Shadows (Black Raven Book 1)

by Barcelona, Stella

  “That’s right, but I’ve been on a hell of a lot of committees in my tenure as a senator. I’m in my third term. Seventeen years here,” he shrugged, “Legislation evolves. Committees come and go-”

  “I’m not here to recap your career,” Sebastian interrupted, dropping the pretense of formality. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zeus settle back to watch the show, his blacker than black eyes studying the senator. “I’m trying like hell to figure out the motivation for someone to have kidnapped Richard Barrows, and now his daughter.”

  McCollum sat back in his chair, arched his eyebrows, and shook his head. “And you’re looking to me for the answer?”

  “That’s exactly right. I’m here for you to tell me whether Shadow Technology exists,” Sebastian said, “and whether the government has implemented it in their intelligence gathering efforts.”

  “You’re talking about the data assimilation program that Richard Barrows claims to have created for the government?”

  “Yes. The program that’s encrypted by LID Technology,” Sebastian said as he began rubbing his temple with his right hand. When he saw Zeus’s eyes follow his movement, he dropped his hand. Fuck. The pounding of his headache was a reminder of a past mistake that he’d made. He didn’t have time to make a mistake now. “Barrows claims to have developed these programs for the government.”

  Zeus leaned forward. “It’s an easy answer, Senator McCollum. Yes, or no.” His tone was smooth, his voice low. As always, Zeus spoke with the quiet authority of a man who expected people to absorb his every word. His posture and expression was one of serious gravity, conveying the silent, underlying message to damn well listen to him or there would be consequences. “Has the government implemented Shadow and LID Technologies?”

  McCollum drew a deep breath, and sighed. “Sebastian, Zeus,” he said, his gaze encompassing both. “How long have I known you two? I’d help you out with this, if I could. You know that. But you’re asking about matters that are integral to highly sensitive operations.”

  “We’re not seeking the official governmental line,” Sebastian snapped. “And the answer to how long I’ve known you is years. Your family’s company was one of my first clients in Iraq, and it’s been a steady relationship since. Yes, I’m asking for sensitive information. What you tell us will go no further. PRISM is public knowledge. Other data-gathering efforts of the intelligence agencies are public knowledge. We know about the massive volumes of data the Government is collecting on all U.S. citizens under the guise of intelligence surveillance. We know the government has spent two billion dollars on data storage facilities in Utah, and we know there are plans to spend more. The American public may be hoodwinked, but you can’t honestly expect us to believe the government hasn’t come up with a method to assimilate and organize all the data it’s collecting.”

  “There’s a limit to what I can discuss,” McCollum said. “Even with you, on intelligence matters and especially on PRISM.”

  Ragno, who was listening, said, “Well, now we know he’s pretty damn committed to towing the government line.”

  “Okay. I’ll try it this way.” Sebastian reached into the pocket of his leather jacket, pulled out a piece of paper, leaned forward, slapped the paper down in front of the senator, and said, “This message is for the Oval Office, and you’re the person who is to get it there. It means whomever has kidnapped Richard Barrows is within an inch of breaking the encryption codes that protect Shadow Technology. Once he does that, he’ll have access to every piece of information accumulated by the National Security Agency. Banking information. Intelligence on U.S. citizens and foreigners. He’ll be able to do whatever he wants with the information, including manipulating the data. He’ll be capable of paralyzing commerce, with just a few keystrokes.”

  McCollum read the three sentences that Skye had written, and gave Sebastian a slow headshake, his clear green eyes not giving a bit of a hint as to his inner thoughts. “I’ve got no idea what this means, and no idea what you’re talking about.” He narrowed his eyes, “Are you buying into Richard Barrows’ conspiracy theories?”

  Ragno said, “Sebastian. Zeus. I’ve got it. If I have to, I can prove that the McCollum’s hands are all over the deal. More data’s coming in. It’s a go. Start playing hardball.”

  Sebastian glanced at Zeus, who gave him a nod that said go for it, even though the accusations he was ready to lobby were the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a bridge that should never be burned. A clock, positioned next to the fireplace, chimed with six melodic rings. Six p.m.

