by Leigh Bale
He met Grams’ eyes without flinching, but Toni caught a flicker of doubt. “Yes, ma’am.”
Toni prayed Grandma didn’t scold him.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “In case the burglar returned. I wanted to make sure you two were safe.”
“But how did you know we were here?” Toni asked.
“I called your Aunt Holly last night to talk to you and she said now you had a security system, you’d gone home.”
“Do you know who you were fighting with? Was he the burglar?” Bernice asked.
Mac looked at Toni. She knew part of the answer. But why would Ponytail come here if he had kidnapped Cara? Had he also killed Lieutenant Andrus? The kidnapper had given them twenty-four hours to find Eric’s file. Surely Ponytail wouldn’t come here before their time was up.
Or would he?
Her emotions must have shown on her face, because Mac nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, Toni. I tried to stop him, to see if he could answer some questions for us.”
“Oh,” Toni groaned and covered her face with her hands. “This is getting too complicated. I don’t understand anything.”
She glanced at the grandfather clock. Just past six in the morning. Sunlight filtered through the sliding glass door, offering the promise of a new day. They had only a few hours to find Eric’s missing file.
“What questions? What is going on here?” Bernice spoke in a demanding tone, expecting some answers.
Mac hesitated, looking at Toni. On top of everything else, she feared her grandmother was losing her hold on reality. The elderly lady didn’t seem to remember that Cara had been kidnapped. Either that, or this was the woman’s way of coping with the loss.
She faced her grandmother, speaking in a gentle tone. “Grams, remember Cara’s been taken? I need you to be strong, or we won’t be able to help Cara.”
Bernice’s eyes hardened. “What’s happened to my granddaughter?”
Mac’s cell phone started to ring and he glanced at the caller ID. “It’s the Colonel.”
“So early? He must have some news to be calling you at this time of the morning.” A thrill of expectancy churned in Toni’s stomach. Maybe they could find Eric’s missing file before it was too late.
While Mac stepped away to take the call, Toni explained again to Grams about the ponytail man trying to run them off the road, Cara’s kidnapping and then finding Lieutenant Andrus dead. She omitted the news that Mac may have killed Eric. Even if it were true, it wouldn’t be Christlike to speak of it until the final test results came in. Above all else, Toni wanted to protect her family from any more hurt.
“I’m sorry, Grams, but that’s all I know. I have no idea who took Cara or what exactly we’re dealing with.”
“We must call the police,” Grams said.
“We have. And Colonel Wilkinson has promised to help.”
“Oh, dear.” By the time Mac returned, Bernice sat slumped against the couch, her face ashen, her cheeks damp with tears. She didn’t say a word. Instead, she stared at Mac with hope filling her eyes.
“What did the Colonel say?” Toni asked.
Mac shrugged. “As expected, he came up empty on Eric’s personnel file. No one at the Pentagon seems to know anything about a secret file. If they do, they’re not talking.”
“But where does that leave Cara?” Grandma groaned and clasped a hand to her mouth, looking grief-stricken.
Mac reached out and squeezed Bernice’s shoulder, his voice soft and comforting. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hamilton, we’ll get her back safe and sound. We still have time.”
Bernice nodded and showed a trembling smile. Her eyes were filled with trust. “I know you’ll do your best, Mac.”
“We should hear from the kidnappers soon,” Toni said.
“Yes, it’s almost time. Agent Miller should be here with his team soon. What do you want to tell the kidnapper when they call?”
Toni bit her bottom lip, thinking. “I’ll bluff, of course. I’ve got to buy us some more time.”
Mac whipped a CD out of his shirt pocket. “Let’s give them this and keep the flash drive hidden safe.”
She took the disc, raising her eyebrows at him. “What is this?”
“A military CD filled with obsolete maps and diagrams. Nothing on that disc will get anyone killed.”
Except possibly Cara.
“It’s a daring ploy, but it just might work,” Toni said. “But what about Lieutenant Andrus? Has the Colonel heard anything from NCIS as to who killed him?”
