Griffin showed a closer view of the main dwelling. “There’s a microwave perimeter exactly twenty feet out from the house. Break the beam and once again Putnam will know about it.” He raised his eyebrows. “Presupposing you could get over the first fence without any alarms going off, and he didn’t see you on the monitors.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Metzger.
“He has a very advanced system,” explained Griffin. “He has a computer devoted just to home security, and this is tied into the Internet. That way, anyone with the proper codes can check all of the video feeds and security monitors from any computer.”
“And you hacked into this computer?” said Kira.
“Yes. And reprogrammed it while I was inside,” said Griffin proudly. “For the next twenty-four hours the system will ignore certain inputs. Cut through the fence and break the microwave barrier and the system won’t notice. The video monitors are set to show the same benign view of the estate on a continual basis.”
Desh scratched his head. “It doesn’t make sense to have a security system online that’s vulnerable to what you just did,” he said.
“I agree,” said Griffin. “But it isn’t vulnerable. A top-drawer hacker could hack into the system and identify what security safeguards are in place. But anyone skilled at storming this kind of heavily protected castle could do that in other ways. But reprogramming it the way I did simply isn’t possible with normal human faculties. Trust me on this one.”
“Did you get anything useful from his personal computer?” asked Kira eagerly. “Anything that might give us a lead to the sterilization plot?”
Griffin frowned. “No. He didn’t have any computers online during the time I was altered. I suspect he only allows an online connection to be active when he’s using it, and then physically disrupts the connection when he isn’t.”
This was a bad break, thought Desh. But all things considered, Griffin had accomplished more than Desh could ever have hoped for.
“Let’s get back to Putnam’s security,” said Desh. “Are you telling us that we can just waltz in there undetected for the next twenty-four hours?”
“Almost,” said Griffin. He worked the mouse and different views of Putnam’s property came into view, one of which showed a tiny human figure. He zoomed in closer and a man came into focus wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a cowboy hat. He was putting out hay for the horses. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, which meant the footage Griffin had tapped into was probably several months out of date.
“Security information from the monitors and alarms is fed to two men,” said Griffin as he zoomed in tight on the man’s waist, revealing an automatic weapon and walkie-talkie. “He’s one of them.”
“Interesting,” said Metzger. “This guy’s cowboyed up so most people will take him as a farmhand.”
“He doubles as a farmhand from the look of it,” commented Connelly.
“You said two men,” said Desh. “Where is the other one?”
“The security computer logs indicate that one of the men is almost always in the barn, manning the monitors.”
“Won’t the guard in the barn realize something is wrong when his colleague fails to show up on the monitors?” asked Desh.
Griffin grinned broadly. “When Kira makes you smart, she makes you prodigiously smart,” he said happily. “I took this into account. I only altered the outer cameras, focusing on the chain-link fence and the grounds beyond the outer barn. He’ll be able to see his friend, all right,” he said happily. “But not anyone sneaking up on him from the outer perimeter.”
Desh nodded approvingly. “Anything else we should know?” he asked.
Griffin considered. “I don’t think so,” he replied. “An alarm would normally go off if the house was breached in any way, but my modifications won’t allow this to happen.” He eyed Desh. “Unfortunately, I can’t program these two guys to ignore you,” he said.
Desh didn’t appear concerned about this in the least. “You’ve done great, Matt,” he said warmly. “With no alarms or video of our approach, they shouldn’t be much trouble.”
“So what’s the plan?” asked the major.
All eyes turned to Desh. Even though he was no longer in the military—and even if he was both Connelly and Metzger would have outranked him—everyone knew this was his show.
“I don’t think confronting Putnam right now buys us much,” began Desh. “Capture, followed by torture, might be an option at some point, but I wouldn’t suggest it as a first move.” He paused. “Comments? Disagreements?”
There was silence for several long moments, but no one objected.
“When do you think capturing Putnam would be the right move?” asked Connelly.
“When we’ve tried all other avenues,” said Desh. “As a last resort. And just after he’s reset Kira’s implant.” He paused. “Putnam’s probably been conditioned to withstand truth drugs. But given twelve hours we might be able to persuade him, in ways he wouldn’t find pleasant, to stop his viral attack and give us the code to disarm the device in Kira’s head.”
“But then again, we might not,” noted Metzger.
“Right,” said Desh. “That’s why we should try other approaches first.”
“I assume we start with his house,” said Metzger.
Desh nodded. “It’d be a shame not to after super-Matt here went to all the trouble to make it easy for us. I propose we wait for Putnam to leave for work and then break in. That will probably give us a good eight hours to search his house, and for Matt to have quality time with his computer. The goals will be twofold: one, learn anything we can about Putnam’s connection to terrorists and how to stop his plan from succeeding. Two, try to find out anything we can about the device in Kira’s skull and how to disarm it.”
Desh surveyed the group, looking each member of the team firmly in the eye. Each nodded in turn.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Kira supportively.
Desh looked at his watch. He was exhausted, as they all were, but they wouldn’t have the luxury of rest for a long time yet. A stanza from a favorite Robert Frost poem drifted across his consciousness:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Desh sighed and turned toward Griffin. Time to figure out just how many additional miles were in their immediate futures. “Matt, can you pull up directions to Severn and get a distance.”
Griffin’s fingers flew over the keyboard and fifteen seconds later a map was on the monitor with the driving path outlined by a bold line. “Seventy-five miles,” he announced.
Desh locked his eyes onto Kira. “Kira, we need to get moving. Can you disconnect us from the trailer park cable and gas lines, and do whatever else needs to be done for us to hit the road.”
Kira nodded. “We’ll be ready to roll in five minutes,” she said.
It was already a quarter to eight before Kira’s forty-foot behemoth pulled off onto an old dirt road a few hundred yards from the outer perimeter of Putnam’s property. Desh and Metzger jumped out of the vehicle immediately and fanned out in opposite directions, each carrying a pair of green binoculars, rubberized for shock resistance. During the trip each had donned assault vests and were armed to the teeth. The entire team now wore walkie-talkie earpieces with wires that disappeared beneath their shirts. Kira, who had taught herself how to handle a weapon, was armed with a familiar Glock 9-millimeter pistol while Griffin, given his complete lack of experience, remained unarmed.