“It’s probably nothing,” she said.
“Just as a precaution.”
That night, when Kate was asleep in his arms, his mind conjured up various scenarios, none of them good. He’d always worried that someday whoever had doxed him would come looking for them, and no matter how well they hid, if someone wanted to find them badly enough, eventually they would succeed.
He tightened his hold on her, listening to the gentle sound of her breathing. But for him sleep did not come for a very long time.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Charlie was the first member to arrive at the next task force meeting. Ian was the second.
“Hey,” Ian said as they powered up their laptops. “Find anything interesting?”
“Found a chat transcript I want everyone to take a look at. You’re going to find it especially noteworthy.”
As point man on the task force, Charlie had immersed himself in his undercover role and was now spending ten to twelve hours a day monitoring the hacktivists’ activity as they conversed online in an area of the Internet not indexed by search engines. Everyone—including Charlie—used software called the Onion Router, or Tor, to conceal their identity and hide their location from anyone who might be listening in or analyzing the traffic.
The remaining members of the task force filed into the room and took their seats.
“Okay, Charlie. Let’s see it,” Phillip said.
Charlie typed a command on his laptop, and the screenshots of several chat transcripts appeared on the screen on the wall. An Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, was a way to facilitate the exchange of messages in text form by more than two people at a time using a specific channel. Hackers utilized the channels to communicate anonymously on a wide scale, believing they were a reasonably safe place to conduct their conversations. Each chat log began with the time the message was written and the screen name of the participant.
Ian scanned the block of text, ignoring the posturing and profanity and focusing his attention on certain words and phrases.
01:12
01:12
01:12
01:13
01:13
01:13
It appeared that prison had done very little to silence Joshua Morrison, and those he’d left behind were more than willing to take up the cause and act as his mouthpiece. Hacktivists functioned primarily as a loose collective, but one of their strengths was their ability to unite to promote a shared agenda, and they were quite capable of appointing new leaders who would ensure it was carried out.
Several lines in particular caught Ian’s eye, and he realized immediately what Charlie had meant when he’d said they would interest him. Magician was the screen name he’d gone by during the time he’d been collecting the evidence that would send Joshua Morrison to prison.
01:33
01:33
01:33
01:33
01:34
01:34
01:34
01:34
01:35
“Greedy bastards,” Ian said. “I’m dead and they’re still not happy.”
“At least they actually believe you’re dead. You should celebrate. That’s one less group of people who’d like to kill you.”
“Your glass is always half full, isn’t it Charlie?” Tom said.
“If you mean half full of whiskey, then yes.”
The news was a cause for celebration. In all his years of undercover work, what he’d done to put Joshua behind bars worried him the most. Not because he felt he’d acted inappropriately or outside the law, but because hacktivists were well known for their staunch refusal to ever forgive or forget. They were largely nonviolent, but that didn’t eliminate the possibility that one of them felt strongly enough about what had happened to become an outlier.
“Dark and darkness. What’s that supposed to mean?” Pete said. The two words appeared over thirty times throughout the transcripts, and despite the garbled, disjointed nature of the conversations, it was hard to miss the battle cry of revenge that permeated their exchanges.
“Almost seems like a taunt,” Charlie said. “Maybe a DDoS?” A Distributed Denial of Service attack involved sending an overabundance of traffic to a website until it crashed or went dark.
“Seems a little on the nose,” Tom said.
“Even if they are planning a DDoS, why now?” Pete asked. The carding ring had been his first opportunity to work with the task force, so he wasn’t aware of the history.
Ian leaned back in his chair. “Because Joshua was denied parole last summer.”
“You’re following his parole hearings?” Pete asked.
“When you send someone to prison, it makes sense to keep tabs on when they might get out, especially when they’ve made no secret of their hatred for you.”
“Doesn’t look like you have to worry about that anymore,” Charlie said. “Being dead has its perks.”
“We first became aware of the group’s activity last summer,” Phillip said. “Joshua has been a model prisoner, and everyone assumed parole would be granted. When that didn’t happen, they began to mobilize.”
“So we know they’re planning some sort of retaliation for the denial of parole, but what we don’t know is how they’re going to do it,” Tom said.
Phillip glanced at his watch and wrapped up the meeting. “We may not know their exact agenda, but hopefully Charlie will become privy to more of their plans. In the meantime, try to come up with ways they might carry this out so we can plan our defense accordingly. We’ll meet again on Friday.”
“How’d Kate like the French Hound?” Charlie asked. He seemed to be in no hurry to head back to his desk, probably because he’d been putting in more hours than all of them. Ian knew firsthand how brutal and exhausting that could be.
Ian zipped his laptop into its case. “How’d you know she went there?”
“She told me she was meeting a friend for dinner when she answered your phone the other day.”
