Come and Find Me A Novel of Suspense - By Hallie Ephron Page 0,81
said it loud enough so Daniel couldn’t help hearing.
“What?” he said. “What’s going on?”
“Shh. I think they’re conferencing about something they don’t want us to hear.”
Daniel came over and stood behind her.
Finally the sound came back on. “Jim Lau,” a voice said, and another male avatar, this one also dressed in a dark suit, his face a cliché from an Asian comic-book, materialized.
“That’s their COO,” she whispered up to Daniel.
“I know that,” he shot back, his face tense. “I thought he wasn’t going to be there.”
“Jim?” A voice balloon appeared over Moore’s head. “These are the folks from Gamelan Security. They’re ready to get started.”
“I’m sorry to have kept you in the dark,” Lau said, his voice deep and resonant like someone who’d had radio training. “It was unavoidable. But there’s been a development, and I wanted to bring you all the news myself because it’s going to affect this project. You understand, the nondisclosure is in effect?”
“Of course,” Diana said.
“No one’s listening in on your end?” Lau asked.
She looked up at Daniel. He covered his ears, then his eyes, then his mouth. “Absolutely not,” she said.
“All right, then. We’ve just received some disturbing news. I’ve been asked not to put anything in writing. To discuss it on a purely need-to-know basis. And you all need to know.” He paused for a moment. “We’ve had a ransom demand.”
Diana looked over at Daniel. He looked genuinely stunned.
“You sure it’s for real?” she asked. “Because sometimes news of these kinds of . . . unfortunate events”—she didn’t know what else to call leaving confidential corporate data on a commuter train—“can leak out. Someone might be trying to capitalize on the chatter.”
“I’m afraid it’s far more serious than that,” Lau said. “We’ve been faxed a copy of one of the missing documents. It’s genuine, all right. The demand is for ten million dollars. If we don’t pay up in three days, they’re threatening to sell the information to the highest bidder. I’ve had no choice but to call in the authorities. The data that was taken is highly sensitive. I can’t go into detail, but suffice it to say that in the wrong hands, the results would reverberate to the highest levels of our government.”
“Bogus,” Daniel muttered under his breath. “Completely bogus.”
Diana tensed, sweat beading on her upper lip. What was he thinking?
“Why isn’t he saying anything?” Daniel continued. “He’s just sitting there like a block of wood.” Diana realized he meant Jake.
“That’s the bad news,” Lau continued. “But the good news is, precautions were taken to safeguard the data. Digital time bombs were embedded in the files, and when one of the files was opened, presumably to print the data that was faxed to us, a homing beacon was detonated. Right now, it’s transmitting a signal. Agents are closing in on a location, as we speak.”
“Agents?” Diana said.
“FBI.”
Diana turned to Daniel. He’d gone pale. He stood, looking up into the domed roof of the silo, a hand cupped to his ear.
“What?” she whispered.
He shook his head.
Lau continued. “Tampering with federal data. It’s a federal offense.”
“Shit,” Daniel said under his breath. He returned to his computer and brought up his network manager. “Can’t believe . . . so stupid . . . idiot,” he muttered. A moment later he was scrolling through log files.
Lau continued to speak but Diana wasn’t listening. “Daniel, what are you looking for?”
He didn’t respond. He just sat there, gaping at his computer screen.
Diana realized that Lau had stopped talking. Presumably he was waiting for her response. Fortunately, Daniel didn’t appear to be paying close attention.
“So, how can we help?” she said.
“Go ahead with the security audit and penetration testing,” Lau said. “But forget about tracking the stolen data. It’s very important that you leave that alone. For now, at least. Understood?”
“Understood. We’ll start testing right away.”
“When do you think you’ll have a report for us?”
“I’ll need a meeting first with your in-house—”
“Jesus Christ,” Daniel exploded.
“Pardon?” Lau said.
“Can you give me a moment?” Diana clapped a hand over the microphone, switched the sound input to mute, and froze the screen. She turned to Daniel. “Daniel, they can hear you.”
He barely glanced over at her. He was scrolling through lists and opening files, swearing under his breath. “Shit. None of these files were here before. And now . . . Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Daniel!”
“Son of a bitch.” He directed the word at his computer screen. “What the hell is going on?”
“Good question,” she said. “You tell me. What in the hell