“No, they have no leads. The Colonel’s coming over right now to speak with us and he asked that we wait until he gets here.”
Toni hesitated, thinking this a bit odd. “Okay, whatever you say.”
He took a deep inhale, then let it go. “I can’t explain why, but I feel strongly that I should take another look at Eric’s flash drive.”
“But there’s nothing on it.”
He hesitated. “We must have missed something.”
“Like what?”
Mac tilted his head. “If I knew that, I’d be able to offer Cara’s kidnappers what they’re after.”
If only it were that easy.
“But I don’t have a computer anymore.”
“That’s okay. I brought my laptop. It’s out in my truck. I’ll go get it.”
While Mac went outside, Toni retrieved Eric’s flash drive from her room. In the den, Mac booted up his computer. Bernice went into the kitchen to prepare something for breakfast.
As Mac sat at the desk, he couldn’t help feeling grateful he’d been here. He couldn’t sleep last night. A pressing feeling had weighed heavily on his mind, urging him to go and watch over Toni’s house. He’d called Aunt Holly and discovered that Toni and her grandmother had gone home. Now, he believed the Spirit had warned him of the danger and sent him here to protect Toni and Bernice.
As long as he lived, Mac would be grateful he hadn’t resisted.
Looking at Toni, he caught her studying him. “Are you okay, Toni?”
“Yes, just a bit shaken up. This has all been very difficult.”
She sat next to him in front of the computer. He gave her an encouraging smile as he leaned his cane against the side of the desk close by in case he needed it. “You’ve handled everything pretty well. I want to thank you, too.”
“For what?”
“For listening to me. For letting me tell you everything. I’ve carried the weight of guilt on my heart so long and it helped to talk about it.”
Silence filled the room, deep and unsettling. They gazed into one another’s eyes, drawing nearer.
She blinked and drew away. “Let’s just look at the pictures Eric sent me.”
His heart wrenched. What a dope. She didn’t want him. Not after what he’d told her. Not after what he might have done to Eric. A familiar feeling crept over him.
Despair.
He fought it off, determined to have faith. All things were possible with God and Mac wouldn’t allow fear to take over his heart again. He needed the Lord now more than ever.
He turned back to the computer and logged on, trying to ignore the heavy ache weighting his chest. He longed to tell Toni he still loved her and wanted to be together, but didn’t think now was the time. Maybe later.
Maybe never.
The doorbell rang and Toni went to answer it. She returned with the Colonel. As they entered the den, Mac turned from the computer and nodded a greeting. The Colonel stood behind Mac, staring at the screen.
“Any luck, yet?” Wilkinson asked.
“No…maybe. Look at the file size of these photos.” Conscious of Toni standing beside him, Mac ran the cursor over several individual pictures and pointed to where it listed the dimension, type and size of the individual files.
“They all look about the same to me,” Toni said.
“All except for this one.” He moved the cursor over the photo of him posing with Eric and Lieutenant Andrus.
Toni gas
ped. “That file is enormous!”
“Yes, almost ten meg. All the other files are small in comparison. Large or small, the photos print and look completely normal. It’d be easy to overlook. But they’re definitely different.”
“Hmm, you think there’s something hidden inside the large file?” Colonel Wilkinson asked.
“I sure do.” Mac focused on the computer. “I think Eric digitally included Andrus in this photo so I would notice it. He hid data in the pixels for me to find.”
Toni leaned closer. “But how do we find out what’s hidden there?”
“I remember Eric teaching me a technique called steganography.”
“Ah, yes.” The Colonel nodded, seeming to understand immediately. “The military uses it all the time.”
“Would you mind explaining the process to a mere civilian?” Toni asked.
“Sure.” Mac looked at her. “Pictures are made up of individual pixels, which define color for the photo. Some of the pixels are empty and tiny pieces of data can be implanted there, a technique for transferring hidden files.”
“Both Andrus and Hamilton were intelligence officers and would have known about the process,” the Colonel pointed out as he sat on the small sofa against the wall.
