what you’re talking about. Spell it out for me.”

  “A lot of travelers—men—frequent this club.” Jude traded an uncomfortable look with Carson. “Look, I’ve never been there. I’ve only heard that women work the locker room, tending to the many… needs… of the male guests.”

  “Like, in a sexual way?” Marti blurted out. She curled up her nose and muttered, “Ewww!”

  “No,” Jude answered quickly, “because that would be breaking the law. But laws are definitely skirted, according to Olivia David.”

  “Okay.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “So these men met up at some kinky health club to be pampered by girls in skimpy clothes. Where are you going with this?” I was glad that Jude had found a trail to follow, but he had a thing or two to learn about getting to the point.