data could be compromised!”
“I’m on with them,” Pearson appeared at her elbow as she entered command after command, trying to block access to files as best she could. She was making some headway, but IT’s own blocks were hampering her efforts. Their fixes blocked her from doing anything as well. “IT says they’re shutting us down as fast as they can. They said for you to keep…” She stopped, listening to someone on the phone. “They’re cutting it…now.”
The screens all over the office went dark. The hot hum of conversation stopped, and the three women, Ana, Pearson, and Pretzky, stood in a ring of watching, silent agents.
“Yeah,” Pearson said into the phone. “Thanks. I’ll tell them. Yeah. Bye.”
“Well?” Pretzky demanded.
“IT says they have it isolated and are tracing it back. No data lost, but it was a close call. It was only our files, our floor.” After dropping that bomb, Pearson turned to Ana. “The guy in IT, Monroe, said to tell you thanks for the blocks you threw up.”
Ana nodded, then staggered. She felt the wave of faintness slide over her, and she slid into a chair.
“Oh, God,” she mumbled, dropping her head down again, between her knees. Oh, God, please don’t let me faint now. Not here. Not in front of everyone.
“What the hell?” Pretzky was at her side in two strides. “What’s wrong? Pearson?”
“No idea,” Pearson murmured, bracketing Ana, resting a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“Got shot at coming into the garage.” Ana managed to get the words out from between chattering teeth. “Just now, coming back from my meeting. Security’s got my car.” She added the inane detail for lack of anything else to say. “That’s where I’ve been. In the garage, giving a report.”
“Shot at?” Pretzky got shrill now. The computer issue was set aside. Obviously hacking was a pisser, but news of one of her agents being shot at seemed to insult her to her core. “Who? When? Where?”
The three W’s. Ana realized the random amusement was a form of hysteria, and she locked it down.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice still shaky as she eased up to a sitting position. Pearson kept a bracing hand on her shoulder, and Ana couldn’t believe how much it helped. “It uh…hit me,” she began, wanting desperately to weep, to scream out her fear.
“You’re hit?” Pretzky crouched down. “Where?”
“No, no. I’m okay. I mean the reaction. It hit me, just as I came off the elevator. I was gonna go sit down, have a private moment to get the shakes out of my system.”
Now she was the center of attention. For the first time, she saw camaraderie and concern on the faces of her colleagues. Evidently, no matter what she’d done in Rome, they would close ranks when anyone outside the organization took pot shots at one of their own.
Somehow, it was reassuring. Ana straightened her spine and managed a smile. “First time, getting shot at,” she said, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Gotta say, it pretty much sucks.”
That got a few laughs, and some conversations broke out. “They comin’ up to debrief you?”
She nodded. “I guess someone will. Got the short version over with in the garage. Not much to debrief. I was key-coding into the garage. If my window hadn’t jammed, I’d be in a body bag.”
“That’s enough.” Pretzky cut her off. “Everyone get back to work, now.” She rested a hand on Ana’s other shoulder, gave the faintest squeeze. “Let her tell it to IAD first.”
Internal affairs. Yep. They’d be right along. Ana sighed. Great. More questions.
About then, her mind started working again, revolving back to what she’d been wondering when the IT systems alerted. Her brain might be on slow mode, but her mind was now full of questions.
Shit, shit, shit. What had she gotten into? Was it Rome? Was it the fraud case? Was it merely visiting with Gianikopolis? SHIT.
“And like clockwork,” Pearson muttered, as the elevator dinged and three agents stepped off. Two of them hesitated, scanning the room, obviously noting the dark monitors, the grouping around Ana.
“Special Agent,” they both acknowledged Pretzky. “We need to talk to Agent Burton.”
“Of course. You’ll note, all of our computers are dark, Agents. We just had an attempt to breach our computer security, just about the time Agent Burton was shot at.”
“Noted,” the darker agent said. “I’m Keyes.” He held his hand out, and Pretzky shook it with obvious reluctance. No one liked IAD, even though they were necessary.
“Charles,” the other agent said, but didn’t offer