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Gray asked, “What have Nicholas and Mike gotten into? Someone tried to kill them with a drone attack?”
“Apparently so. I would have liked to see Agent Caine shoot a drone out of the sky. But first things first. We have to take them at their word we’re compromised, too. How can we get secure communications with Washington, and with Drummond?”
“Letters, cables, dedicated encrypted sat phones. It’s a six-hour flight between here and London—Clancy and Trident can make it in five, so if we’re desperate, we can use them, too.”
“Flying messages across the Atlantic? I’d love to hear the director’s thoughts on that manner of transmission.”
“Only until we figure out what’s happening. Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. It’s the safest, most secure method. You know the terrorists move all their high-level information by hand. They aren’t crazy enough to do it electronically anymore. And now we’re in the same boat.”
“I know that, Gray.”
“Sir, how anyone could have gotten into our systems is a mystery to me. We are fortified on all levels, and I would think an intrusion would have already shown up in the code. Does Nicholas have any idea who’s behind it?”
“You read the letter—he says he doesn’t, but you know Drummond, he probably already has four suspects in mind. And he’s hours ahead of us. He’s known this since last night. I would like to touch base with him immediately if you can figure out a way to do so securely.”
“We should coordinate with Savich and the CAU in D.C. right away. Though I’m not sure the best way to do it. We can simply buy disposable phones on our end, but how will they know to do it themselves?”
“Burner phones—” He broke off, looked across the park. “Is that Agent Scott?”
Sure enough, Agent Lia Scott was running across the street with a package in her hand, obviously looking for them. When she saw them, she put on a burst of speed. Gray couldn’t help but admire her latest outfit—conservative blue pantsuit, black low-heeled boots, and, underneath the tailored blue jacket, a Def Leppard concert T-shirt from their Pyromania tour. She never wore a nose ring at work, but her left ear glinted with hardware.
Even before she stopped, she said, “Sir, a package came a few minutes ago from Agent Savich in D.C. It says emergency on it. I saw you and Gray leave together, so I decided to try to catch you.”
Zachery took the envelope. “Thank you, Lia. Stay put, we need to get you up to speed.” As he ripped opened the envelope, he said, “In short, we have a comms breach.”
He laughed when he looked inside. It was a burner cell phone and a note with a phone number on it.
He dialed the number.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Criminal Apprehension Unit, CAU
Hoover Building
Washington, D.C.
Special Agent Dillon Savich drummed his fingers on the desk, looking out into the empty bullpen. It was early, and only Ruth, yawning, was at her desk, coffee and briefcase in hand.
He’d come into the office to clear out some paperwork. And there had been Nicholas’s letter waiting for him at the front desk. He’d ripped it open in the elevator, read it, and then turned right back around, went to the nearest 7-Eleven, grabbed a set of burner phones, and walked straight to the courier office on 14th Street. It was 5:00 a.m., and the courier could be in New York by seven thirty, for a price, of course. They were used to doing cross-city runs, but the kid who was there was more than willing to go to New York for the morning. He was at the train station fifteen minutes later, Amtrak chugging him up to the city.
Savich checked his Mickey Mouse watch again. Almost 8:00 a.m. “Come on, come on.”
The burner cell phone on his desk buzzed. He snatched it up.
“Took you long enough.”
Zachery said, “Are you inside? If so, get outside and call me back.”
“Give me a minute.” Savich punched off, ran down the stairs and onto the street. He ran south and stopped two blocks from the National Mall, probably the safest place to talk, considering all the joggers and tourists. It would confuse the signals if anyone had already figured them out.
He found a quiet bench and called back the previous number.
Zachery sounded almost cheerful. “Glad you anticipated we’d need to have a chat this morning. Made our lives much easier. You’re outside, on the off chance the communications breach includes an audio component?”
“Yes, even though Nicholas thinks it’s a stretch, but who knows?”
Zachery said, “Anything’s possible, but burners, outside? We should be okay. The offices, not so much, and email, certainly not.”
