Critical Play (Michael Cailen Book 3)

by Mel LeBrun

  “Why do I suddenly feel like you're talking about me?” Corvo said. He wasn't fluent in Russian and had been only catching bits and pieces of their conversation so far.

  “Will you help us catch who's really responsible for selling the nuclear weapon?” Dmitri said before anyone could reply. “Or should we part ways?”

  “You think we believe you?” Nikanov asked as though the suggestion was utterly absurd. “There is no question you sold a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group. We have it on video! And then you killed your commander to try and cover it up!”

  “We recorded the sale. Why would we create evidence against ourselves?” Timur asked. “If we hadn't recorded it, there would have been no record of our involvement. Do you think we are that stupid?”

  “Apparently,” Nikanov agreed.

  “What are you saying?” Osin asked, ignoring Nikanov.

  “We were set up,” Dmitri answered. The sale was supposed to be a sting. It was not supposed to be real and it was supposed to be equipped with a tracker. It would have led us to the group's leader.”

  “Why kill your commander then?” Osin asked.

  “Exactly. Why would we kill the only person who could exonerate us?” Dmitri replied. “He organized the op. He knew we had no idea we were selling a live nuke. He knew it was supposed to be fake. He was the only one who knew we were innocent and could prove it. And he was the only one who knew who ordered the fake op. So you tell me, who really benefits from his death? Because it certainly isn't us.”

  “Do you have any idea who set you up?” Osin asked.

  “Sergei Grekov,” Dmitri replied. He figured as long as Osin seemed open to the idea he might as well see where it got him.

  “Do you have any proof?” Nikanov asked with a slightly mocking tone.

  “Yes.” Dmitri turned to him. “As a matter of fact, we have a recording of him speaking with his partner discussing their arrangement. His guilt is quite clear.”

  “I want to hear this recording,” Osin demanded.

  “That can be arranged,” Dmitri assured him.

  Chapter 39

  Michael was keeping watch outside Ivchenko's office building while he waited for Martin. Martin's plane had touched down just hours earlier and they weren't wasting any time getting to work.

  A light knock on the passenger window startled Michael. He saw it was Martin and unlocked the door.

  “I'm getting rusty,” Michael remarked as Martin sat down.

  Martin grinned. “I noticed.”

  Michael shook his head and looked back at the building's entrance.

  “Where do we stand?” Martin asked.

  “He's still inside,” Michael answered.

  “You have everything you need?”

  “Yeah. A few listening devices and some tech equipment to help with the alarm and whatever else he might have in there.”

  “Cameras?”

  “No. There's no good way to hide those. We'll only have audio.”

  “No, I meant. How are you going to avoid the cameras?” Martin asked.

  “Oh, right. I can't is the simple answer. Security for the building is tight. They have armed guards at the entrance. I need them to grant me access to the elevator. They would likely notice if I was trying to avoid the cameras. I can't afford to raise suspicion.”

  “Better you than me, then,” Martin said with a smirk.

  Michael shook his head. “Thanks. But if all goes to plan, they will have no reason to review the security footage and in three months it will be deleted.”

  “Let's hope it goes to plan then.”

  “Well, we're about to find out,” Michael said. “This is him. You ready?”

  “Let's do it.”

  Michael left the vehicle and headed towards the building while Martin slid into the driver's seat. He would follow Ivchenko to keep tabs on him while Michael entered his office to search it and plant the listening devices.

  “I'm here to see Dasha Kimenkov on the fifth floor,” Michael informed the guard as he handed him a fake ID.

  The guard inspected his ID and then called up to Ms. Kimenkov's office. That call was forwarded to a CIA operative who pretended to be Kimenkov and confirmed that she was expecting him. The guard allowed him to enter. Michael saw his way to the elevator. He pressed for the sixth floor and hoped the guards weren't paying close attention. He walked to Ivchenko's door, which just so happened to be directly above Kimenkov's. Again, Michael banked on the fact that the guards wouldn't notice he was on the wrong floor.

  He knocked and waited a minute before using a nifty lock pick that Gatti had provided. It was as easy to use as an actual key. His next challenge was the alarm system. As soon as he was inside, he quickly pulled off the cover for the control pad and exposed the wires and circuit board. He whipped open his briefcase and pulled out what looked like a small tablet with wires attached. He connected the wires to the ones on the board and the machine got to work.

  Michael looked at his watch as the seconds drained away. As it grew close to the time he would have to bail, five numbers appeared on the tablet. Michael punched them into the alarm's control board and the system disarmed. He let out a sigh of relief and put the control board back together before moving on to the next task; searching and planting listening devices.

  As Michael made his way through the apartment, he came to a room locked with a keypad. After retrieving the tablet from his briefcase, he did the same procedure as before and was provided with a six-digit code. The code unlocked the door and Michael cautiously opened it. Inside the room was a server, three computers and twice as many monitors.

  “What the hell is this?” Michael muttered to himself as he stood gaping at the swarm of technology in front of him. As Michael glanced around at the equipment, his eyes fell on one of the monitors facing the door and noticed a built in-webcam. There was no indication it was active, but there was also no way for him to be sure without checking the computers. He was in over his head. He quickly dialed Gatti as he stepped from the room.

