“Are you shitting me?Don’t they know that?” asked Luke.
“They know that it was developed by G.R.I.P. but they don’t know that we’re all intimately connected to the business,” smiled Hiro.
“Holy shit.I had no idea,” said Eric.
“Wyatt has been quietly doing his thing out at G.R.I.P. for a while now.He was under-utilized as a Navy pilot, at least from a tech standpoint.He’s been helping every division out there.Marine and soil preservation, flight science and aircraft superiority, computer and information systems, and especially defense,” said AJ.
“Do you guys know this guy they spoke of?Smith?” asked Cam.
“Never heard of him and although Smith is a real, bonafide name, it feels wrong.I know that’s stupid.People are named Jones, Smith, Thomas, all kinds of normal, common names.But something about this one bothers me a bit,” said Tanner.
“We’re going to trust you guys and your opinions.Listen, we know that you were all SpecOps as well but if you need additional support we can be there right away,” said Luke.
“If it starts to feel as though something is definitely wrong, we’ll let you know.You could always send a few guys and just have them sit up there.It might be worth sending some folks from the finance team to talk to someone in the office of budget management at the White House.Maybe they can see if money is missing from the budgets?” said Hiro.
“Wouldn’t they know that right away?” asked Hex.They all stared at Hex as if he’d been hit in the head.“Okay, okay.They probably wouldn’t know about it.My bad.”
“Also, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.They could probably give us some insight into the frequency of this happening,” said AJ.
“Hey guys,” said Nate walking in with Abe.“We found something online you need to see.This was a news segment from a morning show in Washington, D.C., just two weeks ago.”
“Welcome back to Mornings with Sam and Jane.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The sign on the wall at the elevators read, “Internet Crime Complaint Center”.The tech team stared at one another frowning.
“What the hell is this?I’ve never heard of this division,” said Wyatt.
“Maybe it’s some sort of secret spy shit,” said AJ.He opened the door and was met by a woman with a stern expression on her face.She looked as if she’d been doing the job for decades but they knew that wasn’t possible.
“Good morning,” said the men in unison.She raised her eyebrow and nodded, barely looking up from the novel she was reading.She didn’t even pretend that she wasn’t working.She did not care.
“Morning.”
“We’re here to speak with someone about recent online crimes of credit card fraud and hacking,” said AJ.
“Did it happen to you?” she asked looking up briefly, then back down at her book.
“No.Sorry, you misunderstand.We’re working with the DOD on some things and need to see what sort of activity has been common…You know what?Can I just speak to a supervisor?” he asked in frustration.
“Don’t know who you need,” she said shrugging.“You’re being pretty vague and I’m not the expert here.”
“How about anyone with knowledge of the subject,” he said as his anger and ire grew.
“All you kids are so impatient,” she said shaking her head.“I’m not an expert, like I said.Hold on.”
She pecked away on her computer and the men thought they were going to lose their cool when suddenly two people poked their heads out of the back.One was a young woman, the other a young man.And they were definitely young.
“Uh, you needed information or something?” said the man.AJ looked at them, then back at his own team.
“Yes.But typically people introduce themselves when they meet someone.”
“Oh.Right.I’m TJ and she’s Beanie.”
“Beanie?” frowned Hiro.
“Yeah, it’s my nickname,” she grinned.Neither looked to be more than twenty-five but acted more like they were fifteen.They wore baggy trousers, high-top sneakers, and over-sized hoodies.If they weren’t sitting in a government office, they’d swear they were kids selling dope on a corner someplace.
