How did such a promising young man simply vanish?
The most likely explanation was that Elliott hadn’t vanished. The trail had been deleted or obfuscated.
Nathan Elliot had gone to Harvard on a full scholarship before moving on to Harvard Medical School. Before his residency, Elliott had suddenly left Harvard for MIT, where he’d studied mechanical engineering and computer science.
After MIT, Elliott’s trail had gone cold.
It is time to take… stronger measures.
Huang Lei clicked the mouse button and activated the worm that would scour the web looking for any mention of Nathan Elliot. It would infect older machines, forming a zombie network, increasing his search speed.
He smiled to himself. The Digital Freedom Alliance’s powerful tool served its purpose, but his plans for the young hackers far exceeded any piece of code.
The DFA were crucial to his plans to destroy the United States and Russia.
Chapter Two
Lila Cavanaugh’s black lacquered nails danced busily across her keyboard, the keys clicking like machine-gun fire. Wave after wave of account numbers scrolled down her monitor. In less than a week, she had cracked the security at one of Bank of America’s data centers. The revelation of the bank’s astronomical profits would bring welcome attention to their cause
An incoming Skype call from Patrick interrupted her work. She clicked the button to accept and asked, “I thought you said we’d talk later?”
“Something has come up,” came the familiar sound of Patrick’s voice.
She giggled. “If this were a video call and not just VOIP, I’d already have my top off.”
“Hush, darling,” Patrick said. “This is important.”
Sighing, Lila leaned back in her chair and adjusted her headset. She stared at the poster of Albert Einstein taped to the drywall behind her monitor and rubbed at the delicate rose tattoo on the back of her left hand. “It must be. You turned down an offer to see my boobs.”
Patrick ignored her. “We have a new target.”
“I haven’t finished with the last batch.”
“This isn’t just exposing bank accounts and unfair profits, Lila. This is important. Change the world important.”
“Everything we do is important,” she said heatedly. “Exposing those… those dicks will change the world. They aren’t even bothering to hide how they’re stealing everything. They’ll continue to take and take until they—”
“This is just as important,” Patrick said. “And it’s dangerous. We have to be careful.”
“Did you forget who you’re talking to? I’m pissed that you’d—”
“Promise me you’ll be careful. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
There was something in his voice that made her hesitate. “You’re freaking me out. What the hell is going on?”
“We’re going to prove the US is committing crimes against the world.”
Deion watched the snowflakes slowly fall into the empty fountain. The glittering flakes muffled the noise of the city, and the deserted streets were straight out of a travel guide.
A mustached man approached and sat next to him on the park bench. The man was in his early forties and wore a dark suit under his tan trenchcoat. “You have excellent taste in music,” the man said in heavily accented English.
“It helps if you like jazz,” Deion said.
Heinz Gohl nodded. “It’s been some time, Mr. Freeman. How can the FIS assist you?”
“We have a disposal problem.”
“I see.” Gohl leaned back and stared at the empty fountain. “That does present a problem.”
“We’d appreciate a little professional courtesy,” Deion said.
“I’m sure you would,” Gohl said politely, “but you see, we don’t appreciate these things happening in our country.”
“That’s how you want to play it? The FIS doesn’t exactly have clean hands. It would be a shame if that were made public.”
“Come now,” Gohl scoffed, “this is just negotiations. You’re going to have to be more forthcoming with details before we offer our help.”
“We can’t share intelligence on this one. There are… considerations.”
Gohl turned to him and smiled fiercely. “I’m afraid I can’t help. My superiors are demanding… considerations.” He turned back to the falling snow. “I would help, if it were up to me, but it is not. You understand.”
He did. The Federal Intelligence Service was fishing for money or intelligence and would only help if the OTM paid the price.
“I have an offer,” Deion said. “First, we can release the name of a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member currently living in Switzerland. We can also dispense some emergency funds. I understand your agency is a little short on operating expenses.”
Gohl’s head snapped around. “How did you—”
“I know you’re stuck,” Deion said with a smile. It was nice knowing he finally had Gohl’s attention. “If the FIS sent you to make a deal, they also authorized you to make a decision.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Those offers are quite generous, but for a favor of this magnitude, I’m thinking more is in order.”
“More?”
“Your State Department has pushed FINMA to help with your tax fraud problem. This is quite controversial, as you know, especially given how we cooperated with your terrorist investigations. Perhaps if your State Department walked back their requests, accommodations could be made.”
“That’s not gonna happen. White-collar crime is still crime, no matter what the Swiss think.”
Gohl sighed heavily. “You Americans. So rigid in your thinking. It’s business.”
“I’m giving you the best offer you’re gonna get. Take it, or we’ll do what we got to do.”
“Need I remind you that you called us?” Gosh said, his voice as cold as the flakes swirling around them.
“Need I remind you that getting on the CIA’s bad side is not the best business decision?”
Gohl’s mouth quirked up. “A fair point. I believe we have an agreement.”
Deion withdrew a slip of paper from his wool coat and passed it to Gohl. “Here’s the location and the room number. Make sure the body isn’t found.”
Gohl took the slip of paper and stuffed it into the pocket of his coat. As he stood to leave, he said, “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about a body, Mr. Freeman. Good evening.”
Eric Wise took his time climbing the stairs. The gray industrial carpet covered the steps, but the edges were worn, and he could see concrete peeking through.
The steps shallow — constructed in such a way that if an old person fell, they would have less risk of breaking bones or suffering concussions — and it caused extra stress on his aching knees.
He grimaced. Everything at Central West Community, the premier extended care facility for patients with Alzheimer’s in the Cincinnati area, was designed for the elderly and infirm. He just thanked his lucky stars he had been able to place his mother in their care before joining the Office of Threat Management.