Web of Shadows

by Susan Sleeman

  Nina glanced at Quinn.

  “Oh, I get it,” Ellie said. “You think since you two aren’t together anymore, that I’d be mad at you.” She waved a hand. “If I was mad at every woman who’d been in Quinn’s life, I’d have—”

  “Mother,” Quinn warned.

  “What I’m trying to say is, I hope we can still be friends, and you’ll keep calling me Ellie.”

  Nina smiled. “Ellie, it is.”

  She took Nina’s arm and hugged her close, far more resembling the quintessential Southern mother than Nina’s mama had ever been.

  “Beware,” she whispered, “Quinn’s a bear this morning.”

  They shared a knowing look before Ellie went to sit near Ty. Quinn leaned against the wall as usual. Nina felt his gaze on her, but she ignored him and joined Ty.

  He scrubbed his palms into his eyes as if trying to wake up. “Thanks, Nina.”

  “For what?”

  “For keeping me out of jail.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, hon. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

  “I know. It’s just—” He glanced at Quinn, then stared at the computer.

  “Quinn told you to thank me,” Nina said softly to keep Quinn from hearing.

  Ty nodded. “I appreciate your help. Honest, I do, but . . .”

  “But you know this could still end badly for you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So let’s make sure it doesn’t, okay?” She stabbed a finger at the computer screen. “You’re all set up, but I have to warn you, your every move, every keystroke is being tracked. No heading to Facebook, Twitter, or email. And it probably goes without saying, no hacking. Just work. Think you can do that?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good. So get started. One of us will be here if you need anything.” She stood.

  “Hey, Nina.” Ty looked up at her, his gaze sincere. “Thanks. For real this time.”

  She grinned at him and ruffled his hair. He ducked away, a cute little smirk on his face so reminding her of Quinn when he lightened up. A Quinn she’d seen very little of since his arrival. Probably a good thing. She was having a hard enough time resisting grouchy Quinn, let alone dealing with Mister Irresistible who could simply enter a room and kick up her heart rate.

  She stepped out of earshot but kept Ty in view and dialed the Hacktivist’s database administrator, Victor Odell. He answered on the third ring. She explained her need to see the database records without giving him too many details about the investigation. “Since this is such an urgent matter, I’d like to pick up a copy of the database files this morning.”

  “I’m not sharing anything without a warrant,” he argued.

  Surprised by his instant belligerent response, she took a moment to make sure her voice remained pleasant. “That’s not really necessary, is it, Mr. Odell?”

  “It’s absolutely necessary.”

  She was getting peeved that he wasn’t being the least bit cooperative and wanted to snap back at him. But she knew she’d get more with honey than vinegar, so she slathered her voice with sweetness. “If you require a warrant, I’ll be glad to request one and deliver it to you within the hour.”

  He snorted. “Good luck with that, Agent Brandt. I’m an attorney. I doubt you’ll be able to accomplish it so quickly.”

  Great, an attorney. That meant she would have to do everything by the book or he wouldn’t play ball. Not that she’d let it stand in her way.

  “Never doubt the power of a motivated agent,” Nina replied, putting a bit of vinegar in her voice this time. “Prepare to share your data. I’ll be there with my warrant in less than an hour.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  QUINN’D HAD enough of this waiting and watching to last a lifetime. It was as bad as standing QRF. And he’d done plenty of Quick Reaction Force stints. Too many times to count. Get ready for the mission. Suit up. Gear on. Weapons loaded, then wait. Their helo and crew standing by, ready for take off. Could be minutes, days, or hours, leading to a lot of sweating and heavy stress. Exactly like sitting there.

  It was made worse by watching Nina and thinking about how hurt she’d sounded at the hotel. He didn’t know how he could make it up to her—likely he couldn’t—but he wanted to.

  “I shouldn’t be with Odell long,” she said to Kait. “Call if you need me.” She headed for the conference room door.

  Quinn saw his chance to get out of this room and help Ty at the same time. He intercepted Nina on the way out. “I’d like to go with you.”

  “No,” she said without even a moment’s hesitation.

  He wanted to demand that he accompany her, but that wouldn’t help, so he forced himself to relax. “All this sitting around is making me crazy. I have to do something to help Ty, or I might explode.” He ended with the grin that had always disarmed her.

  It didn’t work. She continued to stare at him with a blank expression.

  “Please take him with you,” Ty begged. “He’s making me jumpy with all his pacing and staring. It’s slowing me down.”

  “Then he should go back to the hotel,” Kait said, from across the room.

  Quinn fired a testy look at her. “I can’t be of any more help sitting over there than I can here. But I might actually be able to do some good with this guy.”

  Nina stared at the ceiling for a moment. Quinn’s focus went to the slender column of her throat, pale and smooth, and remained there.

  She looked at him. “You can come along under one condition.”

  “Name it,” he said eagerly.

  She lowered her voice. “No mention of us or our past. It’s strictly business. And if I ask you to do something, you listen to me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He gave a mock salute.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not kidding about this, Quinn. Odell’s an attorney. If this isn’t handled right, you could make things worse for Ty.”

