“I’d love to change and get my weapon on my hip instead of where it currently is.” Anissa’s voice carried from the corner. Anissa wore a glittery silver gown, and if she had a gun anywhere under that dress, she had to be extremely uncomfortable. “We’ll take turns getting out of these monkey suits and then we can help maintain the perimeter.”
The huddle broke. Gabe and Ryan jogged outside and returned with four bags. Ivy directed them to the offices off the main work area and pointed out the location of the restrooms, then returned to her office.
Gil stood, hands on his hips, talking with Tessa, who was glaring at the floor.
She didn’t care if it was a private conversation. She walked right up to them. “Is there news? Has something happened?”
Gil shook his head. “No news. Luke, Zane, and Faith are en route.”
“Is it my imagination, or are y’all being a bit overprotective?Tez is nowhere near here. Assuming the culprit is Preston, all he wants is the money. Which he’s going to get.”
“No, he isn’t,” Sabrina said from behind Ivy’s desk.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve got that covered. Well, I can’t take credit.” Sabrina peered over the monitor. “I know you’re a genius, Dr. Collins, but I hope you understand that your man is crazy smart. He’s considered possibilities, made contingencies, and—”
“I didn’t expect him to kidnap one of my kids,” Gil cut in, his face a mask of regret.
“No one can predict everything, Special Agent Dixon.” Sabrina had pulled out her professor voice. “You aren’t God, so don’t give yourself more credit than you deserve. What you did is going to make the ramifications of tonight’s events far less costly than they might have been. Detective Morris will get Tez, and Ivy will be safe. You won’t ever forget this week, the good and the bad. But eventually the bad will fade, and your memories will focus on Ivy and all the good that has come from having her in your life.”
Her gaze flicked to a spot behind Gil. Ivy turned, and Adam Campbell—now in khakis, a polo shirt, and a light jacket that didn’t hide the weapon and badge on his belt—went straight to his wife and planted a kiss on the top of her head. He said something too low for Ivy to catch and left the room.
Sabrina’s expression was tender, and she watched until Adam was out of sight, then turned back to Gil. “Trust me on that.”
The dreamy expression lifted, and Sabrina’s normal intensity returned. “Dr. Collins, your system has been completely cloned and backed up to remote servers. We could be wrong, but we’re assuming the email will come with ransomware attached. You’ll have to open the attachment to get the directions, which will launch the ransomware. You won’t lose anything, and it will only takeme a couple of days to rebuild—less if you’ll allow me to bring in a few of my grad students. This will make a fabulous real-world case study for them.”
Ivy sagged against Gil. She knew Sabrina could do stuff like this, but knowing it was done and her systems were safe? Her relief was intense.
“Maybe we should hold off on the grad students until we’re sure everything is resolved.” Gil squeezed her elbow, and Ivy wasn’t quite sure if he was talking to her, Sabrina, or both.
“Point taken.” Sabrina frowned at the screen. “You’re up, Dr. Collins.”
Gil squeezed her elbow again, and her legs propelled her forward. Sabrina relinquished her position behind the computer but didn’t go far, her eyes focused on the monitor.
Ivy took her seat and moved the mouse from the right side of the keyboard to the left. Her hands trembled, but she clicked on the email. The message was blank except for an attachment.Lord, please let what Sabrina did work.She opened the attachment.
Nothing happened.
She’d expected flashing images on the monitors and squawking from the speakers. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the normal-looking screen. “Is it happening?”
Gil knelt beside her. “Right now, malware is attaching itself to the files in your system that will enable it to lock you out. When it’s finished, you’ll get a message.”
“How long will that take?”
“It can happen fast, but you have a secure system, with multiple firewalls.”
“Will the malware be able to get around them?”
“It wouldn’t have,” Sabrina said, “but I created openings. It will find them.”
“You seem sure.”
“I didn’t open the doors, but I cracked more than a few windows. Honestly, I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t make it through.”
“Why would you say that?” Ivy tore her eyes from the monitor to look at Sabrina.
“I want Tez back. I want you safe. But I also want the Secret Service to apprehend the bad actor who designed this malware.”
