Dead in a Week

by Andrea Kane

  Philip whistled. “The timing of this information couldn’t have been better.” He proceeded to tell Aidan about the CI Marc would be meeting with that night. “We’ll talk to Danijel about this kulen and see if he can use it to narrow the field of questioning and steer it in the direction of operations in Slavonia. We’ll move from there, hopefully armed with more ammunition.”

  “Good. Were you calling to give me an update at your end?”

  Marc and Philip exchanged glances, and Philip gestured for Marc to take the lead.

  It was probably best that way.

  “Aidan.” Marc kept it factual, laying out the realities and waiting to deal with the fallout. “Our investigation here suggests that the Sallaku OC family is likely behind the kidnapping. Unfortunately, they have a reputation for killing victims despite monetary compensation. They have their own set of rules and wouldn’t think twice about screwing over the Chinese once they’ve been paid.” A heartbeat of a pause. “Which makes it all the more crucial that Philip and I get to Lauren.”

  There was dead silence at the other end of the phone.

  “Aidan?”

  “I’m still here.” Aidan sounded as thrown as Marc had expected. “I’ve been promising the Penningtons that Lauren would be returned safely if they followed our lead. I don’t break promises. Plus, I’m a father. How can I tell another father that, not only have I misled him, but that his daughter’s life is in even greater jeopardy than we all thought? Vance is already at the breaking point. I already need him to play his part without wavering. Based on what you’re telling me, that’s even more essential. ”

  “I know this puts you in a terrible position,” Marc replied quietly. “But principles or not, candor has to take a back seat here. You can’t tell them; Vance will definitely blow it, from what you’ve said. The bottom line is that we’ll be bringing Lauren home, alive and unharmed. Her father never has to know more than that.”

  “There’s no other way. I get it.” Aidan gave the only answer he could, then quickly switched gears to avoid dwelling on the subject. “Anything I should know about your upcoming meeting? Same MO?”

  “Nope.” Marc knew that if anything would lighten Aidan’s mood, it was this. “I need to really pressure this CI, put him in a talkative mood. So Big Rambo is coming along with me.”

  As expected, Aidan started to chuckle. “You still have that stupid knife from high school?”

  “Laugh all you want. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve had with CIs where, once they see Big Rambo, they shit themselves and can’t stop talking.”

  “Well then, who am I to stand in the way? Happy hunting. Now go read Terri’s mini-dossier.”

  NanoUSA

  28 February

  Wednesday, 9:38 a.m. local time

  Simone sequestered herself in the small office she’d been provided for her week’s assignment at Nano. With the door shut and locked, she removed the chain from around her neck and placed the ring on the Qi wireless charger sitting on the desk. She noted the current time—nine forty a.m. In thirty minutes, the device would be fully charged and ready.

  She’d already done her morning homework, confirming what she’d skillfully coaxed out of Lilah Mathers, Lawrence Blockman’s chatty, newly divorced PA, yesterday as she and Simone had reapplied their makeup at the ladies’ room sink. As Lilah had mentioned, Blockman was in his nine thirty meeting with Robert Maxwell in the CEO’s office. And Lilah herself was on her regular early-morning coffee break, gossiping with other female employees in the break room.

  This would be Simone’s only chance at getting inside Blockman’s office and extracting the drawings from his drawing cabinet—exactly where Vance had told her the VP Engineering kept them.

  * * *

  Promptly at ten past ten, Simone was outside Blockman’s door, pleased but unsurprised to find it unlocked. As Vance had explained, given the extreme security measures taken by Nano, very few executives locked their doors until they went home at night. Thankfully, Blockman was no exception. However, if he had been, Simone would have used her skills to get in anyway.

  She paused in the corridor, glanced to her left and right, then let herself inside, shutting the door quietly behind her. As she crossed over to the large steel drawing cabinet, she removed the decorative barrette from her chignon, letting her hair tumble to her shoulders. She’d make the necessary repairs later.

