“Let me grab my things,” Sean said, not letting even a moment slow him down.
Taylor gripped the pool cue and watched him pick up his computer case and settle the strap over his shoulder. He moved with grace and fluidity for such a big guy, and she could easily imagine him in action, chasing Phantom and taking him down.
She didn’t know what she’d expected Sean would be like, but it was wonderful to put a face with the many conversations. Her friend, here in person. Now her, what, coworker? Yeah sure, but what else? Was there more? Did she want there to be more?
She forced herself to look away and found Mack watching her. He arched a brow but said nothing.
Had she been acting like Dustee again? Lovestruck? If so, she needed to cool it if she wanted the team to accept her. Maybe let her into their inner circle. And to keep herself safe from additional heartbreak.
Her phone rang, and she leaned the cue against the wall to dig it out of her pocket. She glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered, “Chief.”
“Good.” A sigh of relief flowed through the phone. “Glad I got you, Mills. Thought you’d want to know. Three witnesses were attacked today.”
Oh no. “Three?”
“Yes. In Chicago, Dallas, and Minneapolis.”
“Are they all right?” Taylor held her breath, waiting for the response.
“The Chicago woman’s in intensive care. Hanging in there, but it’s touch and go. The others escaped with only minor injuries.”
Witnesses truly were in extreme danger. Taylor could hardly stomach the thought. She offered a quick prayer for the woman in Chicago, and for all witnesses in the program. “The attacks might not be related to the breach.”
Inman snorted. “Come on, Mills. You don’t really believe that, do you?”
She didn’t like her boss’s reply, but he was right.
Sean cast her a questioning look. She covered the phone and relayed the information.
His jaw muscle twitched. “Can he get us their names? The information might help us narrow down the witness list.”
“Can you provide their contact information?” she asked Inman.
“I’ll send it via secured email.” An uncomfortable silence dragged out. “I know I have nothing to do with this investigation, but ticktock, Mills. Someone’s gonna get killed if we don’t get that list soon.”
The office was dark, just as it should be at this time of night. Taylor couldn’t count the number of times she’d needed information on a witness and come here after hours, but this visit felt different somehow. Maybe it was because Sean was with her and she was still trying to figure out how to act around him. More likely her unsettled feelings came from Inman’s call. Their witnesses were vulnerable. Every single one of them, and now that she was officially part of the RED team, she had to find a way to protect them.
She flipped on lights, illuminating the large bullpen with six desks, a small supervisor’s office, a conference room, and a glass-walled room holding the computer deputies used solely to access the WITSEC database.
Sean headed straight for the computer. She followed and swiped her government-issued Common Access Card on the wall-mounted reader to gain access to the space, and she wasn’t surprised to see her hand shaking.
“Hey.” Hand on doorknob, Sean stopped to look at her. “Relax. We’re safe here.”
But she couldn’t relax. Not with all the turmoil in her life right now.
“What is it?” Concern edged his voice as he rested his free hand on her shoulder.
She’d like to think his touch would make her feel better, but it didn’t, and tears threatened to flow. She might be friends with Sean, but she was a deputy for goodness’ sake and wouldn’t cry on the job. She looked up at the ceiling until the feeling passed.
“Come on.” His tone was a mere whisper, and he removed his hand to bend down to capture her gaze. “What’s wrong? Let me help.”
She truly was thankful that he was standing strong by her side. “The call from Inman has me spooked. I’m not actually responsible for creating the vulnerable witness list, but I feel this pressure to do something. To move faster. But we have nothing to go on. Nothing.”
His brows pinched together. “Trust me. I know the gravity of the situation.”
What a bad friend she’d been, thinking only of herself. He was in charge of protecting thousands of witnesses, while only two of her witnesses were in immediate danger. It took a strong man to handle such a big job and to do so with the confidence he’d been displaying. But his pinched look told her she’d erased some of his confidence.
She touched his arm. “I know I can’t help with the technical things, but let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
Sean nodded, just a quick bob of his head, but he didn’t say a word as tension radiated from him.
“I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time today,” she tried again. “I’m sure that didn’t help things.” His worry seemed to evaporate all of a sudden, and a soft smile played on his face. She had no clue as to the change in his demeanor. “Why the smile?”
“I liked seeing your tenacity today.” His grin widened.
“Even if I was a pain to deal with?”
“Yeah. Even then.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to mention something, and now might be a good time, seeing as we’re alone. I think it’s best that, while we’re working this investigation, we don’t let the others know about our friendship.”
Her heart dropped, and she didn’t know how to respond.
“Wait. Don’t jump to conclusions.” He watched her carefully. “It’s not because I don’t want them to know about it. I’m proud to be your friend. But I don’t want it to get back to Eisenhower. If he found out I have a personal connection to you, he’s likely to overreact and replace me as lead.”
“Okay.” She knew he was just thinking about his job, so why did it sting? Maybe it was precisely because he was thinking about his job and not her, and that was what made it hurt.
