Seconds to Live

by Susan Sleeman

  Sean desperately hoped that wouldn’t happen. “With control of his phone, we can remotely turn on his GPS and get his location.”

  Dustee cocked her head. “Why not do that now?”

  “It would alert him that we’ve taken control of his phone,” Sean said. “He could bolt before we get to his location and arrest him. But it’s a fallback plan for sure.”

  Sean gestured to the door and smiled at Taylor. “We should get over to Hall’s safe house to be ready for Phantom’s text.”

  Taylor returned his smile, and his heart lifted. It would be amazing if he could eliminate the stress in her life so she could not only smile like this more but laugh too. Forever.

  Wait, what? Did he not only want a relationship with her but a till-death-do-us-part kind of relationship? Stunned, he stared at her. Last night’s kiss came to mind. Man, what a kiss. Perfection. At least from Sean’s perspective. Taylor sure seemed to enjoy it too.

  She got up and quirked an eyebrow. “You coming, or are you going to let a little odor get in your way?”

  The words registered in his brain, but with her adorable gaze fixed on him, he was unable to move or respond.

  “You all right, boss?” Kiley’s concerned tone broke through. “You seem a million miles away.”

  Right. Work. He was here to work, not admire the way Taylor’s soft green sweater brought out the red highlights in her hair. He blinked a few times to clear his head and gathered his things. “I’m good. Just a lot going on.”

  “You know.” Cam looked up from his computer. “We never took time to celebrate that the vulnerable witnesses have been moved and no one was murdered.”

  “You’re right,” Sean said. “We may not have Phantom yet, but we need to take a moment to savor the win.” He held up his coffee cup in a mock toast. “To Cam, for his hard work in finding the vulnerable witnesses.”

  The others tapped their paper cups against his, and a hopeful spirit left Sean feeling optimistic. Maybe they really could bring Phantom in without any loss of life.

  Sean slipped into his jacket. His phone rang and he dug it out. “I need to take this. It’s Eisenhower.”

  “If he’s calling, that can’t be good,” Kiley muttered, putting voice to Sean’s thoughts.

  “Sir,” Sean answered.

  “You alone?” Eisenhower’s deep voice rumbled through the phone.

  Sean’s gut clenched. “No, the team’s here with me.”

  “Then go ahead and put me on speaker.”

  “Hold on a second.” Sean thought Eisenhower was sounding overly dramatic, but Sean put his boss on hold and opened the door. “Dustee, I need you to step into the hall with Snow for a minute.”

  She glared at him but got up and left without arguing for once.

  “Keep an eye on her for a few minutes,” Sean told Snow and closed the door.

  Taylor had taken a seat, and Sean dropped into the nearest chair. He tapped his speaker button and set his phone on the table. “Go ahead, sir.”

  “Just left a briefing on the WITSEC database,” Eisenhower said. “As I mentioned before, the Marshals’ IT staff has been reviewing the hack too.”

  “And?” Sean’s gut clenched. Gone was the good mood of a few moments ago.

  “The administrator found large packets of data leaving the network long before the hack.”

  “Packets of data?” Taylor asked.

  “Means someone was stealing information.” Kiley frowned. “How did he miss that when it was happening?”

  Sean wanted to slam a fist into the table, but he took a deep breath instead. “Administrators often focus more on watching incoming traffic. Looking for a hack. When in reality hackers long ago infiltrated businesses and organizations and are quietly stealing data.”

  “The FBI’s been trying to educate administrators for years.” Cam frowned. He once worked as a network administrator for a large retailer, and this was a sore spot with him. “Outgoing data is one of the biggest problems facing corporations today, but many administrators refuse to believe they’ve been infiltrated.”

  “This administrator will now,” Eisenhower said. “In his next job.”

  “The guy was sacked. Good.” Cam gave a firm nod. “Hopefully the new administrator will learn from this.”

  “But that’s not why you’re calling, is it?” Sean asked.

  “No.” The single word resonated through the room. “Records indicate that the hacker quietly downloaded the entire database long before you discovered the hack.”

