by Toby Neal
“Yes sir,” Bateman’s tinny young voice quavered. Waxman cut the connection.
“My God. You wouldn’t.”
“I just did. You are working on and using federal property and that program is ours to erase off of any Bureau computer at any time.”
“I have a patent filed on DAVID,” Sophie said. Yes, she’d called the lawyer her father had provided, but the process had only just begun. She had to bluff. “This is not the Bureau’s software. It’s mine.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and I’m shutting it down,” Waxman’s voice was scratchy with anger. “You think you can outright defy me? Think again. You’re getting written up for this, Agent Ang, and I’m sending Bateman to your home address to make sure you’re shut down there too.”
Sophie cast her eyes down, ticking through her list of choices. She needed Waxman on her side, backing her up. Appearing to comply was the best course.
“This programmer at Security Solutions might be dangerous to the Bureau or me personally. I know he, or someone working at Security Solutions, may be sabotaging their criminal clients. I don’t like that he’s tracked my location as close as my building. I agree with you, sir. I shouldn’t have bent the rules. I’ll take Bateman to my residence myself and extract DAVID. I’ve already debugged the tracking program from the Security Solutions data stream, of course.”
Sophie’s demure manner seemed to be reassuring her boss because she heard him shuffling papers and the low sound of his breathing as he reined in his temper. She kept her eyes down.
So much for calling him “Ben.”
“That will be acceptable. And yes, let’s identify and put out a Be On Look Out through HPD on this programmer of theirs if you don’t get a call back from Chan with an interview time. You’ll be happy to hear we are getting interest from our superiors on moving forward against Security Solutions.”
“That’s a good step. I’ll keep you informed.”
“Dismissed. Keep me up to speed on developments.” His voice was cold.
“Yes, sir.” She shut his office door softly.
Sophie went quickly to the women’s room. She had to safeguard DAVID.
Using her smartphone, she shunted a copy of the DAVID software to her own secure cloud server location. She kept a copy of all the data from her investigation into Assan and the “simultaneous” cases in that secret file as well. Then, she initiated the process of deleting DAVID, and all her FBI programs, off her home computers.
Waxman was right about one thing. She didn’t like having an unknown subject know where she lived.
Bateman was gone from her workstation by the time she returned to her cockpit of computers, leaving a post-it note with “I’m sorry” scrawled on it in the middle of her desk. She decided to take the young agent out to her apartment later, on her way home.
Lee Chan had left a message on her work phone. “Hi, Sophie. Our programmer, Todd Remarkian, is out of the country right now and is not available to speak to you in person. I’ve emailed you his itinerary to verify that he won’t be back anytime soon, but you can reach him at this number.” He rattled off a phone number.
Sophie jotted it down and immediately called, using her headphones and the Bureau phone line. A robust male voice with a slight Australian accent picked up. “G’day.”
“Todd Remarkian? This is Special Agent Sophie Ang at the FBI. How are you today?”
“Well, it’s sunny in Hong Kong, so that’s something,” Remarkian said. She ran a program on the phone to verify that’s where he was. The trace ran in the corner of her screen, tracking his location. “What can I help you with?”
“I’m calling regarding some irregularities with your computer systems,” Sophie said. “I need to speak with you and go over some trends I’ve discovered.”
“Well, I’m on assignment here in Hong Kong, and I won’t be back for several months,” Remarkian said regretfully. The icon tracing the call pulsed, identifying the destination of the call as a cell phone in the New World Millennium Hotel in Hong Kong. Of course, it was always possible he had a location blocker enabled, but why?
“Perhaps we can videoconference later and I can let you know about our concerns.” She wanted to get a look at this man.
“I just wouldn’t feel right about talking about any confidential information over the phone or any of those apps,” Remarkian said. “You never know who’s listening. Especially around here.” His voice sounded serious. “I do have an encrypted email account though. Perhaps you could send me some information, files to review?”
