When he returned to their bedroom and slid underneath the covers, he put his arms around her and pulled her close.
“I’m scared,” she said.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He stroked her head until he felt her body relax.
He would have been able to sleep if he had only himself to think about. If the repercussions of his decisions only affected him. But he’d dragged the woman he loved more than anything in the world along with him.
And that was why, when the sun came up the next morning, he was still lying there thinking about it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I want you to go home to Indiana for a while.” They were sitting at the breakfast table, both of them picking at their food. Phillip had put the task force on standby because early that morning, South Carolina Electric and Gas reported that one of their substations in North Charleston was having trouble accessing its systems, almost as if they’d been locked out of them. Between the intruder and the heightened risk of an impending blackout, Ian could think of no place he’d rather Kate be than with her family in Indiana. As soon as they dealt with the cyberattack, he would join her and they’d figure out what to do about the rest.
One problem at a time.
“Okay.” There were dark circles under her eyes.
He’d expected her to argue, to remind him again that this was her home, but the fact that she didn’t told him how scared she was, and if he had to guess, he would say the baby had changed everything. Kate was a fighter, but there was another person’s safety at stake, and the best way to protect their child was for her to remove herself from the source of the danger, even if that also meant removing herself from him. He would send her away, but how long could he expect her to stay hidden? And would Indiana be the next place they’d look?
His phone rang, and Kyle’s name showed on the display. “I’ve got that print,” he said when Ian answered the call.
“I’ll be right out.”
“Who was that?” Kate asked.
“Kyle. He knows someone who agreed to lift the fingerprints. I want to see what I can find online.”
“Won’t the police run them to see if there’s a match?”
“Yes, but they won’t be looking in the same places I’m looking.”
Kyle handed him the white card his friend had transferred the print onto with special tape.
“Thanks,” Ian said.
In his office, he scanned and uploaded the print, and when he ran it through the main database, it returned the name Ted Lawson. He used a query and response protocol and then set about writing a program specifically designed to cross-reference the IP information to the search criteria he specified, including the IP address associated with the hacking of their security system.
It took two hours for the program to sift through the information, but in the end it returned nothing that would indicate the man had even a tenuous connection to any kind of cybercrime. He was either incredibly lucky or as skilled at hiding his identity as Ian.
Ian scanned the data a second time to ensure he hadn’t missed anything. Then he mentally braced himself, picked up the phone, and called Kate’s dad.
Steve didn’t take the news of the intruder well at all.
“You look tired,” Kate said when Ian walked into their bedroom.
He sat down on the bed and rubbed his eyes. “I am.”
“Heard anything more from Phillip?”
“The utility company in North Charleston is still trying to get their systems back online. Charlie’s taking a look at it right now. He’ll call me if he finds anything.”
“Do you think my dad believed you? About the supplies?”
“Yes.” Ian told Kate that when he talked to Steve, he’d also told him about the possible attack on the power grid and urged him to buy bottled water, batteries, and canned food. Kate’s dad was at the opposite end of the spectrum from those who practiced doomsday prepping—so was Ian, for that matter. But neither man could deny that the time had come to take the risk seriously. Indiana was on the same Eastern Interconnection grid as DC.
“Are you ready to get in the shower?” she asked.
“Yes.” Ian was still in the sweats and T-shirt he’d pulled on when he got out of bed, and Kate had never made it out of her robe.
He turned on the water, waiting until the shower stall filled with steam. Kate hung her robe on a hook and stepped under the spray. He followed her in, and when her hair was wet, he reached for the shampoo and washed it. He loved the way she closed her eyes as he massaged her head. He’d give anything not to have to send her away, but it was the right decision. If whoever had found them again didn’t make another move soon, Ian would have to find a way to draw them out and get to the heart of their demands. Because they wanted something. He had no doubt about that.
He rinsed out the shampoo, and the suds ran down her chest. His palm followed, skimming along her slick, wet skin. His hand drifted lower, and he stopped suddenly when it reached her stomach. It would probably be another month or two before the pregnancy would really start to show, but the previously flat expanse of skin now had an almost imperceptible rise to it that he could have sworn hadn’t been there yesterday, and it was only because he knew her body so well that he’d noticed it at all. “When did this happen?” he asked, resting his hand on her belly.
She placed her hand over his and looked up at him. “I don’t know. I feel like it almost popped out overnight.”
“Why haven’t I felt it?”
A smile played at the corner of her mouth. “Your hands have been quite occupied with my pregnancy breasts.”
“I had no idea.” Kneeling down in front of her, he ran his palms over the slight swell. “This is so wild.”
She rested her hands on his head. “I know.”
When he stood, she pulled his mouth down to hers. He had never felt more loving toward or more connected to Kate than he did at that moment, and the gentle kiss they shared spoke volumes. No one would take his wife and child from him. He would lay down his life for theirs without question.
When the kiss ended, he reached for her body wash, intending to continue on with their shower. But she pulled his mouth to hers again as if she needed to stockpile his kisses so there would be a well of affection to draw from in his absence.