Sean reached for her hand. “I’m sorry if this bothers you. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. You know that, right?”
Taylor thought through their past interactions, and she knew he meant what he was saying. She was just being overly sensitive. “I get it. And I’ll do my best not to slip up.”
“Thank you.” He squeezed her hand. “And I’m sorry too. I’ve been a real bear all day.”
“Yeah you were.” She smiled.
His face looked like a little boy caught stealing a cookie. “I’m trying to do better, but if I let the job consume me, feel free to call me on it.”
“Oh, I will.” She laughed, and the tension in the room abated.
“If friends can’t call you out when you mess up, who can?” He chuckled.
She loved the sound of his laughter. This lighthearted guy was the Sean she knew and cared for.
He pulled open the computer room door, and she followed him inside. Stepping into this space always gave her a feeling of importance. Not from the room’s grandiose size—it was the size of a closet—but having access meant she was entrusted with highly sensitive and secure information.
Sean took a seat behind the computer, and she watched him insert his FBI CAC card into the computer’s reader. A login screen appeared on the monitor, and she looked away to respect his privacy.
When his fingers stopped clicking on the keyboard, she turned back to see a long list of files opening on-screen. This page was nothing like the one she used to check records. In fact, she’d never seen this particular screen before.
She moved closer. “Mind explaining what you’re doing?”
He nodded, drawing her attention to a small cowlick on the back of his head that she had to fight from trying to smooth down. “I’ll be downloading logs for and queries made to the WITSEC database. The logs will show the records accessed, who accessed them and when, and the location where the login occurred.”
She didn’t like to hear that. “That soun
ds like a lot of data to go through and could take days to review.”
“We’ll keep things manageable by looking only at the last thirty days.” He entered the dates in the empty fields on the screen, then clicked to search. “But you should know, the site could’ve been hacked long before that, and the database administrator missed it somehow. In that case, we’ll have to go back even further.”
Dates aside, she had to admit to being a bit confused. “So these logs you’re downloading, they’ll tell you if the logins are legit or if it was Phantom?”
“It’s a bit more complicated.” He swiveled to face her, his knee connecting with her leg, and she jumped back. That earned her a raise of his eyebrows, but he continued, “Like I mentioned, logging in to the WITSEC database is limited to secured terminals. They’re located at the Marshals’ D.C. headquarters and field offices. There’s no wireless login from home, or anywhere else for that matter. Not even the safe house.”
“This makes the database more secure, right?”
He nodded. “Remote field offices have access via a VPN—a Virtual Private Network and encryption.”
“Okay, that’s clear as mud.” She chuckled.
He gave a wry smile. “Think of it this way. It’s like accessing your bank account when you use an ATM. There are two points of authentication just like here. Something you have, like your bank card, and something you know—your PIN. And it’s all done at a specific location, using specific equipment.”
She got it now. “With WITSEC, I have my ID card and password, and I use this computer.”
“Exactly. So when your card is used, the program records that you logged in to the database and the actions you perform. The location of the access is recorded via the number assigned to each computer.”
Taylor nodded, though she was still a bit confused. “If the only way to log in to the database is to use my card and an official computer, there couldn’t be any unauthorized access, right?”
“Presumably, yes,” he said, but his dire tone said otherwise. “We could have a deputy or another person in one of the offices working with Phantom. Plus there’s always a cowboy who thinks he knows better and is above the rules, so he shares his card. That means we can’t be certain the log reflects the actual person accessing the data, but we can be certain of the location. That can’t be faked.”
She let his statement settle in and didn’t like the implications. “So if database access is restricted to deputies only, that would mean—”
“We have a dirty deputy or slack security at one of the offices.” He locked gazes with her. “Which means we could be looking at a deputy who works in this very office.”
CHAPTER 10
TAYLOR SLEPT HORRIBLY, tossing and turning, and despite the joy of watching the sunrise through her bedroom window, she couldn’t shake the thought Sean had planted in her head. Someone in her office, someone she worked with every day, could be partnering with Phantom. She’d run through the list of deputies’ names over and over during the night and couldn’t come up with even one person she might suspect. But sadly, with all the duplicity she’d seen in her job, she had to admit that anything was possible. Still, she was dedicated to her coworkers and had to do something to prove there wasn’t a dirty deputy in her office.
She picked up her phone and dialed their IT tech. Hershel was a night owl, and she would be waking him at this hour. Not something he would appreciate, but she needed to check for her own peace of mind.
“Hello,” he grumbled.
“Hershel. Good. It’s Taylor.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Sorry about waking you, but this is top priority, and I wanted you to get started on it right away.” She let the curtains fall over the window. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. You name it, and it’s yours.”
“What do you need?” His voice had taken on a more civil tone.
“A copy of the office’s security footage for the past month.” Her request was met with an uncomfortable silence. “Is there a problem getting that to me?”
“Does the chief know you’re asking for this?”