  By the time she’d reached the cabinet, she’d separated the pin from the hair accessory. Vance had emphasized that Blockman’s cabinet would definitely be locked at all times, given the sensitive nature of what was inside. Well, Simone could take care of that. In a few quick twists, she used the pin to pick the lock on the cabinet and slid open the top drawer. Just as Vance had said, inside were production drawings of the factory floor layout, including machine settings and specifications that were an integral part of Nano’s manufacturing breakthrough. There were too many drawings for the small camera to capture, but Vance had said the drawings marked “DRAFT” were the ones she was looking for. And since the goal was to make sure the images were real but not complete, she chose the first five—the exact number of shots that Ryan’s mini ring camera would allow before power would be exhausted.

  She placed the drawings on the floor to take pictures and proceeded to aim the ring at her quarry. Bridging double zeroes in the middle of the year on the high school ring with the metallic nail polish on her middle finger, she closed the circuit on the charged capacitor, enabling the embedded image sensor to photograph the drawing. Without a view finder, there was no way for her to be sure if she was aiming the camera accurately. But Ryan’s genius camera design had anticipated that.

  She repeated the process four more times.

  Carefully she placed the drawings back in the drawer just as she’d found them, relocked the cabinet, and placed the ring and chain around her neck, tucking it neatly inside her blouse. She redid her chignon as she walked, pausing to open the door a crack—just enough to ensure that Lilah was still away from her desk.

  There was no sign of anyone.

  Ten minutes later, Simone drove through Nano’s gates.

  Houdini couldn’t have made a better escape.

  Her father would be proud.

  17

  Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto

  28 February

  Wednesday, 11:35 a.m. local time

  Damn the traffic.

  Simone burst into her hotel room and rushed over to the desk, not even bothering to take off her coat. She had no time to read Terri’s mini-dossier. It would have to wait. She had twenty-five minutes to make the kidnappers’ noon deadline. Everything else would have to be put on hold.

  Aidan knew where things stood. The two of them had brought each other up to speed via secure cell phone on her drive over. Now she had work to do—fast.

  Reaching around with both hands, she unclasped the chain from around her neck, then quickly slid off the ring. She placed it in a special dongle that Ryan had engineered. Once the black cable was attached to the ring, she plugged the other end into an available USB port on her laptop. The whole process made her think of how she connected her Fitbit to its charger. She’d be sure not to mention that to Ryan; somehow she doubted he’d appreciate the mundane analogy.

  Task complete, she launched the custom file transfer program Ryan had written to extract the image files from the ring itself and store them on her own laptop. Then she closed the application and removed the ring and its dongle.

  Immediately, Simone initiated a videoconference with Terri.

  “It’s done,” she said.

  “And not a moment too soon.” Immediately, Terri assumed control of Simone’s laptop and began the process of downloading and checking the images taken of the engineering drawings.

  “Nice work,” she said. “From what I can tell, these will clearly show the kidnappers and their overlords that the drawings are real and that we’re not bullshitting them. That said, the content i
s interesting but not sufficient for them to take the technology and run with it. There’s much more needed to make that happen.”

  “So which ones should I send to the kidnappers?” Simone asked.

  “I would send numbers two, three, and five. Those should suffice for now.”

  “Terri, since you’re already in control of my computer, can you do this for me?” Simone was looking at her watch. “We’ve only got twelve minutes to meet the kidnappers’ deadline and you’re the expert at this, not I. Plus I’ve got to get back to Nano before anyone becomes suspicious.”

  “Done.” Terri was already at work as Simone rose to dash to the bathroom before returning to Nano for her next round of interviews.

  Terri fired up a virtual Linux machine on Simone’s laptop, giving her a sandboxed area from which to conduct her clandestine work. Inside the VM, she started a Tor browser, which would mask her identity from prying eyes. She followed the kidnappers’ instructions verbatim, typing their assigned link in the address bar. She then logged in using the code name baba. Once inside, she efficiently uploaded files two, three, and five. She then terminated her Tor browser session and closed the Linux VM, restoring Simone’s computer to its previous state.

