No Strings Attached

by Julie Moffett

  I rolled to all fours, took a second to wipe the dirt and leaves from my nose and cheeks, then stood.

  The cold barrel that pressed against my temple made me rethink my decision to move.

  I’d been found.

  Chapter Six

  “Cara?”

  “Slash?”

  I opened my eyes in astonishment. Sure enough, it was him.

  Yanking his gun away from my head, he pulled me into his arms. “Mio Dio, you’re okay. I wasn’t sure it was you, with all the leaves in your hair and the funny way you were walking.”

  “I’m limping. Thank God you’re here. Did you catch her?”

  “Not yet.” He released me and looked around, keeping a hand on my arm. He took a radio from his belt and spoke quietly. “I’ve got her. The target is still at large.”

  A quiet voice replied. “Roger that.”

  Slash attached the radio to a slot on his belt. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait. How many people are out here looking for her? Maybe she’ll head back to her car.”

  “There are three officers out here, one waiting by her car. We’re running the plates now. It’s time to get you out of here.”

  “What about her?”

  “You’re my priority. When I saw your car... Let’s just say it took me ten years closer to the grave. I’m running out of decades.”

  “I was lucky I didn’t hit anything like a tree.”

  He cupped my cheek, turning it so he could inspect my forehead. “How do you feel? Looks like you might need a stitch or two.”

  “It probably looks worse than it is. Head wounds bleed a lot. Luckily I didn’t hit my nose again.” I’d recently broken my nose in a plane crash and it had just finished healing. I touched it. There was a small bump on the ridge, but thankfully right now it didn’t hurt.

  “I hope this doesn’t become a habit—banging up your face.”

  “Believe me, it’s not intentional.” I winced as I shifted my weight on my feet. “My knee is bruised, I think. I can walk.”

  Not taking my word for it, he knelt down and inspected it, making me bend it a couple of times. “You sure you can walk out of here?”

  “Of course.”

  He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a gold cross, pressing a kiss to it. Then he slid an arm around my waist, shouldering much of my weight. “Let’s move.”

  Keeping his gun out, he led me back to my ruined car.

  * * *

  We stopped at the emergency room, where I got away with one small liquid stitch on my forehead and a three-day prescription for painkillers. The doctor patted my hand and told me although I had a mean bruise on my knee, nothing was broken. I hoped the injuries would heal before my parents returned from their European vacation. They’d lock me up for good if they knew I’d been hurt yet again.

  “Any news on the woman?” I asked Slash as the nurse put a salve on my elbow where I’d scraped it.

  “Unfortunately none.” Slash walked over to the tray where the nurse was picking up some cotton balls. “She vanished. The plates on her car were traced to a rental company. She paid in cash. Her driver’s license, phone number and address are bogus.”

  “No surprise there, I guess.” I wondered what the final verdict on my Miata was. I really didn’t want to know, but better to ask. “What happened to my car?”

  “I’m sorry, cara. It’s totaled. It’s been towed to the police station. It’s part of the crime investigation for now.”

  “Great.” I tried not to be too broken up about it, but it was hard. I really liked that car.

  Thankfully the NSA had been able to expedite my police interrogation at the hospital after Slash convinced them it was more important to get me in front of a computer than to have me answer questions. I had to agree to talk with them later after we’d had a chance to examine the hack and provide additional details on the woman and the chain of events leading up to the car chase.

  “Are you sure you’re up to this, cara?” Slash shifted in the hard plastic chair. “Maybe I should take you to your parents.”

  “My parents are in Venice right now on an anniversary trip. I’m shaken up a bit, but fine. Really. Besides, I think we’re all in agreement that time is of the essence. We’ve got to follow that hack right now.”

  He nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. “Okay, but we do it from my place.”

  One of the FBI agents leaned down. “I’m sorry, sir. We’ve instructions to take you to the NSA.”

  Slash didn’t even look up. “Not even a chance. We’re going to my place and use my equipment. I don’t know what’s been compromised at the NSA. I need a clean look.”

  The agents exchanged a glance, but didn’t argue. One of them slipped out of the room, apparently to break the news to someone at the NSA that Slash wasn’t coming in.

  Slash put a hand under my elbow and helped me up. He kissed me on the cheek and murmured, “It’s a good thing you’ve got excellent medical benefits at X-Corp.”

  “Ha-ha,” I replied, but it made me smile. He always seemed to know how to do that.

  We were quiet in the car with the FBI trailing behind us. Slash’s phone vibrated twice but he didn’t answer or even look at who was calling.

  He put a hand on my knee and kept it there. “Are you sure you’re well enough to do this?”

  “I’m sure, Slash. They really, really don’t want me to follow that thread, which makes me eager to do just that.”

  “Regardless, you were just in a car accident. It can wait.”

  “It can’t wait. We both know that. If I can think, I can hack. Seriously, I’m fine.”

  He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then shut it. Instead, he reached over and turned on the music. Soothing sounds of a piano riff filled the car. It was Hai Tsang, our favorite pianist.

