Skill Set

by Vernon Rush

  “No,” Isaac shook his head. “You have a job to do; I have a job to do. . .We're working in tandem, but not together. I work alone.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Kendrick stepped forward aggressively.

  Ed Hayes lunged at his colleague's arm, but it was quickly shrugged off.

  “Gentlemen!” Soto yelled, jumping to her feet and moving around the table. Placing herself between the two men, who both stood head and shoulders taller than she was, looked from one to the other like a mother glaring at her naughty children. “What is going on here?”

  “Nothing,” Kendrick instantly backed down. “Just your Lone Ranger here thinks he's capable of working solo.”

  She stared at Rose, her eyes communicating something the other two men could not see. Realizing she'll get nowhere with him like this, she swivels back to her bodyguards. “Look,Mr. Rose is here to deal with a specific threat made against me. He will, of course, be sharing information with you and seeking your advice, but he'll also have his own lines of investigation and concern.”

  Kendrick and Hayes remained silent.“I'm sorry you feel as if you're being pushed to the sidelines,” she added, looking only at Kendrick. “To be honest, I don't like this any more than you do. . .”

  It's yet one more thing Rose is unfazed by. The ability to successfully complete his mission was not dependent upon his being liked...by anyone.

  “. . .However, I'm told it’s a necessity. And with a bit of luck it will all be over soon! Now, if you could just give me a moment with Mr. Rose,” she added, smiling warmly. In Emma Soto's world, being liked was important. She certainly didn't want the people who protected her to actually prefer she was dead.

  Ed Hayes nudged his partner with an elbow as it became apparent he was not eager to move. Continuing to glare at Rose, Kendrick slowly shuffled his feet toward the door. It's not until he was crossing the threshold that he eventually turned his head away.

  As the two entered the hallway, Hayes could be heard muttering words of reassurance to his colleague.

  Emma Soto stared at Rose. “You've got to be kidding me! You've been here for five minutes and you've already managed to antagonize the men you're supposed to be working with.”

  “I'm not working with them,” he corrected her. “I'm here to find your hacker; I don't need them.”

  She scoffs humorlessly, shaking her head. “I'd really appreciate it if you would not disrupt the entire department while you're here. . .”

  “Look,I can't be held responsible for the attitude problem of your muscle. It was obvious his nose was put out of joint the moment I walked in.”

  “And diplomacy isn't your strong suit?”

  “I can charm people when I want to,” he grinned. “When it's necessary. . .If Paul Kendrick is butt hurt, that's not my problem.”

  “Right,” Soto gave up trying to talk any sense into the stubborn man before her. “Well, I've got a busy day ahead.”

  “Me too,” Rose nodded. “I'm going to take a look around, familiarize myself with the building.”

  “Please don't anger anyone else while you're at it. . .”

  His eyes twinkled at her as he strode for the door. “You better hope you haven't got any other overly sensitive souls working for you,” he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. Emma Soto watched him leave and waited for the door to close. “I'm not so sure about that,” she mumbled.

  CHAPTER

  5

  Isaac spent the morning walking the corridors of the Oval Office. His security badge gave him access to almost every room, every hallway, and even the into the bowels of the building. He knew he was unlikely to find anything, but felt it important to familiarize himself with his surroundings. If and when something does go down, he wanted to know everything there was to know about the building.

  By the early part of the afternoon, he was satisfied he knew the layout of the entire building. When he returned to Emma Soto's office, he found Daniel waiting outside the large closed doors.

  “Oh, hey,” Daniel turned at the sound of his footsteps. There was mild alarm in his young eyes.

  “What's up?”

  “Well, I was about to take this to the secretary,” he lifted a manila file.

  Rose nods, to urge the man to continue. Daniel hesitated.

  “I...She really ought to see this first,” he says, his words coming fast.

