Collision Course (19 page)

“Okay,
check it out now,” Adam said.

In
seconds, a red light flickered in the lower right corner of the screen on the
main computer.

Adam
began punching keys again and smiled with satisfaction when a coded message
appeared.

“I don’t
understand what I’m seeing,” Bennett protested.

“Be
patient.” The man’s fingers flew. “I’ve programmed the second computer to
identify itself as Little Brother and its location as Station Two. Now, check
again.”

He
leaned to the side so Bennett could read the screen.

Source:
Little Brother

Location:
Station Two

Address:
search initiated

“And
that means?”

“Whenever
someone buys a computer,” Adam explained, “they register it. In addition to any
legal software they buy. But we’re only concerned now with the machine itself.
If the computer is part of a company, whether a laptop, PC or desktop terminal,
then the company is the licensee and each individual user has a special name.”

“But
how—”

Adam
held up his hand. “For this demonstration, I renamed the computer Little
Brother. The source. And the program I installed here can pick up the name as
well as the actual location of whoever tries to breach these files. Not just
the town or city, either.”

He typed
in another command, a map of the city appeared and a thin line stretched to the
address of the house and placed a red dot there.

“With
most programs the hacker has to be online to be caught,” he continued. “But
I’ve written my own program so it captures the name of the source and the
physical location and sends it back to me, even when the user signs off.”

“Impressive.”

I
guess the little shit’s worth what I pay him after all.

Adam
nodded his thanks.

Bennett
handed him a cell. “This is a burner phone with one number programmed into it.
Mine. You’ll call and give me the information the minute it happens.”

“Okay.
Sure.” Adam laid the instrument next to his monitor.

“How
soon will the new program be active?” Bennett demanded. “I mean, outside your
own computers.”

“In
about five minutes.” He tapped the keys again, waited as the icon circled then
turned into a green light bulb. “Okay. There you go, Mr. B. The trap is set.”

Bennett
certainly hoped so. Every minute he didn’t find Haggerty was another minute his
entire life was in jeopardy.

*****

Frustrated
at having hit a wall as far as getting into the final documents in each folder,
Trey left the ones he’d already accessed and worked on pulling up the next one.
Even the new software he’d downloaded only took him so far. He had his eyes
closed, rubbing his temples with his fingers, when he caught Casey’s familiar
scent. He opened his eyes to see her sitting across from him, pushing a glass
in his direction.

“Bad
day, huh?” she commented. “Can I help at all?”

He picked
up the drink and took a long swallow, the ice cold tea soothing.

“Thanks.
More frustrating than anything. I have a glitch I can’t find a way to resolve.”

She
frowned. “Something with the software you’re using?”

“Yeah.
In a manner of speaking.” He raked his hands through his hair. “I’m getting so
close, too.”

“Can you
at least tell me what the problem is?”

“Okay.”
He finished the rest of the drink and set the glass down. “I’m at a critical
point with everything here. If I can open the last few documents in each, I’m
pretty sure I’ll have the definitive proof I need. The last few nails in the
coffin, you might say.”

“Listen.”
She leaned closer to him. “I have a friend—”

“Absolutely
not. I told you.”

“But if
you’re stymied, why not let someone help?”

“No outsiders,”
he insisted. “I’m so damn close, Casey.” He tightened his fist in frustration.
“I’m working on opening another file. If I do, put together with the others I
have, I think it will give Max Rider enough to move on. I can’t wait much
longer. I’m surprised Bennett hasn’t found me already.” His mouth thinned in a
grim line. “And as long as I’m here, I’m putting you and everyone around you in
danger, too.”

“You let
me worry about that, big guy,” she said. “You do what you need to and I’ll take
care of the rest. Meanwhile, I’ll bring you some fresh coffee and you get back
to work.”

While
Trey still felt uncomfortable letting a woman protect him, he couldn’t worry
about his masculinity or his ego with everything on the line. He smiled his
thanks when Casey set a fresh mug on the table, and then he pulled up another
folder.—Vox Populi. Voice of the People.

