Cipher and his computer would just have to wait, much as that thought disturbed him. What might the rat do in the interim?
But the “no-fly zone” applied only to work and computers. Doesn’t mean Anya is off limits.
CHAPTER 41
December 22, 2019, One Day Later
JAKE HAD TO GET special dispensation from the family. Frank, Charlie and Madison were easy. Leah was tougher. She first suggested that he simply include Anya in the family movie and dinner outing planned for that afternoon and evening. Jake prevailed when no one backed Leah’s suggestion.
JAKE PULLED UP IN front of the home where Anya was staying at exactly one o’clock.
Anya must have heard Jake’s car arrive. She opened the front door of the house and met him at his car. True to his instructions, she was clad in a warm coat and jogging shoes. He wondered what she was wearing under the coat, and whether and under what circumstances he might have the opportunity to find out before the day—or night—was over. “You look wonderful,” he said to her.
“Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself.”
How could she possibly have command of such an idiomatic expression? “I try,” he replied. “Every once in a while.”
They drove to Georgetown and parked in a lot near the entrance to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, more commonly known as the C & O Canal or simply the Grand Old Ditch. The canal runs alongside the Potomac River. Jake retrieved a blanket and picnic basket from the back seat of the car and they walked to the canal entrance. “The canal runs from here to Cumberland, Maryland,” Jake said, “almost two hundred miles. In the mid-1800s, it functioned as a towpath canal trail, hauling coal mined from the Allegheny Mountains. Today, it’s a tourist attraction, a reminder of days gone by. People can ride one of the refurbished original canal boats. They can also use the towpath trail for hiking, jogging, and bicycling.”
“You are quite the tour guide, Mr. Klein,” Anya said.
“The canal is definitely one of my favorite spots when I’m home in D.C. I thought we would begin by taking a ride on one of the canal boats. Would you like to do that?”
“I would, but are we going to ride all the way to Cumberland?” Anya asked. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes.” She laughed.
“Haha! No, not quite. There’s a place we can get off after a couple of miles and then walk around a bit. I know a private area where we could spread out our blanket and enjoy a nice picnic. After, we can hail a carriage bicycle to bring us back along the towpath.”
“That sounds like a wonderful plan. I’m guessing you may have done it before,” she teased.
“Just once or twice, but never with someone quite so charming,” he replied.
Anya grinned, but demurely bypassed the remark. “What is the meaning of the word towpath? I have not heard it before.”
“As you will shortly see, the canal boats do not have their own power. Instead, mules are tethered to the boats by long ropes and they tow the boats from the paths. For this reason, the paths came to be known as towpaths.”
“I see,” Anya said. “A very good choice of words, even if not in any of my English books.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“I hope my language instructors at school will be as accomplished as you are.” They boarded one of the canal boats and took two seats next to one another.
Forty minutes of picturesque views later, they disembarked. “Follow me, but watch your step. These trails can be a little bumpy. That’s the reason I suggested jogging shoes.”
Ten minutes later, they came upon a private cove where they could still look upon the water through thin reed-like trees. “We have arrived,” Jake said. He spread the blanket on the ground, setting the picnic basket down on the blanket and removing its contents: two sandwiches, two bottles of water, a bottle of wine, fruit, cheese, cookies, napkins, cups, condiments, and silverware.
“Wow, you thought of everything,” Anya said. “I’m really impressed.”
“Precisely what I had in mind.”
For a while, they took in the surroundings, the good views, the good food and drink, and the good company. They traded questions, anecdotes, and stories about their respective families and histories, just getting to know more about one another.
As the sun and the temperature began to drop, Anya rubbed her hands together to offset the mounting chill. Ever observant, Jake took advantage of the opportunity to slide closer to Anya and put his arm around her. She didn’t resist. After a few moments, the conversation gave way to the sounds of their setting. Anya turned to face Jake and their eyes met. While Jake hesitated, wondering exactly what to do next, Anya didn’t. She leaned in and brought her lips to Jake’s.