  `“Is it something to do with why I'm here?” Rose asks, deliberately being cryptic enough so none of the suited men and women passing the corridor would have pause to question what was happening. At Daniel's reluctant nod, Isaac held his hand out, demanding the document be handed over.

  “Mr. Rose,” Daniel pleads. “I really shouldn't...I could lose my job.”

  Isaac says nothing and continues waiting with an impatient open hand.

  “Please...” Daniel continues to hesitate. “I...” And suddenly something seems to snap. With a roll of his eyes, he thrusts the file into Isaac's hand.

  Rose's gaze immediately turns to the file, as he flipped it over and opened the cover. His eyes moved quickly down the page, before lifting disbelievingly to Daniel's concerned expression. “Are you sure about this?” he whispered.

  Moving his head up and down like a toy dog in the back window of a sedan, Daniel continued to appear shell-shocked.

  “Is she in?” Rose reached across Daniel’s desk and banged firmly on the thick wooden doors. “I...I don't know,” Daniel stepped out of the way. “I knocked, but. . .”

  “Madam Secretary,” Isaac yelled, cutting over the younger man's attempts to speak. “Ms. Soto, I need to speak with you!”

  Now he was beginning to get the attention from some of the staff members, but he's too focused on getting the secretary's attention to notice or worry.

  Thankfully, it only took a few more moments for the door to swing open.

  Emma Soto is breathless, “What?” she barks. “I was on the phone with the President, do you have any idea. . .” Her words were cut short, as Isaac placed a hand on her hip and pushed her into the room.

  He doesn't bother to grab the door, knowing Daniel is following behind. Sure enough, the computer expert slipped through the opening and closed it behind him.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” Soto argued, trying to push his large hand from her body. “Kendrick was right, you are insane.”

  Isaac does not rise to her taunt. Instead, he thrusts the file he's still holding under her nose.

  “What's this?” she demanded.

  “Just read it,” he insisted.

  She wanted to refuse, wanted to tell him to get the hell out of her office and not come back. However, despite her willful nature, her eyes drifted down to the sheet of white paper in front of her. Like Rose just moments before, she grew quiet as she read its contents.

  Satisfied that she now understood, Isaac released his hold on her and took a step back.

  “It's not possible,” she whispered. “I don't understand.” “I don't know how they were managing to get it,” Daniel chimed in. “Every time I tried to put up a new firewall, they were busting right through it as if it weren't there.”

  “What was it you were saying about a prank?” Isaac shoved his hands into his pockets.

  Soto ignored his remark. “Did you get a trace, Daniel?” she asked.

  He seemed reluctant to answer, but finally nods.

  “Oh, Jesus,” she sighed. “Not here again?”

  “No,” he responded. “It's...umm. It's worse than that.”

  “What do you mean?” Emma wondered, scared about the next thing to come out of her security expert's mouth.

  “Umm,” he mumbled, “it's...err....Moscow. . .”

  She peered into his face for a few seconds. “Where?”

  Daniel can only shrug and shake his head. “That's as far as I could narrow it down,” he apologetically explained.

  “Wherever it was a
nd whoever they are, they know what they're doing,” Isaac interrupted, his tone much more businesslike than Soto's or young Daniel's. It was clear Daniel, despite being a master of computer technology, was shocked by the serious implications of what was happening. Soto, on the other hand, was stunned into silence. She knew things were bad, really bad. It was certainly going to cost her job. It might even have more serious ramifications for the country. Neither of them knew what to do. Rose, meanwhile, was a man of action. It was the only way he knew how to deal with things.

  “How long were they actually in the system?” he asked, turning to Daniel.

  “Umm, ten minutes, give or take a couple. . .Maybe a little longer. It's difficult to say exactly.”

  “And you have no idea how deeply they went and whether they managed to access anything?”

  “Well, they got through three firewalls and another two I had set up while they were trying to burrow under 'em.Something happened. . . I lost sight of them for a while, but I knew they were still in the system.”

