Hide and Seek

by H. L. Wegley

  “Mr. Brandt, I think you should introduce your friend to everyone here, the girl who—”

  “I am not a girl, sir.”

  Please say he didn’t say that. CEOs should know better.

  Jennifer, seated one chair away from the CEO sprang from her chair and faced him.

  “I am twenty-five years old. I hold a master’s degree in computing security. I work for NSA and sometimes the FBI. Last weekend, sir, I believe I saved your bacon.”

  After her outburst, Jennifer turned to the audience. “My name is Jennifer Akihara and now you know me.”

  Lee heard several of his co-workers trying to stifle their snickers. Some weren’t successful. Others failed utterly. This left the tense audience not knowing what to expect.

  No matter. The CEO was too stunned to notice, yet.

  The audience began to laugh and he sought to legitimize the object of their laughter by focusing it on Jennifer, the person, not on her words or the CEO. He stood. “That, my colleagues, is Jennifer. Now you certainly do know her.”

  Laughter erupted.

  The festive atmosphere returned.

  A few moments later Jennifer whispered into Lee’s ear, “I’m so sorry. I lost my temper. What should I do?”

  “Find a chance to get his attention. Then tell him what you just told me. It’ll be OK. Just do it.” He placed his hand on her arm. “But later,” he gave her a big smile, “you need to ask God to take that temper away.” His suggestion drew a stare and a frown.

  “But He’s the one who gave it to me.”

  He held her gaze. “Yes, but the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

  Jennifer relaxed and smiled. “I think you just don’t want me mad at you anymore.”

  He took her hand under the table. “And I think you’re right.”

  The incident had ended well. He hoped the afternoon would also, because some important issues remained.

  Nearly everyone in the room wanted to shake Jennifer’s hand and thank her for her role in protecting their corporation. From the small talk he verified that most people in the room knew few details of the threat. Lee had learned in the morning meeting that Computing Security and the CEO did not want to reveal the nature of the threat until the company had deployed an adequate defense for this type of cyber attack.

  For the next thirty minutes Jennifer seemed to enjoy the party, but after a serving of cake and ice cream she began fidgeting in her chair.

  “Jenn, you look like you’re ready to head down to Joe’s office.”

  “You’ve got that right. There are too many gawking eyes in here.”

  He leaned close to her. “I saw you apologize to the CEO.”

  She nodded.

  He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I don’t think he felt as gracious as he acted. You don’t become CEO of a Fortune 500 company unless you’re a good politician. The other requirement is a large ego.”

  She returned his whisper. “I agree with your assessment. Can we please leave now?”

  “As soon as I can courteously extricate us.”

  Five minutes later, the two headed down the stairs towards Joe’s office.

  When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced at him. “How far do you suppose they’ve gotten in the investigation?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t have a clue. They’ve had less than forty-eight hours since we briefed them on Saturday afternoon. Here’s Joe’s office.” He knocked on the door. “Let’s go in and find out.”

  Joe opened the door before Lee finished rapping on it. “Jennifer, Lee, come in. We’re going to move to the inner office now.”

  He had heard about this more secure area, used for sensitive discussions, but he’d never been inside it.

  Was his lack of a current clearance going to exclude him from part of this meeting?

  Joe shoved a paper at him. “First, Lee, you need to read and sign this form.”

  The form answered his question. Joe’s document authorized him to have specified access to information regarding the investigation. The justification was based upon the extent of his existing knowledge, his role in unraveling the plot, and his previous high-level clearance.

  When they entered the room Jennifer began speaking before she sat down. “Sorry about forgetting to mention the paper with the addresses on it, Peterson. I left it in the driver’s side door pocket.”

  Peterson sat at a table with a small stack of papers in front of him. “No problem. We found it Saturday afternoon shortly after locating your car. Your labels were completely explanatory—compromised PC IP addresses and hacker IP addresses.”

  Jennifer sat down and leaned forward, but shifted her gaze to Stewart. “Were you able to gain further intelligence using the IP addresses?”

  Stewart nodded. “Yes, we were. I’m not authorized to tell you how, or who was involved, but we’ve added several organizations to our incident-response team since Saturday. Suffice it to say the cooperation between this group of terrorists and the Mexican drug cartels has ended for now and—”

  Jennifer focused on Stewart. “What about this terrorist organization’s collaboration with the cartel in Colombia?”

  Obviously Jennifer wanted to complete her agenda before anyone could steer the discussion in another direction.

  Peterson cleared his throat. “I’m not at liberty to provide you with names and specific locations. However, we do have that information. A plan was implemented to neutralize the current effort by the terrorists’ hackers. Columbia. Well, we have a lot of work to do before cleaning up the mess there. But for now, we believe the existing Colombian ties to terrorist activity in Mexico have been snipped.”

  Lee had an agenda, too. He turned towards Joe Morrison. “Have you been able to determine the extent of the computing threat within National Aerospace?”

  “Yes, Lee. Well, nearly. We’re currently completing a scan of every company computing device. We used the notes Jennifer made and the file she provided to create a network-wide scanning program. So far, we’ve found five infected machines, all in the commercial part of the house. Nothing on the military side. US-CERT helped us with the scanning program. You’ll hear more about it over the coming week.”