“She said it was good.”
“I recommended the lobster risotto.”
“That’s what she ordered.” His unease over Kate being followed had not faded despite trying to convince himself it had been nothing but a fluke. He refused to succumb to paranoia and had forced himself to stick to the facts: a car had been behind Kate on her way home. It didn’t automatically mean someone was following her. But still, there was something—call it gut instinct—that prevented him from dismissing it entirely.
“Ian.”
Charlie’s raised voice shook him from his thoughts. “Sorry. Did you say something?”
“I said I need to get going.”
“Sure. See you later.” When Charlie had almost reached the door, Ian said, “Don’t forget to sleep, okay? And go easy on the whiskey.”
Charlie laughed and walked out.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kate stood in the doorway watching as the rental car appeared at the top of the driveway. A few snowflakes swirled through the air, but the forecast only called for flurries. Just moments before, Ian had buzzed her parents and Chad and Kristin through the gate, and Kate rose on the balls of her feet, practically bouncing in her excitement. She was so happy to see them that she threw her arms around her parents the minute they stepped over the threshold.
Diane reached out and slid a lock of Kate’s hair through her fingers. “This is new.”
“I always wondered what my hair would look like a little lighter. It’s fun!”
&n
bsp; Ian embraced Diane and held his hand out to Steve who shook it. Kate hugged Chad and Kristin and ushered everyone inside.
Chad and Ian shook hands. “I’ll put your car in the garage,” Ian said. “There’s room for one more.”
“Thanks,” Chad said. “The keys are in it.” He looked back and forth between Kate and Ian. “Were we supposed to change our hair? Because Mom didn’t say anything about that.”
“I felt like a change, and Ian’s a little overdue for a haircut, that’s all. He’s been really busy.”
Chad laughed and held up his hands. “I was just curious.”
“I’ve never pictured you as a blonde, but I love it,” Kristin said. “And somehow the length suits Ian. It fits his personality.”
“It was longer than that when I first met him. But enough about our hair. I’m so happy to see you. I bet you’re getting excited for the wedding. Is my mom driving you totally nuts?”
“It’s more the combination of your mom and mine that’s about to put me over the edge.” Kristin looked around. “This house is amazing. I’ll admit when Chad told me you and Ian had bought a horse farm, I didn’t actually believe him. But you really do have a barn and a stable. What are you going to do with them?”
“I have no idea. The only thing I know for sure is there won’t be any horses in them. Come with me. I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Kate had made an assortment of appetizers, and they spent the evening in the basement, eating and drinking and playing pool before turning in early. The next morning, Kate served breakfast.
“Did you make these?” Chad asked around a mouthful of cinnamon roll.
“I did.”
“They’re awesome.” He reached for another and also helped himself to more bacon. “When did you start cooking?”
“Shortly after we moved in. I figured since we had this great kitchen, I should learn how to use it.”
“It probably gives you something to do.”
Kate knew he didn’t mean anything by it because it was not in her brother’s nature to be unkind, but she bristled at the assumption she had nothing better to do, even if that was exactly why she’d taught herself to cook in the first place. She kept plenty busy now, but she’d promised Ian she wouldn’t say anything to her family about working for him.
After they cleared the breakfast dishes, Diane and Kate prepped the turkey and slid it into the oven.
“What do you want to do next?” her mother asked. “Casseroles? Salads?”
“I did everything yesterday,” Kate said.
“Everything?”
“I told you I was going to.”
“But now I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“Phillip and Susan won’t be here until this afternoon, so I thought we could show Kristin some of the quaint little shops we visited when you came for my birthday.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
Chad and Ian walked into the kitchen with their coats on.
“Where are you two headed?” Kristin asked.
“I never got to drive the Shelby, so I’m taking Kate up on her offer to drive the Porsche before something tragic happens to it,” Chad said.
“Chad!” Kate shot him a look. “I can’t believe you just said that. Nothing is going to happen to it.”
“I was just kidding.”
“Bet you’ll let him go over a hundred,” she muttered when Ian bent down to give her a kiss.”
He laughed. “Not quite ready to let go of that, are you?”
Kate parked the Tahoe at a meter on East Washington. She loved the historic feel of downtown Middleburg. The temperature was in the midforties and the air held a distinct chill, but it wasn’t too cold to explore on foot.
“You have to see the Christmas Sleigh,” Kate said, leading them toward a high-end store that sold holiday items year-round. The window displays were filled with nutcrackers and Christmas trees. “They have the most gorgeous decorations.”
They went to Lou Lou, a women’s clothing boutique where Kristin bought a scarf, and after making their way up and down both sides of the street, they went into Common Grounds to have coffee and warm up.