  “Get back on it, right now,” Rose urged. “Find out exactly where they went and what they took, if anything.”

  “Absolutely.” Daniel nodded, happy to have something useful to do. His long legs took giant strides across the room.

  “Do you have any idea what they could be after?” Rose continued turning to Soto.

  “I...” Her eyes scanned the floor in panicked sweeps. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  “All right,” Isaac glanced at his watch.”I’m going to speak with your friend from the CIA, where is he?”

  “Umm,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t worry,” Rose insisted, with a wave of his hand. “I’ll find him.”

  “I need to speak to the President,” Soto said, as if she was announcing her own execution.

  Rose didn’t have the time or inclination to reassure her. He was already heading out the door. He tugged it closed behind him, but didn’t get very far before he heard his name being called from the other end of the corridor. Turning, he saw Daniel’s head protruding from a small office.

  “What is it?” Rose asked.

  “Come take a look at this,” came the reply..

  Intrigued, Rose followed the young man’s instruction. He moved calmly, peering over his shoulder and watching the other suited men and women bustling obliviously around the office. When he reached Daniel, he pushed him into the room. He closed the door, locking it, then repeated his question. “What is it?”

  “Look at this,” Daniel pointed to his computer screen.

  The room was much smaller than Emma Soto’s office and it only took two steps to reach the desk and another one to move around so he could see the monitor. He blinked and stared for a moment and then turned to the IT expert by his side. “I don’t know what this means,” he mumbled, gesturing to the series of letters and numbers filling the screen.

  “I know where the security breach came from,” Daniel said, swallowing hard.

  “Where?”

  His tongue nervously moistened his lips. “Secretary Soto’s office. . .” his voice was almost a whisper.

  Rose paused, squinting, as awareness sharpened his expression. “So, she’s the one providing access to these guys in Russia?”

  “But I don’t understand,” Daniel babbles. “Why would she do that?” “Maybe she’s being offered a lot of money. . .or maybe there’s a cause behind all this, something she believes in enough to risk everything.”

  “I...I...” Daniel paled and remained speechless.

  “This needs to stay between you and me for now, understand?” Rose grabbed Daniel’s shoulder firmly. “If we’re going to find out what’s behind this, what information has been sent and to whom, we need to keep this quiet.”

  “We can’t be sure it was Ms. Soto, can we?” Daniel asked. “Maybe it was someone else using her computer. . .”

  Isaac stepped back from the desk and found his back against a wall. Leaning there for a moment, he slipped his hands into his pockets as he continued to stare at the screen. The information on the computer meant nothing to him, but he wasn’t really focusing on it. He was just blankly gazing at the object that was directly ahead of him. “I need to speak with someone,” he eventually stated, pushing away from the wall. “Keep your eyes on Soto’s computer and watch for any other suspicious activity.”

  “Okay,” Daniel nodded.

  Rose grabbed a pad and jotted down a series of numbers. “Call me if you find anything,” he instructed, handing

  Daniel the note pad. “I’ll be back in half an hour or so,” he explained, heading out the door.

  stammered“Okay,” Daniel stammered, as nervousness and panic seemed to seep from him in waves.

  CHAPTER

  6

  Rose strolled authoritatively through the building, looking in all the offices in search of the CIA agent he’d seen pictured on Foxhound’s wall. Eventually, he found the man in a break room, surrounded by a group of interns. The agent was leaning against a counter, a coffee cup in one hand and a cookie in the other. He was engaged in a conversation with two of the female interns, both of whom seem engrossed in what the he was telling them. Rose walked straight up to the undercover agent. “I need to talk to you,” he stated.

  “Alone,” Rose barked, not hesitating to grasp the man’s arm and tug him forcibly from With an indignant glare, the agent snarled back. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I need to speak with you now,” Isaac insisted, stepping around the man an inserting himself in front of the two women. “This is important.”

  The man shrugged dramatically, raising both hands in the air. “Fine, so talk.”

  the room.

