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She gave a precise recount in fewer words than I’d have thought possible, and Nathan looked to me. “Did you feel the gas pedal move under your foot, or did it remain in place when the vehicle sped up?”
“It moved away from my foot. It didn’t feel as if the brakes engaged when I stood on that pedal, though.”
He stepped to the driver’s side of the vehicle, took a picture of the VIN, texted it to someone, and then placed a call.
“The vehicle of the VIN I sent you has been disabled and should be completely off the network. I need you to get me every detail of the final five minutes from it ASAP, and then have the last four days ready for me to look over when I come into the office tomorrow. If anything hinky jumps out, let me know. Bonus points if you can follow the hinky to its origins.”
Interesting, since Kelsey already had enough information to go looking. Or, perhaps she’d hacked something in order to get the VIN? I made a note to look through her head for that information later. I dipped in enough to see this phone call hadn’t gone to her, so maybe whoever he’d just sent it to had access to the database without having to hack in.
I telepathed Patience, I’m going to need an antique car. Something that can’t be hacked. A sixties Mustang is probably asking too much, but maybe something from the eighties? Something with a recent rebuild, so it’s dependable. Nothing smart. No computer assisted anything.
I’m on it.
I looked at Cora and decided one wasn’t going to be enough. Make that two vehicles. Something for me and something for Cora. I’m going to need a new phone, too. Mine’s fried. All data lost.
It was backed up. I’ll have a new one set up with your data and programs when you return to the valley, which I assume won’t be until at least tomorrow night?
A reasonable assumption. Please have someone bring it to me on the mountain once you have it ready, but only in an older vehicle. I don’t want any of us moving around in something hackable.
Marco and Cora were discussing how quickly the EMP device had worked, so I telepathed Josef. Everyone accounted for and locked down?
Venom is almost to TBC with Etta. All other top people are in a safe place. Still working to get the entire coterie and all loved ones to safety.
I’m at Homewood. If I decide to fly to the other mountain, I’ll let you know.
I’d prefer you stay put. Security hasn’t been fully trained at your new home yet. You weren’t supposed to overnight there for another two nights.
No, the plan had been to park the vehicle, show Cora my new home, fly her to Homewood, and then stay here. She’d decorated my suite for me, and she’d done a great job of creating a space that fit me, and that I felt comfortable in. I enjoyed my time at Homewood, not only because of the people, but because of the private space she’d created for me. I felt welcome and safe, and it’s rare a vampire feels safe when he’s a guest in someone else’s home. Now, even when under attack, I felt safe here.
“Did the hackers need to be close to us to hack us?” I asked Nathan.
“The easiest way to hack a car is to plug into the ODB port and set up a backdoor on the car’s network. Since this is a new vehicle, it’s conceivable someone could’ve done so before you bought it, or after purchase but before it was under your control. If that’s the case, they could’ve been anywhere during the takeover event. There are a few other ways to hack, and the easiest ways involve spending a good deal of time close to the car. Hacking a car with only a VIN, without being close enough to access Bluetooth features, is expert level.”
“And plugging in is easy?”
“Not easy, but not especially difficult. There are tutorials on the internet showing how to do it, step by step. A couple hundred dollars worth of equipment and a rudimentary knowledge of Linux, and most semi-competent geeks can figure it out.”
“Is it possible to check a car to see if a back door has been put in?”
“If they find it, you know one was put in. If they don’t? You can’t be certain whether it’s well hidden or nonexistent.”
“And since we killed my car, there’s no trail to follow back, right?”
“The car communicates with the manufacturer. My people will see about obtaining whatever was sent.”
* * * *
Cora
I’d been looking forward to a night of sex, but that clearly wasn’t happening now. I used Kirsten’s phone and called my top people on our secure app. I knew they’d have already received the Drake alert and gone to high alert, but I’d feel better after checking in with them one-on-one.
Ranger is my beta, and I couldn’t ask for a better person to have my back — and to help me wrangle our wolves. Ranger is ex-special forces, and not much gets by him. He’s also part of a foursome, three of which are more than capable of taking care of themselves, but their fourth is a human female, and I needed to make sure they had her somewhere safe before I put Ranger and Mac to work.
“Duke and Bubbles are on their way in Duke’s ’69 Mustang to get Bethany,” Ranger told me when I asked about her. “Once they have her, Mac and I can go wherever we’re needed in the old Jeep. Duke says they have three bikes they can sell us that can’t be hacked. I asked him to give me a few hours to decide before he offers them to someone else.”
Bethany and Gen were best friends, and Duke had long ago put her under his protection. He’d make sure she was safe, and he’d help her men keep themselves safe.
“I’ll get with Brain and figure it out. Thanks. Marco has Patience looking for older, restored vehicles. Old and dependable isn’t easy, from what I gather.”