  “No!” Taylor shot to her feet. “That’s thousands of records. Every witness is in jeopardy now.”

  “Exactly,” Eisenhower said, his tone dire.

  “The obvious hack was a smokescreen to make us think Phantom took only select records.” Sean curled his fingers into tight fists. “We should’ve known Phantom would do something like this.”

  “Why didn’t Roger mention this?” Taylor asked. “He had to have accessed the computer twice.”

  Sean thought back through their interview. “We were never specific on dates. He probably thought we knew about both times.”

  Kiley clutched her hands together. “If only we’d dug deeper.”

  Taylor fell back against her seat. The shocked expressions of his teammates mimicked Taylor’s bewildered look.

  “Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news,” Eisenhower said. “At this point, we have only one way to keep the witnesses alive. It’s up to all of you to find Phantom and recover the stolen data.”

  Sean shoved two antacids into his mouth. With the dire circumstances they were now facing, he didn’t care if the team saw him toss in a whole roll of them. Not that they were even noticing him. They’d all been staring at the table since Eisenhower ended the call with a promise of sending the administrator’s report to them.

  Sean felt empty inside. Hollow. Like a shell. And a failure. He swallowed and tried to come up with his next step.

  Taylor rested a hand on his arm. “What are we going to do?” she whispered, and her voice broke. “My people. I need to . . . we need to . . .”

  Sean took her hand and held it under the table. He might not be able to figure out proper action steps right now, but he had to be strong for her. For the devastated team. As lead on this investigation, he was responsible for their attitude and mood.

  He squeezed Taylor’s hand and stood. “I know this is a blow. A big one. One you don’t think we can recover from, but we can.”

  “How?” Kiley frowned at him. “I don’t know how many records are for living and active witnesses, but even if it’s only fifty percent of the database, we have like nine thousand people counting on us. Nine thousand!”

  “And that’s exactly why we have to let go of our shock and get to work.” Sean made sure he sounded confident. “As Eisenhower said, we’re the only ones who can stop Phantom.”

  Mack sat up straight, determined. “What do you want us to do?”

  “Taylor and I will still go to the safe house to take Phantom’s call. Kiley and Cam, get started on the files Eisenhower is sending. Mack, review every detail from the physical investigations and come up with a lead or two that we missed.”

  They all nodded.

  “And for goodness’ sake, stop looking so devastated or Dustee will know something terrible is going on and not stop asking you about it.” He smiled, hoping to lighten the mood, but received only blank stares in return.

  He didn’t like leaving the team like this, but he had no choice. Phantom would be calling soon. He opened the door and motioned for Dustee to enter.

  She searched everyone’s faces. “You all look like someone died.”

  Sean eyed his team. “I’ll report in after Phantom makes contact.”

  In the hallway, he glanced at Snow. “We’ll be back soon.”

  Taylor drew in a deep breath and let it out. Her face was tight with worry. Without giving it any thought, he took her hand as they started down the hall. Her mouth fell open,
Snow’s likely dropping open too, but Sean clung to her all the same.

  She eased her hand free. “What’s up with the hand-holding?”

  “It just felt right.”

  “Yeah . . . well . . .” She shrugged.

  They stepped into the parking garage, and she lifted her jacket collar against the damp and chilly air.

  He opened her car door, and though he shouldn’t keep the personal conversation going, he couldn’t stop himself. “I guess it wasn’t right for you. The hand-holding, I mean.”

  “Oh, no . . . I liked it just fine, but we’re working.” Her forehead creased. “And with the recent news, we need to focus even more.”

  He wanted to smooth out the wrinkles with his thumb but restrained himself. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have done it at all. Let alone at work and with all these witnesses depending on us. I’m sorry.”

  She looked into his eyes. “It’s all right, but let’s not do it again, okay? Even if we don’t have people like Snow watching, it’ll only make it harder to stay friends when this is over.”