  After tossing and turning through the night, Gatti was lost somewhere between being awake and sleep as daylight began its approach. Sleep had become an elusive commodity since taking on Michael's little side project. The sound of his phone ringing had started giving him heart palpitations.

  “I'm here,” Gatti answered quickly trying to rouse himself.

  “Tim. He has some kind of server set up here in a locked room. We need to know what this guy is doing.”

  “I agree.”

  “Also, I may have just gotten caught on cam. One of the monitors had a built-in camera.”

  Gatti cursed. “You have the code breaker with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you see how they’re connected to the Internet?”

  “You know this really isn't my department,” Michael answered.

  “Just look for wires coming out of the wall, Michael,” Gatti snapped. “For God's sake, you live with a hacker.”

  Knowing Gatti was overworked under normal circumstances and that he had been adding a further burden, Michael simply apologized, grateful that Gatti was even still helping him.

  “I think I found it. Looks like a router,” Michael said.

  “All right. Is there an open port on the router?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Connect the tablet to the router. You should have an Ethernet adapter.”

  “I do. I saw it.” Michael went back to his briefcase and retrieved the cable. He attached the cable to the tablet and then the router. “OK, now what?”

  “Give me a minute to get to my computer.”

  Michael tried not to pace though being tethered to the wall, he couldn't go far anyway.

  “OK,” Gatti said. “I'm ready on my end. From the menu select “Router Interface.”

  “Found it. It's doing something.”

  “It should display the router's details and what security protocol it's using.”

  “Yeah
I see it.”

  “It will ask you if you want to continue. Say yes.”

  “OK, now it's doing something else.”

  “This part can take a few minutes.”

  Michael looked at his watch as they passed the five-minute mark. “Are we nearing the end of this? Michael asked feeling uncomfortable with the amount of time he was spending in the apartment.

  “Should be.”

  Michael closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. When he looked at the screen again, a window had popped up with a lot of code.

  “Something came up,” Michael said.

  “Do you see a button that says send?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Press it.”

  “OK, now what? Any way to see if I'm on this guy's camera?”

  “To use your words, that's not really my department,” Gatti answered.

  “Funny.”

  “You wouldn't happen to know any hackers, would you?” Tim asked facetiously.

  “She's got enough to worry about, Tim.”

  “Maybe a distraction would be good, Michael?”

  “What am I supposed to tell her? 'An international criminal who sells nuclear weapons to terrorists might have me on camera, can you check for me?'” Michael's scornful tone made his feelings abundantly clear.

  “Michael, I can get someone from the agency on it. It's not a problem. But I don't have anyone as good as Jess. It's up to you. If you don't want to ask, I understand. But quite honestly I think she would feel better if she had something to focus on other than missing you.”

  Michael closed his eyes and grit his teeth. “See if she wants to do it. I have more work to do here.”

  “I'll let you know how it goes.”

  JOSH WAS sitting in the kitchen alone nursing a cup of coffee when his phone rang.

  “What's up?” Josh asked, seeing it was Gatti.

  “Do you think Jessica is up for a little hacking?”

  “Umm. Probably. Why? What's going on?”

  “Michael needs some assistance.”

  Gatti brought Josh up to speed on everything that was happening.

  After listening Josh took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “I'll ask. Not sure how she's going to feel about it.”

  “Believe me, I have the same reservations,” Gatti agreed.

  With the phone still in hand Josh walked to Jessica’s room. He quietly let himself in, trying not to wake Tatiana who was curled up in Jessica’s arms. After gently nudging her arm and whispering her name, he was rewarded by her eyes opening and focusing on him.

  “What’s going on?” she asked groggily.

  “Feel like doing a little hacking?” he asked.

  “What?” She sat up while trying to withdraw herself from Tatiana’s grasp. “Hack what? What's going on?”

  Josh gestured towards the door, and Jessica slipped out of the bed and followed him into the hallway. He then proceeded to explain what Michael had found and what he described as a “slim” possibility that Michael had been caught on camera. It wasn't exactly how Gatti worded it, but Josh didn't want Jessica to completely freak out so he used creative license.

  “He's on camera?” Jessica said sounding disgusted.

  “That's what we'd like to find out.” Josh said. “And we kind of need to know soon.”

  “Does Tim have a safe place we can work from?”

  “He does.”

  “What do I have to work with?” Jessica asked.

  “An IP address,” Josh answered.

  “I love a challenge,” Jessica said, feeling aggravated at Michael for not being more careful. “What am I going to do about Tatiana? I don’t know how she will react if she wakes up and I’m not here.”

  Josh put the phone back to his ear. “What do we do about Tatiana? Jessica is afraid to leave her.”

  “Kevin can’t watch her?” Gatti asked.

  “With what she’s been through in the last few days, Tim, I’m not sure she’ll be able to cope. She’s been pretty clingy. If I go too, can we take Tatiana with us?”