What
crap.

But when
he ran it through two of the programs and managed to open it, he was stunned.
He couldn’t believe Bennett had kept a record of any of this stuff except for
his own protection.

Three
columns popped up—a list of dates, one of numbers and a third he assumed were
coded names. Bribes? Payoffs? He wished to hell he could get in deep enough to
find out. All of his instincts told him Bennett was greasing palms in many
governments, including his own. Trey would have to be extra careful getting the
information to Max Rider. He’d try the home phone number he had for him first.
If he went through the DHS instead, he had no idea whose ears his call would
reach.

He kept
digging, uncovering as much as he could, until he had to accept the fact he’d
reached a dead end again. Checking his watch, he realized the dinner crowd must
be filling up the other side by now. He was trying to remember if Casey had to
work until cleanup time when she stopped by his table with a cold drink.

“Anything
new?”

“Something.
Not everything, but more than I had.” He took a long swallow of the icy liquid.
“I might go ahead and call my friend. See what he says. Figure out how to connect
with him.”

She
lowered her voice. “Do you have a number for him? I’m sure you can’t just look
up the number for Homeland Security and say, ‘Hey, is Max there?’”

He
snorted. “I wish. With what I just discovered, that’s not even an option.”

She
raised an eyebrow. “Can you tell me?” she murmured.

“Yes,
but not here. Listen, how late do you have to work?”

“Another
hour and I’m out of here. Want me to get takeout and we can head to the motel?”

“No, I
think I’d rather pick up a pizza, if you agree. I’ll leave a few minutes before
the end of your shift so it won’t be too obvious.”

“Obvious,
huh?” She gave a soft laugh. “You can’t get away with much in a small town,
mister. But pizza sounds good.”

“Okay.
Just don’t let the sheriff know.” It was a lame joke, but she smiled anyway.

As soon
as she left the booth, Trey saved everything to his online folder. Next he
Googled Homeland Security. He waded through all the bullshit on the home page
including the descriptions for public consumption. A few clicks led him to the
organizational chart. Sure enough, Max’s name popped up. Undersecretary, Office
of Intelligence and Analysis. He’d done well for himself. According to the web
site, his friend headed DHS
integrated efforts to
reduce risks to physical, cyber and communications infrastructures.

Well,
what Trey had uncovered could definitely be considered a risk, even if there
were still pieces missing.

He hoped
the home phone number in his contacts still worked. The two of them hadn’t
spoken in well over a year, since exchanging numbers when they’d bumped into
each other at an airport and spent an hour over drinks. All he could do was
cross his fingers and hope. Now that he knew palms had been well greased, there
was no way he’d call the main DHS number and untangle bullshit red tape to get
to Max.

On a
whim, curious to find out if any word of his “disappearance” had been made
public, he decided to do an Internet search on himself. He wondered what
Bennett had done to explain his absence and whether there’d been any media
coverage. His stomach cramped as he thought of his parents. Had they been told
anything? What hell were they going through?

No shock
when he found only his business profile on the web site and nothing but
references to his role at BGE in business newspapers and magazines. Bennett
would have sat on his absence as long as he could then instituted his own
private search. Every minute brought Trey closer to being found.

Tonight
he’d try to contact Max and see what he could set up.

Chapter Eleven

Trey had
no sooner arrived at the motel with the pizza than he heard a tap at his door
and opened it to Casey. He pulled her inside and drew her into his arms,
holding her tight against him. The warmth of her body seeped into him and he
held her for a long moment, relishing her arms around him. He clung to her as
if she anchored him. Which, he had to admit, she did. It still amazed him how
in such a short time she’d come to be so important in his life.

She
laughed when her stomach made a soft grumbling sound. “I guess I’m hungrier
than I thought.”

“Let’s
eat while it’s hot.” He set her away from him with reluctance. “I can tell you
what I found using the new program. Hopefully it won’t spoil your appetite.”