Nearly all their mornings began with one of them touching the other, and by the time they made it into the shower, they’d usually already made love. He adored washing Kate, and he adored being washed by her. It was a habit they’d started back in Minneapolis, and while it was playful and sexy—and sometimes led to them quickly drying off and returning to bed for another round—it was mostly an affectionate routine they both enjoyed. This morning, after tossing and turning most of the night, he’d slipped from bed before she awakened because he had too much on his mind to lie there one minute longer.
Kate showed no sign of wanting to stop, and when she rubbed her breasts against his chest, slick with leftover suds from the shampoo, he was a goner. She was right; he had been paying extra attention to them. How could he not?
He cupped them in his hands, feeling the softness of their weight and the changes in their size and shape. Further evidence of the transformation her body was undergoing. The thought made him sad. Her safety depended on their separation, but how many of these subtle changes would he miss while she was gone?
Though they didn’t have much time, he backed her up until she was pressed firmly against the back wall of the shower. He didn’t know how long they would be apart, and he suddenly felt a need to stockpile a few things of his own. She lifted her leg and he hitched it higher on his waist, and in one fluid motion he entered her. The water rained down on them as they found their rhythm, and she held him tight, kissing him as he moved inside her. Her movements grew frantic, and there was something so primal about her need, so sustaining. There were times she expressed her desire toward him in this way and it made him feel like a king to be wanted so
desperately. Wildly, she clutched at him, pulling him deeper into her until she cried out. Her body gradually relaxed, and he found his own release, as tender as hers had been wild.
They washed each other, and when they got out of the shower, as Ian was rubbing her gently with a towel, she looked up at him and said, “I don’t want to go, but I will. I can get through this now.”
He finished drying her and wrapped her in the towel. “I know you can.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t at all certain that he could.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“When are you leaving?” Diane asked. Though her mother was trying her best to hide it, Kate could hear the worry in her voice.
“As soon as I finish packing. Ian said the plane should be ready to take off by four.” She rifled through drawers and carried stacks of clothes to her suitcase.
“I’m so glad you’re coming home,” Diane said.
“I am too.”
When Ian had called her dad to say he was sending Kate home and to warn him about the possibility of a major power outage in DC, her mother’s worry had kicked into overdrive, and the only thing that had calmed her down was the assurance that she’d have her daughter back home by that evening.
Kate had such a bad feeling about everything. A problem with the power grid coming so close on the heels of their intruder lent an especially ominous feel to the situation. Ian already had enough to deal with, and the stress of both situations had stretched him thin. She’d awakened around four a.m. to go to the bathroom, and even though his eyes were closed, Kate knew by the way he’d tossed and turned all night that sleep hadn’t come easy for him, if at all. At six, when she woke up for the day, his side of the bed was already cold and empty.
Kate put the last of her things in the suitcase, closed the lid, and zipped it. “I have to go, Mom. I’ll call you when we’re in the air. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
Ian backed his SUV out of the garage and left it idling out front while he went inside to get Kate’s suitcase. His phone rang, and Charlie’s name flashed on the screen. To his credit, he’d done a good job of keeping how he felt about Ian’s accusation from affecting their work relationship.
“Where are you?” Charlie asked.
“Home. I’m leaving now to take Kate to the airport.”
“If what’s going on in North Charleston can be confirmed as a cyberattack—and everything we know seems to be pointing to it—Homeland is going to ground all planes. Phillip also said they’ll deploy the Cyber Action Team.”
Ian’s stress level kicked up a notch because the last thing he needed at that moment was an unexpected roadblock. But if the grounding was imminent, Kate could get stuck on the runway, or worse yet, be up in the air when the alert came. They’d have to reroute her, and who knew where she’d end up. And once the Cyber Action Team had been deployed, Ian’s presence would be needed at headquarters immediately.
“How much time do I have?” He’d already given Rob the time off after explaining that Kate was going to be visiting her folks and therefore his services wouldn’t be needed for a few weeks. If he wanted to get Kate safely out of town—and he wanted that more than anything—he’d have to drive her himself.
“How much do you need?”
“Enough to meet Kate’s dad halfway between here and Indiana.”
“I doubt you have that long.”
“I’m gonna try anyway. Call me if anything changes,” Ian said.
Kate was standing in the open front door next to her abandoned suitcase when Ian roared up from the barn in the Spyder. He threw open the door, and when he reached Kate, he grabbed her suitcase with one hand and her by the other and led her to the car.
“Why are we taking the Spyder?”
“Because we’re in a really big hurry.” The hybrid vehicle was not only fast, it also didn’t require stopping as often for gas. “I just got off the phone with Charlie, and there’s a good chance all planes are about to be grounded.” He shut her door and ran around to the driver’s side.
Next he called Steve. “I can’t put Kate on a plane, and I’m going to be needed at headquarters very soon.” As he spoke, he typed Zionsville into the navigation system and chose a route. “If we both hustle, we can meet somewhere in the middle and as soon as Kate’s with you, I’ll turn around and head back.”
She was perfectly capable of driving herself, but she understood Ian’s reasoning. And once he knew she was with her dad, he could concentrate on his job without worrying about her.