Toni sank into an easy chair, looking bewildered. “Mac, you told me Eric didn’t get along well with Lieutenant Andrus. What if Eric found out Andrus was selling secret information to the Taliban? Could Andrus have been the traitor? And would he have been able to cause the ambush in order to get Eric killed?”
Mac frowned. The thought had occurred to him, but he still didn’t think that was what had gotten Eric killed. “Yes, it’s very possible.”
“But who murdered Andrus?” the Colonel asked.
Toni shook her head. “Maybe the ponytail man did it, though I have no idea how he figures into all of this.”
At the Colonel’s quizzical expression, Mac explained that the man with long, dark hair had attacked Bernice earlier that morning. “Agent Miller and his NCIS team should be here soon and we’ll tell them what happened.”
“He could be working with any number of people,” Wilkinson said. “Right now, do you think you can reveal the encrypted data on that flash drive?”
“Give me a few more minutes. I need to log onto the Internet and see if I can download a trial copy of Password Cracker.” Mac clicked the icon on the computer to open up the Internet.
Toni’s forehead crinkled. “Password Cracker? How exactly does it work?”
Her curious mind was just one thing Mac loved about her and he took great pleasure in explaining. “There are numerous programs used to reveal the slack space in a file, including Password Cracker. It’s easy for anyone to download trial programs. It’ll take me just awhile to make it work.”
With a deep sigh, she settled back against the sofa. Mac went to work. Within twenty minutes, he downloaded the program and ran it.
“Yes!” Mac whooped with victory, his gaze scanning the data he’d revealed.
Both Toni and Colonel Wilkinson jumped up, then leaned over Mac, perusing the computer screen with anxiousness. Over their excited exclamations, the doorbell rang, but Toni paid it no heed. Probably just agent Miller. Grams was out in the kitchen and would answer the door.
“What is it? What have you found?” Wilkinson asked with eagerness.
“Wow!” Mac breathed as he traced the data. “This includes a number of top secret files and an encryption key. No wonder the kidnappers want it so bad.”
“What’s that?” Toni gestured to an email file.
Mac opened it, then sat back, stunned.
The Colonel stared wide eyed, his mouth hanging slack. Then, he gave a low whistle. “I think you just solved a big piece of the puzzle.”
“Yes,” Mac agreed. “We just confirmed the identity of the traitor and his accomplice. And it’s not what I ever expected.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Toni stared at the information on the computer screen, not fully understanding what she was looking at. She waited for Mac and the Colonel to explain.
Mac spoke slowly, as if he couldn’t believe what he saw. “This is correspondence between the Taliban and one of our own men. We now have proof.”
“Thank you for finding the encryption key for me.”
Toni whirled around. CIA Agent Derek Hooper stood in the open doorway holding a gun pressed against Cara’s side. The girl whimpered.
At first sight of her sister, Toni blinked, unable to believe her eyes.
The doorbell! Hooper was gutsy enough to come in through the front door.
“Cara.” Toni took a step toward her sister. If she could just….
“Uh-uh,” Hooper threw Toni a warning glare. “Stay right where you are, or I’ll kill her.”
Toni froze. Cara released a low moan, her eyes filled with fear. Trails of tears streaked the girl’s grimy face, her clothing torn and covered with filth. Hooper held her in front of him, one of his arms pulling her back against his chest. She gripped his arm with both hands as he leaned his face over her right shoulder and pressed the side of his cheek against hers. The girl shuddered, appearing cold and shaken.
Terrified.
“Don’t you dare hurt my granddaughter.” Grams stood beside Hooper, her lips pressed tight, her eyes filled with indignance.
“Shut up, you old hag, and sit down over there.” Hooper jutted his chin toward the sofa.
Toni sucked in a breath of outrage.
Bernice’s mouth dropped open. “Why, I’ve never.”
“I said sit down.”
The CIA agent’s eyes glittered with malice. His low tone raised the hair on the back of Toni’s neck. Bernice took the warning. She clamped her mouth shut and settled on the couch with a disgruntled “harrumph.”
