Phish NET Stalkings

by Denise Robbins

  “The FBI?”

  “Yes, sir. I was part of an FBI Cybercrime Action Team responsible for traveling the world and catching cyber criminals. In particular, I specialized in child pornography rings, child trafficking, and all the other disgusting stuff that goes along with it.” He took a long swallow of his beer then held it by the neck and dangled it between his legs. “The things I have seen and encountered would make a normal person want to curl up in a corner and shrivel up and hide away from the world. Not that I blame them.”

  “What you are telling me is that you hid your identity on the computer to catch horrible people who did revolting things to children.”

  “Yes, sir. I can never tell anyone everything about my past job as many of the cases are still not closed, not until the last filthy creep has been caught.”

  “Ah. So you have your own secrets.”

  Cooper glanced up from his beer and peered into sharp, knowing eyes. “I do. But I would like to share as much of myself with Jane as I can, if she’ll let me.” He shoved himself out of the chair and started to pace the room. “She won’t let me in and now this, this thing at the boutique. I know she’s hiding something and all I want to do is help protect her.”

  “Does she want your protection?”

  “No.” He spun back. “She acts as if there is nothing wrong, but she’s lying.”

  “Does she know you’re ex-FBI?”

  “No.”

  “Tell her.”

  “What good is that going to do?”

  “Tell her,” David repeated and met his gaze across the expanse of the rug. “Tell her before it is too late.”

  Coop stepped closer. He felt like a man stalking his prey, ready to pounce when he pulled up short, David’s words ringing in his hears. “Tell her before it is too late.”

  David wasn’t going to tell him straight out, but he just confirmed that Jane could be in danger. “Why? Why would someone want to hurt Jane?”

  “That I don’t know.”

  “What do you know?” he asked raking his hand through his hair.

  “She was just a child when her mother died.”

  Remembering something Jane almost let slip, he snapped his fingers. “Her mother was killed.”

  The stunned look on David’s face told him he was right.

  “Don’t worry. You didn’t give away any secret. Jane slipped one night.”

  He chuckled at David’s lifted brow and slight frown at the corner of his mouth.

  “How was she killed?”

  “The record says drug deal gone bad.”

  Drug deal? “The record?”

  “Her death was ruled a killing as part of a drug deal and at eight years old Jane could hardly fight the system.”

  “What about the father?”

  “Unknown.”

  Cooper hid a small grin. Jane may not know her real father, but David was Jane’s father in every way that counted.

  “She said her mother worked for the police.”

  “Well, she has been talkative.”

  A chuckle erupted from Cooper’s chest. “If you call giving just enough to get a person intrigued, but not enough to know the whole story talkative then yeah, Jane is a real Chatty Cathy.”

  David laughed. “You have no idea. It took that girl years before she told me who she was, where she came from, and what she was running from.”

  “She’s not originally from here?”

  “You two really have got to talk. Try a date. A real date.”

  “We will. I’ll even buy her flowers, but back to Jane’s mom. Her mother was a computer forensics specialist with which police department?”

  “Some place in Massachusetts, I think.”

  Cooper lifted a skeptical brow.

  “She didn’t tell me everything and I didn’t try to pry.”

  “You were never curious and did the research?”

  David shook his head. “No. Curiosity killed the cat.”

  “If her mother worked for the police,” Cooper began as he moved to stand in front of the large, brick fireplace, “why does she fear the police? Or perhaps it is anyone with a badge?”

  “You don’t come across as a stupid man. Think about it,” he told Cooper as he got to his feet. “In the meantime, I’ve got to try to call Jane and then get some sleep.”

  He nodded his head as he picked up his jacket and shrugged into it. “Thanks for your time.” He picked up the beer to toss it in the trash on his way out.

  “Leave it. I’ll get it later.”

  He set the bottle back down, zipped his jacket, and followed in David’s wake out to the kitchen. David stood to the door going out and waited for him.

  “Know this. I did not break any confidences here tonight. It sounds like you were well on your way to getting underneath her radar. If you hurt that girl, whether it’s breaking her heart or breaking her leg, I will hunt you down.”

  The implacable tone of David’s voice told him the older man would do exactly as he threatened. It probably wouldn’t do him any good to let the old man know that he just threatened a police officer.

  Cooper stepped forward and offered his hand. When David took it and shook, he told him, “Jane is one lucky woman to have a man, a mentor, and a father like you. Have a good night.”

  He left the speechless David staring after him as he shut the door and hurried down the stairs to his car. He had some more homework to do tonight.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  She had just sat behind her desk, dropped her laptop into its docking station, and booted up her computer when Tony buzzed the intercom. “Mr. Brothers is on line two.”

  That’s odd. She just spoke with Jim yesterday.

  Picking up the receiver, she put it to her ear and hit the button for line two. “Hi Jim. What’s up?”

  “Don’t play all nice with me.”

  “Huh?”