  He stared at Joe, hoping he’d heard correctly. “So their access to sensitive information was, for all practical purposes, nil. That’s good news.”

  Joe nodded. “Sure is. And based upon a phone call we got about an hour ago regarding somebody saving our CEO’s bacon, I believe she did just that.”

  With everyone grinning at her Jennifer sighed. “Good. But after outsourcing DEDS to an offshore company I wouldn’t mind if it sizzled in the pan for a few seconds.”

  Joe’s grin became audible. He snorted.

  Peterson shuffled the papers in front of him until he looked satisfied with the one on top of the stack. “About the three suspects. Jennifer. As you know, the woman is dead, and suspects number two and three are in custody. They have not been given Miranda rights. We want to keep the military trial option open. While it remains to be seen whether they will be tried in a military or civilian court, I’m told that, barring outright acquittal, they will never be free again. Only the imposter appears to have taken your actions personally and sought revenge. Though I don’t know how you can distinguish revenge from jihad with someone holding to his worldview. Regardless, his attempts on yours and Lee’s lives will not go well for him. You both will be asked to testify against the perpetrators at some time and in some court. But other than testifying, you and Lee can get on with your lives.”

  Peterson stood. “Well, that’s about all we—”

  Jennifer glanced at Lee then back to Peterson. “We would still like to know how a SWAT team arrived at the back of the church at just the right time.”

  Peterson slipped his papers into his briefcase. “The third suspect, the vengeful one, stole a car and drove to the city limits. Police started asking questions and we got a rough description of the man we thought was the
perpetrator. A nearby neighbor indicated a man might have entered the back of the church before sunrise on Sunday morning. We got the information a few minutes before he got to you two. Captain Lewis arrived and began listening to what was going on inside about the time the three of you moved to the door. We only had one opportune moment to intervene and fortunately, Lewis was able to take advantage of it.”

  Lee stared across the room at the wall. “But if the timing had been off a second or two I don’t think we would have made it.”

  Jennifer took his hand under the table. “I think that’s where our Lord’s sovereignty took over.”

  A smile spread across his face. “And I would say you’re probably right.”

  Peterson cleared his throat again. “As a precaution we may have both of you watched for a while.” He focused on Lee. “So, Lee, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want on video, or in a report.”

  “Hey, Peterson, why did you single me out? Jennifer is the one who needs to hear that.”

  “You’re digging a hole, Lee. Be careful or I’ll plant you in it.”

  He glanced at her, and then back to Peterson. “Can’t you lock her up for all the threats you’ve heard her make to me in the last three days?”

  “Sorry. That’s not the FBI’s jurisdiction,” Peterson locked his briefcase. “I think you need one of three people to help you, a minister, a justice of the peace, or an undertaker.”

  “What about a counselor,” Stewart suggested.

  “Been there, tried that. Doesn’t work,” Lee quipped. “So I would opt for one of the first two.” He glanced at Jennifer and was surprised to see the calm, beauty-enhancing look he noticed for the first time on Sunday.

  When the meeting ended several things were evident. One battle in the war on terror had been won thanks to Jennifer, the FBI, NSA, a local JTTF, and its member police departments.

  Joe had performed admirably and with integrity as he guided National Aerospace through a crisis.

  A second battle, one for Jennifer’s allegiance, was won by God, Himself.

  The third battle, a battle for his heart, was won by a woman with a fiery spirit, a new growing relationship with Christ, and a demand for total honesty. She hadn’t only won the battle, but also the war. The time had arrived for him to run up the white flag. One unsettling question remained.

  What might total surrender to Jennifer require?

  26

  When they left the building a little after 2 p.m. Lee avoided the turnstile by the gate shack. He doubted Randy wanted another encounter with Jennifer today.

  When they entered the parking lot a warm wind blew out of the southwest. When the breeze swirled around vehicles in the parking lot Jennifer’s hair danced around the perimeter of her sunlit face.

  Jennifer was too beautiful to describe.

  Nothing mattered except not letting this woman slip away from him.

  He needed more time with her and he needed it now. “Did you eat any lunch?”

  “Cake and ice cream.”

  “That’s what I thought. Would you like some lunch now?”

  She brushed a strand of hair from her eye. “After dessert, I don’t think so.”

  He had more suggestions. A lot more. “What about coffee?”

  “Sounds great, but I’m driving.”

  He forced a frown. “So you don’t want to ride in a plain vanilla car anymore?”

  “No. The SUV is like rich chocolate. We’re bonding. Let’s hit the coffee shop drive-through. You probably have to get back to work pretty soon, anyway.”

  “Not today.” He sighed and smiled. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

  Jennifer’s eyes narrowed. She watched him from the corners of her eyes. “Sounds mysterious.”

  They climbed into the car and drove in silence for a few blocks to the nearest coffee shop. After negotiating the drive-through Jennifer pulled into a space in the parking lot.

  She took a sip of coffee and placed her drink in the cup holder. “Lee?” There was a long pause. “I have something to tell you.”

  “OK. What is it?”

