Point of Contact

“I think we’ve got a security issue developing here,” Paul began. He’d carefully rehearsed the lies he was about to tell, but he’d memorized them in order, so he hoped he could keep them straight.

“‘Security’ as in national security?”

“I think so.”

“You’re full of it.” Gavin served as the IT director of both Hendley Associates and The Campus. Paul Brown didn’t know about The Campus or Gavin’s role in it.

Paul was startled by Gavin’s reaction even though he’d anticipated it. Of course it was a lie, and Paul wasn’t good at lying, but he had to make it work. “It’s a security situation involving Jack.”

“Jack? Why him? He’s a financial analyst, not a spy.” Gavin was covering for Jack’s role in The Campus — a piece of information Paul Brown need not be privy to.

“I know. But I think he’s having an affair with one of the corporate principals, and I’m convinced she’s working for the Chinese.”

Paul’s heart sank. He felt terrible lying about Jack, but he knew that Gavin would do anything to protect him.

“Good for Jack,” Gavin said. “In my youth, I had my way with a few ladies myself.”

“I bet you did. But how many of them worked for the Ministry of State Security?”

“If you know for sure she’s MSS, we need to tell Jack right now.”

“No, I don’t know for sure. That’s why I called you. I only have my suspicions. What I need is proof. I have a plan, but it requires you to write a piece of software for me.”

“You’re making me nervous. Maybe we should bring Gerry in on this.”

“No! Are you kidding? What if I’m wrong? Jack and I are here to help close a deal between one of Gerry’s old friends and the company this woman runs security for — in fact, she’s the daughter of the owner.”

“I don’t like the way this is sounding.”

Paul began to panic. Gavin was about to blow the whistle on him.

“Look, Gavin, if this woman really isn’t MSS but word gets out that we think she is, it will kill the merger. And if word gets out that Jack is having an affair with this woman, it might get him in trouble with Gerry, whether or not she’s a spy.”

“But especially if she is.”

“Which is why we need to find out for sure without Gerry or anybody else knowing. That way, we can protect Jack and protect Gerry’s client all at the same time.”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll keep my mouth shut, at least for now. So what exactly do you need?”

Paul laid out what he was trying to do — find a work-around of the encryption on the USB drive, which was true. The lie he told was that he needed to be able to breach Lian’s computer to find out if she was working for the Chinese. He was under strict orders from Rhodes that nobody could know about the CIA spyware, and that included Gavin.

“That’s a tall order,” Gavin grumbled.

A woman dashed past Paul with a paper mask on her face and a clear plastic umbrella over her head. He stopped talking and kept his eyes on her until she was out of earshot.

“I think I’ve figured out a way to beat it. But it requires you to write a piece of software I can load on my laptop that will capture the encryption code on her USB drive when I load it.”

“That won’t be too hard,” Gavin said. “But once you’ve captured the encryption code, what do you plan on doing with it?”

“Load it onto one of my personal USB drives and use it to break in.”

Gavin whistled. “That might be a problem.” A long silence followed.

“Gavin?”

“Thinking.”

Paul heard keys tapping on the other end of the line.

Gavin finally spoke up. “Any chance you have the model and serial numbers for it?”

“Yes, actually. I’ll forward those right now.”

“Good. It just so happens I know a gal over at NSA who’s put together something that might do the trick.”

“Can you get it from her?”

“Are you kidding? What woman can resist my masculine charms?”

Then we’re screwed, Paul thought. “Of course. What was I thinking?”

“Besides, she owes me a favor. Let me reach out to her. But you still might have a problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Most security systems require two-factor authentication. Even if you grab the encryption code and load it on your drive, you’ll probably need her personal passcode to break in.”

“I’ve got that covered, thanks.” Paul didn’t tell him that the two-factor passcode for the CIA software was actually his. “Anything else?”

“I should be able to get that snatchware to you in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Not soon enough.”

“You don’t think I have anything better to do than run errands for you?”

“It’s Jack we’re talking about. Twenty-four hours won’t work.”

Gavin sighed. “Fine. I’ll figure something out. Call me if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Gavin. For Jack’s sake.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Gavin rang off just as the rain broke. Paul collapsed his umbrella and shook it out, suddenly excited by the possibility that his long shot of a plan might actually have a chance of working.

* * *