Stolen Secrets

by Sherri Shackelford

  Jordan’s pulse spiked. “What did he have to say?”

  “Not much. Mostly what we suspected already. Brandt gave him a photo and asked him to make an exact replica.”

  “Did he know why?”

  “Brandt told the jeweler the same thing he told you. He wanted to propose to his fiancée properly.”

  Brandt’s fiancée. Lucy. Jordan went hot and cold at the same time. The reminder was timely—and sobering.

  “Did the jeweler know if Brandt specifically mentioned Lucy’s name?” Jordan asked.

  He needed to know if the ring was for Lucy. He needed to know if the man he’d risked his life for, the man he’d nearly died with, was the same man he thought he knew in his heart.

  “Nope. Nobody mentioned a name. All I got was his fiancée. So either the jeweler didn’t know her name, or he doesn’t remember it.”

  Frustration rode Jordan. He couldn’t avoid speaking to Lucy any longer. She might have an answer for the duplicate engagement ring. And if she didn’t, that was a chance he had to take. He flashed back to their lunch this afternoon. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been wearing the ring.

  Jordan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah.” A heavy pause followed Mike’s admission. “There’s something else. The jeweler remembers Brandt being in the shop with someone else. A woman.”

  Jordan’s chest tightened. “What did she look like?”

  “She wasn’t wearing a hijab, but he got the feeling she was local. Dark hair. Pretty. Maybe five-four or five-five. That’s about all I could get out of him.”

  The band around Jordan’s chest squeezed even tighter. There wasn’t enough detail to identify her. He might have been more frustrated if it weren’t for the fact that he’d seen Brandt with a woman who matched the description the night before the bombing.

  “Okay,” Jordan said. “Anything else?”

  Right now, all they had was conjecture. He knew better than to assemble a puzzle before he had all the pieces. How could he spend that much time with someone and not see the signs? He was trained to spot deception. He wasn’t going to believe anything false about Brandt until he had solid proof.

  “Yeah, this is where things get really weird.” Though they were on a secure line, Mike pitched his voice low. “After I started asking questions, I got a visit from a couple of CIA guys. You know the ones. They came by the embassy a few times. Always wearing sunglasses. One old, one young, one pale, one—”

  “Yeah. I know the two.” Pakistan was crawling with American intelligence officers. While their work often overlapped, each agency held jurisdiction over their individual cases and was responsible for different areas of intelligence. “What did they want?”

  “Near as I can tell, they wanted to know if I was on the take, if I was being bribed.”

  “Wait—what?” Jordan sputtered.

  “Yeah. Took me a while to figure it out. They kept talking about the jewelry shop and how far the American dollar goes in Pakistan. When they finally got around to asking me why I was at the shop, they got all squirrelly.” Mike’s heavy sigh circled halfway around the globe. “After they left, I did a little digging. That shop has been on their radar for months. The CIA has been investigating foreign officials for bribery and the jeweler is the go-between.”

  “Wait a second. You’re saying someone in the jewelry shop is brokering the bribes?”

  “Yep. You know how it works. Say a Chinese company wants a copper mine in an area controlled by insurgents. Someone from the company buys a ring worth four thousand dollars. Only they pay twenty, and suddenly the insurgents in the area go underground. The copper mine is green-lighted. Do you follow?”

  On a hunch, Jordan asked, “What about drones? Have you heard anything about a market for drone technology?”

  With a few bribes and the proper drone technology, foreign businesses effectively sidestepped American security, putting everyone in danger. Insurgents weren’t exactly known for keeping their promises. Dealing with them was a risky and often deadly business.

  “I don’t think so. No...wait. Maybe. There was something last year. Apparently, the insurgents are looking to buy technology. I didn’t hear anything about drones specifically. More like infrastructure. Communications. That sort of thing. They want to cause trouble from the inside. You remember when the power grid went down in South America?”

  “Yeah,” Jordan replied, knowing he was on the edge of something significant.

  “Apparently, that got a lot of attention around here,” Mike continued. “According to the scuttlebutt, there’s talk that insurgent groups are changing tactics. Less shock and awe and more sabotage from the inside. There’s opportunity in chaos.”

  “When did you first start hearing those rumors? How long has it been out there?”

  Jordan had to see this through, no matter what answers he discovered. It was the right thing to do. Why, then, did it feel so wrong?

  A great pressure settled on his chest.

  “Oh, that’s old news,” Mike said, oblivious to the chain of events his words had set in motion. “That’s why I kind of forgot about it. I think it’s been at least a year since I heard there was a market for hacking over here. Haven’t heard anything lately. It’s not in the security briefings.”

  “Or maybe they aren’t looking because they already found what they want.”

  The ring. The woman he’d seen with Brandt. The jeweler.

  Jordan didn’t want to believe that Brandt had deliberately put Lucy in danger. The evidence was damning, but it wasn’t proof. The timing didn’t fit, either. Brandt had been gone over a year. Then again, who knew how long the plan to impersonate Lucy had been in place. Maybe someone had tried before, only they hadn’t been caught until now.