  Fuck. Me. To. Hell.

  Spring had been missing for three and a half hours. He grit his jaw, fighting for calmness, when what he really wanted to do was wrap his hands around McCollum’s neck and strangle him to within a centimeter of his life.

  “I’ll cut to the chase,” he said with barely leashed anger. “My intel tells me that Zachary Young, Richard Barrows’ partner, attempted to sell Shadows and LID Technology to the person who has kidnapped Richard Barrows.”

  As McCollum leaned forward, his desk chair squeaked. He dropped his hands down on his desk. “How do you know this?”

  Ragno had narrowed the potential purchasers to five, and the profiles had revealed long conference calls involving Senator McCollum, Young, and Root in the relevant time frame. To complete the goal of finding Richard Barrows and Spring, five potential purchasers were four to many. He needed to know the one, and he needed to know where the one who had prevailed was currently holding Spring. That’s what he needed to get from the goddamn fucking politician, who was sitting across from him and doing a damn good job of acting like an innocent man.

  Sebastian leaned forward, closer to the senator’s desk. He imitated the man’s posture and position, placing his palms flat on the plank of smooth wood and giving the man a hard glare as he listened to Ragno’s steady, calm voice, as she fed him information. “Bob,” he said, dropping any formality and using the shorthand version of the senator’s first name, “do you know how many times you’ve hired me in the past thirteen years?”

  The senator shook his head.

  “Sixty-seven. Mostly in contracts in the Middle East. You’ve hired Black Raven through your oil companies and you’ve also been instrumental in getting us hired through government contracts. You do it because we deliver. Black Raven isn’t good. We’re great. You’ve said it yourself. And the reason why we’re great is, in addition to agents with brawn and guns, we have an entire think tank behind the scenes.

  “Today’s battles are won not just though a show of power, but on analyzing data. We’ve recreated the events that took place in the lives of Jennifer Root and Zachary Young for the last three years. Every banking transaction, every trip, every credit card transaction, every e-mail, and every phone call.”

  The desk chair squeaked again, and the senator’s shoulders sagged. Slightly. “When Richard Barrows’ oldest daughter told me you were the conduit her father had planned for the Oval Office, I had Ragno profile you as well.”

  Sebastian felt better when the senator’s ruddy cheeks became pale. “Are you insinuating that I somehow am involved in what is going on with Richard Barrows?”

  “Come on, Bob,” Zeus said, a low note of humor obvious in his quiet tone. “That’s exactly what we’re insinuating. You knew it the moment we called.”

  The senator stood. Sebastian and Zeus did so as well.

  Ragno’s voice broke in. “Sebastian. Zeus. I’m cross-referencing data on our prior agents, who may have had knowledge of recent transportation procedures used at Last Resort. I’ve got two common elements with our prior agents and the five prospective purchasers. One is Trask Enterprises. Another is a Russian company. Other intel narrows it to Trask, but we still need confirmation from the senator on that.”

  “You knew the value of the technology, because you knew the government was implementing it. You, Root, and Young negotiated the deal with Trask Enterprises,” Sebastian said. “Yes or no?”
r />   “I did no such thing.”

  Sebastian felt better when he heard the tone of indignation in the senator’s voice. He could smell the pine logs that were burning in the fireplace, could smell Lucy’s dander, and as he leaned across the desk, he could smell the stink of nervousness that was beginning to infuse the air around the senator.

  “Bob, here’s where I get to educate you on the difference between me and the law enforcement officials who work for the federal government. You know that lady with a blindfold who holds the scales of justice?”

  The senator gave a slow, puzzled nod.

  “I don’t give a flying fuck about her, or her concept of justice. I’m hired to do a job, and that’s all I care about. For this job,” Sebastian said, leaning further across the desk, more into the man’s space. “I’m not hired to do one thing that might tarnish your career. My goal is to find Richard Barrows and throw his ass back in jail,” Sebastian said. “Understand?”

