It’d been like that from the beginning. Her…awarenessof him. But after making love with him, it was ten times worse and—
“Showtime, folks.” Fisher’s voice cut off her musings.
She opened her eyes to see a white utility truck parked on the opposite side of the gate. A man in jeans, cowboy boots, and a blue polo shirt with the words Bleeker Creek Power stitched over his left breast hopped out.
He was dark-haired and dark-eyed. She would clock him in at around fifty. But it was hard to tell for sure since he had that sunbaked look of a guy who spent a lot of time outside.
The guard opened the gate wide enough to let the lead engineer through. And she wouldn’t have thought her heart could pound any faster. But watching the man in the polo get closer proved her wrong.
“Everyone ready?” Fisher asked when the engineer stopped a foot from the front bumper.
She wanted to screamno!Cesar was the performer, not her. She had no clue how to be anyone but herself. She had no clue how to fake—
The question had been rhetorical. The Knights opened their doors and exited the sedan. And she was left with no recourse but to follow suit.
Because her blood was running high, the cool air felt like heaven against her exposed cheeks. If she’d had her way, she would’ve taken a moment to breathe deeply and compose herself, but Fisher was already making introductions.
She gingerly made her way around to the front of the car when he mentioned her name.Er…herfakename.Automatically, she reached to shake the engineer’s hand.
It was only after Gonzales gripped her fingers she worried she’d made a mistake. Could he feel how badly she trembled?
Get your shit together, Hannah!she berated herself.Don’t ruin this! Too much is on the line!
“What’s this about?” The curiosity on Gonzales’s face included an undercurrent of alarm.
“Mr. Gonzales, we have reason to believe ya have an employee workin’ here who’s been tasked by the Chinese government with gainin’ access to your system. Their plan is to insert malware that will cause a deregulation of the flow of electricity.” Fisher still employed his stern, authoritative tone.
Gonzales blinked. “No.” He shook his head and the morning sun glinted off his dark hair. “I know this system inside and out. If anyone tries to insert malicious code, it automatically shuts the whole plant down.”
“That’s the way it’ssupposedto work,” Hannah piped up because it was her cue. “But this plant is using an outdated operating system. It has a weakness thatcanbe exploited, and the Chinese have found it.”
“How?” Gonzales’s eyes were keen with intelligence.
“There’s been a recent uptick in cyberspace of surrogate criminal actors who work on behalf of nation-states. They’re essentially cyber hit men for hire and they’ve been hacking into various infrastructures within our country, looking for weaknesses and ways to cripple us. They found one of those weaknesses here at Bleeker Creek.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I mean, how is the malware supposed to work?”
“It’s a two-fold approach. First, it’ll attack your generator by connecting it to the grid out of phase. Which, as you’re aware, will lead to extreme torque and cause the machine to break down. Secondly, and this is the most insidious part, once it’s in your system, it’ll use the backdoor codes your plant uses to communicate with the other plants hooked up to the grid to gain access totheiroperating systems—a sort of Trojan Horse attack—which will start a chain reaction of cascading failures.”
Gonzales sputtered. “Y-you’re talking about a statewide blackout.”
“Yes, Mr. Gonzales.” She was glad he understood the severity of the situation. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
“But who?” He looked over his shoulder as if the traitor might be listening in. “Who’s working for the Chinese?”
“That’s the thing.” She shook her head. “We don’t know. Could be a recent hire. Could be someone who’s been here for years. The only thing we know for sure is that the malware is supposed to be implanted soon. Like, within the next twelve to twenty-four hours.”
“Jesus,” Gonzales wheezed. Then he crossed himself and apologized for the blasphemy. “How do we stop it?” He glanced from Hannah to the others. “Take the plant offline?”
“I know where the weakness is. If you’ll allow me access to your system, I can program a patch that’ll stop the malware in its tracks. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour. You won’t even have to slow down production.”
Gonzales’s eyes pinged down to the ERCOT badge clipped to the collar of her borrowed dress. For a second, she thought she saw hesitation in his eyes. Then he glanced over his shoulder. “Evan, open the gate. Let these good folks through.”
“Right away, Mr. Gonzales.” The security guard hit a button and the gate rattled on its track.
“If you’ll follow me.” Gonzales gestured for them to get back in their car. “I’ll show you the way.”
Fisher bobbed his head in thanks and then made a circular motion with his finger, telling the group to load up.