  “I won’t do anything to hurt Ty.” Or you, he thought, then crossed his heart.

  Her scowl deepened and remained in place as they exited the building. Normally, he’d stop to enjoy the fresh air after being cooped up, but Nina shot across the parking garage to her car, and he was afraid she’d take off without him. She’d already opened the driver’s door and was climbing in. He hated not being the one to drive, but asking for her keys wouldn’t sit well with her, so he settled into the passenger seat.

  “So what do you hope this Odell guy will tell us?” he asked after she’d maneuvered out of the garage and onto the main road.

  She glanced at him. “Are you sure you want me to tell you? It’s kind of technical.”

  “I may be a military grunt, but I’ll try to keep up,” he joked.

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re far from a grunt and you know it.”

  “So tell me then.”

  “Okay, you asked for it.” She smiled tightly. “But I get carried away when I talk about this stuff, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “I’ll manage.”

  “I have a warrant that gives me access to any record that indicates who viewed Hamid’s cache posting on the Hacktivist site. These records will be in a database. What I’d really like is to see the entire database, but due to privacy issues, the judge has limited the warrant to this list.” She glanced at Quinn, determination in her expression. “That doesn’t mean I won’t ask for full access.”

  Quinn could easily imagine her trying to win Odell over. Using her soft Southern accent to come across as nonthreatening. It had always worked with Quinn. He suspected it worked with most people. “This information on people who viewed the post. I’m assuming it will include how to contact them or it wouldn’t be of much use.”

  “Right. Name. Address. Phone number.”

  “Do all websites track t
hat much user information? If they do, it seems pretty invasive.”

  “The Hacktivist site differs from most websites that only collect basic visitor stats. Things like city, state, pages visited, browser, IP address, etc., but nothing specific to actually identify them.” She held up a hand. “Before you ask, IP stands for Internet Protocol. Think of it like you might a street address. Your internet service provider tracks your access to the internet by this address. Odell can give us a list of IP addresses that visited the site. We could then track these down to their service providers and get a warrant for the visitors’ contact information.”

  “Could? Isn’t that your plan?”

  She shook her head. “The Hacktivist site is a membership site and requires visitors to have an account to view it. This account already includes contact information that is approved by the administrator. All logins for registered visitors are recorded in the database along with the pages they view. So I can connect every visit to Hamid’s geocache page to an actual user with contact information. This is what my warrant will allow me to obtain from Odell.”

  “Then the person who took the computer should be on this list. All we have to do is work down the list to find him.” Excitement about the lead started building in his gut.

  She glanced at him. “I’ll work the list, Quinn. We have to respect the privacy of these individuals. You can’t have any part in contacting them.”

  We’ll see about that. “Okay.”

  She appraised him. “The gleam in your eye says something different.”

  “You mentioned wanting full access to the database,” he continued. “If this info you’re after will give us the computer, why do you want the other stuff?”

  “Because records can be changed and altered. For example, if Odell was the one who took the computer, as the administrator, he could delete the record showing that he viewed the page. He’d have to change quite a few files to hide it from me, but if he was knowledgeable enough, he could delete the trail and the report he provides won’t include his name.”

  “I get it. If you could see the actual database, you could find any changes. Seems odd that a judge wouldn’t understand that and give you a warrant for all of it.”

  “He understands it, but he’s concerned about privacy issues of the users who have nothing to do with this cache.”

  “You’d think he would take the seriousness of this situation into consideration and be flexible.”

  “Odell’s an attorney and an activist, so the judge wants to tread lightly at first.”

  “Lawyers.” Quinn shook his head. “I have it so much better on the job. None of this messing around stuff. Just swift and concise action to eliminate the problem.”

  “That won’t fly with Odell.” She cast him a warning look. “Promise me you won’t even try to bully him.”

  “I’ll do my best,” he said. But if the guy messed with Nina, Quinn couldn’t be sure he’d let Odell get away with it.

  It didn’t take long to test Quinn’s resolve. Odell was brash and insulting from the moment Nina slapped the warrant into the guy’s hand.

  Five-ten or so, a string bean with a shiny scalp, the guy sneered at Nina. “So you have a judge in your pocket, do you?”

  Nina didn’t say a word, but stood with an expectant look on her face. How she managed it, Quinn didn’t know. The guy needed a good dressing down. Quinn would gladly deliver it, but he followed Nina’s lead instead. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to simply stand by.

  “I’ll print your report.” Odell sat behind a cluttered desk with an ashtray filled with cigarette butts. His printer soon started spitting out page after page.

  “Seems like a long list,” Nina said. “How many unique page views occurred?”

  “Around three hundred.”

  “So 300 people viewed the post?”

  “That’s what I said,” Odell snapped.

  Quinn’s optimism disappeared. With so many names to work through, this could take longer than they thought. By the time they got to the end of the list whoever possessed the computer could have sold it. When the printer stopped, the Ichabod Crane look-alike stood and handed the report to Nina.