“This is such a cozy little place,” Kristin said after they carried their coffee to the same small table by the window that Kate had sat at with the women from Pilates.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Kate said. Maybe she’d see if Jade wanted to meet here for coffee sometime.
When they returned home, they put the rest of the food in the oven and retrieved a couple of bottles of chardonnay from the wine cellar.
Diane looked at the label. “Is this the one we liked so much on our tour?”
“Yes.” She opened the wine and poured them all a glass. “I stopped by the winery last week and stocked up.”
Ian walked into the kitchen. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Thanks, but we’ve got everything under control.”
“And we have wine,” Kristin said. She raised her glass to Kate and they clinked them together.
“I can’t wait for your wedding,” Kate said. “There’s something so magical about getting married on New Year’s Eve.”
“I’m not the only bride who thinks so. I feel like we’ve been waiting forever for our turn at this venue. I never would have guessed that by the time we actually got married, you’d be married too.”
“Things did move rather quickly for Ian and me.”
“How are you going to explain to your extended family that you eloped over the summer?” Kristin asked.
“I think we’re going to keep that news to ourselves for a while longer. We’ll tell them eventually. I’d love for everyone to get to know Ian, and I think it’s great Chad wanted to spend time with him today, even if it was under the pretense of driving the Porsche.”
“Are you kidding me?” Kristin said. “Chad probably won’t admit it, at least not to you, but Ian is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to him. You know the special phone Ian gave him before we left Roanoke Island after your wedding?”
Ian had given one to Steve and Diane too. “Yes.”
“Chad keeps that phone with him at all times. It’s always fully charged. If it ever actually rings, he’ll probably be so startled that he’ll drop it.”
“Aw, that is so sweet.” When Chad walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, Kate smiled at him. “I love you, Chad.”
“How much wine have you had?”
“This isn’t the wine talking. It’s just sisterly love.”
He looked at her like he didn’t believe her. “I love you too, Kate.”
Diane topped off their wineglasses and beamed. “Aren’t the holidays wonderful?”
Phillip and Susan arrived at three bearing a pecan pie and apple pie, which Susan had told Kate were Ian’s favorites. Kate couldn’t help but smile when Susan embraced Ian as soon as her hands were free. It must have been hard for her to let go of him again after they moved out of the guesthouse, but Kate thought she likely took comfort in the fact that he would no longer be moving from place to place.
They sat down to dinner half an hour later.
“Now that Kate’s finished redecorating the house, wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a baby on the way next year at Thanksgiving?” Diane said.
“Oh, I love babies,” Susan said.
Diane took a drink of her wine. “I feel like I’ve been waiting such a long time to become a grandmother.”
“We don’t have any children of our own,” Susan said. “But Ian is like a son to us.”
Ian took a bite of his turkey to hide his grin. A family was something he and Kate both wanted, but he’d decided to leave the timing up to her since she was the one who had to do all the hard parts.
“How long have you been working with Phillip, Ian?” Diane asked. “I don’t think Kate ever told me.”
“Since he arrested me.”
Steve put down his fork. “You’ve been arrested?”
&
nbsp; “Just the one time.”
“What did he do?” Steve asked, directing his question to Phillip.
“He hacked the Pentagon.”
“Only to see if I could,” Ian said. “I didn’t mean any harm.”
Susan smiled and looked around the table. “Boys.”
“He was only twenty,” Phillip said. “Haven’t had any problems with him since.”
A slightly awkward silence followed as everyone turned their attention back to their plates.
“So, have you met any of the other Real Housewives?” Chad asked. Kristin shot him a look. “I’m just asking.”
“Oh, Kate tried,” Ian said. “It wasn’t a good fit.”
“I bet the shopping in DC is to die for,” Kristin said. “Have you been to the Galleria?”
“Not yet. I’m not really a mall person. Ian does most of my shopping. He’s better at it than I am.”
“It’s true,” Ian said spearing a green bean. “I’m an expert as long as I don’t have to leave the house.”
“Maybe you should take up a hobby,” Chad said.
“She did,” Diane said. “She started cooking. And judging by how wonderful this meal tastes, I’d say she’s been very successful at it.”
“Maybe there’s a law firm in DC that could use some part-time help,” Steve said.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a homemaker,” Diane said.
“There’s nothing wrong with using her education, either,” Steve said.
The suggestions were good-natured because the Watts family liked each other too much to be deliberately hurtful. Kate might have been smiling on the outside, but Ian could tell it bothered her that everyone assumed she had nothing better to do than cook or shop now that the house had been redecorated.
“Kate’s pretty busy these days,” Ian said. “I hired her and put her in charge of the social engineering for my company. She’s a natural.”
“What is social engineering? What does that mean?” Diane asked.
“Tell me you did not turn my daughter into a hacker,” Steve said.
“Tell me what that is, Steve!” Diane said.
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