Ian hung up the phone. “Okay. Let’s do this.” He left a spray of gravel behind in the circle drive and headed for the gate.
They had already put DC in their rearview mirror, traveling a brisk fifteen to twenty miles per hour over the speed limit, when Charlie called again. Ian pressed the hands-free button on the steering wheel. “What’s the latest?”
“A little over one hundred thousand customers in North Charleston just lost power,” Charlie said, his voice filling the car. “Their system is crippled. Forensics is trying to determine the exact cause.”
“Ian, they need you,” Kate said.
He didn’t respond immediately, mentally weighing his options. “Let me call you back,” he told Charlie and disconnected the call.
“I can drive myself.” He started to protest, but before he could get the words out she said, “Pregnant women drive cars all the time.” Her morning sickness had finally begun to taper off as she neared the end of the first trimester, but she still couldn’t stomach the thought of coffee, and even the smell of it continued to send her running for the bathroom. Other than that, she only felt slightly nauseated, and that was mostly first thing in the morning.
He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know they do.”
“Would you rather I dropped you off at headquarters and went back home to wait this out?”
What he wanted was for Kate to be safely tucked away with her family, even if Indiana ultimately lost power. If the unthinkable happened and the whole Eastern Interconnection went dark, he and Charlie and the rest of the task force would have to work nonstop until they figured out how to solve the crisis and the danger had passed. He didn’t want to think about how long that could be, and the last thing he wanted was for Kate to be at home.
In a blackout.
Even with access to generator power that would keep a few of their home’s lights on, and with the security guards watching over her, he could not fathom it.
“No. I definitely don’t want you there.”
“If you turn around right now, I can drop you off at headquarters and in less than twenty minutes I can be on my way again. Then you’ll be free to focus on what seems to be shaping up as a major crisis. I know you won’t be able to talk, but I’ll text you every time I stop for gas. The longer we debate this, the more time we’re wasting.”
“You’re sure you can make the drive?”
“Of course I can.”
He called Charlie back. “I’ll be there in fifteen,” Ian said. He disconnected the call, got off at the next exit, and headed back toward headquarters.
Kate called her dad and advised him of the change in plans. “The task force needs Ian, so we’re heading back to headquarters to drop him off.”
“I’m already in the car, and I brought Chad. You can get in with me, and Chad can follow behind in your car. Get back on the road as soon as you can, okay? Your mother isn’t going to stop calling me until you’re home.”
“I will. As soon as we arrive at headquarters, I’ll say good-bye to Ian and be on my way.”
In the parking lot of FBI headquarters, Ian exited the car after grabbing his laptop case from the backseat. Kate walked around the front of the car, and he put his arms around her.
“I know why I have to go, but I hate leaving you behind,” she said. She pictured the city in darkness, or worse, lit up from the fires the looters would surely set if DC were to lose power. The wail of police sirens. Gunshots. Breakin
g glass. If the Eastern Interconnection went dark, Indiana would face the same fate, but at least she’d be with her family. She only wished Ian could be with them too.
“I’ll be fine at headquarters. Phillip’s not going to let any of us leave if he thinks it isn’t safe.”
“You have to promise you’ll join me as soon as you can. As soon as things are under control, tell Phillip and the others you have to go.” She took his spot in the driver’s seat, and Ian crouched down beside her.
“I’ll leave for Indiana as soon as I’m able. Be careful. You won’t have to stop as often with a hybrid engine, but I want you to keep the gas topped off. Don’t drop below half a tank.” He glanced at his watch. “You’ve got about another hour of daylight. Your dad and Chad should reach you by nine thirty. If the power goes out along the way, keep driving until you run out of gas. Sit tight with the doors locked until your dad and Chad reach you. Hopefully they’ll have enough gas to make it to the next city.” He leaned into the car and kissed Kate tenderly on her forehead. “I love you. Now go.”
“I love you too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
A crisis of this magnitude required all hands on deck, and an off-site location was not an option. The task force and the FBI Cyber Action Team—whose sole objective was to provide rapid incident assistance—were at that moment pouring into headquarters. Ian was no longer worried about running into whoever had doxed him. As he walked down the hall, he decided that if whoever had tracked him and Kate was somewhere in this building, he’d welcome the opportunity to confront them. But his instincts told him whoever had breached their alarm and trespassed on their property probably wasn’t the type of person who’d be willing to run defense against whoever was behind the cyberattack on the grid. It just didn’t add up.
Unless of course the person who’d doxed him was Charlie.
Ian burst through the door of the makeshift war room. This wasn’t the first time he’d ridden out a crisis here, and it wouldn’t be the last. There were twenty long tables, upon which sat rows of laptops. Cell phones, coffee cups, and legal pads covered the remaining surface. Someone had hung an electronic map of the Eastern Interconnection on the wall, which when lit up would resemble a scoreboard. Agents milled around, some huddled together in groups of two or three and some sitting alone, eyes focused on the screen in front of them. The task force was seated at its own table at the front of the room, and Phillip was standing next to it. He held a clipboard and appeared to be coordinating activities. Ian sat down next to Charlie and pulled his laptop from its case.
White-Hot Hack Page 21