  “I got your nasty email. Just because we couldn’t take the new line of Glossy Gal doesn’t give you the right to drop us as a distributor for Not-so-plain-Jane’s. We have a contract!”

  Jim yelled the last sentence so loud Jane had to pull the phone away from her ear. What the hell was he talking about, a nasty email?

  She put the receiver back to her ear and spoke calm. “Jim, I assure you I sent no email to you.”

  “I have it right in front of me and it has your signature on it,” he yelled, cutting her off. “The return email address is from you. Your work email.”

  “Jim, I assure you I sent no such email. It has to be a mistake. You’re one of my top distributors and I value our relationship. We’ve worked well together for a long time.”

  “Five years.”

  “Exactly. We both started out small and built a great partnership. I would never hold a grudge just because you couldn’t debut a new product line. You should know that. You should know me.”

  “I thought I did, but when I saw this email…” His voice lowered an octave. He was calming down.

  “Jim, can you forward that email message to me?”

  “It came from your email, you should—”

  He started to heat up again, but it was Jane’s turn to cut him off. “Please, Jim. I did not send the message, but obviously, there is a problem. I’d like to get to the bottom of it if I can before something else happens.”

  “I’m not the only distributor that received such an email. I heard from Larry over at Everything Lavender. He received the same one.”

  “What?”

  “Karen at Just Naturals said she found the same message waiting for her in her inbox this morning.”

  This can’t be happening. How? While Jim listed the other known recipients, Jane logged onto her computer, and waited, her fingertips drilling holes in her wood desk.

  “Jim, I’m bringing up my email right now. Can you forward the message back to me so I can get one of my IT guys on it?”

  “You think you’ve been hacked?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not the
one to make the determination. That’s why I pay the technology team. Please, Jim, can you send it to me?”

  “Sending it now.” She heard the click of keys on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, Jane. I should have known you would never do such a thing.”

  Jane swallowed the burning bile that gathered in her throat. Staring at her computer screen, she saw at least four emails from angry and irate distributors and shops. “This can’t be happening,” she muttered and dropped her head onto the palm of one hand whose elbow was propped on the desk.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  Jim’s soft, supportive voice made her stiffen her resolve. “No, no. Yes actually. Can you let the others know I’m not responsible? I’m very sorry this happened, Jim. I hope you know I will take care of the situation as quickly as possible. I apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this has caused you. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “I know you will, but don’t worry about it right now. Just take care of business on your end. I’ll let the folks I’ve already heard from know that the email is bogus and that we all better check our networks.”

  “Oh, shit. You think whatever infected my system could have infected yours?”

  “I’m just saying we should be cautious. I better go, Jane. Call when you know something.”

  “I will. And I’m sorry, Jim.”

  “No apology. We’ll talk soon.”

  Jim hung up and Jane dropped the receiver into its cradle and immediately hit the intercom button.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Get Carl up here and call David. I need them in my office ASAP.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “No. Just get them up here, Tony. Please.”

  She pressed the fingers of both hands against her closed eyelids and rubbed. “This cannot be happening.” What were they going to do? What if every vendor or shop she spoke to and who turned down the offer was sent such an email message? Granted she had only wanted ten stores in the campaign, but she sent out emails to everyone on her distributor list asking for volunteers because she didn’t like to show favoritism.

  When she heard feet hurrying down the hall, she dropped her hands from her face and stood. Carl and David, followed by Tony entered her office.

  “What is it?” David asked. “Did you get news about last night’s break in at the boutique?”

  David’s hard-eyed stare told her she had screwed up by not calling him. But how had he found out?

  “A little birdie told me,” he offered in answer to her unasked question.

  “I should have told you but…”

  “But nothing. We’re partners and I had to hear from the chief of police that you walked in on a burglar and that he hit you over the head.”

  Tony strode over to her, touched her shoulder. “Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Maybe you should sit.”

  “I’m fine.” She shrugged off his hand.

  “Someone burgled Not-so-plain-Jane’s?” Tony asked. “When? Why?”

  Jane shook her head. “Last night. I don’t know. Possibly the same person who hacked my email.”

  Carl straightened and stood almost at attention with his heels touching. “Excuse me? Someone did not hack this network.”

  Jane would have smiled at his smugness if she didn’t have proof otherwise. “Take a look.” She aimed a finger at her computer. “Check the top twelve—no thirteen emails,” she told Carl as she shuffled aside and let him take her seat behind the desk.

  David was still staring at her as if she were a naughty child. “Someone sent nasty emails to all the distributors that turned down being beta shops for the debut of Glossy Gal. That someone passed himself off as me, sending an email message to them telling each distributor that we no longer care to do business with them all because they refused to showcase lip-gloss.”

  “They have to know it was a mistake.”

  She shook her head and let the grim look on her face convey the seriousness of what had happened.

  “Fine. Do you have a list of all the people who were sent emails?”

