Never Say Spy (The Never Say Spy Series Book 1)

by Diane Henders

  “No.”

  I closed the file and handed it back. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The others nodded wordlessly, and I waved my hand to bring back the holodeck. I went straight to the door, swooshed it open, and stepped through.

  This time I was expecting the pain. It didn’t help.

  “Aaah! God... dammit... Son of a...” I locked my hands around my skull and rocked back and forth with my eyes screwed shut, breathing heavily through my clenched teeth.

  When the pain subsided, I squinted my eyes open. The five men watched me warily.

  “Full access,” Smith muttered. “How did she do that?”

  Sandler rounded on him. “I thought you said the network security was foolproof. Two-factor authentication, and even then access is only possible through the portal interstices with the aid of a brainwave frequency modulator.”

  “As I reminded you when we discussed the initial design spec,” Smith responded caustically, “…the algorithm modulates the frequency to a specific band, which still falls within a normal range of human alpha waves. I told you from the beginning that some individuals may naturally use that range. Ms. Kelly is clearly one of them.”

  “English, please,” Kane demanded.

  Spider spoke up. “Aydan can match up with the portal’s frequency naturally. Her brainwaves just happen to fall into the right range. But she still shouldn’t be able to get access without a login and a specially-generated password.”

  “Besides, I could get into it from outside, too. Don’t you have some sort of physical security?” I asked. “You’re just broadcasting this network out into space?”

  “No, of course we have shielding and jamming devices,” Smith replied condescendingly. “The network is fully enclosed in this secured building. Which brings us to the next question. How did you get into the building?”

  “I didn’t! I told you, I was out on the sidewalk. Check your building security tapes. Today is the first time I’ve ever been inside this building.”

  Sandler gave a patronizing chuckle. “We have advanced in our monitoring procedures somewhat beyond magnetic tapes.”

  Spider’s fingers were already racing over his keyboard. “Facial recognition…” he muttered. “Correlate with log data and search…” There was a short pause. No one spoke.

  “She’s telling the truth,” Spider said at last. “The only record of her being anywhere in the building is today.”

  “That’s not p…” Smith bit off his denial. “Let’s go outside,” he said instead.

  “Connor; Webb; stay here and monitor,” Kane commanded. “Let’s go.”

  We trooped downstairs to the main lobby. “Taking our fobs out to the sidewalk for a few minutes,” Kane told the security guard.

  The man looked startled. “That’s a policy violation…” he began.

  “I authorize it,” Sandler said, and the man nodded, placated.

  An alarm squealed behind us when we stepped out of the building.

  “Ignore it,” Sandler said. “It triggers if a fob is removed from the building.”

  “Where were you when you fell?” Kane asked.

  I walked down the street about fifty yards and stood in front of the ice cream shop. “Here.”

  “Try the network.”

  I concentrated. Nothing happened.

  I altered my breathing, slow and deep, focusing on my garage. The three men watched me, hands on their security fobs.

  “I can’t get in,” I admitted at last.

  “Ha!” Smith barked. “I told you it wasn’t possible.”

  We retraced our steps back inside the building and up to the boardroom in silence.

  I racked my brain. What could have changed? Why did I get into the portal effortlessly from outside the building on Thursday, but not now? How could I convince them I wasn’t lying?

  Spider and Connor looked up from the monitor as we re-entered the meeting room. “Nothing in the portal,” Connor said with obvious relief.

  Wait a minute. Connor. Paramedic.

  “You said you had jamming devices to contain the network,” I ventured. “Could those devices fail? Or be compromised for a short time?”

  “Of course not. They’re on a UPS,” Smith replied as if addressing a simpleton. “And even if there was an interruption, it would appear in the security event log.”

  I noticed Kane watching me while I watched Connor. Connor looked distinctly nervous.

  “Could you check the logs for Thursday?” I asked. “Because I don’t think I was the only one who accessed the network from outside the building that day.”