“And I don’t like email. You’ve been identified as the mastermind behind Security Solutions’ software division. Who can I speak with here in the States that you’d consider your next in command?”
“Well, I’m not, actually. The ‘mastermind’ is Sheldon Hamilton, our CEO. We developed the systems together, and he brought me in on the project. Lee Chan represents us right now since we’re both in Hong Kong. I’m given to understand you’ve already met him.”
“I have. We went to school together, actually. Lee it is then. Let me know the minute you’re back in this country for any reason.”
“Of course, Agent Ang. I confess I’m curious.” Sophie heard a note of self-deprecating humor in his voice.
“Nothing I can discuss here and now.” Sophie said. “I hope I can count on your full cooperation.”
“Yes. We want the FBI happy with us,” Remarkian said. “Not to mention the CIA, the NSA, and Homeland. So many federal agencies to keep happy.” She heard steel in his voice.
“Okay, I’ll call Lee then. Until we meet in person.”
“G’day, then.” Remarkian hung up decisively.
Sophie called Ken, brought him up-to-date and then called Lee asking to meet with him and Honing, vice president of the company, to discuss some “data irregularities” within the company.
“Can you tell me what this is about, Agent Ang? Confidentially?” She could hear the worry in Lee’s voice. “I don’t want my boss to be mad at me if I can help it.”
She remembered his earnest face while studying with him. He’d been good, but a linear thinker. There was no way he had the brilliance needed to develop Security Solutions’ software. She could see him being able to track her location, though.
“I’m sorry, Lee. I’ll have to talk to you and the other VP in person.”
It wasn’t long before Sophie and Ken Yamada sat in the office of the Vice President of Security Solutions’ client operations. Frank Honing, the VP, was a dark-haired man with a restless manner. He clicked and unclicked a stylus, with an electronic pad on his knee, as they sat down in a luxurious seating arrangement around a low coffee table. Lee Chan looked haggard, tilted dark eyes set in pouches of purplish flesh as if he hadn’t slept in days. Sophie felt a stab of guilt, looking at him.
“So what’s so urgent?” Honing asked. “First, we have an unscheduled visit, now this meeting request. Should I call our legal department for this meeting?”
“No,” Sophie said. “We’re here to help you, actually.” She had a folder on her lap. She hadn’t wanted to give them any data to mine further so she’d printed out the texts from the various situations the saboteur had engineered. “I spoke to your programmer, Todd Remarkian, and verified he was out of the country. If your company’s president is available, he should hear this, too. It’s regarding some irregularities we’ve discovered within your company that intersect with criminal cases.”
“Our Chief Executive Officer, Sheldon Hamilton, is out of the country, as well. They’re both in Hong Kong,” Honing barked. “I tried to get them on speaker at least, but they’re in meetings right now. We’re penetrating the Asian market and things are at a delicate stage of development. You can tell us anything you’d tell them.”
Ken gave Sophie a nod. They’d got the go-ahead to disclose the information on the cases Sophie had gathered by verifying with Gundersohn and Waxman that the company, however shady it might
turn out to be, deserved to have this information.
“This information came through my computer analysis and some detective work.” Sophie took out three stapled stacks of paper. “Each of these is a transcript of extracted text messages from separate and unrelated crimes that may have been precipitated from within your company. In any case, Security Solutions is the only common factor in each of these seemingly coincidental setups.”
Sophie handed each of them, and Yamada, one of the stacks of papers. It was ridiculously antiquated to disseminate information this way, but once something was in digital form there was no telling where it would go or how it could be manipulated. “I’ll need to collect these printouts after this meeting. The upshot is this: we think you may have a saboteur within your company, someone who is using your clients’ criminal enterprises against them.”
She talked them through each of the cases: the gangsters killing each other, the SEC traders turning each other in, the kidnappers, the child porn ring. “We hope that by sharing this information with you, you can help us identify the saboteur within your company.”