  “Yes.” Her voice quavered and she cleared her throat. “Yes, and I have the emails already sent back from the shops and various distributors.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw the intense look on Carl’s face, the furrow in his brow as he punched keys and muttered curses. “Well, Carl has them on my computer.”

  “I’ll print them out for you,” he said without taking his gaze off the screen.

  The printer hummed and Tony snatched up the messages before she could get to them. He gave a low whistle. “These are some pissed off partners.”

  “They have a right to be. I spoke with Jim Brothers of Brothers Organics and he is worried that whatever happened to our system may have infected his.”

  “He should be,” Carl chimed in, his head still down. “As soon as I isolate it, I will give him and all the other distributors a call and tell them what to look for. In the meantime, they should be extremely cautious of sending and receiving emails.”

  Jane spun around, her full attention on Carl. “What do you mean? Why can’t they send emails?”

  “This could be a worm that attaches itself to the email and then gets hooked on every email address it gets its hands on. Many of these kinds of phishing can propagate by sending emails from one to another and it becomes a vicious circle.”

  “Oh, holy shit!” Jane felt her knees start to buckle and if it hadn’t been for David’s strong hands she would have slumped to the floor. Somehow, she caused this and may have caused damage to other businesses. She would be lucky if they had any distributors left after this fiasco.

  “Come on, Jane,” David said. “We’ve got some calls to make. Tony you take Jane into the outer office with you and start lining them up. I’ll be out in a second to help.”

  “What are you going to do?” Jane asked over her shoulder.

  “I’m phoning an expert in these matters.”

  David turned his back on her, picked up the phone, and dialed.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Cooper hung up the phone with David Conrad and jumped to his feet. He was reaching for his jacket when Jack walked in.

  “Any luck?”

  “No bites on the sketch of the guy with any of the people at the diner that night. You going somewhere?”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged into his jacket, checked his pocket for his keys. “Headquarters of Not-so-plain-Jane’s.”

  “Is there a break in the case?”

  “Maybe.” Maybe, he thought, as he excused himself and told Jack to start questioning the next list of Johns from Janette’s book he had deciphered. “I’ve got two I emailed to my phone and will start with them.”

  When he arrived at Not-so-plain-Jane’s, he parked in a visitor spot, walked across the lot, and jogged up the stairs. He entered the lobby area where he had to check in with a receptionist who copied his credentials. After verifying his name with someone over the phone, he was let in through a secure door where a large, well-dressed man greeted him.

  “I’m Tony, Jane’s assistant.”

  “Ex-Marine?” Cooper asked as he followed the man through the maze of hallways.

  “Yes, sir. You?”

  “Ex-FBI,” he answered and watched Tony pull up short and spin around to gape at him.

  “David called in the big guns.”

  Cooper shrugged. “It sounds like you’ve got your own capable technology guys so I’m not certain why David thought I could help, but since Jane’s shop was busted into last night it makes sense that I find out what is going on, and if the two incidents are related.”

  Tony shook his head then pivoted and started walking again. “It’s a damn shame that someone would do something so outrageous and detrimental to a woman with a heart of gold.”

  The larger man paused, held his arm out to one side and said, “Right this way.”

  He was ushered into an elegant office space. Elegant was the only word to describe
it and it suited Jane. All female and curves. On one wall, there was a small refrigerator, sink, and counter. Hanging above it were glasses for various drinks. Sitting opposite the small bar area was a sitting area with a small sofa, two chairs, and a round coffee table. On the end tables sat fresh flowers and coasters.

  Across the room sat her throne where all the hustle and bustle was going on, where Jane made her world of organics and cosmetics come to life. The power center, he mused, thinking of his own desk at home and at the CAT command center in Minneapolis. Jane’s desk was large, cherry wood, and had legs that curved for days, just like hers. Gathered around it right now were David, Jane, and someone else he had yet to meet, probably the tech guy.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Police Chief Chance is here,” Tony announced and he had the pleasure of watching the stricken look of surprise on Jane’s face before he moved into the room and shook David’s hand.

  “Thanks for coming, Cooper. Have a seat,” the older man suggested. “I realize this is no longer your field of expertise, but with the incident last night—”

  “It makes sense,” he cut in and sauntered toward Jane and the hubbub at her desk.

  The ponytailed man wearing glasses with a bead of sweat trickling down one cheek stood and offered a hand. “I’m Carl. I’m the security specialist.” He swallowed hard. “At least I am for now,” he muttered and chanced a glance at Jane.

  She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring pat. “You’re not going to get fired, Carl.”

  Carl sat back down and, after wiping the sweat from his forehead, began clicking keys.

  Sliding a hand into the inside of his jacket, Coop extricated his small notebook and pen. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

  In quick, succinct sentences, Jane described what transpired that morning when she arrived at the office.

  “Why were you late?”

  The look of surprise on her face was amazing, beautiful, and almost made him laugh.

  “What does that have to do with what happened to my computer, my email?”

  He lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Maybe someone knew you were going to be late and took advantage of the situation. Do you keep your calendar on your computer?”