“I’m going to guess daily,” Olivia informed him. “But don’t worry, he’s waiting for me to hack in to get into the federal database. Harder for him and easier for me because of you.” Olivia leaned back in her chair, stretched her arms over her head, then moved to the keyboard.
She sent an email to Leo’s address from one of the sites they’d set up. In the subject line she typed “Richter Urgent.”
It took five minutes for Friedrich to open the email. It was allegedly sent by Checkpoint Charlie requesting immediate information about a former student that might be on an American most-wanted list. In the email he implied that a mutual friend might be in jeopardy.
“Charlie would never ask this question,” Claire said.
“No, but Leo wouldn’t know that. So when Leo jumps on his email for the night, he might just log in to his office email and give Friedrich the link he needs . . . or the link that I need.” Olivia waited, forcing herself to move slowly to not tip off Friedrich.
A half an hour later she opened the email, as if she were Leo . . . that was when the hack into his computer was up and running.
Friedrich’s fingers were typing quickly to catch up.
“I didn’t go to hacking school . . . Tell me what’s going on,” Leo asked.
Olivia typed while Claire explained. “You know how hackers get into your computer and steal personal information through email? A good hack only requires you to open the email. So Olivia sent you a fake message from Charlie, you open it, and now your computer is subject to whatever information she wants to get from you. We open that up for Friedrich to follow along.” Claire pointed to the computer screen. “Pretending to be you, she logs into the FBI site, our fake FBI site, and that login and security is now compromised. You would be searching for the name Charlie just dropped, and if Friedrich is paying attention, he will now start working on Marie’s whereabouts.”
Olivia pretended to search for the name acting as Leo. Twenty minutes in, she logged off.
They all watched as Friedrich moved around the fake website, roadblocks stopping him from getting far. Around midnight, Olivia used the alleged hack as if she were going into the FBI site to search for Marie as well. Unlike Friedrich, she was able to push open a window, a fake one, that sent her to a new site. A trail of bread crumbs and slow delivery of intel had to be paced to keep Friedrich from the truth.
The door to Neil’s office opened, and Jax walked in with Cooper. “We’re ready for our shift.”
Having given Friedrich enough information to keep looking, Olivia and Leo went home, leaving the three younger members of the team watching Friedrich’s online movements.
Olivia stretched out beside Leo, exhaustion in her bones.
“How long will this part take?” Leo asked.
“A few days. The last bit of intel will make him think he has a jump on me. He’ll want to get there first,” she said, yawning. “It will still take him a couple more days once he’s on the move.”
“Enough time to get to the decoy house?”
It had been an exciting and exhausting day. “Yes. He’ll leave Europe with a jump flight, change identities, and get to the US. Once he’s here, he’ll obtain what he needs for the hit. I don’t think he’ll waste time casing the location. Only enough to know I’m not there.”
“Then we’re on to phase two,” Leo said, pulling her into his arms.
“So long as nothing goes wrong.” She was too tired to think about that now.
Leo kissed the top of her head. “Go to sleep. We have time.”
She couldn’t keep her eyes open even if she wanted to. “I’m glad I’m not doing this alone,” she admitted out loud.
He squeezed her tighter. “Me too.”
For the next three days, they worked around the clock, dribbling information to Friedrich until everything he needed to know to get to Marie was available to him.
Only then did they leave California to beat Friedrich to the finish line.
The decoy witness protection home sat in an older neighborhood in a suburb of San Antonio, Texas. It had been fortified and surrounded by Neil’s team. The occupied home on the south side was a vacant rental, and a logical place for Friedrich to infiltrate to take his shot. The home on the north side was owned by a single man who won