  The senator nodded, his eyes intense and focused on Sebastian. “I understand that, because I hired you to keep prisoners exactly where they’re supposed to be.”

  “You hired me so that you could say just that, to make sure no one looked to you. Ever.” Sebastian said. “The truth is you hired my company to give you somewhere to point your finger, when the prison break occurred, to cover your ass when news leaked of Barrows’ escape, which we all now know was a kidnapping. Let me repeat. My goal is only to find Richard Barrows. Now, that includes his youngest daughter. It also includes finding the sick sons of bitches who killed my agents. For the moment, I’d like to think you weren’t involved in that. I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you were only the driver of this deal. That you left the details to others. Well, those others are going to pay for what they’ve done,” Sebastian drew a deep breath. “Unlike you, if I meet my goals, I don’t need to point fingers anywhere, and I don’t plan on pointing my finger at you, unless you give me a reason. Do you fucking understand that?”

  Cheeks that had been pale were now flushed with red. “Are you threatening me?”

  “No,” Zeus said, his voice low, his tone matter-of-fact. “Not at all. What Sebastian is telling you is that he has your balls in his hand, and it’s up to you how hard he squeezes.”

  Double-teaming the senator with his new reality would have been fun, if the stakes weren’t so high, if Sebastian had never seen Skye and Spring in person, if he hadn’t fallen for the sisters as hard as he’d ever fallen for anything in his life. This wasn’t fun. It sucked. And he didn’t have the time that it was going to take to negotiate a deal with this devil.

  He swallowed back his impatience and said, “The way I see it, right now Black Raven has two choices. One, all the crap Black Raven now knows about you and your involvement can be shared with the marshals and any other federal agency involved in this investigation. Or two, it never needs to see the light of day. If your involvement gets exposed, it won’t be through Black Raven. Your fucking choice, option one or-”

  “Sebastian, Zeus, the talking head on the news this morning, Whittaker,” Ragno interrupted, and he paused, staring at the senator as he listened to Ragno, “was paid large amounts by a company that has connections to Trask. This week. Wire transactions occurred yesterday. Contributions from that company have also been made to the Committee to reelect Robert McCollum, as well as other companies owned by Trask. Many, many contributions.”

  Ragno’s news resulted in a new problem. He glanced at Zeus, whose dark eyes were intense as he nodded to Sebastian. They both knew of James Trask, the man behind the conglomeration of companies under Trask Enterprises. Black Raven had provided protection in South America to oil interests, where the threat was discovered to be from people associated with Trask Enterprises. Trask was known to be a brilliant, ego-driven narcissist, whose ideas weren’t always based in reality. He was also a recluse, seldom seen in public. His companies had properties all over the world, with hundreds of properties in the U.S. alone. “Location?”

  Not able to hear the mic’d convo, the senator looked puzzled. “Wh-”

  Sebastian put up a hand to quiet him.

  “We need that from the senator. I can’t pinpoint it yet,” Ragno said. “Maybe not for a while. However, I know McCollum, at the time the negotiations with Young, Root, and Trask were ongoing, spent a good bit of time in Norfolk, Virginia, at the east coast headquarters of Trask Enterprises. The senator’s security detail and aides love Waffle Houses and strip clubs in their time off. Lots of credit card transactions at both of those places. Among other things.”

  “Your choice, Bob,” Sebastian said. “Option one or two? One, do I spoon feed everything I’ve got to the FBI or whatever Senate subcommittee might be tasked with focusing on impeachment targets, or, two, do I pretend it doesn’t exist and,” he paused, sweetening the deal, “if the opportunity to make you look good presents itself, seize it.”

  The marked silence between Sebastian and Zeus gave the senator a moment to invent options for himself that did not exist. With his face beet red, the senator cleared his throat. “Does your option two include destroying the data that you have that links me to Trask?”

  Sebastian exchanged a glance with Zeus. Black Raven didn’t usually destroy data. They didn’t broadcast it, but that was a far cry from destroying it and potentially interfering with investigations by law enforcement agencies. The senator lifted his hands to his temples and squeezed, hard. “If you agree to my terms, I can tell you exactly where James Trask is holding Richard Barrows.”