He’d
begged paper plates and napkins from the restaurant and for a few moments they
busied themselves getting their food ready.

Casey
took a bite and licked some sauce from her lower lip. “Okay, give.”

Trey
swallowed the mouthful he’d been chewing and washed it down with the soda from
the motel vending machine.

“You
know everything I’ve found so far, about the drugs and illegal arms.”

She
nodded.

“Okay,
the last file I opened today had lists. Dates, numbers and what I suspect are
coded names. Still another layer to dig through.” He dropped his half-eaten
slice on his plate in a gesture of frustration. “With everything else I’ve
uncovered, I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to assume what I found is a list
people Bennett’s bribed, many of them in governments, including ours.”

“Holy
shit!” She stared at him, eyes wide.

“Holy
shit is right. Casey, the head of Bennett Global Enterprises is a man who has
dinner at the White House and visits with royalty all over the globe. He’s
well-known for his philanthropy and the top name on everyone’s guest list.
Someone I respected. Admired. How and why did he sink to such a low? Why risk
everything? ”

“I don’t
know him, so I can’t give you any answers. I wish I could.” She reached across
the small table and linked her fingers with his. “Listen to me. You can’t beat
yourself up over this. It’s not your fault. I don’t know if I believe in Fate but
maybe you were meant to answer the phone that night. Otherwise, nothing might
ever have come to light.”

“Yeah, I
guess. Maybe.” He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed. “But it sure hasn’t been much
fun since then.” He managed a slight grin. “Except for you.”

Her face
pinked. She had a hard time with compliments. Something he hoped to change.

Yeah?
When would that be? When everything blows up, assuming you get out with your
skin intact, where does your situation with Casey go next?

“I’m
going to try reaching my friend tonight,” he told her as they finished the last
of the food. “I’ve got more than enough to give him now so he won’t think I’m
seeing bogeymen.”

“You
said you have his number at home, right?”

“Yeah. I
hope it’s still good.”

He
opened his laptop and booted it to get to his contact list. Then, digging one
of the new burner phones out of his duffel, he took a deep breath and punched
in the number. There was no going back now.

A female
voice answered.

“Hello?”

Max’s
wife, he assumed. He cleared his throat.

“Um,
hello. Is Max there?”

After a
pause she spoke again in a cool voice. “May I ask who you are? And who gave you
this number?”

Oh,
shit. Of course he should have figured the phone was unlisted and his wife
would know everyone who had it. In Max’s position, he wouldn’t want to
broadcast his private information to hell and gone.

“Is this
his wife?” he asked, to be sure.

“I think
I asked for your name first.”

“My
name. Yes. Trey Haggerty. Max and I were in college together and we’ve sort of
kept in touch since then. Although we haven’t seen each other in more than a
year.”

“I see.”
The voice thawed a little. “I think I’ve heard him mention your name.”

“Is he
there?” Anxiety built inside him. “I’d like to speak to him, please.”

“I’m
afraid he’s not available at the moment. Could I take a message for him?”

“It’s
important I get in touch with him. When will he be available?” Trey heard the
desperation in his voice and tried to dial it down. “Is he there? Can you
please ask him if he’ll talk to me?”

“Does
your call have to do with his position at Homeland Security?” she asked. “Or is
it personal?”

“Both.
Please. Can you help me?”

Another
pause. “I can promise you, he’ll get your message sometime tomorrow, Mr.
Haggerty. That’s the best I can do. Where can he reach you?”

Trey
hesitated. Giving out the number of the burner phone made it “visible” at once,
but it seemed he had no choice. He read off the number he’d programmed for it
and asked her to repeat it.

“And
please tell him it’s important. Urgent, even.” He disconnected the call,
frustrated.

“I
couldn’t tell much from one side of the conversation,” Casey said, “but did
whoever answered give you the runaround?”

He raked
his fingers through his hair. “Maybe. No. I’m not sure. I have a feeling he’s
not home and she didn’t want to let me know. In case I’m a nut who might decide
to barge in on a woman alone, I guess.”