“I had no idea.” Lee’s face had gone the color of beeswax. “Clearly this person has some computer savvy, but we have a whole Internet security division. It could really be anyone with access to our clients and their phone contacts.”
“Can you work up a list for us? We’ll help you nail this guy,” Ken said.
Lee glanced at Honing, who shook his head. “No. We don’t want a joint investigation with the FBI. You appear to have some interesting intel. How did you even come up with this?” Honing pinned Sophie with sharp dark eyes.
“I ran an analysis on these cases.” She shrugged as if it were both too simple and too complicated to explain. “It appears Security Solutions caters to the unsavory, and if someone is sabotaging your clients and helping them get busted by law enforcement, who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth?” It felt good to work the phrase into a sentence against this smug bureaucrat. “We’ve offered to help you, but fine. Clean up your own mess if you can. We’ll continue with our inquiry. I warn you, though, so far, we’re not impressed by the company you keep.”
A dusky flush rose up Honing’s neck. He tapped the tablet’s screen and made a sweeping gesture with the stylus. “We appreciate the information you’ve just passed on, and assure you we will cooperate fully with the FBI. We will be in contact with our management team for our next steps.” He stood, six foot of intimidating, forcing them to get up too.
“Let us know if you find the saboteur,” Ken said. “On behalf of law enforcement, we’ll be hoping it takes a long time.”
Sophie had to reach out and tug the printouts of the text messages out of Honing’s and Lee’s hands. “We’ll see ourselves out. You’ll hear from us if there’s any further information that comes to light.”
The Ghost watched a video of the meeting between Honing, Chan, and the federal agents. He zoomed in on Special Agent Sophie Ang’s face. Today she wore a pair of slim black pants and a tailored button-down shirt that showcased a slender toned body that reminded him of a human Doberman—and he was partial to Dobermans.
He could see muscle definition in her forearms and he glimpsed some sort of writing, tattoos, on the insides of her arms. He loved the color of her bronze skin, smooth as buttermilk. Her large dark eyes flashed with intelligence as she sparred verbally with Frank Honing, and he was glad the surveillance feed of the vice president’s office was both color and audio wired as he noted every word and gesture.
He wondered what kind of program she was running to be able to track the saboteur and draw these conclusions. He didn’t like what she was saying, of course. This was a major wrinkle. One he was going to have to put some thought and planning into addressing, but the fact that she’d gone to the company with her findings earned his respect. Gratitude, even.
Sophie Ang wasn’t just going to joust with him in the dark alleys of the Internet, she was after him in the flesh. He liked that, very much. He wondered if she was onto his countermeasures, but nothing in the video or conversation gave any hint.
The Ghost glanced down, annoyed, as his cell rang with a call from Lee. He’d known the tech would need reassurance, but he didn’t want to deal with him right now. He wanted to get to know Sophie Ang better.
He replayed the video and watched it again, from the beginning.
Chapter Eleven
Back at her office, Sophie told Ken she wanted to dig deeper into who was behind the kidnapping case by reviewing the whole file. It ate at her that whoever was behind Anna’s kidnapping was still at large. She had about an hour before she needed to take Bateman to her house to verify DAVID was gone from her workstation and she was due to meet Alika. Her pulse picked up, thinking of their date. It was nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day.
Sophie opened a file on Takeda Industries, the company that owned the apartment where Anna had been held, and began her digging. Even without DAVID, she could use the FBI’s secure browser to gather deeper than usual data about the company. She identified a parent holding company, a board of directors with photos, a variety of ostensible enterprises that included rental units, used rental cars, even rental furniture.
Victims could be picked up in company rental cars, housed in company rental units, tended to by kidnappers lounging on company rental furniture. She curled her lip in disgust.
Or, the kidnappers had just bought information on the family, and all three were dead in the morgue. There was no way to tell which it was at this stage. Sophie shunted all she’d gathered to Ken’s computer for him and Gundersohn to review, and glanced at the clock. It was time to go.