“Not yet, but I’ll loop him in this morning.” She rushed on before he could ask additional questions and put her off. “How soon can I get the files?”
His sigh filtered through the phone.
“I know you’re overworked, but this is critically important for witness safety or I wouldn’t be asking.”
“Okay. Okay. I get it. I’ve got a few things I need to do first. I’ll try to have the files to you by lunchtime, but don’t hold your breath.”
Her heart lifted at his willingness to produce the files without written permission from the chief. “Thanks, Hershel. I’ll watch my inbox for it.”
“Yeah, and in it I’ll be naming my price.” He disconnected.
He was for the most part a reasonable guy, but she couldn’t predict his repayment demands. She hoped she could provide whatever he wanted.
She shoved her phone into her pocket and sat down to start calling her witnesses. Though scaring them was never her first choice, she’d decided she needed to warn them. She couldn’t leak classified information. She’d just tell them to keep an eye out, and she’d check in on them on a regular basis until Phantom was caught.
She finished her calls, gathered up Dustee’s financial files spread out on her bed, put them in her briefcase, and headed for the basement to review her findings with Sean. After the sunny bedroom, the basement felt dark, even with numerous small windows along the exterior walls. She swung around the corner to the family room and came to a stop.
The scent of microwave popcorn lingered in the air, and the team members sat in the same locations she’d left them in at 1:00 a.m. Sean had insisted she get some sleep, saying they would be heading to bed right after her. But this morning they wore the same clothes and same tired expressions. Obviously, they’d been up all night.
Sean looked at her from the couch where he sat with his laptop propped on his legs and a cup of coffee raised to his mouth. He choked on his sip but quickly recovered.
“You stayed up all night,” she said, wishing they’d allowed her to help.
He set his cup on the table. “I wanted to get to a place where I could put Dustee to work today.”
Taylor sat beside him and laid her briefcase next to her. “And did you get to that place?”
He nodded but didn’t elaborate.
“Too technical to explain to me?” Hopefully this was Sean’s reason and not him cutting her out of the loop.
“Exactly,” he replied.
“Any leads on the hacker’s identity?”
He shook his head, disappointment clinging to his every feature. He looked like he could use a hug. Nothing romantic, but an encouraging embrace. She would be glad to wrap her arms around him, reassure him that he was doing a great job leading the investigation, and convince him that he would find Phantom. Offering encouragement would be fine. The hug, not so much.
She tucked her hands under her legs instead. “I have every confidence that with you in charge, we’ll find Phantom.”
He leaned closer, as if he didn’t want the others to hear him. “I appreciate your support. I want to do a good job here, but I have a feeling it’s not going to be easy and will test all my skills.”
“You’ve got this. I know it.” She squeezed his arm and quickly let go to move them forward before she did or said something in front of the team to reveal her friendship with him. “What about the witnesses whose names were stolen? Any progress on that list?”
He glanced at his teammates sitting at the table. “We’re working on it. Not progressing fast enough for my liking, but we’re working nonstop.”
“Those poor witnesses. In jeopardy and they don’t even know it.” She clasped her hands together. “You should know, I just called my people and warned them to be careful. And I plan to check in with them often.”
He nodded, but his expression was blank, a
nd she couldn’t tell what he thought of her decision. Maybe he needed good news.
“I also finished reviewing Dustee’s financial files, which I printed at the office last night. I went through her statements to track her income and expenses, and she’s still as broke as I thought. No income beyond her regular salary.” She tapped her briefcase. “I have the files here if you want to review them for yourself.”
He shook his head. “She could be hiding the money.”
“Yeah, I thought of that. The thing about Dustee is, if she has a penny to her name, she spends it on something lavish. If she was receiving big payments from Phantom, I would have seen the results of this.”
“So you’re sure she’s clear?”
“As sure as I can be,” Taylor answered.
“Okay. That’s good enough for me. I’ll still monitor her closely, but I’ll allow her to work the investigation. We’re all heading up to get ready for the day.” He ran his gaze over her, lingering along the way. “Looks like you’re already quite ready.”
Worried the others might see the attraction in his eyes, she turned to check and found them laser-focused on their work. Good. “I could’ve stayed and helped out last night.”
“Not much you could’ve done, and it was important you got some sleep. You look . . . um . . . well, refreshed. Perky even.” He chuckled.
He might be ready to move on, but she wasn’t. “While I get that your team doesn’t think they need anyone, I am available to help. I might not be able to assist on technical things, but I could’ve made coffee, snacks . . . and cleaned up.”
He looked at the table covered with discarded wrappers, cups, and microwave popcorn bags. “We get kind of messy, don’t we?”
“I’ll clean it up while you all shower.”
“You don’t—”
“I insist.” She nearly snapped out the words.
Why was she so bound and determined to be part of this group? They lived a country away. She wouldn’t see any of them again after they located Phantom, so what was the big deal? Seriously, what?
Seconds to Live Page 9