  I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headrest. Being near Slash, listening to the soft music and the effects of the painkillers relaxed me. I had spoken the truth when I said I was good to go. I knew he’d do the hack for me if he could, but seeing as how the information was locked in my head, I had to be the one at the keyboard.

  When we got to his apartment, he pressed his wallet to the pad on his door and it clicked open. He ushered me in and then tapped out a code on his alarm before closing the door behind me.

  “I know you’re ready to go, but how about a bite to eat and a quick rest first?”

  “I’m not hungry yet and the painkillers are working their magic. I’m in a good place for the time being. Let’s just get started, okay?”

  I could see he wanted to argue, so I held up a hand. “I’m serious, Slash.”

  He got the picture, so after a moment of hesitation, he nodded. “Okay.”

  He led me to the safe room in his apartment where he had all his specialized and unregistered computer equipment and secure networks. He endured a biometric scan and spoke in Italian to confirm a voice imprint before the steel-enforced door opened.

  We entered and made our way past a couple of closets and a piano until we came to a workstation with several laptops and a couple of thirty-two-inch monitors.

  “Sit,” he said pointing to a swivel chair in front of a laptop that was connected to one of the large monitors.

  “There’s only one chair in here,” I protested.

  He dragged the piano bench over and straddled it. “I’ll get another chair in a minute. Let’s work while you still can.”

  He leaned over me, signing in and readying one of the laptops. His fingers flew over the keyboard. I observed him jumping from place to place, making our own point of origin hidden from anyone who might want to trace us.

  After a few minutes, he glanced up at me. “Ready?”

  “Ready.
”

  He scooted aside and I pulled the chair closer to the laptop. Taking a deep breath, I started the hack. I took my time, careful to follow the code I’d memorized. After less than two minutes, I heard Slash draw a sharp breath.

  “This is as far as I got at the hotel,” I said. He sat so close to me that his breath warmed my cheek. One of his hands rested on my back and I could feel the heat through my blouse.

  My fingers steadily tapped the keyboard. “You can see where I’m headed.” I pointed to the IP address on a data stream on the monitor.

  Slash hissed, his brown eyes narrowing as he shoved off the bench and stood. “The NSA.”

  “Bingo.”

  I paused, leaning back, rolling my neck. “I have a feeling it’s going to get real exciting from here. My guess is that there’s a back door at the end of the rainbow.”

  “Undoubtedly.”

  “Do you think she’s already been there?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” His expression darkened with anger. “Someone created that door, so regardless, we have to assume the information has been compromised. The question is where does it lead and what did they want?”

  “The only way to know is to follow the yellow brick road.”

  Chapter Seven

  He put a hand on my shoulder. “Not yet. I’ve got to make a call.” He pulled out his cell from his jeans’ pocket and punched a button. After a moment, he began issuing instructions to his team at the NSA. Then he snapped the phone closed and sat back down. “I need everyone on alert and looking for anomalies. Are you sure you’re up for continuing?”

  “I’m sure. We’re getting close. Let’s do it.”

  “Okay. Let me get a decent chair first.”

  He returned a few moments later, carrying a chair. He set it down and left the room again, this time bringing back a couple of bottles of water, a box of crackers and two apples. He handed me a water bottle and an apple, then sat down, facing me.

  “Drink and have a bite first.”

  I unscrewed the top of the bottle and took a long slug before biting into the apple. “Thanks.”

  He hooked a finger under my chin until I was looking into his eyes. “We stop when you are in pain, tired or hungry. No negotiation.”

  “Understood.” I nodded. “Let’s get going.”

  His finger lingered a moment longer on my chin before he released it and sat back in his chair.

  I steadied myself and took a minute to review our path and determine where we were headed. Despite my pain and exhaustion, I felt the surge of adrenaline that I always got when starting a hack. My fingers tingled and my pulse kicked it up a notch. Even though I had permission to follow this path, hacking the NSA was not for the faint of heart.

  I went slower than usual, partly because I was nervous and partly because the painkillers were starting to wear off and a dull ache was interfering with my concentration. I didn’t want Slash to know, so I forged ahead. As we maneuvered deeper into NSA territory, I realized that whoever had written this code had inside information. I knew Slash had figured that, too. I could feel his tension rise at each juncture, although he didn’t say a word.

  Finally I lifted my fingers from the keyboard and turned to him. He was staring at the screen, his focus intense and singular. When I spoke, he actually blinked.

  “You know what this means? Slash?”

  I glanced sideways at him as his jaw tightened. “Insider threat.” His voice was grim and cold. “I’m going to find the bastard and nail him. Or her. No mercy.”

  I not only believed he would do it, I sincerely hoped he would succeed. All tech heads know there is a special place in hell for the insider threat. There was no doubt in my mind that Slash would get him. But first we had a door to find so we could open it and see where it led.

  “Okay, who’s orchestrating this and what do they want?” I grabbed my water bottle and took a drink. The hack was getting harder and deeper, but a clear and careful path had been laid. “The insider needs cash or has a political ax to grind, which means there must be a path leading somewhere for some specific purpose.”

  “Let’s postulate a theory once we see exactly where the door opens.”