  “Our option two does not include destroying data,” Sebastian said, sinking into his chair, readying himself for the negotiation. “We may not broadcast it and we may not deliver it to the FBI with a bow on it, but we don’t destroy it. I’d prefer to admit failure and lose Richard Barrows and his daughter. I can assure you of one thing. If that happens, I will take you down with me. I will destroy you.”

  Sebastian and Zeus had planned the negotiation strategy. While he wanted to fly over the desk, knock the man down, and pound his head against the floor until his thick skull cracked and brains leaked out, Sebastian curbed the impulse. Once he received the go-ahead nod from Zeus, it took ten minutes of time that he didn’t have, but after painting a picture of political, personal, and family ruin from which the senator would never recover, Sebastian and Zeus walked out of the townhouse with exactly what they had hoped for.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Within minutes of McCollum pinpointing the location, the twenty-agent mobile tactical force that Sebastian had on stand-by in Denver was en route to Norfolk, Virginia. The C130J was stocked with weapons, ammunition, explosives, parachutes, night-vision goggles, bulletproof vests, thermal imaging equipment, rappelling equipment, and any and all additional equipment necessary to outfit fifty agents. The cargo hold also held two armored vehicles and a combat-ready chopper, equipped to handle medical evacuations. A physician and four paramedics completed the unit.

  Like a good Boy Scout, Sebastian was prepared for all sorts of shit to hit the fan. Problem was, this wasn’t about fucking merit badges. What the plane didn’t carry was an answer to the question of the safest, most efficient, foolproof way to extract Spring and her father. That fell to him. While he’d love to rush in and grab her, the one thing his experience had taught him was a hastily-planned extraction was a surefire way to lose her.

  In the background, Ragno continued to assemble the forensic information, bringing all the threads together. Sebastian’s mind raced through options as intel streamed in. Flight time from D.C. to Norfolk was two hours less than the flying time for the Denver-based team. As he stepped off the jet and into the private, secured hangar, Ragno said, “The sum of all of this is Trask wants for nothing. I’m not sure what you can offer.”

  “No negotiating,” Sebastian said. “He’s got what he wants. He has the backup for Shadows and LID Technologies and with Spring there, he’s going to have the remaining code. He’ll use her to get
it out of Barrows.” I hope to hell that’s all he’s going to use Spring for.

  He stepped into a nondescript sedan with Zeus. Sebastian, riding shotgun, Zeus in back, and Agent Stan Black driving, did recon past Trask Enterprises. As they approached, he signaled for Agent Black to go slow.

  The sprawling property spanned a city block, and was bordered on three sides with a ten-foot-tall, wrought iron fence. Trask Enterprises was housed in a white granite, ten-story building, that spanned more than half of the property. Money there. A lot of it. Small, rectangular windows were on most of the floors. The top two floors had larger, floor-to-ceiling windows. All the windows were tinted, lit uniformly. It was impossible to tell by glancing at the building where people were located on the interior. The team on the ground had reported that distant thermal imaging revealed significant heat sources on the sixth through eighth floors, with minor heat sources spread throughout the rest of the building.

  The parking lot was half full of cars. There was only one guard station, with only one official entryway though the fence. Three guards manned the station. At least two additional guards roamed the ground-level parking lot. Those two had Dobermans on leashes. On the fourth side of the building, the side that fronted on the Elizabeth River, there were docks and boats, all owned by Trask.

  It wasn’t snowing, but the gusty air was damp and chilly. The quiet streets of the warehouse district were slick. Billowing, dark clouds covered the moon and stars. A pile of leaves blew in a swirl down the street.

  “Gusty.” He turned to glance at Zeus. Not good for a night drop.

  Zeus nodded in response to Sebastian. “Cloud ceiling’s questionable.”

  “If you decide on a targeted parachute jump onto the roof, the wind and clouds will be problematic,” Ragno offered.