  “Hey, what the. . .” the agent muttered angrily.

  In the relative privacy of the corridor, Isaac spoke in hushed tones. “I know who you are,” he announced. “Well, I don’t know exactly who you are, but I know what you’re doing here.” Rose glanced over his shoulder, noticing the hallway was empty, before continuing. “I’m with the Trackers.”

  “Says who!” the agent scoffs.

  “The Trackers,” he repeated. “Check with your superior”, unwilling to waste any more time. “We might have a lead on the hack,” he stated, getting back to business. “One of the leaks seems to have come from Emma Soto’s office.”

  “We know that already,” the agent shrugged.

  “No,” Isaac insisted, shaking his head. “Her office; her own private office.”

  “Shit. . .” “I want you to dig around in her past, see if you can find anything that will give us a clue as to who she has been communicating with.” “Oh, for Pete’s sake!,She underwent a thorough background check before she was given the job. I’m not going to find anything.”

  Beginning to lose his cool, Isaac clenched his teeth. “Just do it! You might turn something up that was missed before.”

  “Hey, who the hell are you to be ordering me around?” Rose doesn’t bother to answer the question. “Call me if you find anything interesting,” he said. “You can locate me through Daniel,. . .” “Who the fuck is Daniel?”

  “He’s Soto’s computer security expert,” Rose replied.. “Might have been a good idea to familiarize yourself with him, don’t ya’ think?” Marching purposefully down the hall, he shook his head in disgustReturning to Soto’s office, Rose entered without knocking and found the secretary hanging up the receiver. She was holding her head in one hand, an elbow propped up on the desk. “What’s wrong?” she asked, noticing the expression on Isaac Rose’s face.

  “Nothing,” he tells her. “Your guy, Dan, is still trying to find the trail. Our friend from the CIA is going to prove as useful as a submarine in the Sahara.”

  “You found him?”

  “Yeah, when I could drag him away from your young, blonde interns in short skirts.”

  Emma Soto closed her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb a
nd forefinger. “The President wants to talk to me. What a disaster. . .”

  Isaac sat down in a chair opposite her desk, resting the ankle of his left foot on his right knee.. “Are you sure there isn’t something specific these guys are after?” “I’m sure they are after something specific. . but I have no idea what it could be. Do you have any idea of the amount of information we handle in this department?”

  “I’ve got a clue. . .”

  “Well, then you know as well as I do there’s any number of things that could prove useful to those who want to harm or threaten our country.”

  “Right,but have there been any other finds in the Middle East, something like the first communication we intercepted?”

  “Not that I know of. If there was something else, it didn’t get to me.”

  “Okay,” Isaac loosened the knot of his tie.

  “Ahh,” she grumbled, standing up and stretching. “I’ve got to go. I have my date with the hangman.”

  “I’ll see how Daniel’s getting along. . . “Don’t you wanna see what he’s found before your meeting?” he stood up.

  Emma Soto shook her head. “The President wants to see me right now, soI don’t have time to get my excuses or explanations ready.”

  Isaac Rose watched as the concerned woman as she threw her cell phone and a couple of other personal effects into her purse. She didn’t say anything else to him while she shut down her laptop, leaving it on the desk, before wandering toward the door.

  “Well, I’ll call you if I think there’s anything you and the boss need to know,” he offered.

  Soto nodded semi-gratefully, before slipping from the room. She left the door open, but only for a second, because a new figure appeared in the doorway. It was Daniel. He was still visibly upset, but he clutched a fresh sheaf of papers in his hand.

  “Found something?”

  He nodded, walking a few paces into the room and offered Rose the file.

  “If this is all gobbledegook again,” he muttered, flipping over the blank top sheet.

  “It’s the file that was breached,” Daniel explained. “Access was only available for...” …maybe thirty seconds, but that’s plenty long enough to download most, if not all, of this stuff.”