She glanced at Gotthard, who had leaned an elbow on the table and propped his head with a meaty hand. He nodded at Joe. “Everything she said checks out.”
Gabrielle frowned. “Given my situation, did you really think I’d try to lie my way out of this?”
Joe’s narrowed gaze tightened. His voice was whisper soft. “I expect anything at any time, just as everyone else in this room. Underestimating an adversary would be a stupid mistake for those in our line of work, and I assure you I don’t hire stupid people.”
“Excusez-moi,” she murmured in apology.
Joe nodded and continued, “Gotthard turned up some interesting cross-references. Unlike most of the other elite schools in France, the one Gabrielle went to was a private operation, funded by private investors and donations. Many graduates from there went on to have distinguished careers. The school is in a castle that has belonged to a local family for umpteen generations. But there seems to be a high percentage of dropouts. I’ll let him explain further.”
Gotthard thumped his thumb against the laptop. “I wouldn’t have thought much about the dropout rate since these are privileged and spoiled kids who probably don’t finish anything.”
Gabrielle stiffened at the insult. She’d worked her bum off her whole life to prove she was not some indulged child.
“I expected to see them popping up anywhere from news articles to job status to marriage announcements,” Gotthard went on. “Out of the six that disappeared the year Gabrielle was in school, only two have turned up. Both male. The four females are all listed as deceased.”
Gabrielle’s heart pounded. More confirmation that something had happened to Linette. “Why would her father say she was dead if she wasn’t?”
Carlos answered, “He either believes she is buried in that grave or can’t risk telling the truth. Was there anything special or different about Linette-or you-we should know?”
Yes, but the less everyone knew about her the better Gabrielle felt her chances were of getting out of this. “No.”
“So what do you think happened to Linette?” Rae asked.
“I imagined everything over the years, even that her father might have sent her to a convent where she wouldn’t have been able to contact me.” Gabrielle took a breath. Her gaze sought out and didn’t waver from Carlos’s. “But I can’t conceive that he might be a party to something that would have hurt her physically, so he must believe she is dead.”
“Or she did something he considered the same as being dead to him,” Rae suggested.
“Not Linette.” Gabrielle didn’t even try to hide her exasperation. “This fratelli must know something.”
Silence fell over the room suddenly, no exhale of breath, no tapping keys, no rustle of paper.
Carlos could feel the panic seizing Gabrielle in spite of the strong front she was putting up, but could do little about it since he wouldn’t see her again after this meeting.
Once Joe had a plan, they would all head out. Carlos would normally walk away without looking back, no sleep lost over a prisoner. But he’d heard enough to convince him Gabrielle had landed here out of honorable reasons and had no idea just how bad a spot she was in and that her freedom might be nothing more than a memory after today.
He’d argue in Gabrielle’s favor for Joe to keep her in protective custody at a BAD safe house until all of this was over, but she’d have to show Joe she had a value for that concession.
And he doubted she had anything left to barter with.
“Gabrielle?” Carlos waited until her gaze met his and hoped like hell she got his drift. He warned her, “If there’s anything you haven’t shared yet, don’t hold it back from Joe.”
Her violet-blue eyes widened for a flash before a resigned mask settled across her face. He had no idea if she understood or not, but he’d do his best to help her.
“What is this fratelli?” Gabrielle asked carefully.
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” Rae said softly, but her words were clear in the total quiet.
Carlos faced Joe. “Might as well tell her since she isn’t going anywhere until we get to the bottom of all this, and the more she understands, the more she can share.”
Joe appeared to think for a minute, then gave a short nod. “The Fratelli is a ghost group behind the viral deaths last year in India and the U.S., plus a couple other earlier attacks.”
Gabrielle frowned. “I thought the media said India was an anomaly and a pharmaceutical company was behind the U.S. attack?”
“You haven’t hacked quite as deep into intelligence mainframes as you thought,” Hunter pointed out. “The public thinks the same thing you do, which is what they need to think while we search for this group, or paranoia will create chaos and likely play into whatever the Fratelli is planning.”
“What do they want?” Gabrielle asked.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Joe said. “The only reason I’m willing to discuss any of this with you is because that postcard is the first significant lead we’ve gotten on this group. So the more important question is what are they going to do next, and how did Mandy play into those plans?”
“Mandy was enrolled in the École d’Ascension, too,” Gotthard interjected.
“Really?” Gabrielle whispered with a tremor of unease.
“That’s not all,” Joe added. “Another girl left with Mandy, signed out for a week.”
Gotthard lifted his gaze to Gabrielle along with everyone else.
“I don’t know about another girl,” Gabrielle answered before someone asked her.
“Give us a rundown on the second girl,” Carlos told Gotthard.
“Amelia Fuentes. Family is the third-largest coffee-bean producer in Columbia. The school records show she was heading home and taking Mandy with her, but no one has reported her missing. She’s due back in three days.”
Joe interjected, “I had operations place a call the phone ID service would show as the school calling the Fuentes home and asked if Amelia was available to come to the phone. The housekeeper said Amelia had a change of plans and decided to vacation in Germany for a few days.”