ANYA PACKED UP WHAT was left of their meal in the basket and folded up their blanket. She allowed Jake to take the basket and guide her leisurely out to the towpath. They found an available carriage bicycle that returned them to Jake’s car.
Anya sat close to Jake as they rode, mostly in silence, back to the home where she was staying. She thought about how things had gone. When they arrived, Anya turned and thanked Jake for a lovely day. She found herself wanting to kiss him again. She brought her lips gently to his and closed her eyes. She felt his hands in her hair, pulling her closer to him. She was pleasantly surprised at the intensity of his response. And hers. The gentle kiss became more aggressive. Just as quickly, however, she recovered her composure and pulled away. She did not invite him into the house.
“We’ll talk,” was all she said as she got out of the car. Less is more.
LATER THAT EVENING, ANYA sent an encrypted text to Moscow:
MORE PROGRESS, BUT NOTHING SPECIFIC TO REPORT.
In a matter of minutes, she received an encrypted reply that was less than pleasing:
LACK OF SPECIFICS DISAPPOINTING. PREPAID TICKET AT DULLES. RETURN HOME TOMORROW MIDDAY FOR ADDITIONAL PLANNING AND TRAINING.
Again? Are they seriously going to tell me how to do my job? She sent an encrypted reply:
REALLY NECESSARY? ADVISE SCHEDULE. I NEED TO EXPLAIN ABSENCE TO SUBJECT. ALSO, HARVARD CLASSES BEGIN MONDAY, 6 JANUARY.
She did not have to wait long:
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. DO NOT MISS FLIGHT. YOU WILL BE IN MOSCOW THROUGH YEAR END. YOU WILL RETURN TO U.S. IN TIME FOR CLASSES.
She had no choice:
UNDERSTOOD.
JAKE WAS GREETED BY the family tribe when he came through the door. They were watching something on TV. “So, how was your date?” Madison asked, losing all interest in whatever it was they were watching. “Tell us all about it.” Leah pretended not to be interested, but casually looked up from the TV. Frank and Charlie continued watching the program.
“It was fun,” Jake said. “We had a nice time.”
“That’s it?” Madison continued. “That’s all you’re going to tell us? Discerning minds want to know all of the salacious details.”
Without moving his head away from the television, Charlie said, “A gentleman never tells.”
Frank laughed.
“What are we watching?” was all Jake said. He sat down. A few minutes later, he stood up and said, “Lots of walking and hiking today. Think I’m gonna turn in. See you in the morning.”
CHAPTER 42
December 23, 2019, One Day Later
JAKE HAD RETURNED FROM an early morning run. Everyone else was still sleeping. He had showered and was munching on a bagel and sipping a glass of orange juice.
It was bad enough that his election fraud pursuits were on a two-week hiatus. He was also pondering how to tell Anya that his priority for the next two weeks was going to have to be his family.
He would explain that he wasn’t happy about not having more time to spend with her, but this was the last time he would likely have a block of time to spend with his family. He hoped she would understand—and be as interested as he was in reconnecting when he was back at SCSU and she was at Harvard, just a two-hour train commute.
He didn’t know how to
word all of this, because he really didn’t know how she felt about him. He was making assumptions that might not be valid. He kept wrestling with exactly what to say, and how to say it, when his phone alerted him that he had a text. I know I agreed no devices, but that’s just when the others are around. I can certainly do as I please when they’re sleeping in and I’m the only one up. He opened his text app:
GOOD MORNING, JT. THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH FOR THE LOVELY DAY YESTERDAY. I WILL REMEMBER IT FOR A LONG TIME. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR SPENDING MORE TIME TOGETHER OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE YOU RETURN TO SCSU AND I BEGIN MY LANGUAGE STUDIES AT HARVARD. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU WILL HAVE TIME FOR ME THEN. IN THE MEANWHILE, MY PARENTS SURPRISED ME LAST NIGHT WITH A ROUND TRIP TICKET FOR ME TO RETURN HOME TO MOSCOW TO SPEND CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S WITH THEM. THESE ARE TRADITIONAL BIG HOLIDAYS IN RUSSIA. I CANNOT SAY NO TO THEM. I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND (AND CARE). MY FLIGHT LEAVES IN JUST A FEW HOURS. I HAVE AN UBER COMING TO TAKE ME TO THE AIRPORT. I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. ANYA.
