“I’m the keeper of the key.” All heads turned his way, and he felt the weight of their stares press against his chest. “You can’t unleash a virus like Dominion without a way to control it. Otherwise, we’re talking about worldwide infrastructure failure. The key code locks the virus in or out of any computer, system, or server. If you have the key, you control the worm. And if you control the worm, you control the web.”
“Let me get this straight,” Cody said. “Seven years ago, you and a bunch of student hackers created a virus capable of starting a global apocalypse. And now you’re the most valuable player in the race to win the Super Bowl of coup d’états.”
Jay shrugged. “The assignment was meant to be an exercise in theory, but we designed the project with fail-safes in place anyway. Each team member was tasked with coding one piece of the virus. The codes were never meant to be combined. Creating the key was my part of the project.”
“So how does Jonas Johnson and the creation of the Joint Task Team factor into all of this?” Jamie asked, getting to the point.
“The potential ramifications of Dominion on national and global security became evident in the early stages of the project. At the direction of President Fowler, a small multi-agency task force led by the Director of National Intelligence was struck to ensure the United States stayed in a position of power. The task force had one objective. Be first in the race to weaponize Dominion and develop a kill switch. It took a team of eight cyber security experts four years to unravel the codes. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, they were able to combine the scripts and prove the theory behind Dominion. China and Russia weren’t far behind. The virus exists, but so far, no one’s been able to code the key or create the kill switch.”
“During the initial stages of development,” Mick said, taking over from Diane. “CIA operatives in Russia started to hear about an underground coalition. An international group of wealthy businessmen who called themselves the Imperium. Their intent was to seize control of Dominion and use it as the catalyst to position themselves as the supreme leaders of a global government. Following protocol, we brought the intel to Director Reece. He briefed both the president and the task force. Less than a week later, our information sources dried up. You’ve heard of Sergi Bagryanov?”
“Yeah,” Zander said. “He’s the Russian billionaire who was gunned down by the Italian Mafia along with his wife and three kids.”
“I remember,” Cody added. “Weren’t they murdered on their mega-yacht off the coast of Sorrento along with the entire crew?”
Mick nodded. “Bagryanov had ties to the Mafia, but they didn’t kill him. He was our main source of intelligence on the Imperium council. We had one other reliable informant. Fleur Derucier was Saudi business mogul Mukesh Talal Alsaud’s mistress. French authorities found her floating face down, without a face, in the Seine the same day the Bagryanov massacre was discovered. After that, chatter on Imperium fizzled out. We’ve heard nothing since.”
“As soon as our contacts were eliminated, we knew the CIA had been infiltrated, and someone on the presidential task force was working against American interests.” Diane frowned. “Director Reece brought the issue to President Fowler. He disagreed with our analysis, and after consultation with the National Security Director, he left the task force in place.”
“Let me guess,” Adam said. “That’s when Wright popped up as enemy number one of the United States.”
“Yes,” she replied. “What better way to draw focus away from the international threat posed by Imperium than to give the president a domestic terrorist to worry about? Wright came out of nowhere, flooded the dark web with his manifesto, sowing seeds of dissent among disillusioned Americans, and promising a revolution by overthrowing President Fowler’s administration. The president had no choice but to respond. His first order was the creation of the Joint Task Team under the authority of Homeland Security.”
“Playing right into Johnson’s hands,” Jamie said.
“Yes,” Diane agreed.
“And you sent him Jay? The one guy who holds the key to Dominion,” Adam said.
“To be fair, the Dominion task force consisted of the who’s who in US intelligence services. NSA. CIA. INR. I&A. FBI. We had no clue who was working against us or how far the conspiracy reached, and the number of people I had faith in had diminished significantly. Johnson wasn’t at the top of our suspect list, and I trusted William implicitly. With the CIA compromised, the safest place for Jay was with your father and the JTT. It still is.”
“How much did the colonel know?” Adam demanded.
“Everything,” Diane responded. “He knew the risks associated with the mission and the importance of keeping Jay secure. It’s the reason the JTT worked off the books. Not even Johnson, as the head of the team, knew where you were. Your father made sure of it.”
“If Johnson wasn’t at the top of the suspect list, who was?” Chase asked.
“We suspected Henrietta Neilson.”
“The Director of National Intelligence?”
Diane nodded. “There were some clandestine maneuvers happening that put her on the top of our watch list.”
“Didn’t she die of a massive coronary?” Cody asked.
“She did. Sixteen months ago,” Mick confirmed. “But we’re not convinced her heart exploding resulted from natural causes. She was either in on the conspiracy or had discovered who was behind it. Either way, Johnson wasn’t our concern until the JTT confirmed his identity as Mr. Wright.”
“What we don’t know,” Diane said. “Is who his financial backer is.”
“You think it’s someone on the Imperium council,” Jay said, the puzzle pieces finally coming together. What better way to seize control of the world’s superpowers than to have its leaders on short leashes.
“Yes,” Diane said. “Johnson is a pawn in a much bigger game. We need to know who’s behind his run on the Whitehouse if we want to have any hope of preventing the total collapse of the United States government.”
“Motherfucker,” Zander said, voicing the internal thoughts of everyone around the table.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Four days.Summer hadn’t been alone with Jamie since he’d blown her world apart with the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced. He’d slipped out of bed after she’d finally fallen asleep in his arms, and he’d been busy ever since.