“We need to find out what she knows about Mandy,” Rae pointed out. “In fact, that school seems to be a common denominator.”
“Exactly.” Joe checked his watch, then told Carlos, “That’s why I need your team rolling by tonight.”
“What are you going to do with her?” Carlos said, indicating Gabrielle, who watched in silence.
“Security is on the way to pick her up and take her to holding,” Joe said.
“No.” Gabrielle stood.
Joe faced her, legs apart and arms crossed.
Carlos pressed, “Got something else to tell us?”
“Yes.” Gabrielle’s effort to scramble for a plan showed so clearly it was pitiful, but her eyes brightened all of a sudden. “You’ll need help getting inside the school campus.”
“Not really,” Gotthard answered. “I can access the plans.”
“But, uh-” She lifted a hand to her head, fingers clenching her hair. “You can’t just walk onto the property.”
“I thought you’d figured out that we’re covert operatives,” Rae told her drily.
Gabrielle swung an irritated glare at Rae. “I do understand that much, but I doubt you can recon that property by the time Amelia is due to return. The institution’s security is superior to that of a UN meeting.”
“Guest arriving,” the speaker announced again.
Gabrielle turned wild eyes to the monitor, where a black panel van pulled into the drive. Then she faced Joe with determination in her voice. “Breaking the school’s security systems will take more expertise than deciphering the code on Linette’s card.”
“How would you know?” Hunter asked.
“Because I created software for their security division,” Gabrielle fired right back.
“So you’ll just give the administrative control to us.” Gotthard hefted one shoulder in a negl
igent shrug.
“You’ll need more than that, like a good reason to be on the property.” She met Carlos’s gaze, the hope for support so strong in her eyes it was all he could do to stand in place.
The door upstairs opened and heavy footsteps entered.
“You can’t just walk on the property,” Gabrielle said in a flurry of panicked words. “The students are chosen to go there. Nothing, not even more money, can change the rule that every student has to wait at least six months to be allowed admittance once they are accepted. Instructors go through a twelve-month evaluation phase. Most of the staff has been there for over twenty years, and new staff must go through the same twelve-month vetting period. They have their own maintenance people. Visitors must be invited, and no one comes to visit, not even family, with less than a two-week notice.”
Boots pounded down the stairs, each thump sounding as menacing as a death knell.
“So there’s no way to get inside unnoticed?” Carlos asked.
Two men dressed in black gear similar to that of SWAT teams trudged into the room. The only identifying mark on their clothing was a bold SECURITY written across the front of their jackets.
Gabrielle took a step back.
Carlos hated to watch her in terror, backing away like an animal expecting attack. She knew they were going to lock her up somewhere with no contact to the outside world. But it sounded as if even with the information she could supply, they had only a slim chance of gaining access to the school.
She planted her feet. “There is one way.”
He wanted to hug her for coming up a bargaining chip, until she added, “I have to go with you.”
TWELVE
CARLOS UNCROSSED HIS arms. “No.”
He couldn’t help this crazy woman if she was determined to keep digging herself deeper into this mess. Joe would use any resource, even Gabrielle, to get closer to the Fratelli.
And Tee would…better not to consider the limitless ways she’d use a resource who landed in their camp. The whole team was committed to taking down the Fratelli, and Carlos would gladly lead the charge, but putting this woman in the middle of a mission was not going to happen.
“Then as they say here in the States,” Gabrielle said with assured finality, “you’re screwed.”
“You would let another young girl be hurt?” Carlos pressed.
“No, but undoubtedly you would by not at least entertaining my plan.” Gabrielle wiped her eyes with graceful hands, the action feminine and gentle, which translated as vulnerable in Carlos’s book. “You should at least consider-”
“Why?” Hunter asked.
Gabrielle set her jaw in a way that said she was tired of Hunter cutting her off.
“Let’s hear your plan,” Joe told her, ending all debate.
“Merci.” Gabrielle looked at Carlos with unsure eyes. She licked her lips in a dainty way as if she’d been taught how to do so properly in a Miss Manners class. Waves of brunette hair fell in tousled strands, tumbling with no real direction other than down to brush her shoulder.
Too soft-looking to be dangerous.
Too tired to be a threat.
The urge to bundle her off to a room where she could lie down and rest swamped him. He’d watched her go from fear to outrage to fear again. She definitely wasn’t trained for this.
What was he going to do with her?
A confidence he hadn’t seen before blossomed in her face.
“In addition to the school’s accounting systems being in severe need of upgrading,” Gabrielle started. “The books are opened to outside auditing firms during a break in early November each year for the fiscal report to all the investors.”
“Hold it,” Hunter interrupted. “I thought you said no one from the outside could get in. But they let auditors in?”
Gabrielle sighed and narrowed weary eyes at him.
Carlos couldn’t wait to see how this one played out. He’d noticed the more tired and hungry Gabrielle became, the testier she got.