  Mike chuckled. “When those guys from the CIA saw me walk into the shop asking about a ring, they thought they had an American on the hook for bribery. Good thing I pay my mortgage on time. They’re probably poring over my financial records with a fine-tooth comb. Which means they’re watching anybody who enters that shop for obvious reasons.” He cleared his throat. “Look, I’m sorry. We both know what this means.”

  Jordan needed to keep a clear head. He had to consider all the possibilities. Brandt may have been unaware of the purpose of the jewelry shop he’d chosen to duplicate the ring, or he may have stumbled onto more than he was expecting.

  And there was another option they had to consider. Someone had been tipped off about the surveillance equipment. Someone had known where to find Jordan and Brandt. Maybe Jordan’s survival wasn’t such a fortunate break, after all. Not if Brandt had been the true target all along.

  “I know what this means.” Jordan’s vision fractured around the edges. “There’s a chance Brandt was on the take.”

  FIFTEEN

  Lucy stared at her screen, the code blurring. Shoving back from her desk, she pressed her knuckles against her eyes until she saw stars. She’d been going at this all day, and she was no closer to a solution. For the past week, her concentration had been shot.

  She had to get out of here. Maybe take a walk or something. She was reaching for her purse when her coworker Vance Eagan rounded the corner.

  He was short and balding with black-rimmed glasses and a slight paunch. He’d been dating Emily Franklin, one of the coders on the floor, for the past year. He never missed an opportunity to walk past Emily’s desk during the workday.

  “Hey, Lucy,” Vance said, leaning against her cubicle. “You talk to that new guy on the Greenspace project yet?”

  “Jordan?”

  “Yeah. That’s the guy. Alan can’t stop singing his praises. You think he might consider taking a look at the stopgap measures on the new rollout?”

  “I can ask.”

  Vance’s shoulders sagged. “That’d be great. I’ve been t
aking a lot of heat over the past few weeks. This thing is driving me crazy. I could use a new set of eyes.”

  Lucy dug into her purse for her keys. Maybe she’d go for a drive, instead. Anything to get away from this building for a while.

  Now that Jigsaw was safely in custody, the threat had abated. There’d been no contact with the buyer, either. They were certainly no closer to discovering the identity of her doppelgänger, and she was stalled out and frustrated.

  Because of the security concerns, she’d been shuttling between work and home and nowhere else, and she was going stir-crazy. She feared if she asked Jordan, he’d refuse. Maybe it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. What were the chances of being carjacked twice, anyway?

  She set down her keys with a sigh. Better to be frustrated and alive than distracted and dead.

  “Is the project behind schedule?” she asked, dimly aware that Vance had said something else. “I can take a look at it if you want.”

  “That’s okay. I know you’re behind on your own work.”

  She’d taken so many days off this past month, she was drowning in code. Not to mention she’d had her mind on other things. Her work was suffering. This morning had been a bust.

  She hadn’t realized the rest of the staff had noticed. “Well, I’ll let Jordan know you could use his help, anyway. He’s in a meeting with the rest of the Greenspace team.”

  “Thanks. I could really use a win on this one.” Vance’s ruddy complexion darkened. “You remember that security breach we had a few weeks ago?”

  Her hands stilled on her purse. “Yeah. I remember. What about it?”

  “Apparently, my computer was involved.” He looked away and scuffed the floor. “I had my password written on the back of the keyboard.”

  “Oh, Vance.” Lucy shook her head. “You know better.”

  “I know. But it seems like they make us change that stupid password every other day. I kept forgetting it, and IT was getting annoyed. I just wrote it down. We work in a secure building. I didn’t figure it was a big deal. How did someone from outside get in here in the first place? That’s not my fault.”

  Lucy feigned nonchalance. “Did anyone else know that’s where you kept your password? Did anyone else ever work on your computer?”

  “No one works on my computer, as far as I know.” He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “But they don’t exactly give us a lot of privacy around here. Anybody could have seen me flip over my keyboard. I guess maybe Sheila might have noticed. She sits across the aisle. And maybe Emily.”

  Since the company already knew Vance’s computer was involved, Lucy doubted there was anything new to learn. Still, she’d keep the information in the back of her mind for future reference.

  “That’s a bummer,” she said. “They’re still really jumpy upstairs because of that security breach. Did they try anyone else’s computer?”

  She already knew the answer, but there was no harm in asking.

  “They rifled through half of the desks before they got to mine. It’s like those thieves who go through neighborhoods looking for unlocked cars. I was the only stupid one. Now I feel like I gotta look over my shoulder all the time.”

  “We all make mistakes, Vance. You can’t beat yourself up.”

  And he didn’t even know the half of it. No one in the company aside from a few key players knew the hacker had tried to frame Lucy. She’d prefer to keep it that way as long as possible.

  Vance harrumphed. “It’s rotten luck. I’m up for a promotion this year. How’s it going to look when my review comes up?”

  Maybe it was just a coincidence that someone had discovered his password. Neither Sheila nor Emily struck Lucy as the type to do something like this. Especially Emily. She was taller than average and painfully shy. Everyone in the company had been pleased when she and Vance began dating.