  He nodded, but with her warm topaz eyes fastened on him, the vulnerability still lodged deep inside, he wanted to draw her into his arms and let her lean on him even more than holding her hand.

  But he fought hard against his feelings and stepped back to wait for her to slide her long legs into the SUV. Of course she would have chosen today to wear a skirt. He watched as each shapely leg lifted into the vehicle and settled in place. She crossed her legs at the ankles, her heels resting on the carpet.

  “Is there something you need, Sean?” she asked.

  He found that eyebrow quirked again. She knew he was admiring her. After all, he didn’t even try to hide it. He shook his head to answer her question. Maybe to clear his brain too, as he was in part letting her get to him so he didn’t have to think about the added pressure. But he had to.

  Focus. Focus. Focus. You have thousands of people counting on your ability to do so.

  He took several cleansing breaths and slipped behind the wheel, his mind all business now. He got the SUV headed down the highway and turned into the safe house driveway without any further personal discussion.

  As he parked, Taylor swiveled. “What do you think the odds are that Phantom will text and we’ll pinpoint his location?”

  “I’d say they’re good.” Sean removed the keys. “He has no reason to think Hall’s been compromised.”

  “When we respond to his text, will he be able to tell where the text came from?”

  Sean shook his head. “The only way he could do that is if he installed spyware on Hall’s phone, and we confirmed his phone is clean.” Sean thought for a moment. “I suppose he could have someone inside the phone company who could check the account, but the odds of that happening are slim to none.”

  “Still, we’re talking about Phantom here. Shouldn’t we assume he has a person who can track the phone?”

  “You’re right. We should change locations. Go somewhere with a lot of people.” He smiled at her. “We’ll take Hall on a field trip.”

  “Oh yay. Close quarters with him.” She rolled her eyes and got out.

  He exited the SUV, marched up to the porch, and knocked on the door. Agent Kemp, a burly guy with jet-black hair and a fierce scowl, answered the door and stepped back. Sean chose him because he was a member of the local FBI SWAT team, and his black tactical pants and shirt made him look every bit the part.

  “Everything okay?” Sean asked.

  He gave a firm nod. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  Sean expected him to complain about Hall’s odor, but when they went into the family room and Hall rushed up to them, the guy didn’t reek.

  Sean spun to look at Kemp. A cocky smile crossed his mouth. Sean didn’t know how Kemp did it, but he’d obviously convinced Hall to clean up his act. A refreshing surprise.

  Hall locked his focus on Taylor and started in her direction. She fired him a warning look, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

  “We’re going for a drive,” she said. “Somewhere public. Just in case Phantom can track your responding text.”

  Hall scratched his chin. “Nah, man. He can’t do that, can he?”

  “Not without your telecom’s help,” she said. “But we’re taking no chances with your safety.”

  “Hey, thanks.” He looked at Taylor as if he thought she was doing this for him because they had a connection.

  Sean didn’t correct him. Better to have him think he was indebted to them. He turned to Kemp. “I’d like you to join us.”

  “Roger that.” Kemp didn’t waste time, but led the way to the door.

  Sean stood back gesturing for Hall to go first. The guy cast a longing look at Taylor, sighed, and lumbered toward the door. Sean had Hall take the back seat by Kemp for added protection, and he drove for miles to put distance between the safe house and the call. When he spotted a Starbucks, he pulled into the busy lot and parked. He removed Hall’s phone from the Faraday bag where he’d stored it for protection. He quickly confirmed the battery was charged and then looked at Hall in the mirror. “Now we wait.”

  He crossed beefy arms over his large stomach. “I don’t like sitting out in the open like this.”

  “Phantom has never killed anyone in broad daylight,” Sean said. “Or even tried as far as we know.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” Hall grumbled.

  “Even so.” Taylor swiveled to look at the guy. “It’s highly unlikely that he knows our location.”

  The phone chimed in Sean’s hand, startling him. “He’s early.”

  Hall’s worried gaze flashed up to the rearview mirror. “Do you think that means something? Like he knows something’s up?”

  “Not likely.”