  “Thank you.” She smiled, but Quinn could see it was the fake one her grandmother taught her to use. “I’d love to take a quick peek at the database before we go.”

  “Don’t take me for a fool, Agent Brandt.” Odell tapped the warrant that he’d dropped on his desk next to a half-eaten bagel. “If the judge wanted you to see the database, the warrant would specify that. Without a more inclusive warrant, I won’t answer questions about the database, much less give you access to it.”

  Nina didn’t react again, but slowly flipped through the report, scanning each page. Quinn didn’t know if she was doing it because she needed to review the document, or if she was taking pleasure in wasting Odell’s time. That’s what Quinn would be doing, along with firing a few choice words at the creep.

  She finally looked up, her expression friendly. “I have a few questions for you.”

  “I said I wouldn’t answer them.” Odell lit a cigarette and blew the smoke across the desk at her.

  She didn’t step back or grimace. “I didn’t say my questions were about the database, Mr. Odell.” The words came out like melting sugar, but Quinn knew her well enough to catch her iron resolve. “I’d like to know your whereabouts for the last few days.”

  “You what?” He jutted out a very angular jaw. “Where I’ve been has nothing to do with your investigation.”

  “See . . . here’s the thing.” She leaned closer, that fake smile widening and belying the fact that she was going in for the kill. “Without access to the database, that you as the administrator could easily have modified, I don’t know if my list is accurate. And you’re forcing me to get a warrant to view the actual database. To get that warrant, I’ll need to show the judge every place you’ve been in the last few days where you could log in to the database and modify files.”

  “I can access it from anywhere with my phone. It’ll take forever for me to write out such a detailed list.”

  “Exactly.” Her smile remained in place.

  Odell took a long drag on the cigarette and exhaled. “This is harassment. I don’t need to comply with it.”

  “Then I suppose I’ll have to figure out who you’ve talked to and where you’ve been on my own. You know. Dig and pry. Talk to everyone you’ve come into contact with. Raise their suspicions about what you might be up to. I’d hate for these people to get the wrong impression. I’d think you would, too.” She sat back and crossed her arms. “I can wait while you make the list, or I can get started on turning your life inside out. Your choice.”

  He eyed Nina and took a step closer.

  Quinn didn’t like the way he was staring at her. He stepped between them. He expected a reaction from her, but she didn’t take her eyes from Odell. “I’m just doing my job, Mr. Odell. Of course, there’s a third choice, too. If you don’t want to waste your time on compiling the list or want me talking to people, I could look at the database now.”

  He snatched up a pen and dropped into his chair. “You want a list, you got a list.” He perched the cigarette on the ashtray and set to work scribbling on the notepad.

  Nina smiled at Quinn. She hadn’t needed him along for the ride. She was a first-class operator all on her own. Not that she’d succeeded in seeing the database now, but he knew she’d at least gotten the satisfaction of making this creep jump through hoops. And Quinn got to see her in action. It was something he could remember and smile about on those long, lonely nights downrange.

  Chapter Seventeen

  BECCA SAT BACK in the FBI’s busy computer lab staring at her computer. She’d been glued to the screen for the last few hours, and she took a moment to stretch and look around the r
oom humming with computers and very little chatter.

  Kait sat just down the aisle, and as she answered her cell phone, she’d mouthed it was Sam. She was soon caught up in her call, but suddenly spun to look at Becca. Sam was likely bringing her up to speed on Becca’s meeting with Connor.

  Becca got a little twinge in her chest, and she sat back to wait for Kait to share what Connor had said about her. After their search of the trunk, she hoped he would say good things, but she suspected he’d say she was prickly and standoffish. Likely a little weird, too, from the way she’d jerked her hand back at the restaurant. Maybe he’d even mentioned she didn’t seem to like his attention.

  Just the opposite was true, though. She liked it all right. Too much.

  Kait stowed her phone in her pocket, then got up and came over to Becca. “Glad to hear Connor took over Bryce’s burglary investigation for PPB.”

  Good. He’d stuck to business, which is what she was planning to do. “He’s really taking it seriously. He had a forensics team process Bryce’s car again, and they’ve lifted additional prints that we hope will match Hamid’s. He’s also obtained video from the neighbor’s surveillance camera and street cams in the area. I’ll take Hamid’s prints over to PPB for comparison and take a look at the video while I’m there, too.”

  “See, I told it was a good idea to include Connor.”

  Becca wished she could agree on a personal level, but professionally Kait was right, and Connor, though seeming easygoing, had moved forward at warp speed.

  Kait rolled her eyes, then stared at Becca’s computer screen and frowned. “You’re working on the Hacktivist connection? Nina didn’t give that up, did she? If she did, she’s more down than I thought.”

  “Relax, Mom,” Becca laughed. “She’s dealing with the database, but Jae just told me about an oddity on the site so I was checking it out.” Becca displayed Hamid’s Hacktivist account. “The post where Hamid mentioned us and asked for the computer back has disappeared. You or Nina didn’t authorize a takedown did you?”