The older man frowned, rubbing his clean-shaven chin. “According to the client’s log, she downloaded several key files.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. She had to know she’d be caught.” At Hollowell’s wave, Scott sat in a hard wooden chair. “What did she say when you asked her about it?”
The gray-haired man scowled. “I didn’t ask her about it. I don’t want her to know we’re suspicious.” He circled his desk and sat in a black leather chair, steepling the fingers of his sun-spotted hands. “The Westgate admin had a separate log file that she didn’t know about.”
“Still, she’s not stupid.” Scott just couldn’t see her taking that kind of risk. She did this shit all day long. She knew how it worked. “Why would she take a chance like that?”
Hollowell regarded him closely. “Are you getting soft on this woman, Kramer?”
“No, sir.” Scott ignored the temptation to shift in the uncomfortable chair—if the Marines had taught him nothing else, it had taught him how to be still—and held his gaze. “I’m surprised is all.”
The older man waved his hand vaguely. “A lot of these hacker types are anti-authoritarian and think all information should be free. Except, ironically,their own. They’ll do whatever they can to undermine government and corporate secrecy. For all we know, she’s being paid to hand this stuff over to something like WikiLeaks.”
Scott shook his head, still wrestling with the idea of Valerie being guilty.
“The FBI will pick her up from home later this morning.” Hollowell sat back. “I want you on her like a fly on shit in case she runs or makes contact with her buyer before then.”
“Do you think she’s working alone?” Scott asked.
“According to Jay, she hasn’t made contact with anyone online, and you haven’t seen her using computers anywhere but her home and work.”
Scott nodded, and his spirit deflated. He would have sworn she was innocent. Which just showed how much he knew.
As if reading his mind, Hollowell said, “Her father was a notorious hacker named Filiberto Laredo. I know she looks innocent, but she grew up in that world and started working with him from an early age. I thought she’d made a break from that life, but some people can’t move beyond their past.”
Scott kept his face impassive even as he digested that revelation. He could relate. “Her dad was a con?”
“Yes.” Hollowell let out a long sigh. “I turned a blind eye to it because it’s typical for ethical hackers to get their start cracking systems illegally in their teens. She stayed out of trouble after her father was arrested, and her reputation was solid when I hired her.”
Scott ruthlessly pushed aside the idea that he and Valerie had a lot in common. “Sir, what kind of files did she get?”
“Documents relating to classified weapons systems developed by Westgate Defense. Full specs and drawings. Everything.”
“Fuck.” The value of those documents to some of America’s enemies was astronomical.
“My thoughts exactly.” Hollowell checked his watch. “I have a meeting in five.” He leveled a hard gaze on Scott. “Don’t lose her. If we’re lucky, she hasn’t done anything with the files yet.”
“Why doesn’t the FBI pick her up while she’s here?”
“Warrants take time.”
“And they’re not putting a team on her to make sure she doesn’t run?”
The older man looked down his long, straight nose at Scott, his bony shoulders rigid under a high-dollar suit coat. “Youare the team on her. Regardless of what the feds do, I want you as backup.” Eyes narrowed, he leaned in. “Are you in or out?”
Scott swallowed. His scalp prickled in warning, but if he walked off the job, it wouldn’t just hurt his own reputation—and potentially national security—it would reflect poorly on Steele. Kurt didn’t deserve that.
And Scott wasn’t a quitter.
“In, sir.” He didn’t like it, but if Valerie was guilty, he’d make damn sure she didn’t escape.
CHAPTER THREE
Chantilly, VA
Wednesday, 8:00 a.m.
VALERIE DRUMMED HER FINGERS ON her desk, trying to pinpoint the source of her unease. Now that her elation over breaking Westgate had ebbed, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d made a grave mistake, despite Duncan’s assurances that the leak was plugged.