  “What we did Friday night. It helped National Aerospace. It helped the USA and it made me feel like I accomplished something good, not just something that furthered my career.”

  This was an unexpected direction. There was nothing threatening yet, but he was concerned. “It should make you feel good. It was good. You’re one of only a handful of people in the world who could have accomplished all that you did.”

  “Lee, I’m just going to cut to the chase. Getting my Ph.D. is not going to help me one bit. I’ll waste eighteen to twenty-four months jumping through the university’s hoops to learn a few things I can easily learn on my own. Then there’s all the campus politics that impacts Ph.D. students. You know, ‘Do we really want to put our stamp of approval on this young woman?’ You have to prove to them you’re worthy of their approval by doing things you’d rather not do. I’ll have to teach geek courses to underclassmen. They can be an obnoxious bunch.” Jennifer paused. “So, well…I’ve decided to take the job offer from NSA.” Jennifer picked up her coffee cup.

  He wasn’t sure what to say. He remained quiet while they both sipped coffee.

  Jennifer’s decision worried him. NSA Headquarters was almost three thousand miles away.

  “Does this mean you’ll be moving across the country to Maryland?” He stared down at his coffee cup avoiding her eyes and dreading her answer.

  Jennifer put a hand under his chin and gently lifted his head. She was looking into his eyes and smiling. “Lee Brandt, sometimes you can be pretty dense. No. I’ll be working locally. Quite a bit of the time with Howie. I can’t tell you more about it than that. But regarding Fort Meade, only occasional trips.”

  “So you’ll be staying here, then?”

  “That’s what I just said. Do you think I haven’t meant anything I’ve said or done these past three days?”

  “No.”

  Jennifer always meant everything she said, excluding perhaps the hyperbole about murder.

  He sensed a smile growing on his face as hope returned. “But if you really meant everything…in that case, I think I’m dead.”

  “Only if you ever lie to me. Remember this. I won’t let you get away like the gunmen did.”

  “I’ve got something to tell you, too.”

  “The mysterious thing?” Jennifer was frowning.

  “It’s related. The reason I don’t have to be back to work at any certain time today is I’ve resigned from National Aerospace, effective in four weeks.” He paused. “I don’t enjoy developing computing systems for corporate America anymore. Most guys who do systems-development work burn out when they’re about my age. I’ve decided to go back to my first love, meteorology.”

  “Oh.” Jennifer stared down at her coffee cup, rotating it in her hands. A coy smile crept onto her face. “Maybe I was wrong, but I thought I was your first love.”

  “I was only talking about work.”

  “Who says I’m not work?”

  “You are a lovely work.”

  Jennifer ignored his comment. But her smile was morphing to a frown. “And where will you be doing this meteorological work?”

  “I have two friends, Dale and Jerry, who’ve been after me to join the meteorological consulting firm they’ve been laying the groundwork for this past year. There’s a strong possibility our first big contract will be either directly or indirectly with NSA, if our facilities and personnel can meet their security requirements.”

  Jennifer raised her gaze to his face. “How did you manage to swing that?”

  “Did I ever mention I was an intelligence analyst in the Air Intelligence Agency before I got a degree in meteorology and became a weather officer?”

  “No, Lee. There’s still a lot you haven’t told me about yourself. But even if you once worked with NSA how are you going to get them to run a top secret clearance for you?”

  He peered into her eyes. �
�Don’t you know you don’t get NSA to run anything?”

  Jennifer smiled at his use of her words.

  He continued his explanation. “My old DOD Top Secret SCI clearance was recent enough to be reinstated with an update to the background check. They really want our firm to help them with some weather-related issues so NSA is willing to make the clearance update happen.”

  Jennifer’s voice softened as she looked into his eyes. “So you’ll be working locally, too?”

  “If you’re not leaving neither am I. Since our weather firm will work closely with NSA for the duration of the contract I’d bet our paths will cross at work.”

  Jennifer’s expression morphed again from serious to coy. “What about when we’re not at work?”

  “Are you suggesting—”

  “What I’m suggesting,” Jennifer looked down, exhaled sharply and then returned her gaze to his eyes. “Is that I would like to date you if you would just ask.”

  “So you trust me, then?”

  “Yes, I trust you.”

  He slipped his palm over his left knee. “Jennifer?”

  “Yes, Mr. Brandt?”

  “Come on, Jenn. This is a serious question.”

  “OK. That’s better. What’s the question?”

  Looking through his frown he studied her face. “Why me? What made you trust me?”

  She reached across and began tracing the contours of his left hand with her fingers. “Nothing made me. But do you really want to know?”

  “Yes, I’d like to know how I got it, because I don’t want to lose it.”

  She took his left hand and squeezed it. “Are you sure you want to hear this? Because it’s going to be the whole story—the good, the bad, and—”

  “Yes. I want to hear it.”

  “Remember you asked for this. When Howie brought me into his office I saw your eyes. You were all gaga just like the guys who give me grief. Don’t you even try to deny—”

  “Maybe I was. But you have no idea what it’s like for a guy to have you sprung on them with no warning.” He pounded his right knee. His coffee geysered from its sip hole and slopped onto his right hand. “It’s…it’s—”