  “I guess that would be OK. It's an office building downtown. We'll cut the cameras and you'll enter through the service entrance. It's very low risk. It should be fine.”

  “All right,” Josh agreed. “We're leaving in a few minutes. Be ready for us.”

  “You're cleared to go. Call if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Tim.”

  Josh went to tell Jinx what he was doing while Jessica woke Tatiana. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a large office building in downtown Boston where they met up with two agents. They were escorted through a back service entrance and elevator. It stopped at the tenth floor, and they stepped into a dark and desolate office that otherwise looked quite typical. There was a reception area and cubicles, phones, computers, and copiers. The only thing missing was people. The agents led them down a hall to a locked door. One agent entered a twelve-digit code and the door opened. Inside that room were a couple of servers, more computers and even more monitors.

  As Jessica began to set up her laptop, a different agent entered the room. It wasn't anyone they had met before. He was tall with brown hair and brown eyes, and as wearing black pants and a purple shirt and tie.

  “You can't connect any of your equipment,” the new agent informed her. “This equipment is secure and untraceable.”

  “Technically everything is traceable,” Jessica replied, “if you know where to look. Which is why I take many precautions to make that virtually impossible.”

  “Your self-confidence is understandable, but it's still no.”

  “Who are you exactly?” Jessica asked almost insultingly.

  “My name is James Marcroft. Director of Science and Technology for the CIA,” the man replied, enjoying the look that came across Jessica's face as he said it.

  Jessica quickly felt humbled, realizing she was on his turf. She had become familiar with his name during her brief stint at the CIA though she never met him in person.

  “This will go much faster if I have access to my programs,” Jessica said meekly.

  “I know. But I think you will nonetheless be pleased with what we have to offer as an alternative.”

  Jessica was quiet as she tried to come to terms with his restriction. “Fine,” she finally agreed. “We'll do it your way.”

  As Jessica returned her laptop to her bag, Marcroft looked at Josh and Tatiana.

  “Does she want to watch a movie?” Marcroft asked.

  Josh looked down at Tatiana who simply stared at Marcroft. “Probably not,” he answered. “She doesn’t want to leave her mother. We’ll sit quietly while she works.”

  “Fair enough,” Marcroft agreed. “I just need to make a quick phone call and then we can begin. I’ll be right back.”

  Marcroft left the room and Jessica pulled Josh aside while asking Tatiana to stay where she was.

  “Josh, why would the Director of Science and Technology for the CIA need to be here?”

  “I don’t know,” Josh answered. “Why? You think it’s strange?”

  “The whole time I worked for the CIA, I never met him. I was doing all kinds of crazy stuff and never once did he sit in.”

  “I don’t know, Jess. You want me to ask Tim?”

  Marcroft suddenly reentered the room, abruptly ending their conversation. “Pick any computer you want,” he announced pretending not to notice the quiet huddle between Josh and Jessica. “I’ll log you in.” Marcroft then sat at a lone computer that was set up in the corner and that allowed him to face the rest of the room.

  As Jessica took a seat, a login screen appeared, and then just as quickly disappeared without her inputting a single keystroke. Instantly she had full access to the computer in front of her. Jessica surmised that Marcroft was operating a control computer. He could monitor what she was doing and control her machine if need be. Something about this whole situation made her feel uneasy. There was something they weren't being told but she
had no idea what it could be.

  Marcroft fed her the IP address that Michael had obtained and she got to work. After trying a number of different strategies to hack into the server, Jessica stated her professional opinion.

  “There's no way to break the encryption on the servers,” she said. “My guess would be we need a token in addition to the right credentials.”

  “So we're dead in the water?” Marcroft asked, not believing that they were.

  “Is Michael still there?” Jessica asked.

  “Last I knew he was waiting on us,” Marcroft answered.

  “I need to talk to him,” she said.

  Marcroft made a call and a minute later handed her the phone.

  “Michael?”

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Michael answered. “Made any progress?”

  “No. Are there any monitors near the server? Should also be a keyboard and mouse.”

  “Yeah, there is a monitor on top with a keyboard and mouse.”

  “Is the screen on? Maybe move the mouse.”

  “Screen came on. I see a login screen.”

  “I figured as much. Can you see if there are any open USB ports on the back of the server?”

  “Yeah, I see a couple of ports.”

  “The only way we can see what’s on this server is to install a keylogger.”

  “You can’t brute hack it?” Michael asked.

  “I have no idea how long that would take. Could take hours, days, or weeks. I’m assuming you don’t have that kind of time.”

  “No, not really. But we don’t exactly know when he’s going to log in again either.”

  “Well, a keylogger is a lot easier to hide than a laptop.”

  “OK, you win. How do I install a keylogger?”

  “You’re going to need a USB drive and a laptop that I can access so I can program the drive.”

  “I’m on the clock here. Is there a quicker way?”

  “That is the quicker way, Michael.”

  Michael sighed and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.”

  He hung up with Jessica and called Martin.

  “You done?” Martin answered.

  “Not quite. I need you to get me a few things.”