“The tracking only works when the machines are on. The ones taken had been powered down.”
“That’s fucking irony.” Cooper made a call. “Cancel my afternoon meetings.” He hung up. “Since this could be terror or foreign-government-related, our espionage team has to investigate. You’ve got to shut down all ops during the investigation. Coulda been an inside job, so we’ve got to look into every employee.”
“C’mon,” Stryker protested. “An employee would only need to disrupt the surveillance. They wouldn’t need to cut the power and the generator.”
“You’re probably right, but we gotta follow procedure on this.”
“How long will this take?”
“Days, weeks,” Cooper replied. “Months.”
“I am so fucked.”
“The thing that will save you is if someone opens up a laptop and turns it on,” Cooper said.
“Let us know if you get any ransom demands.”
“Yup.” Stryker removed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “Got any aspirin?”
Cooper opened his desk drawer and tossed Stryker a bottle, then pushed out of his chair. “I’ll get you some water.”
Stryker downed two pills. “I’m good.”
“Well, I need some water. Let’s walk.”
On the way to the break room, Cooper asked if anyone would want to harm Stryker’s business.
“No idea.”
“If you think of anyone, let me know.”
The fifteen-minute meeting turned into a three-hour debriefing. Cooper called in several people who pelted him with questions. Their solution? TCS would stand down until a full investigation could be completed.
“Not happening,” Stryker pushed back. “You can’t shut me down indefinitely. I employ over four-hundred people.”
“If your team is hacking into government systems to identify potential vulnerabilities, and the hackers are doing the same, we can’t isolate the good guys from the bad,” said Cooper.
“The second they turn those laptops on, we’ve got ‘em,” Stryker said.
“Not if they remove the hard drives and ship them halfway across the world,” Cooper countered.
“What do you suggest, Mr. Truman?” asked one of the senior agents.
“Once IT gets me an inventory of what was stolen, we cease operations on those clients only. If the Bureau was the only account breached, we isolate that and deal with it.”
“I don’t know,” said another.
Stryker was done going in circles. He was not letting the FBI shut him down. An investigation could drag on for months. No way in hell would he lose control of his organization. He pushed out of his seat. “Thanks for your time. Cooper has the surveillance. I’ll get you the specs on the stolen laptops.”
Cooper rose. “I’ll walk you out.”
On the way to the exit, Cooper said, “I know you, and you’re gonna try to find these guys.Don’t. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. This could be a terror cell.”
“When I find them—and I will—I’ll rip their fucking hearts out.”
That made Cooper chuckle. “You’re a hacker. What do you know about retribution?”
The men slowed at the exit and Stryker handed Cooper his visitor badge. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” Stryker said.