“How very observant of you to recall my precise words,” Gabrielle told Hunter in a cultured voice that could snap the royal guard into line. “If, however, you’ll allow me to actually finish a thought, I’ll explain why even if you could gain entry as an auditor, it would be a useless endeavor.”
“All-righty then.” Rae twisted her mouth in a half attempt to hide a laugh.
Gabrielle picked up where she’d left off. “An outside accounting firm has to go through the same vetting gauntlet, a more difficult one in fact, for no less than six months prior to being chosen. If your phony auditing firm was chosen, which would be a miracle, you wouldn’t have access for another month at the soonest. And if you passed that test, your team would be under constant scrutiny, confined to the accounting department. This would undoubtedly handcuff anyone hoping to covertly investigate other areas, thereby making the entire mission a waste of time. I hope I’ve satisfied your fruitless inquisition.”
Hunter answered her with a mild roll of his eyes and waved his hands dismissively. “Continue.”
“The audit occurs between November twelfth and fifteenth, but the Board of Regents requires a pre-audit the last weekend before the outside auditors are given access.”
“This weekend?” Gotthard asked.
Gabrielle nodded.
“So what’s your idea?” Joe showed no sign of leaning one way or another, so far.
She folded her hands neatly at her waist as though she were speaking to the principal. “Their computer systems are in dire need of upgrading that they’ve been fighting. They are loath to deal with the problem since it would mean allowing someone access to their records.”
“How does this help us?” Korbin sounded unconvinced.
Gabrielle explained, “I’ve been discussing a software program with the school for the past year that allows one person to sync all electronic files within a day or two. If a virus was introduced to the system in a careful way, their computers would shut down and react as though the entire system had been crashed, when in truth it would be a managed crash.”
Korbin drummed his fingers on the table surface, dark eyes fixed in concentration. “If they run as tight a ship as you say, there’s no telling how many weeks it would take to find a way into that system without detection to set up this crash.”
“Actually, I know exactly how long it will take,” Gabrielle answered without hesitation.
Carlos noted the confidence in her voice. This was her territory, but she’d still have to convince Gotthard and Hunter that the school systems could be breached. Even he knew the complexity of what she was suggesting.
“They want the program I wrote specifically for them,” she added. “The only possible way to gain quick entrance to the school would be to throw a kink into their accounting program since everything in an audit revolves around money. Once that happens, I believe they’ll contact me since I have history with the school and prior clearance.”
“We can throw a kink into their systems,” Gotthard confirmed. “If we can get into their systems.”
“That’s a big if,” Hunter muttered.
Carlos didn’t see this as a viable option if Hunter and Gotthard doubted they could gain entry into the school’s computers. And there was no way they could insert someone who hadn’t been cleared if what she described about the school’s vetting of outsiders was true.
“There is no if. This can be done.” Gabrielle nodded, then turned to Joe. “But only if you make me a deal.”
“What deal?” Joe asked.
“I’ll help you access the school’s records if you assure me you won’t turn me over to Interpol or any other country and you try to find Linette.”
Carlos ground his back teeth. She had no idea what she was doing. He’d gag her if he could do it right now to prevent Gabrielle from getting herself in any deeper. Did she really think Joe would let her walk out of here with an agreement that she’d gain access to the school’s computers for them?
Joe asked, “How do we know you really can do any of this?”
“Think I have that for you,” Gotthard chipped in. “You were in classes with Linette, right, Gabrielle?”
“Yes.” She sounded tired and out of patience.
Gotthard looked up at Joe. “Linette was brilliant. Her profile indicates she was in the top ten percent of Mensa. Genius.” Gotthard cut his eyes at Gabrielle. “Your IQ?”
“Two points higher.”
When she raised those beautiful eyes in challenge to Carlos, he saw only a woman.
Not an informant. Not a threat to the world.
Just a woman who could bleed and die.
He would not put her in danger.
Joe spoke up. “I’m convinced and your plan has merit, but only if my people can go in.”
That was more like it, but Carlos doubted Gabrielle would give in so easily and she didn’t.
“Won’t happen with as little time as you have,” Gabrielle countered. “I can get you inside the campus because I’m an alumni they know, but more importantly, the reason I can help you get inside their computers is because when I wrote the current programs, I incorporated a back door into the system. Without me, you don’t have a chance.”
That did it. How would Carlos talk Joe out of using her now? “And you think we’ll just let you go do this alone?”
“No,” she admitted.
“So we’re back to this plan not working.” Carlos expected her to admit defeat, not lift her chin a notch in defiance.
“I can get someone inside with me as a bodyguard,” Gabrielle suggested, confidence in her voice picking up speed.
“Has to be someone with electronic capability,” Hunter pointed out.
“No, it doesn’t,” she replied quickly.
Hunter opened his mouth to protest, but Carlos cut him off. “Let her explain.”
The look of thanks Gabrielle sent him curled soft fingers around his heart.
“I need someone who looks like a bodyguard and isn’t well-known in aristocracy, such as yourself, I would assume,” she told Hunter.
Whispered Lies Page 16
