Jake wanted to ask her how she financed her studies, but he knew it was none of his business. Their meals came and they ate in silence. The momentum was lost, at least for the time being. At a minimum, he wanted to somehow get her contact information and find out where she would be spending her next year in the U.S.
At one point during the flight, when Anya excused herself to use the lavatory, Jake thought momentarily about inserting his magic thumb drive into her laptop—which she had left behind on her seat—but he quickly came to his senses.
Gross! That thumb drive is a damn elixir, like having the genie give me three magic wishes. That’s not why I have it.
THE FLIGHT LANDED AT Dulles. Jake gave Anya his contact information, and she reciprocated. Mission accomplished. He now had her last name: Lebedev. Better still, Jake learned she would be in a graduate program at Harvard, but said she would be spending a few days with friends in the D.C. area before going on to Boston. He also managed to learn that all of her expenses were covered by the Russian government. At the end of the year in Boston, she was expected to return home and spend one year for each year of financing she had received working for the Russian foreign service.
As they walked toward the terminal exit, he asked her if he could drop her off somewhere, but she politely declined. He saw Leah standing in the arriving area, and said goodbye to his flight companion, after doing his best to keep the door open. “Please give me a call if there’s anything I can do for you during your stay in the U.S.”
CHAPTER 20
November 23, 2019, One Day Later
JAKE HAD ALREADY GIVEN Leah a summary of his trip to Kazakhstan on the ride home from Dulles—in typical JK fashion, very short. “I was helping one of my professors with a book he’s writing. I attended a computer science convention in Kazakhstan for him, and now I have to write it up for his book.” In passing, he also mentioned he was thinking of taking one year off from college to explore developing a cybersecurity business platform. That went over like a lead balloon. He did not connect the two subjects, the relationship of his trip to Kazakhstan and taking a year off from school—if not longer.
Leah was worse than unhappy, but at least she hadn’t become hysterical. He assumed she didn’t want to put a damper on the upcoming family Thanksgiving weekend, and the December holiday season. What she said was, “Young people need a college degree today more than ever. You can always take a year off between getting your bachelor’s degree and going to graduate school.”
Jake didn’t argue. He didn’t want to spoil the family visit either. He said he hadn’t fully made up his mind, but was just giving the idea some thought.
JAKE WAS SITTING AT the food court in one of the nearby local malls with Leah’s step-daughter, Madison Lotello, and Madison’s best friend, Cassie Webber. They had all gone for a jog, and were now enjoying lunch. Jake had the feeling that Cassie had politely refrained from outdoing Madison and Jake during their run.
Madison and Cassie were high school seniors, and Jake knew all about Cassie’s background. On the light side, she was a golf superstar and generally an over-achiever. On the darker side, she had been very fortunate to survive a harrowing week-long kidnapping ordeal at the hands of a psychopath who meant to pressure her grandfather, a Supreme Court justice, to fix the decision in a landmark courtroom battle.
“How’s your golf game doing?” Jake asked.
“You’re a little bit behind the times, Uncle Jake,” Madison said. “I’d say her game’s okay. She joined the LPGA tour four years ago, and is fast becoming one of the top money earners on the tour. She’s now winning two to three professional tournaments a year.”
“Wow. I was going to ask you if we could get in a round together while I’m visiting, but maybe that might not be so good for my self-esteem,” Jake said.
Cassie smiled. “Sure thing, any time. We can play at my parents’ club. It’s a nice track. I’m the touring pro there now. Give me your cell phone number. I’ll let you know when I have an opening in my golf schedule.”
“OMG, WHAT A HUNK,” Cassie said to Madison later that day, obviously referring to Jake.
“Cassie! What are you saying? Jake is my uncle! You can’t talk like that!”
“He’s just your step-uncle. It’s not like he’s a blood relative of yours or anything.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Madison said.
“It doesn’t matter to me either,” Cassie smiled. She knew that she and Madison were speaking at cross-purposes, about very different “matters.”
CHAPTER 21
November 25, 2019, Two Days Later
JAKE STAYED MOSTLY TO himself for the next two days. First of all, he had slept most of the day before, recovering from the jet lag. By today, Monday, most everyone else in the Lotello/Klein household were preoccupied with their own weekday agendas. Niece Madison and nephew Charlie had gone off to school. Dad Frank had work, protecting all the D.C. denizens from the criminal element. Leah was pulling double duty between her law practice and getting ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. They all said how much they loved having Jake there with them, but they all were busy too.
Anya had popped into his mind several times. He wanted to call her, but every time he thought about doing it, he chickened out. He convinced himself it would be best to wait until the following week. The truth was, he was afraid she wouldn’t be the least bit interested.
He also owed Professor Carter a report and was struggling with exactly what to give him. He and Carter had different objectives. He knew Carter had to publish his work-in-progress book on computer hacking and cybercrime, and would like to cherry pick everything that was on Jake’s mind. Jake simply wasn’t willing to reveal to Carter everything he was intending to pursue—even though Carter’s grant money had really given Jake a big boost.
He was going to send Carter some kind of a bare bone’s report, giving him something he could use for his book—and then be done with him. But no way Jake was going to allow Carter to become part of Jake’s plans.
