“There is one other thing, even though I’m not sure it’s relevant, but in the context of what I’ve just told you…” Emma glanced at me and turned back to John.“Greg Webster, a colleague at Tri-O-Tech, is not happy that I’m up for a promotion.It’s been inferred that this assignment will be the catalyst for the final decision.Based on some of his remarks and how those remarks could be interpreted, this is not the first time he’s felt that I’m receiving some sort of preferential treatment.Asher felt, and I agreed, that you should have this information in the interest of full disclosure.”
John’s smile was actually friendly, and he extended his hand.Emma hesitated for a second, clearly not quite sure what to do, then shook his hand.“I appreciate the information, and I’ll pass it on.I also want to thank you for your help last night and today.I’ve been apprised of the excellent work you’ve been doing on the project and your assistance with this intrusion.Again, thank you.Now, I have to get back to the investigator, and you both have to get back to work.”
John switched the woo-woo off and pinned me, his gaze sharp.“Asher, take this bastard down…hard.”
“You know I will.”Once John was out of the room, I pulled Emma to my side.“This is one of those times I really like saying ‘I told you so’.”She rested her head on my shoulder.
“You win.”She raised her head, expression open, her smile warm.“Let’s get this guy.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Emma
The atmosphere in the Batcave was pressured, intense, focused.Tim handed me a thumb drive before I sat down.Asher went looking for Ben.
“This contains copies of code written by Baylor Moore and Hugo Wayne.Tate Riser’s a good kid with a lot of potential, but at the time, he wrote code by the book, didn’t know how to improvise, you know, think outside the book or the box.I had to basically rewrite most of what he did, so there isn’t enough in the archive to make a comparison.”
“Thanks.I found signatures, but now I’ll look specifically at Baylor’s and Hugo’s work so that when we find the ghostware, we can do a comparison.How’s the search going?”
Using the captured information, they’d managed to eliminate FI workstations.They were now checking individual devices that had the same identifier.
We were close.Now I was going to bury myself in the samples on the thumb drive.
“When you see Asher, please tell him I’ve gone upstairs, and I’ll see him later.”
I left a note on Asher’s chair in the conference room before I left.Once back in the office, I locked the door, woke the boxes, put on a pot of coffee, printed aDo Not Disturbsign, and taped it to the door.By the time I’d hung the sign, the coffee was finished.I filled my lucky mug, grabbed a power bar from my snack stash, pulled up my playlist, adjusted my headset, and got to work.
I had a hunch and free rein on the mainframe.My quarry had walked right in through the front door because someone had given them a key.The hubris shown by not using an offshore VPN was telling.We knew this wasn’t the first time, but the pattern indicated they didn’t know their way around.How could that be unless they’d never been in our house before?Or was what looked like lack of direction a distraction?
What would I find if I worked backward?
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Asher
I opened my fourth Red Bull, took a bite of the cold pizza, then hoisted my feet up on the edge of the table and leaned back in my chair.After the meeting with John, Ben, Tim, Will, and I reconvened in the Batcave conference room.I found Emma’s note, and Tim told me about the thumb drive he’d given to her.Code samples and more tracking information, which explained why Emma had gone back to the office rather than remaining downstairs.
It turned out Will and Tim had worked through the night and finally got to the hotel just before five in the morning, grabbed a couple hours sleep and headed back to work just after seven.They’d suggested they babysit the department so Ben and I could do whatever we needed to do.When the night shift logged in, we called a rideshare and sent them home.This time, they didn’t bargain or argue.
Ben and I interviewed everyone on the day and mid shifts and turned up nothing new.No surprise.I didn’t expect to turn up anything.My gut was telling me the malware had come in via a phishing scheme or links in a website.Ben was sure the upload was deliberate and had been accomplished with a personal device.
Once we finished the interviews with the night shift, we agreed we’d head home.John texted us before he left to tell us he’d scheduled a meeting with the feds at three the next afternoon, now today.That would give Ben, Emma and me time to sleep and organize whatever we’d found.
After checking my cell phone multiple times for some word from Emma, Ben cornered me in the break room just before the eleven p.m.shift change.
“It’s not like she’s booby trapped the entire floor.Go up and check on her.You’re not going to settle down until you do, and we’ve got to get the last interviews done.”
“I went up at four and again at seven.At four, there was just aDo Not Disturbsign.At seven, there was a sign below it, a skull and crossbones.I’m not sure what would’ve happened if I’d knocked.”
Ben leaned against the sink and folded his arms across his chest.“The way I see it, you can keep checking your phone and be frustrated when there’s no text, or you can take your life in your hands, go upstairs and just look through the glass, or be really brave and actually knock on the door.”He finished off his coffee and set the empty mug in the sink.“Your choice.”
I decided the risk was worth the reward and went upstairs.Peering around the signs, I couldn’t read the screen she was looking at, but she was working from both boxes and all six screens were active, her back to the door, headset in place, at least three power bar wrappers and three empty cans of Red Bull on the desk.
When Emma was free of corporate chains, she really did look like the Hollywood version of a technogenius—headset in place, probably blasting the playlist she called her coding muse, the music from artists ranging from Swift to NIN, coffee or Red Bull and power bars her fuel.
After her clapback to me in the restaurant, I’d backed off.I’d also learned a lesson.To some people, their work really was their life.Interfering with that resulted in more harm than good.I also recognized Emma worked best when not limited by others’ structure.She created her own, and the results validated her style.So, when I found her note, I understood she was pursuing something worthwhile, and it was best to leave her alone.
I opened my hand and flattened it against the glass.I hoped she’d notice the handprint the next time she took a break.