  “I’m sorry they’re giving you a hard time,” Lucy said.

  “Not hard, exactly. I just feel like everyone is looking at me all of a sudden.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I feel like I’m under surveillance. The whole company has been paranoid. Frank even gave Emily the third degree this morning because she didn’t register her new car with Security.”

  “Wait.” Lucy’s attention sharpened. “Emily bought a new car?”

  “Yeah. One of those hybrid things. It’s crazy cool. Practically drives itself.”

  The fine hairs on the back of her neck stirred. “A new car is expensive.”

  “You’re telling me. Too rich for my blood.”

  Lucy forced a chuckle. “Did a rich uncle die or something?”

  “You must be psychic,” Vance said. “Only it was her aunt who died and left her some money. Now she wants to go to Cancún over the winter, but I can’t afford the airfare. She offered to pay my way, but that feels even worse.” Vance shuddered. “Like I’m a kept man or something.”

  “C’mon.” Lucy stifled a smile. “I’m sure she was only trying to be nice.”

  “I know. You’re right.” He straightened his tie. “Look, let me know if you think Jordan can help out on this thing. Like I said, I could really use a win. Might make up for what happened.”

  “I’ll ask him. I promise. Just as soon as he gets back.”

  She’d also tell him about Emily’s new car. The whole “rich aunt dying” seemed a little too convenient considering what had been happening around here lately.

  Vance had only been gone a moment when Sue peered over the partition. “Psst, Lucy. I almost forgot. Someone left this on my desk, but I think it was supposed to go to you.”

  A padded manila envelope dropped over the wall.

  It was postmarked the day before and had no return address. Lucy ripped open the envelope and discovered a key and a slip of paper. Unfolding the letter revealed a number and the name of a bank. Nothing else. No signature. No instructions.

  Studying the items further, she noted the number on the piece of paper matched an etched number on the key. Nothing else indicated what she was supposed to do.

  Lucy shot to her feet and circled around to Sue’s desk. “Did you see who left this?”

  “The mail room. They must have mixed up our desks.”

  “Oh.” Lucy didn’t bother hiding her disappointment. “Okay.”

  Of course it had come in the mail. If this was from the buyer, he wasn’t going to waltz in here and drop an envelope on her desk in plain view of everyone. The place was carpeted with cameras.

  Sue frowned. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. It’s nothing.”

  Returning to her desk, Lucy dropped the envelope and considered the contents. She’d probably ruined whatever evidence they might have discovered. In the hope of saving any fingerprints that might be left, she lifted the corner with her pencil and placed the envelope in a file folder.

  She glanced over her shoulder and huffed. Jordan’s seat was still empty. He’d been in the meeting all morning. Considering he was here undercover, he’d become an invaluable part of the team in a remarkably short amount of time. Alan was going to weep real tears when he left. Especially if the Greenspace project was ongoing.

  Meeting or no meeting, she had to talk to Jordan. Thankfully, by the time she got to the conference room, everyone was standing. Shifting from foot to foot and clutching the file folder, she waited impatiently while the employees gathered their belongings and offered their postmortems on the presentation they’d just watched.

  Jordan was one of the last people to exit the room.

  She caught his arm and pulled him back inside. “I think he’s made contact.”

  After studying the key and the note, his expression turned grim. “It’s a safe-deposit box. I’ll check it out.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  It wasn’t like she was being terribly productive anyway
.

  Jordan was reluctant but offered only token resistance. He drove and they arrived a scant fifteen minutes later. The bank was located downtown, and they parked in an underground garage. Once inside the cavernous lobby, Lucy gave her name and the box number to an attendant, who ushered them into a vault. Lucy’s heels clicked sharply on the tile floor. The walls of the vault were lined from floor to ceiling with safe-deposit boxes of varying sizes.

  The woman turned her key in the lock before leaving them alone.

  Lucy reached for the metal square, but Jordan placed his hand on her arm. “Let me take a look.”

  He pulled the box gently from its shelf and lifted the metal cover. Inside was a cell phone, along with a smaller brown envelope.

  He opened the flap and dumped the contents onto his outstretched palm.

  Two sparkling diamonds glittered beneath the artificial light.

  Lucy gasped. “I’m no gemstone expert, but those are at least a carat or more.”

  “At least,” Jordan replied grimly.

  “A payment?”

  “Looks like it. Untraceable. Easy to transport overseas.”

  She tipped back her head. “Can we pull the security cameras? See who rented the safe-deposit box?”

  “I’ll have Karp request the warrants this afternoon, but I doubt it’ll do us any good. Chances are, he sent someone else to rent the box, and I doubt they used a real name and address.”

  Lucy turned on the phone. There was one number programmed into the contacts, without any other information, and one message in the text box: Can you deliver? Along with a date that marked a week from Wednesday.

  They all had agreed the buyer was looking for the secure uplink codes. He wanted to control the drones at the source, where his connection would be untraceable. Clearly he had rudimentary knowledge of how the system worked.

  An idea took shape in Lucy’s mind.

  Rudimentary knowledge was not genuine understanding, and that would be the buyer’s undoing. Adrenaline rushed through her system.