  Chapter 16

  Kane followed my gaze to Connor. “That’s right, you appeared in the portal’s data log, too, Connor. In fact,” he paused in thought. “Webb, show us that record again.”

  I sighed audibly, massaging my forehead. “We don’t need the whole thing,” Kane said mercifully. “Just the first few seconds.”

  I averted my eyes while the video ran again.

  “Freeze it. There.” Kane pointed to the screen. In the frozen frame, I was staring at the smear of blood on my fingertips, looking puzzled.

  He addressed Connor. “Aydan entered the network after she fell. She was already injured, lying on the sidewalk outside the building. You came into the portal to retrieve her, so you must have known she was in the portal when you found her on the sidewalk. So what really happened?”

  Connor’s eyes darted sideways. “I, uh… slipped out for a smoke. I forgot I had my fob.”

  Kane’s gaze sharpened. “You forgot. And you didn’t remember when the alarm went off.”

  Connor’s face paled. “Um… I didn’t go out through the front door,” he muttered, not meeting Kane’s eyes.

  “Where did you go out?”

  “Through the fire exit at the side.”

  Sandler leaned forward in his chair. “The side fire exit is alarmed. The alarm will sound if the door is opened for any reason.”

  “I… disabled it,” Connor whispered.

  The tense silence around the table made me feel sorry for the young man. He had helped me even though he hadn’t been on duty as a paramedic, and now it had landed him in trouble.

  “Why did you disable it?” Sandler barked.

  Connor shifted in his chair, his gaze slipping up to the corner of the room. “It was just such a pain to have to go down and turn in my fob each time and then sign for it when I came back in. I was just trying to save time and be more productive. I didn’t mean any harm, and I kept my fob hidden so it would be safe.”

  “You were surely aware that you were committing a serious policy breach,” Sandler admonished. “Those policies exist to safeguard our security.”

  It looked like the beginning of a long lecture, and Kane broke in. “Let’s focus on the issue at hand. Did you access the network from outside the building?”

  “Yes…” Connor hesitated. “I didn’t even think about it at the time. I was around the side of the building having a smoke, and I saw Ms. Kelly fall and then she just lay there. I knew she’d hit her head. I called the hospital to send the ambulance, and then I ran over. She had her eyes open, but she had that thousand-yard stare, you know? I knew right away she was in the network, so I went in after her. And then I had to ride along to tell Dr. Roth to put her in B Wing. The paramedics on duty wouldn’t have known, and I couldn’t disclose anything because they weren’t Sirius employees.”

  There was B wing again. “What’s so special about B Wing?” I asked. “I heard you mention it at the hospital, and when I asked Linda about it, she blew me off.”

  “Classified,” Sandler snapped.

  Kane brought us back to the point again. “So the jamming system had to have been disabled.”

  Smith appropriated Spider’s laptop and typed rapidly with two fingers. He looked up after a few moments. “The security event log shows a ten-minute interruption in the power to the jamming devices at 12:30 on Thursday. Why was this miss
ed? This was your responsibility, Mike!”

  “I checked the logs as soon as I got back from the hospital,” Connor defended himself. “I found the log entry, and I checked over the entire system from the electrical riser to the wall current, through the UPS to the jammers. Everything was operating normally. No sign of trouble. And there hasn’t been another interruption since.”

  “But you didn’t report it,” Kane said.

  “It looked harmless,” Connor whispered.

  “And you needed to cover your ass, didn’t you?” Kane’s voice was edged. “And a suspected terrorist was able to access the system undetected, until now.” Catching my look of panic, he added, “Samir Ramos, not you, Aydan.”

  He pinned Connor to his seat with a hard look. “And as a result of your actions, Aydan’s life was endangered and she was wounded when Ramos attempted to abduct her at gunpoint.”

  Connor’s face was ashen. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

  Kane ran his hand wearily over his eyes. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. If this had gone unnoticed…” He shook his head. “I need to review what we’ve discovered to date. I’ll talk to you again later. Don’t leave town.”