Bateman glanced around Sophie’s bedroom, avidly curious. Sophie keyed on her machines with the coded fob.
“Nice,” Bateman said. “Wondering how you afford all this on the same salary I get.” The podgy young agent had annoyed her with his fumbling advances in the past, and now she could add poorly hidden resentment of her family’s wealth to her dislike of him.
Having him here, in her bedroom, was almost beyond bearing.
“Who said we’re in the same pay grade? Just do what you came to do. Verify that DAVID has been removed from my home workstation.”
Bateman sat in her office chair and accessed Ying’s main drive. It didn’t take long for him to scan through all three machines. “It’s gone.” He squinted at her. “But I’m sure it’s not really gone.”
“None of your business, Special Agent Bateman. Now get the hell out of my apartment.”
He did, and she slammed and locked the door behind him. Ginger rubbed against her legs, whining as she sensed Sophie’s distress. “Thank God I’m seeing Alika. That will take my mind off the kind of day this was.”
Sophie showered and dressed in her best matching underwear, a pearl-colored satin set from a cousin who was a designer. She put on a whisk of mascara and a swish of scarlet lipstick and donned her favorite earrings, fat baroque pearls the size of cherries on little chains that swung when she turned her head. She dressed in black jeans and a tank top because that’s what she usually wore. She didn’t want him to think she was overly excited about their date.
She fed Ginger. She paced around.
Time went by. Alika didn’t show. She texted him a half-hour after he was supposed to be there. “Still going to sushi tonight?”
No reply.
Sophie poured herself a glass of wine, sat in the chair that faced a view of glorious setting sun reflecting off a burnished metal ocean. She got up and paced some more, annoyed. Irritated that she was annoyed.
She missed DAVID and her FBI work on her computer with the sudden fierceness like an addict must feel, longing for the needle. Her oblivion was being ‘wired in,’ and without her work, she was aimless, floating. Unplugged.
Alika’s no-show wasn’t helping. She called his phone and it went immediately to voice mail.
“Hey, it’s Alika. Leave a message.”
“Hey, Alika. Sophie here. Thought we were getting together? Well, I guess it didn’t work out. Give me a call when you get this.” She tried to keep her tone free of anything but slight puzzlement.
She hung up. A sense of loss, strangling and disproportionately terrible, clenched her stomach. She wanted to cry. Angry and agitated, she got on her treadmill and walked just to move while she waited. Ginger watched anxiously.
Another hour went by. The sun was long gone and the phone still didn’t ring.
Sophie took off her jeans, tank shirt and pretty underwear and put them away. She should never have let herself care about him.
She dressed in her running clothes, plugged headphones into her phone, and stuck it in the pocket of her running shorts along with keys and pepper spray. She broke into a jog on the sidewalk with Ginger trotting at her side. The lights of the city cast pools of amber on the sidewalk and familiar storefronts were rendered mysterious in the darkness. They ended up at Ala Moana Beach Park, much further than she’d intended to go.
It took that long running for Sophie to feel herself again after the blow of rejection. This was the first time Sophie really considered that she might need therapy, as Dr. LaSota had suggested.
A man hadn’t come to pick her up for a date. It wasn’t the end of anybody’s world and shouldn’t feel like it. That Alika could affect her that way frightened her. It was ridiculous, disproportional.
The run had also given her time to tick over all the information she’d gathered on the case. She came to the same conclusions about the saboteur and Security Solutions as she had earlier. For the short term, they could focus on finding the leak connection between Security Solutions and the kidnapping case, and as they did so, the FBI could build something long-term against Security Solutions, perhaps even use the company as a window to spy on their criminal clients.
It felt good to walk along the sand at the park and finally sit, gazing out at the ocean. Sophie watched the moon rise over the water and listened to the waves. The water smelled briny from nearby Ala Wai Canal, and the rigging of boats in the yacht harbor clanged in a melody accompanied by the rustling of palm fronds in the light breeze. Ginger flopped in the sand beside her, panting.