This had to be about the search for the rapist/murderer, he thought. He drove home, put away the groceries, took his laptop from the safe and switched it on. He logged on to the Agency computer through a handy computer in Birmingham, Alabama, and began compiling everything he could find on James Bruno, from his court-martial record, to his West Point transcript to his military personnel file.
Finally, he ran a complete background check on the man, discovering only some speeding tickets, the most recent four months ago. Except for those, the man was clean on the civilian side. Only the court-martial transcript told the story of his abuse of women.
Bruno, he concluded, was a type A personality, aggressive and bullying, though Teddy doubted that part of his personality would display itself when he was faced with someone his own size who had an equally aggressive attitude.
He pulled Bruno’s recent Florida driver’s license application from the state’s DMV records, which gave him the man’s current home address. He was going to have to start looking into Bruno’s daily schedule and devote some thought to how to best deal with him.
Lauren Cade got home from work, poured herself a drink and called Jack Smithson.
“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Lauren.”
“How was your day?”
“Long and tiring. I’m just having a drink and recovering.”
“I was pulled over by the police on the way home from the grocery store this evening,” he said.
“Oh? What crime did you commit, Jack?”
“White male alone in a car,” Teddy replied. “I take it this is part of your investigation?”
“It’s the Orchid Beach department’s part of it,” she said. “Our little unit doesn’t have the resources to do that sort of thing. I take it they saw your innocent face and let you go.”
“Something like that,” Teddy said, chuckling. “You making any progress with your investigation?”
“Not really. Jim Bruno showed up at our office this morning to attend our staff meeting. Hurd had to tell him he couldn’t but not why, which is because Bruno is a suspect. He got mad and left.”
“That’s awkward, isn’t it, when a cop is a suspect?”
“Yes, it is. First time I’ve ever had a case where an investigating officer was a suspect, and I don’t like it. I wouldn’t like it, even if Bruno wasn’t the guy.”
“I’ve got a whole lot of new groceries here,” Teddy said. “You want to come over and help me eat them?”
“I’d love to, but I’m just so tired. Tomorrow night?”
“That would be lovely. Seven o’clock?”
“I may have to come straight from work; mind if I have a shower there?”
“I’ll be happy to assist you in that endeavor,” Teddy said.
“Oooh, now you’re making me wet.”
“Hold that thought until tomorrow night,” Teddy said.
“You’d better believe it,” she replied. “Night-night now.” She hung up.
The call made Teddy’s evening.
30
Lance Cabot’s secretary buzzed him. “There’s a man from computer services named Ross Hilton who’d like to see you for a moment,” she said.
“Why?” Lance asked. He was busy, and he didn’t want to discuss his computer needs with some nerd.
“He says it’s an Operations matter.”
“Oh, all right, send him in,” Lance said impatiently.
A kid who appeared to be about seventeen walked into his office. “Hey,” he said.
“You’re from computer services?” Lance asked.
“I’m twenty-five, and everybody in my department looks like me,” the kid said.
“All right, ah…”
“Ross.”
“Ross. Have a seat.”
Ross had a seat. “I’ve come across some unusual activity on the mainframe,” he said.
“What sort of activity?” Lance asked. He hoped he was going to understand this the first time.
“It looks like someone is logging on to our mainframe from a remote computer and using it.”
“From where?” Lance asked.
“Once from the Bahamas, once from Birmingham, Alabama. I think the Birmingham computer was being used as a conduit from yet another location.”
“And where is that location?”
“I haven’t been able to figure that out yet, but the very idea of somebody using our mainframe is pretty scary, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, I would say.”
“I mean, anybody logging on from outside the building would have to go through at least three levels of security, with a different eighteen-digit password at each level.”
“Then that person must be an employee, probably an operating agent.”
“Inside the United States? I was told when I was recruited that the Agency is barred from conducting operations inside the U.S.”
“That’s perfectly true, Ross, but there are reasons other than conducting operations that might cause an agent inside the country to employ the mainframe. Research, for instance. If you can figure out where the user is located, then I’ll know better if it’s one of our people.”
“So what do you want me to do about this?” Ross asked.
“You’ve already done the correct thing by bringing this to my attention.”
“You want me to bring it to your attention if this happens again?”
“Yes, please do that. On second thought, bring it to the attention of one of my deputies, Holly Barker. She’s on vacation now, but you can e-mail her through the system. She has an authorized terminal in her present location.”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” Ross said. “Thanks very much.” He got up to go.
“Thank you, Ross. Oh, to what use was this person putting the mainframe?”
“Sorry, I forgot to mention that. It was sort of a background check on a retired army colonel named James Bruno. The user dredged up the record of a court-martial and also went into the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles computer and extracted the guy’s driver’s license application.”
Something sounded familiar to Lance about all this. “Who was court-martialed?”
“This Colonel Bruno.”
“And what were the charges?”
“Rape and attempted rape.”
“Ahhh,” Lance said. “I think I know what this is about, Ross. I’ll deal with this; don’t bother any further with it.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Cabot. See ya.” He gave a little wave and left the office.
Lance turned to his computer and sent an e-mail.
Holly returned from her second day’s training, exhausted again. She had finally gotten a grip on the simulator and was flying it well, but she was still anxious to get into the real airplane. She went into the kitchen to get a beer and a small, green flashing light caught her eye. It was just outside the door of her Agency-provided office, and she hadn’t noticed it before.
She tapped her entry code into the keypad and opened the door. A message was flashing on the monitor of the Agency computer: E-MAIL WAITING.
She logged on and went to her in-box. “Call me. Lance,” the message read. She looked at her watch. He might still be in the office, so she dialed his direct number.
“Lance Cabot,” he said.
“It’s Holly. You rang, master?”
“Yes. I had one of those teenaged geeks up here from computer services this afternoon to tell me about someone from outside the Agency accessing the mainframe.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that someone has been using the mainframe to investigate the background of a retired army colonel named Bruno. That rang a bell.”
“I’m surprised you remember,” she said.
“I remember everything, Holly; never forget that.”
“I’ll try not to. What’s the problem?”
“One of the things I remember was a conversation with you about your personal use of the mainframe.”
“Yes, I remember that, too. When did this incident occur?”
“Today, apparently.”
“I haven’t been on the mainframe today.”