The first thing Jake needed to learn was more about the three primary characters he had identified: the quadriplegic, Professor Lars Nilsen, the ever elusive Mr. Leonid Gradsky and, of course, the single-named dark web celebrity, Cipher. And what the connections were between Cipher and Nilsen, and Cipher and Gradsky. The second thing he needed to figure out was how any of them were planning to be involved in the election. Based on his visit with Nilsen, Jake had little doubt that the integrity of the election was in jeopardy, and that some combination of his three individual targets were at the root of it all. To topple that was an opportunity that Jake could not pass up.
The starting point for Jake was to head back to the dark web. That would be the easy part. He would begin digging in the morning.
It was what would come next that worried Jake. But he knew that was what held the key to everything. No risk, no reward.
CHAPTER 22
November 26, 2019, One Day Later
GIVEN HIS EXTRAORDINARY APPEARANCE at the KHC last week, Jake decided that Nilsen was the logical starting point of his investigation. He was not disappointed. Tons of people who attended the KHC and watched his presentation had already posted comments on what they had witnessed, but Jake was more intrigued by what he hadn’t seen.
Apart from similar posts about when Nilsen had publicly appeared at other events, dating back to 2015, Jake found hardly anything on Nilsen—especially prior to 2015. Nilsen had authored a few earlier papers, but not all that many. Where did Nilsen come from? What exactly was the affliction from which he suffered? An injury? Some kind of debilitating illness? Aside from a couple of superficial references to his extreme physical condition, there just wasn’t much of anything.
One of Nilsen’s assistants had referred to him as “Professor.” Jake traded in the dark web for the customary internet, and went in search of universities located in Copenhagen. He found no mention of Nilsen in any of his conventional browsers. No Copen
hagen based institutions of higher learning listed Nilsen as a faculty member. He expanded his search to all of Denmark. That finally produced one solitary hit.
As Jake was about to give up, he stumbled across DTU, the Technical University of Denmark. Located in the town of Kongens Lyngby, seven miles north of central Copenhagen, it was founded in 1829 as Denmark’s first polytechnic institution, specializing in vocational and technical subjects. In other words, a trade school. DTU’s website listed a “Dr.” Lars Nilsen on its faculty. Apart from saying that he taught courses in computer science and technology, little more information was provided.
At least, and at last, Jake had “found” Nilsen. Jake felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped. “Whoa, sorry JK, didn’t mean to startle you,” Madison said. “Mom asked me to let you know dinner’s in fifteen.”
“No problem, guess I was deep in thought,” Jake said.
“Whatcha working on, anything interesting?” Madison asked.
“Not really, just some stuff for school. What’s for dinner?”
“Don’t know, but it smells good. Mom must be making something special for you.”
“Great. I’m gonna take a quick shower, freshen up my foggy brain. See you in a few.” Gradsky will have to wait for a couple more hours.
JAKE WAS BACK ON the dark web later that evening. Gradsky apparently hailed from the former Soviet Union, but not the part that encompassed Russia. He found a couple of stories about Gradsky being involved in a laboratory explosion that burned his face, but nothing else. The man really was kind of like a ghost. As with Nilsen, there was very little known or reported about him.
Jake powered down his password protected alternative laptop and stuffed it away in his backpack. Tired. Tomorrow’s another day. The last thing Jake remembered as he drifted off to sleep was not Cipher, Nilsen, Gradsky, computers, thumb drives, or election fraud … it was Anya.
CHAPTER 23
November 27, 2019, One Day Later
CIPHER’S MIND KEPT WANDERING back to the two Russians who approached him at the end of the second day of the convention, Ivanov and Melchenko. They said they were enjoying the program, and wanted to know if he could arrange for them to meet with Dr. Nilsen.
His antenna had immediately skipped onto high alert. He needed to divert their attention, but at the same time, he wanted to curry any favor he possibly could with Russia. “Nilsen’s good. You guys are the second request I’ve had this week to make such an introduction.” He was curious to see if his remark would pique any interest. It did.
“No kidding. Do you recall who the other request was from?”
“Jake Klein, a first-timer here from America. Goes by the moniker JK.”
“Can you tell us how we can get in touch with this JK?”
“Do you have an iPhone?” Cipher asked.
“Da,” one of the two Russians said.
“May I have it, please,” Cipher said.
The Russian handed Cipher his phone. He took his own iPhone and held it up to the Russian’s phone, head to head. “You now have a copy of Klein’s registration for our convention on your phone. I’ll check with Nilsen and get back to you on whether he is willing to meet.”
This morning, Cipher sent an email to the Russians that he had passed along their request to meet with Nilsen, and that Nilsen had replied that he unfortunately had no time at the moment. He added that Nilsen asked for their contact information and said he would contact them when he had some free time. Cipher confirmed that he passed along their email addresses to Nilsen. He also asked them if they had been in touch with Klein.
Cipher received a prompt email reply from Melchenko. It thanked him for his assistance. He said nothing about Klein.
JAKE WAS BACK AT his two laptops. Today was Cipher day. No surprise, he found no mention of Cipher on any of his customary browsers, so he returned to the dark web on his anonymous laptop.