Mac came to his feet, staggering on his injured leg as he stood beside Toni and the Colonel. He reached for his cane to steady himself, gripping it with whitened knuckles. “What do you want, Hooper?”
The agent shook his head, his thin mouth curved in a cruel smile. “Stay where you are, Mac. You don’t want to get Miss Hamilton killed, do you?”
Mac stood still, his jaw locked.
Hooper nudged Cara’s temple with the barrel of his gun. He wore his standard blue suit, his tie loose around his collar, his white shirt rumpled as if he’d spent the night in his clothes.
“You’ll never get away with this.” The Colonel warned.
Hooper tightened his grip on Cara. The teenager’s sharp intake of breath caused them all to hold very still. “I have gotten away with it, Colonel. Now, I’m just tying up loose ends.”
“What do you want?” Toni asked, unable to contain an edge of desperation in her voice.
Hooper’s gaze rested on her, filled with such hatred that she almost flinched. “I want the file your brother sent you, and I want it now.”
“What good is it to you?” Mac took a hobbling step, as if shifting his weight on his bad leg. “It won’t work, unless you already have the data it opens.”
An evil smile curved Hooper’s hawkish face. “I have it. Six weeks ago, I intercepted a briefcase of top secret files, which I sold to the Taliban. They need the encryption key to unlock the data before our military changes it. Lots of important names, maps, technology and strategies. And you just found the key that will open it for me.”
The Colonel snorted. “The encryption key won’t do you any good.”
“Oh? And why’s that?” Hooper’s brows lifted in an evil slant.
“The data you intercepted was a plant. For some time, we’ve suspected a traitor on the inside was selling top-secret military intelligence to the Taliban. We allowed fake data to be stolen, to draw out the traitor. After the ambush, we figured the spy had to be either Lieutenant Andrus or Sergeant MacKenzie. They were the only two survivors.”
Mac’s eyes widened at this revelation. “You suspected me?”
“Sorry, Mac.” The Colonel didn’t smile. “I would
have told you, but we had to make sure you weren’t guilty. When both you and Andrus survived the ambush, we didn’t know who to trust.”
“That’s right,” Hooper sneered at Mac. “You should have died with those other men, but you lived.”
Toni felt the blood drain from her face. Now, she realized God had been with Mac that night, guarding and protecting him. Bringing him home so he could help her.
We need You now, Lord. Surely You didn’t bring Mac home just to let Hooper kill us and get away with treason.
“So, the traitor was Andrus,” Mac growled.
Hooper nodded, a low chuckle trembling in his throat. “We had a partnership of sorts. He stole the intel and gave it to me, and I passed it on to a Taliban operative. I was the middle man, but Andrus proved worthless in the end.”
“Did Andrus kidnap Cara?”
“Yes, he was holding her in the basement of his house until you found the encryption key for us.”
“You murdered him, didn’t you?” Mac said.
“That’s right. He got cold feet.” Hooper tightened his grip on Cara. “He said killing a man in battle was one thing, but he wasn’t about to kill a girl. He wanted to set her free and forget about finding the encryption key. He left me no choice but to end his miserable life.”
Toni glared at Hooper. “And what about the man with the ponytail? He shot at me when I went to find Mac on Thorne Mountain? Is he working with you, too?”
A feline smile spread across Hooper’s face. “Jabbaar has proven useful, although he failed to find your brother’s file.”
Jabbaar. So, the man had a name after all.
“Did you and Andrus set up the ambush in Afghanistan?” Mac’s voice vibrated with controlled anger.
“Of course.”
Toni sucked in a furious breath. “You got all those men killed.”
Hooper’s eyes narrowed on her and she saw not one shred of remorse.
“I had to. Your brother discovered what Andrus was up to, but he didn’t know Andrus worked with me. Until he knew who to trust, Eric sent the file to you, to keep it safe.”
Mac’s jaw tightened. “That day you came to see me at the cabin, you weren’t investigating the ambush. You weren’t there as a friend. You were feeling me out to see if I knew anything about the secret file.”