  Sandler regarded the young man coldly. “You can expect disciplinary action. I will escort you down to security to turn in your fob. We will discuss this in detail tomorrow morning.”

  He turned to Kane. “This does not, however, explain Ms. Kelly’s ability to browse freely through our secured… supposedly secured network. We will discuss this tomorrow, also. Keep us up to date with your findings. Michael, come.” He turned and left the room with Connor trailing meekly behind him. Smith got up and left, too.

  “Does this mean you believe me?” I asked tentatively.

  “Your story is beginning to sound more convincing. I still need more information.” Kane picked up the telephone, then paused and shot me a stern look. “Stay here. Out of the network.”

  I sighed. “Talk to me, Spider.”

  Kane made several calls. At last he hung up the phone and turned back to us in time to interrupt Spider’s lengthy exposition of the plot of ‘Jane Eyre’. Thank God.

  “Warrants are on the way,” Kane informed us. “Wheeler and Germain should be here in half an hour or so. Webb, get a copy of a standard non-disclosure agreement for Aydan to sign. I’ll take over babysitting duty.”

  “I want out of here so much,” I said. “I just want to go home.”

  Kane shook his head. “Not so fast. You don’t think I’m going to let you back into your house before we search it, do you?”

  I stared at him, horrified. “But that’ll take hours! I’m starving! Oh, please tell me I don’t have to sit in here all that time trying not to think!”

  “No, we all need to eat, and I don’t want you within striking distance of this network for any longer than absolutely necessary.” He exhaled tiredly. “I wish I knew if you’re telling the truth about not being able to access the network from outside the building.”

  I straightened with indignation. “Of course I am! I haven’t lied to you!”

  “Except that you didn’t tell me where you’d seen Ramos in the first place,” he said quietly.

  “That was omission, not lie. I didn’t know what to tell you. As far as I knew, I’d been having a private fantasy. When Ramos showed up in the flesh, I didn’t know what was happening. I thought maybe I’d seen him earlier and then dreamed him, or something. Would it have helped if I’d told you then?”

  “No, probably not,” he admitted. “But it’s still suspicious that you looked so friendly with him.”

  I dropped my head into my hands. “Haven’t you ever had a fantasy where you get to skip all the preliminary bullshit and just get laid?” I mumbled.

  When I looked up, he was regarding me with an unreadable expression. “Rhetorical question,” I added as heat rose in my face again.

  Spider returned with the paperwork, and I signed my life away. “Can we go now?” I pleaded.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 17

  Once again, there was no discussion over where we would eat. I hadn’t tried any of the town’s restaurants except the burger joint, so I was happy to go anywhere as long as it was far away from Sirius Dynamics.

  When we entered Blue Eddy’s Saloon, Kane motioned me ahead and I selected a table in the corner near the exit, with a full view of the rest of the bar. I sat with my back to the wall. I didn’t see any point in pretending I was comfortable doing otherwise.

  With a quirk of his mouth, Kane sat beside me, leaving Spider with his back to the room. The young man shot us a knowing grin and sat without comment.

  On a Sunday evening, only a couple of other tables were occupied. A stage in the corner held a piano and a sign promising live music on Saturday nights, open jam on Thursdays. Gritty blues music played in the background, and I settled into my chair. This was as good as Kelly’s.

  The bartender made his way over, apparently waiting tables as well as tending the bar on such a quiet evening. “It’s been a while,” he greeted Kane. “The usual?”

  Kane shook his head. “I’m working tonight. Just club soda with lime. Thanks, Eddy.”

  “How about your friends?”

  “I don’t drink,” Spider said. “Coke for me, please.”

  Eddy turned to me. “Would you like a drink?”

  “I would love a drink until death did us part.” I beamed at him. “Corona, please. Oh, and a glass of water. And a menu. Thanks!” He withdrew with a smile, and I turned to Kane. “What’s good here?”

  “I’ve never had anything bad.”