  All with six minutes to spare.

  Terri picked up her phone to call Aidan.

  Franklin Wales Executive Recruiting

  San Mateo, California

  28 February

  Wednesday, 12:25 p.m. local time

  David Cheng had just ground out his cigarette and was about to reenter the building when his current burner phone rang.

  “Cheng here.”

  “We’ve received the drawings,” the voice at the other end of the phone told him in perfect, almost indiscernibly accented English. “My experts are examining them now to ensure they’re legitimate and to determine how much information we can extract from them and use toward completion.”

  Cheng sagged with relief. True, he’d had no influence on whether or not this portion of his employer’s plan would be successful. But had it failed, his role would have become obsolete—as would he.

  “I’m very pleased to hear that,” he replied, then waited. His employer was a busy man, seated in a CEO chair halfway across the globe. He didn’t waste words.

  “However, my experts did say that the photos were clearly taken with a specialized camera. Pennington would have to know someone to get this technology. That suggests he’s brought someone else into the equation—a complication that would require action on our part.”

  “I’ve seen no indication that law enforcement is involved.”

  “Then find out who is. I expect answers from you. Tonight.”

  NanoUSA

  28 February

  Wednesday, 12:45 p.m. local time

  Zoe was nibbling at her chicken salad sandwich and mentally preparing herself for her one o’clock meeting when Jen buzzed her.

  “A David Cheng is on the line for you,” she said. “Do you want me to take a message?”

  “No.” Zoe was already dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. “I’ll take the call. Go ahead and put him through.”

  “No problem.”

  An instant later, David’s upbeat, executive-recruiter voice greeted her. “Hi, Zoe. I haven’t heard from you, so I thought I’d give you a shout.”

  “No problem. I was actually going to give you a call after I finished wolfing down my sandwich. Olivia got back to me this morning.” Olivia Stack was Nano’s VP of Human Resources. “She can set something up for Friday at ten o’clock if that works for you.”

  The barest hint of a pause. “That would be great,” David replied. “Thanks. But I was really calling about you. Have you made any decisions?”

  “Decisions?” Zoe’s brows rose. “It’s been less than two days since we spoke, David. I need more time than that. As I told you, I’m confident there’s something in the works for me here. And if that’s the case…”

  “You still won’t be making the kind of money you’ll be pulling in here,” he finished for her.

  “Yes, you made that abundantly clear.”

  “Look, Zoe, let me be blunt. My partners and I would like to know if you’re considering pursuing the opportunity we discussed.” David pushed only as hard as his instincts told him he could. If he overshot, he’d lose her, and they both knew it. “If you are, let’s grab a drink after work today and I can share the details of our offer with you.”

  “I just can’t talk right now,” Zoe said. “I’ll call you in an hour.”

  David accepted the slight delay without question. “I’ll be here.”

  Zoe hung up and sat back in her chair, feeling that same surge of professional excitement she’d felt when she’d first met David Cheng. She’d been having a solo drink at Jake’s, a bar that was frequented primarily by tech company people. She was ordinarily closemouthed about her work, but David had caught her in a vulnerable moment, a moment when she was wondering if Robert would really come through for her and ensure she got that promotion before he retired.

  Well-dressed in a way that screamed success and smelling faintly of cigarette smoke, David had sought her out the moment she’d gotten settled at her table. He’d made a beeline in her direction, greeted her by name, and introduced himself as an executive recruiter for Franklin Wales. He’d gone on to say that he’d read her LinkedIn profile, done some heavy-duty research on her, and was planning on reaching out to her tomorrow—so he was delighted to run into her tonight. Zoe had glanced down at the business card he’d proffered, more than familiar with the prestigious firm name and very curious about why he was so eager to make contact with her. Obviously, he had an agenda. Everyone in Corporate America did.