There was plenty of chatter, most of it about the KHC, but there was more. Cipher clearly had a presence and a reputation in the digital underworld. He seemed to mysteriously have his finger in all entrepreneurial things involved in hacking. It was not just that he seemed to know everything there was to know about hacking. It was that he also seemed to be the market maker when it came to the subject. Need an introduction? Cipher was the one who could make it happen. For a price, of course. Or anytime there was possibly something else in it for him.
Who had dealings with Cipher and who he put together with whom was another matter. There was nothing beyond some useless gossip. And whether Cipher ever crossed over the line and himself did anything unlawful was also nothing more than speculation.
This was now the creepy part that made Jake kind of anxious. The part where he struck out, unless he was prepared to do what his targets did—hack. Jake was up against a wall unless he was prepared to hack into Cipher’s computer, the one in which he had installed a “backdoor” during that harrowing thirty seconds on the dais in the Kazakhstan Hilton ballroom. Thanks to Abelson, Jake knew how. But doing it was another thing.
JAKE EXHALED, NOT REALIZING he had been holding his breath. “Enter,” he said. “It’s open.” It was Leah. How could I ever have known?
“Hey, baby bro,” she said. “Wanna make a run with me to the market while I get some last minute stuff for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving bash? Maybe you’ll find something special you’d like.”
“Sure,” he answered, powering down his laptops. Can’t put the inevitable off forever.
Leah drove. “Still planning on staying with us through New Year’s?” she asked.
“I am. Looking forward to some quality family time before next year gets underway. 2020’s going to be very busy for me. And the country, too, I suspect.”
“Made a decision yet about school?”
“Not really,” he lied. He turned the tables on her before she could push the matter further. “How’s your budding law practice doing?” After he milked that one for all he could, he moved on to married life and what it was like to be a real mom. He managed to keep up his cross examination until they returned home, and he was back at his anonymous laptop—the only one he would need for his next step. Wonder why I just don’t tell her.
JAKE DECIDED HE COULDN’T be too vigilant, so he purchased a brand new cheapie laptop computer. He took it out of the box, but did not set it up. Instead, he drove across the border into the small nondescript town of St. Michaels, Maryland, approximately 75 miles away from Leah and Frank’s home in D.C.
Once there, he opened his smartphone and found a nearby Starbucks. He checked it out on Google and confirmed that it offered free internet, as he knew most Starbucks did. Minutes later, he pulled into the St. Michaels Starbucks and went inside with his new anonymous laptop. He used the Starbucks Wi-Fi to set it up, including installing a Tor Browser.
Next, he found Abelson’s email with the Mossad software link. The link allowed Jake to download a zip file to his pristine new computer. When he opened the zip file, it contained the remote access and retrieval file, as well as several “how to” manuals and other “white paper” files explaining in detail how to use the Mossad software. He quickly skimmed the Quick Start file, figuring that would do for now.
When he opened the downloaded Mossad software, the first thing it did was display a list of all computers accessible through the thumb drive backdoor. In this instance, there was only one computer displayed—Cipher’s. He recalled that, had he been less honorable, it would also have listed a backdoor access to Anya’s laptop.
Jake “pointed” the software at Cipher’s laptop and held his breath, as if someone were watching him. Holy shit, I’m in! He expected to be confronted by an encrypted password, and he was. A few keystrokes on the Mossad software, and he was able to remotely bypass Cipher’s password as well. Scary how easily the world of hacking works—if you are armed and know what you’re doing.
And then, shocking him out of his reverie, the facetime alert on his iPhone sounded. He opened the
app. Oh my God, there she was, staring right at me.
“Anya! What a nice surprise.”
“Hi, JK. My GPS says I’m nearby you. I’ve been doing some shopping. Wondering if you might like to grab some, chai, tea?”
Duh! Play it cool, dufus! “Great idea. Sounds very nice. There’s a delightful spot close by, for a spot of tea—haha, my English upbringing. It’s called Gentry’s. It’s at Elm Street and 19th Avenue Northeast. Do you think you can find it? Or I can come to you.”
“Hold on a minute,” Anya said. After a pause, “I’ve found it. It says I’m only 15 minutes away from there. I have some more shopping to do, but I can be there in about an hour. Will that work for you?”
“Just finishing up some work myself. I can meet you there in about an hour and a half. Is that okay?”
“Sure. It looks like there’s a bookstore next door. Come find me in there when you arrive.”
“See you then,” Jake said, as low key as he could muster. He almost forgot to shut down his laptop. But he didn’t.
CIPHER HEARD THE TRIPWIRE alert on his laptop computer. What the fuck! Someone’s trying to hack into my computer? He was immediately torn as to how to react.
The cautious part of him said he should instantly destroy the computer. It was all backed up elsewhere. Why let anyone possibly poke around and perhaps attempt to retrieve what he had previously deleted from the hard drive? If the computer no longer physically existed, nothing could be accessed through it.
The curious part of him, however, wanted to know who was messing with him. So he could teach them a lesson they would not forget. He looked to see what he could, whether he could identify any obnoxious presence. Nothing.
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