  Hall frowned. “But in the past, he called at the same time like clockwork.”

  “Don’t read too much into this.” Sean opened the text. “He’s asking you to dig tomorrow and will pick you up at the same location at ten a.m. What would you say in reply?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Sean typed in the message and hit send. It took only seconds before Phantom confirmed he’d meet at the predetermined location. Sean wanted to smile at their success, but how could he when they weren’t out of the woods in the least? Thousands of lives depended on this text revealing Phantom’s location, and until Sean got back to the office, he wouldn’t know if they’d succeeded.

  Taylor stepped into the FBI conference room that was becoming her home away from home. Sean hurried after her. Cam and Kiley were missing, but a new sense of urgency hung in the air.

  Mack shot them a pressing look. “’Bout time you two got back here. I’ve got Phantom’s location.”

  Taylor hurried to Mack’s side of the table, Sean barreling behind her. She half expected him to push her out of the way to get to Mack first. “Where did he call from?”

  Mack pointed at a single-story home in an older neighborhood on the east side of Portland. “Place is registered to a Patrick Jorgenson.”

  “The same initials as Paul Jackson.” Sean’s breath was warm on her neck as he leaned over.

  “That was my first thought too.” Mack clicked on a link to property records, and detailed information on the address filled the screen. “He inherited the house from his parents. I can dig deeper into the prior owners if needed, but I thought it more important to get Jorgenson’s driver’s license photo.” Mack clicked on a different tab, revealing a man’s picture.

  “He’s a perfect match for the sketch artist rendering.” Sean squinted at the picture. “He’s, what, thirty-seven? Do we know anything more about him?”

  “No criminal record.” Mack shifted in his chair. “Not even a parking ticket.”

  Sean stood to his full height. “Looks like Jorgenson is our guy. We need to find him.”

  “He’s driving a 2008 Dodge Ram, silver. Already got Kiley and Cam on their way to do recon on the property. If the truck isn’t there, I’
ll issue an alert. And I’ve obtained aerial maps and have drafted a preliminary assault plan.”

  “All in an hour?” Taylor asked.

  “What can I say?” Mack blew on fingernails and brushed them against his shirt. “I’m just that good.”

  Taylor laughed, and it felt good to break the tense atmosphere. Likely Mack’s purpose in cracking the joke.

  “Excellent work,” Sean said, sounding like he meant it.

  That caught Mack’s attention, and he flashed Sean a wide-eyed look.

  Sean’s lips puckered. “What? Can’t a guy compliment you without you making a big deal of it?”

  “A guy can, but you?” Mack shook his head. “Doesn’t happen often.”

  “I . . . I . . .” Sean cleared his throat. “Print me a copy of the report.”

  “Already done.” Mack picked up a packet from the table and handed it to Sean, then gave one to Taylor.

  “Thanks, Mack.” Taylor squeezed his shoulder, but her thoughts remained on Sean. This was the second time Sean complimented Mack today. Had Sean listened to her suggestion and opened his mind to see the real Mack?

  If so, thank you for that.

  Sean started reading. His forehead furrowed, and he dropped onto a chair.

  “Since everyone else is busy, I can search the internet for information on this Jorgenson guy,” Dustee offered. “I mean, looking at the code isn’t really relevant anymore.”

  Sean shook his head. “I can’t have you doing that. Not without someone looking over your shoulder, and as you said, we’re all busy. More than ever now.”

  “Thanks for nothing.” She directed a glare at Sean and crossed her arms, then leaned back in her chair, looking more like a petulant teenager than a grown woman.

  “Besides,” Sean continued, “your work on the code is still relevant. Anything you uncover will be used in court when Phantom goes to trial.”

  “Like that’s any fun.” She slumped down.

  Taylor had just about had it with Dustee’s attitude, but she wouldn’t snap at her. Taylor took a calming breath and worked hard to find a civil tone. “Sean’s not being unreasonable, Dustee. You shouldn’t even be on a computer, and he arranged for this chance. So don’t take it out on him.”