  One thing was for sure, and that was that this was no attempted pickup. Zoe knew those signs only too well. No, this was business through and through. But to what end? That she intended to find out. So she’d asked him to join her.

  David hadn’t wasted time. Within a minute, he’d made it clear that besides what he’d read on LinkedIn, he had an astonishingly accurate handle on what she did—not just her PA role but the full extent of her accomplishments and aptitude.

  “You’re executive material,” he’d stated flatly. “So why are you still a personal assistant—even if it is to the CEO?”

  “I have a promotion on the horizon,” she’d replied, pausing and ultimately deciding there was no point in closing off her options. “As it happens, it’s in the human resources department. I’ve always had aspirations of going in that direction.”

  “And you’re more than qualified to do so.” David hadn’t looked surprised. He’d looked like he was about to pitch something.

  Zoe waited.

  David had indeed wanted to pitch something, but it was not at all what Zoe had been expecting. Rather than presenting a potential career opportunity at another company, he’d flatly asked if she’d be interested in coming on board at Franklin Wales—not as an employee but as a full partner.

  “We’re actively pursuing qualified people who can bring with them a substantial network of tech contacts and do a buy-in into our company.”

  Zoe had felt the wind go out of her sails. She knew exactly what a buy-in would mean. “I don’t have the kind of capital to invest that you’d require,” she’d said. “But I’m flattered that Franklin Wales would consider me.”

  David had waved away her obviously anticipated objection. “Given your income range, we assumed the monetary investment would be a no-go. But there are other perks you bring with you. For example, you know a large number of high-level executives, both inside and outside NanoUSA—executives we’d love to have access to.”

  Access to? That triggered warning bells in Zoe’s head. “What exactly is it we’re talking about here?”

  “Nothing unethical,” David had reassured her with a hint of a smile. “Although I do admire your loyalty. I’m just saying that your value-add is that you’d open a lot of doors for us if you joined our
team. Yes, we do have clients who are interested in recruiting people out of Nano—but only if those people are equally interested in moving. But the same applies to executives at the many other companies you deal with. You’re in a unique position to match the right people with the right opportunities—and to know which executives and which companies to approach.”

  Zoe had sipped her wine. She couldn’t argue that point.

  David went the next step—one that was the very Achilles heel she’d been contemplating when he’d approached her. “You said you have a promotion on the horizon. Just beware that as you walk, the horizon always recedes—you rarely actually get to it.”

  “I recognize that. But I work for a very honorable company.”

  “Company dynamics change—especially when the CEO is in his sixties and about to reach the pinnacle of his career by releasing cutting-edge, game-changing technology. Sounds like a great swan song to me.”

  Zoe pressed her lips together and said nothing.

  “Look,” David had said. “Franklin Wales doesn’t need to solicit employees, much less partners. I wouldn’t be approaching you if I didn’t think this would be a great fit. You know the industry. You know the players. You have the connections. And—speaking on a strictly professional basis—you’re an attractive woman in a male-dominated field. Much as we all try to pretend that doesn’t matter, it does. It’s a reality and a plus.”

  That was one of Zoe’s hot buttons. But she couldn’t say he was wrong. He wasn’t.

  “Let’s say I’m interested,” she said. “What would be the next step—interviews with the other senior partners?”

  “Not necessary, not in your case. My partners are comfortable with my making the right call. But we have aggressive financial targets and we need to get started on achieving them. So we need to know in short order if you’re game.”

  “I see.”

  “If you do join us, we’d want you to recruit at Nano and other tech companies right away. And—on a separate note, and not a caveat to the job—I’d appreciate if you could get me a meeting with Olivia Stack. Striking up a relationship with Nano’s VP of Human Resources would be a coup for me and an in to a new corporate client—an in that you can nurture if you choose to come aboard.”