Jake didn’t know how to feel. He no longer had to worry about how he would explain to Anya that he had his own family commitments for the next couple of weeks. However, Anya’s text may have been a way of her saying she didn’t care as much about him as he did about her, or that she wasn’t interested in moving the needle as far or as quickly as Jake was.
There was hopefully one other thing inherently positive in Anya’s text: Cassie’s suspicions about the ambiguity of Anya’s family must have been mistaken.
CHAPTER 43
January 6, 2020, Fourteen Days Later
JAKE’S FIRST CLASS WAS not until the next day. Charlie had driven him to pick up a rental car. He got underway while everyone was still sleeping. It was easier that way. He was now en route to his Maryland Starbucks for one more run at Cipher’s computer. He would then turn his rental in and take the train from there to New Haven.
Leah had wondered why he wasn’t just taking the train from Dulles to New Haven. He explained that he had some friends to visit along the way, and the rental would be more conducive.
The extended family had given Jake a send-off dinner at one of the nicer local restaurants the night before: Leah, Frank, Charlie, and Madison. Judge and Mrs. Brooks had joined as well. So had Cassie. She had told him she thought all he needed was a little more practice with his golf game and gave him a sleeve of balls. She also told him she would be playing in the Connecticut open in a few months, and hoped he would come watch. He assured her that he would.
When they returned to the townhouse after dinner, Frank, Charlie, and Madison gave Jake hugs and left him and Leah for a few private moments to themselves. Leah teared up and told Jake she hoped he wouldn’t do anything rash about school. He told her not to worry. Whatever I do won’t be rash, and you’ll be the first to know. He wasn’t sure that would be true.
BAKER, JR. AND AUSTIN each struck a few more balls. It was evident that Baker, Jr. spent more time on his golf game than Austin did. “By the way,” Baker, Jr. said, “when I mentioned to Dad that you and I were meeting this morning, he asked me to bring something to your attention. Top secret, this goes no further. He would like your take as soon as possible.”
“Okay,” Austin said, returning his club to his bag.
“Seems Dad’s intelligence people are picking up some noise about some kind of supposedly very contagious, very deadly virus coming out of China. Reportedly, people in some town over there called Hunan are dying right and left.”
“Uh, I think Hunan is a style of Chinese cuisine. Do you perhaps mean the city of Wuhan?”
“Whatever,” Baker, Jr. responded. “Meanwhile, White House medical advisors are telling Dad they’re afraid this bug has already spread to the U.S. and if we don’t quickly nip it in the bud right now, we could have a pandemic on our hands.”
“Fuck. That’s terrible. You mean people possibly getting sick and dying all over the country?”
“Well, yeah,” Baker, Jr. continued. “But even worse, that could put a serious dent in our economic numbers and hurt Dad’s chances for re-election. He wants to know what you think, how we need to handle this, keep a lid on it.”
“Hmm, gotcha. Let me think about it.”
AUSTIN WALKED OFF THE driving range. A possible pandemic that could quickly kill God knows how many people across our country, and all that’s bothering POTUS and his son is how it may affect POTUS’s re-election chances. He just shook his head as he put his bag of clubs in the trunk of his car. Hunan and Wuhan, all the same to them. This apple really doesn’t fall very far from this tree.
JAKE WALKED INTO “HIS” Maryland Starbucks for what he expected to be the last time. He looked around for the manager, Neil, but didn’t see him anywhere, and figured it was safe to set up shop.
Jake booted up his laptop. He hacked into Cipher’s computer and easily passed the encrypted password, once again. The Mossad software is just incredible. This time, he headed straight to the folder labeled “MC”, and double clicked on it. As he expected, it was empty—or so it looked.
