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Dani turns, exiting out of the detailed PowerPoint presentation she put together. “And with that, this meeting is concluded. Does anyone have any questions?”
A couple hands shoot up.
“Yes, Kang?”
A man up front jerks his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing at me. “Who’s the new guy?”
Dani smiles. “Everyone, this Luka Antonov.”
Murmurs break out over the room.
“That name sounds kind of familiar,” someone whispers.
“Wait a second, isn’t he that hacker we were trying to surveil a few years ago?”
“No way, can’t be.”
“Okay,” Kang grumbles, a hint of confusion in his tone. “That doesn’t exactly answer my question. Doesn’t this guy have some sort of record?”
My wife and I exchange a quick glance. We figured this might come up. I know a handful of people might take issue with the fact that I’m here. My associations with the Antonov Bratva have long since been severed, but the Antonovbrothersare still and always will be my family. I might have walked away from the Bratva, but I could never cut them out entirely. We still video call at least once every few weeks to keep in touch.
That being said, I’m sure the FBI doesn’t want to openly do business with the likes of me.
Dani grins. “Why don’t you come on up?”
I rise from my seat and walk to the front of the room, ignoring the weight of everyone’s eyes on my back. I’m sure they’re curious, as they should be. “As of today, I’ll be working in an officialunofficialcapacity with the FBI’s tech department. Dani has asked that I personally oversee your frankly abysmal cybersecurity training.”
Kang crosses his arms over his chest, arching a brow. “Abysmal?”
I pull out my phone, pulling up the room’s collective search history. “How to win ex-girlfriend back.Are thumbs fingers? Is murder legal in space? Hot Asian women in my area. Those are just a few of the searches you people have conducted on the office’s public network.”
“And while on the clock,” Dani adds with a disapproving glare.
Kang’s face turns red, probably because one of those search entries I listed was one of his. “But what about the firewall? Or Incognito Mode? Isn’t that stuff supposed to be private?”
“That’s what you’d think,” I say casually. “I spent yesterday at the restaurant across the street, easily able to get into your office’s system. I alerted Dani to the gross oversight, and she recommended I come onboard as a consultant. I’ll be here for the next little while to completely overhaul your system. This is what I managed to find in under three hours. Imagine what a highly motivated criminal could do in that time. There’s much more at risk than your search histories.”
I hear a couple of murmurs of agreement, but the embarrassed faces of the people I discreetly called out amuse me the most. My little demonstration has done the trick.
“This is ridiculous,” Kang grumbles. “I know all about you. You’re a criminal. Since when does the FBI work with thugs?”
I grin. “Since you’re so confident, please tell me what charges I was convicted on.”
The man’s lip curls up into a sneer. “I… Well, you weren’t.”
“I’m confused. So I’mnota criminal?”
Kang glares at Dani. “This is an outrage, Harper. We all know what he’s capable of.”
“Yes, we do,” she says easily. “I’m aware his background is questionable, but perhaps that’s exactly what we need. In order to protect ourselves from hackers, why not consult the best hacker out there?”
“What if he steals state secrets? What if he’s a mole?”
“Believe me, he’s already been thoroughly vetted. I’ve even cleared it with head office. His first month here will be a trial run. If things go well, we’re looking at a long-term partnership.”
Kang grumbles bitterly under his breath. Something tells me he’s going to take a little extra convincing, but for now, it seems I’ve won the rest of the room.
Dani tosses her hair over her shoulder with an air of calm. “That’ll be all, folks. Get back to work. I’ll be in my office if any of you need me. Luka, this way, please. We need to get the rest of your consultation paperwork filed.”
