“Is that legal?” Evan’s mouth formed a tight line.
“Not definite at this point,” she replied. “They’re currently under investigation by the bureau. The theory is that it’s against the law if a company purposely provides criminals with the means to evade law enforcement through special encryption and destroy evidence.”
Evan grimaced. “Looks like they expanded to include terrorist cells.”
Kiley thought about the development, trying her best to find something positive. “If we access their company files, we might be able to download information for both of the Amaris’ phones.”
“Permission to do that will take time we don’t have,” Sean pointed out.
Kiley planted her hands on the table and gazed at the team. “We’re less than a day away from an attack on millions of people and no solid leads. We have to do this however we can. Even hacking them.”
Mack eyed her. “And if we get caught?”
“C’mon, man.” Cam waved a hand. “You know we won’t get caught.”
Evan shot a questioning look at Cam. “How can you be so sure? They’re providing phones and service to the worst of the worst. So they must have the worst of the worst in charge of their network, which means it’s highly secure.”
“We can do it,” Sean said. “More likely Cam and Kiley can do it. They both have on-the-job experience in network management in addition to their FBI experience.”
Kiley looked at Cam. “You in?”
“Heck yeah, I’m in.” His lips cracked in a mischievous grin. “No way I’d say no to this.”
She changed her focus to Evan. “And to keep them from locating us if for some reason we mess up, we do what all exceptional hackers do.”
Cam’s smile widened. “We buy fresh machines, check into some cheap motel, and we bounce our transmissions around the globe so it won’t lead back to us.”
The excitement of the hunt built in her gut, and she looked at Mack. “You and Sean get the machines. Pay cash.”
“You sound like a criminal,” Evan said.
And she felt like one, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Her phone rang. “Everyone hang tight for a second. It’s Agent Quinn and I gotta take the call.”
“Glad I caught you.” Quinn’s tone was packed with angst. “Nasim Waleed hopped a plane to Sacramento ten minutes ago.”
Sacramento?
“No idea why he’s headed to California,” Quinn continued, “but my team confirmed he boarded the flight, and I have the best local agents meeting it on the other end. Hopefully we’ll figure out his plan.”
Could they be coming cross-country to meet up with Bilal Amari? “Did you question Waleed about the Amaris?”
“Yes. He claimed he doesn’t know them, and they just started supporting The Righteous out of the blue.” Quinn’s disgusted tone said just what he thought of that claim. “But we got a warrant for Waleed’s files, and our review proves the Amaris are officially on the membership roster.”
“Get me a copy of that roster ASAP,” she said, not caring how demanding she sounded.
He didn’t answer right away, and she was about to say please when he said, “I’ll email it to you.”
She might be anxious for information, but she didn’t have to be rude. “Thank you.”
“Are you still thinking our investigations are connected?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said and clamped her mouth closed. She felt bad about not updating him about Gadi, but Quinn didn’t have clearance for that information. And besides, she still hadn’t gotten prints from Clark to confirm Gadi’s ID. “I’ll be watching for your email.”
She quickly disconnected before he asked additional questions. “Nasim Waleed is on his way to Sacramento.”
Evan glanced up. “Isn’t there a dam near Sacramento?”
“Oroville Dam,” Sean answered. “Are there chemical plants there?”