Like before, he chose the retrieval component of the Mossad software, but this time, he pointed it at the MC folder, confirmed that it was the folder he wished to restore, and again chose the start date “Inception.” Just as the software did when he was targeting the GL folder, its activity light changed from red to green, but this time, showed approximately 117 minutes remaining, 24 minutes more than it had estimated for the GL folder. Hmm, more MC data than GL data. This will leave me naked for almost two hours. No choice. Nothing I can do about it. I need that MC folder to make sense of what I saw in the GL files.
ONCE AGAIN, CIPHER WAS alerted the moment the hacker was back on his machine. Took your sweet time. Thought maybe you’d given up. Game on, motherfucker! Cipher activated his tracing software. Hopefully, the bastard will stick around a little longer this time, so I can precisely pinpoint his location.
He watched the tracing application do its thing. Forty minutes went by—the hacker was still on board, and Cipher’s tracing software had him somewhere in the United States. Same as last time.
He gave it another thirty minutes and checked again—the hacker was still on board. His location was narrowed to the eastern seaboard of the United States. Either bold or stupid. Is he in Maryland once more?
Another twenty minutes—the hacker was still there. And right there in Maryland again. C’mon, you SOB! Stay with me. Just another ten or fifteen minutes and I’ve gotcha!
Cipher watched the second hand on his wall clock slowly grind out another ten laps. Damn, it’s taking forever. Finally, another ten minutes transpired. He checked again. Gotcha! Right there in a local Starbucks near St. Michaels, Maryland, wherever exactly that is.
JAKE HAD WATCHED THE Mossad software do its thing. Almost two hours later, the MC folder was now replicated and on his laptop. He closed up his Starbucks office, and turned in his rental car near the train station, where he would catch the train that would take him to New Haven. He was sitting on the train and had five hours to see what he could learn about MC.
He had a pile of data, even more than in the GL folder. Once again, the contents were in Kazakh. He correctly used freeware to translate the MC files from Kazakh into English. Again not perfect, but good enough. As with the GL files, the data was coded. Unfortunately, it was not the same coding Cipher had used with the GL files. He would have to use his decoding software from scratch to find out what he had. It would be slow trekking, but he had almost four hours to go before he would arrive in New Haven. A lot more interesting than streaming a bad movie.
CIPHER’S TRACING SOFTWARE HAD served him well, but he knew his hacker opponent still had a significant advantage over him. Somehow, his adversary was able to hack into his computer from almost six thousand miles away. That required highly sophisticated software, which very few people had. He’s damn good, or resourceful. Even I don’t have that kind of software.
He now knew the location from whi
ch he had been hacked, but he didn’t know who had hacked him. Anyone could have come after him from that Starbucks. He had to somehow find out who was in that Starbucks when he was hacked.
No doubt, he speculated, Starbucks had surveillance cameras in its café and saved its surveillance tapes for at least thirty days, maybe even longer, on its computer. He could readily access Starbucks’s computer, but not from six thousand miles away. He didn’t have the software that his rival did.
He had two choices. He could reach out to Turgenev, who no doubt would have the kind of long-distance hacking software he didn’t himself have, or he could take a trip to St. Michaels, Maryland, and use his own routine software to hack into Starbucks’s surveillance records from its adjacent parking lot.
AUSTIN THOUGHT POTUS’S THINKING about sitting on the pandemic was too dangerous to keep another day. He called Baker, Jr. “I’m going for a power walk along the river. Join me?” Power was code for urgent.
“Sure. Thirty minutes?”
“Perfect. See you there.”
They were each in sweatsuits and jogging shoes when they joined along the river bank. “What’s so urgent?” Baker, Jr. asked.
“POTUS’s thinking that he should play down this threat of a pandemic out of Wuhan. After giving the matter some thought, as you requested, I think it would be a really terrible mistake if your dad doesn’t take the potential pandemic public loud and clear at the earliest possible moment, and then transfer the responsibility to the medical experts and local government. Otherwise, I think this could come heavily crashing down on his shoulders if it ever comes to light that he was slow to act. And lead.”
“Understood. I didn’t express my view because I didn’t want to influence your thinking, but I’m totally with you. I’ll let Dad know how you feel right away. Thanks.”
JK's Code (Brooks/Lotello Thriller Book 4) Page 13