  We’d only enjoyed the blues for a minute or two before Eddy returned with the drinks and the menus. My bottle was ice-cold, and I squeezed the lime down into the beer and took a long swallow.

  “Thank God,” I breathed, and opened the menu. It offered the usual pub grub, and I decided on hot wings, potato skins, and a Caesar salad.

  Closing the menu, I tipped up my beer again, lowering the level past the bottle’s shoulders. I let out a long sigh and slid down in my chair, stretching my legs out.

  Spider shot me a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone enjoy a beer quite that much.”

  “You’ve probably never seen anyone who needed a beer quite this much,” I replied, slugging back another swallow. “Besides, for once in my life, I’m not driving, so I can actually have a beer. This is a treat.”

  “So why the water?” he teased.

  “Slows me down between beers.”

  Eddy arrived to take our food orders. After he left, Spider was silent for once, evidently deep in thought. I sat enjoying the music, and I caught myself swaying my shoulders to the beat. I looked over to see Kane’s fingers tapping along with the music, too, and we exchanged a small smile.

  “Blues fan?” he asked.

  “Yep.”

  The food arrived promptly, and Eddy raised an eyebrow at my empty bottle. “Dead already?”

  “Yes, it was a brief but passionate relationship,” I assured him.

  “Another?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I dug into my food with a rapturous moan. The wings were hot but not suicidally spicy, the potato skins loaded with cheese, the salad fresh and crisp. By the time Eddy returned with my beer, the chicken bones were already piling up, and the beer quenched the fire in my mouth.

  Eddy lingered, apparently killing time. “Slow night.”

  “Not quite as busy as Thursdays and Saturdays,” Kane agreed.

  “So you’re working late on a Sunday. What do you do, anyway, John?”

  “Energy consultant,” Kane said. “You know these oil and gas companies, you sign the contract and they think they own you.”

  Now that was interesting. Why would he lie?

  Eddy turned to me, extending his hand. “I haven’t seen you around here before. I’m Eddy Carlson, but you can call me Blue Eddy. Everybody else does.”

  I wiped the wing sauce off my fingers an
d accepted the handshake. “Hi, Eddy. I’m Aydan Kelly, but tonight you can call me Hungry and Thirsty.”

  Eddy chuckled. “I can see that. Where do you put all that food?”

  I grinned at him and slapped my belly. “Right here.”

  “And what do you do for a living, Hungry Aydan?”

  “I’m a bookkeeper.”

  “No, really?” Eddy’s eyes widened. “Are you taking new clients?”

  “Actually, I just moved here so I’m actively looking for new clients.”

  “This is my lucky day!” Eddy crowed. “Yesss! When can you start?”

  I smiled at his enthusiasm. “Are you sure you don’t want to get some of my references, maybe talk about the software I use or something?”

  “Hungry Aydan, I don’t care if you count on your fingers. I’m desperate. Can you come tomorrow morning?”

  I laughed. “Why so desperate? Maybe I should ask for your references. What’s wrong?”

  “My bookkeeper moved away three months ago. There’s another lady in town who does bookkeeping, but she won’t do mine, so I’ve been doing it myself. I’m no good at it, and I hate it.”

  I felt a moment of misgiving. “Why won’t the other bookkeeper do your books?”

  Eddy frowned. “She’s a nice lady, but she’s very religious. She didn’t try to stuff the Bible up my nose or anything, she just said she didn’t feel right doing books for a business that she didn’t believe glorified the Lord.”

  I eyed him, straight-faced. “I have some strong religious convictions myself,” I said, watching his face sober. I started grinning as I quoted Ben Franklin. “I believe beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

  Eddy roared with laughter. “Then we’re going to get along just fine! Can you come tomorrow morning around ten-thirty?”

  “I’ll be here,” I assured him.

  As I turned back to my food, two men entered the bar. They stood near the entrance, scanning the room before heading for our table. Kane nodded to them as they approached.

  “Wheeler, Germain,” he greeted them. “Join us?”