  “Fine.” I leaned forward, inspecting a data stream. “Seriously, though, whoever created this path is good, Slash. Really good. If I hadn’t intercepted the hack...”

  He raised a hand. “I don’t want to go there. Do you mind if I take over now? You can guide me. I want to check out some peripheral items as we go along.”

  “Sure.” I scooted to the side and he pulled his chair into my place. He angled two more laptops toward him and started typing while occasionally referring back to what we’d already done. After a few minutes, he dipped his head at me.

  “I’m ready.”

  “Then let’s finish it.” I snatched a cracker as I gave him initial instructions.

  The deeper we got, the quieter Slash became. The penalties for hacks on intelligence agencies were severe, involving lengthy jail time, not to mention the security was state of the art, so the chance of getting caught was extremely high. No question this was an extremely dangerous hack, but someone had cleared a path right past several of the NSA’s top security levels and traps. Slash paused every now and then to jot down a string of code on a pad of paper or type into one or both of the adjoining laptops. The fact that we’d already gone so far undetected was scary and to Slash, completely unacceptable.

  “There,” he finally said pointing to his screen. “The back door.”

  I peered at the monitor. At some point, our room had become dark, lit only by our monitor. I had no idea how many hours had passed since we started. Our bottles of water were long empty and my forehead was throbbing. I rested my chin on his shoulder.

  “I must be tired. I don’t see it. Where exactly?”

  His elegant hacker fingers tapped the screen. “Here. Damn it. Right here.”

  I finally saw it. Cleverly hidden, but there nonetheless. I could almost feel the anger vibrating off Slash. At least we’d found it, which meant we could close it. Safe...at least until the next hack.

  Slash yanked his cell phone out of his pocket, punched a button and began barking out a number of commands to someone on the other end. After he hung up, he sat back down at the monitor. He looked furious.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We had another intrusion. Thirty-nine minutes ago. They are trying to isolate it, but we’re already here, so we’ll find it first.”

  “She got in.”

  “I’m afraid so. Let’s see where this trail goes.”

  I hesitated. “Am I cleared to see what’s in there?”

  “As of right now you are. I don’t have to explain confidentiality to you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  He tapped on the keyboard and waltzed in through the door. His fingers paused, hovering over the keys.

  “So, where are we?” The weariness, pain and hunger all disappeared in the excitement of the discovery.

  He leaned forward, hit a few more keys. “A personnel database.”

  My brow furrowed. “Well, I sure didn’t see that one coming.”

  “Me neither. It doesn’t make sense. There are a lot more sensitive spots they could have hacked given this level of inside support.” He opened several windows on his screen and began jumping around. “Definitely odd.”

  “I know, right? All this time I was thinking more along the lines of a hack into a sensitive countersurveillance operation or an attempt to steal nuclear passwords. You know, something exciting.”

  He made a few more keystrokes. “This is interesting, though. This hack is specific to one department.”

  “Which department?”

  “IAD.”

  “IAD?” I whis
tled. “Seriously? Someone provided instructions for a hack into the personnel database for the NSA’s Information Assurance Directorate?”

  The Directorate was responsible for protecting and defending the nation’s computers from the incessant stream of hacks on government and private sector networks in accordance with National Security Directive 42. Directive 42 provided strict guidelines for how American national policy and operational procedures must be conducted in regards to information technology and computer systems. The NSA executed the duties of the Directorate, while the Department of Defense oversaw the entire program. This was super top secret stuff—way above any clearance I’d ever had.

  So, the fact that someone went to the significant trouble of hacking into IAD for the purpose of penetrating a personnel database was...weird. No top secret info there. Just a list of employees.

  “That’s what it looks like.” Slash’s jaw tightened. “No question that whoever built this door is an insider. Stand by.”

  “Are you going to close it?”

  “No. I’m going to set a trap.”

  Chapter Eight

  As Slash set his trap, I stood, stretching my arms above my head. My forehead and knee were throbbing, which meant it was way past time for a painkiller. My stomach growled and I tried to remember the last time I’d eaten something other than the apple. Breakfast had been about seven thirty. No wonder I was starving.

  “I’m stopping now,” Slash said, looking up from the monitor.

  “You’re not. You just got in. You’ve got to finish. We both know the dangers of leaving in midtrap. I’m good for a bit more. I’ll go get some water to take my pills.”

  He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. Finish it up. I mean it, Slash. Either you do it or I will.”

  He stared at me for a moment longer, then turned back to the monitor. I went out of the room, wedging a book in the doorway so I wouldn’t have to bother him to come back in.

  I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and washed down one of my pain pills. A few glugs later and I had finished off the entire bottle. My purse was on the counter, so I took out my cell phone. I’d turned it off while at the conference, and I had one call from my mother and three from Basia. My stomach flipped when I saw Basia’s number. She’d left three messages, but I was afraid to listen to them. She probably wanted to set up a time to do something horrific, like try on bridesmaid dresses or shoes. Or maybe she wanted an update from me on the plans for the bachelorette party. I had nothing. Paralyzed by party planning—that was me.