With the weapon and the van’s first aid kit stuffed into his coat, Tony went back up to the hotel’s second floor. He entered room six, cleaned and bandaged his electrical burns, and donned fresh clothes. He spent the next thirty minutes sweeping the room of all evidence that he and Fay had ever occupied it.
The computers were dismantled and tossed into the back of the van, along with his and Fay’s luggage, the stolen credit cards and card readers. The second CTU handgun was nowhere to be found, but he gathered up the water bottles they’d drunk from and even the empty plastic glasses. Those went into the van too. When the room was empty, he used a cloth to wipe down all the surfaces, hoping to eradicate or smear any usable fingerprints.
Next, Tony sat on the edge of the hotel bed and studied the road map for Tijuana, mentally choosing the best route across town. According to Brandy, Ray Dobyns and the Chechens were hiding out in a house on the Avenue de Dante, on the southern edge of the city.
When he was done, Tony rose, folded the map and stuffed it into his pocket. He loaded his Glock, slipped it into the duster, and without a backward glance left the room where Fay Hubley had died.
On street level again, Tony stepped into the scorching afternoon. The street around him was practically deserted. A hot wind kicked up dust. Squinting against the glare of the sweltering sun, he slipped on his heavy-framed sunglasses.
It was the hottest period of the day and for many traditional Mexicans it was siesta time. They would rest now, when the heat was at its height, then return to work at five or six o’clock, and toil well into the evening.
Tony sighed, unlocked the van. He had a long afternoon ahead of him, and a long night too. But until this was finished, there would be no rest.
“You’ve cracked the Trojan horse?” Nina asked. She stood in the situation room, watching sequential data scroll across the computer monitor.
From her chair in front of the screen, Doris looked up and nodded. “We’re more than halfway there. The clue was in the transcript of Milo’s conversation with you. Milo said that Richard Lesser told him this program targets a software accounting program, but he didn’t say which one.”
“There’s more than one?” Nina asked.
“There are dozens, maybe hundreds of accounting programs out there,” Jamey explained. She sat next to Doris, her focus remaining on the screen as she spoke. “Many communications industries use a German software program called SAP, customized for their specific needs, of course—”
“But Lesser’s Trojan horse didn’t affect SAP,” said Doris, “the program used by publishers and magazine distributors. The movie studios use something different.”
“The program’s called CINEFI,” said Jamey. “Short for Cinema Finance. It’s a film production payroll and financial management program that has been adopted by the accounting department at virtually every studio.”
“Lesser’s Trojan horse virus is very specific,” Doris added. “It infects only systems using CINEFI.”
“Okay.” Nina pulled an empty chair over to the work station and sat. “Tell me why.”
Doris swiveled her chair to face Nina. “By sabotaging that program specifically, terrorists could do damage to multinational corporations in the entertainment industry. Transfer funds or render security codes inoperative.”
“So what does this one do? All of the above, or is it just a nuisance virus?”
“That we don’t know. Not yet,” Jamey replied.
Doris turned her chair again and directed Nina’s attention back to the computer monitor. “I loaded the CINEFI program into this isolated server, then infected the program with the Trojan horse. As you can see, something is going on. The virus is searching for some sort of protocol, maybe. Or it’s using the CINEFI program as a platform to launch an attack elsewhere.”
Nina’s expression remained neutral, but her voice cut sharp. “That’s not specific enough.”
“We did find out there’s a code embedded in the Trojan horse,” Doris quickly noted, “one that launches the virus at a specific date and time.”
“When?”
Doris exchanged an anxious look with Jamey, then said, “Three hours ago.”
Nina’s posture tensed. “Then we’re too late to stop it.”
“Yet there’s no measurable effect that we can see,” Jamey pointed out. “I secured a warrant to monitor the big studio computers with CTU surveillance software. There’s no reported problem, no delays, no data dumps or anything to indicate the virus was destructive.”
Doris nodded. “The target specificity explains why this virus hasn’t done major damage hours after its release. It’s just too narrowly focused to worry 99.9 percent of computer users, even if someone downloads the movie Gates of Heaven, their system will be infected, but not affected.”
“Only the major studios and their computers are in jeopardy,” Jamey said, relief audible in her voice. “But so far, nothing’s happened, even to the studio’s mainframes. Richard Lesser might be an evil genius when it comes to cracking secure systems, but it looks like his Trojan horse is a bust.”
Architect Nawaf Sanjore lived on the top five floors of a thirty-five-floor apartment building of his own design on the cusp of Century City.
Formerly the back lot of 20th Century Fox Studios, Century City had been transformed in the 1980s into a compact and crowded high-rise area of banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, blue chip corporations, shops and cinemas, all tucked between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The Sanjore-designed Rossum Tower, with its sleek, sterile appearance and glass-enclosed exterior elevators, perfectly fit the ultramodern aesthetics of this Los Angeles community.
Jack Bauer steered the black CTU motor pool SUV along the boulevard, toward the entrance to the building’s underground parking garage. In the passenger seat beside him, Nina Myers pulled out her PDA and began reviewing the information she’d stored on the famous architect.
“Born in Pakistan, Nawaf Sanjore immigrated to Great Britain in 1981. He attended the London School of Design, then graduate school at MIT. He went to work for Ito Masumoto in 1988, left to form his own architectural firm in 1992.”
“Is he a Muslim? Devout?” Jack asked.
“He was born a Muslim, and he designed a mosque in Saudi Arabia, but he seems to lead a secular lifestyle. The FBI report cites several long- and short-term affairs with various American and British women.”
“Is he political?”
“Not very. He’s involved with several charities and nonprofits, including the Red Crescent, the Russia East Europe Trade Alliance, and Abigail Heyer’s organization, Orphan Rescue. He’s donated to the campaigns of the current mayor and governor.”
Jack frowned. “Ibn al Farad was secular, until he met Hasan. What other project has Sanjore worked on?”
Nina called up a new page on the PDA. “Nawaf Sanjore has personally designed sixteen skyscrapers— five here in the United States, the rest scattered across the globe in places like Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Sydney. There are three buildings here in Los Angeles. The Rossum Tower, the Russia East Europe Trade Pavilion in Santa Monica—”
“I’ve seen it,” said Jack.
“Look at this,” said Nina. “The Trade Pavilion was mentioned in today’s CIA/CTU security alert. The Vice President’s wife was there, along with the wife of the Russian President. The event went off without a hitch. The Secret Service didn’t even request CTU assistance.”
“Where are the dignitaries now?”
Nina called up the official itinerary. “The wives are having an early dinner at Spago’s. Then they’re going to attend the Silver Screen Awards.”