by S J Grey
“Umm… there’s an ugly Op-Ed in the Online Herald. Someone getting pissy because you’re on parole,” said Devin.
“Nothing new, there.” Caleb sank into the nearest seat. “Newsflash for you, Devin. You suck at giving bad news.” His phone chirruped, and he glanced at the screen. “I need to take this.”
He lifted it to his ear. “Hey.” He listened and nodded. “Nice day for fishing. Yeah, it’s all good here. Nothing to report. Catch you later.” He disconnected and looked up at Jonathan. “That was Mark. No issues.”
Jonathan frowned. “You gonna brief me on that later?”
“Yeah, no. Maybe.” Caleb scratched his chin. “You know, I really want to think about something other than the shit show that is now my life. Bring me up to speed on the exercise.”
The guys talked about the visit to the target site and the news about the fax machine, and Caleb’s face brightened. “Have you tried to access it yet? What tools are you going to use?”
“EternalBlue,” said Nat with a grin. “I’ve seen it used in a demo. It hacked into a supposedly secure network in sub-sixty seconds. We were about to give it a whirl when you came in.”
The exploit sounded familiar. Andi did a quick browser search for it. “That’s the one the NSA developed?” Andi asked.
“Yup,” said Nat. “It works like a dream on anything running SMB1 security protocol. Wanna watch me break in to their network?”
“Don’t get cocky,” warned Jonathan. “And remember to screenshot everything.”
“Let’s assume you get in,” said Caleb. “We send the LetsConnect phishing email first, and while you’re monitoring the activity, I’ll finalise the data-mining programme. I’d like to set that running tonight, when their techs are offline.”
The atmosphere in the office was energised again, and Andi’s spirits lifted. If they were working late tonight and she was very lucky, she might get to plant the seeds for her own data-mining exercise. The one that had nothing to do with the red teaming, and everything to do with her side project.
Chapter Sixteen
There was nothing Andi could do to help with the fax attack or the phishing email, so while her searches continued to run, she went out to grab some lunch. She also wanted to catch up with Griff. It was time for some damage control.
They met in a Vietnamese café near his office. PhoToGo was one of her favourite spots for a quick meal. It was badly lit inside, with cheap, Formica-topped tables and plastic chairs, but the beef noodle soup was hot and spicy, and served in generous-sized bowls. Most customers went for the takeaway option, but Andi liked to eat in. She and Griff could talk here without being overheard.
“Before you say anything, this job isn’t what you think,” she told him. “Most of the team members are on loan from SIA, so if they don’t see Caleb Rush as a threat, you shouldn’t either. You know he maintains he’s innocent for the manslaughter charge.”
Griff scowled at her from across the table. “He followed me to my office. Why?”
That was his default expression these days, and she was getting tired of it. Was she getting tired of him? No. They worked well together.
“He thought you were me, of course,” she said.
“You’re telling me you wouldn’t get pissed if he trailed you across town? Pull the other one.”
This wasn’t getting anywhere fast. “He’s suspicious of everyone. I respect that.”
Griff dug into his soup. “You seem to know a lot about him after… What? A day and a half?”
“I’ve known him online for years. You know as well as I do that you can get a good read on people from how they behave online.”
“Yeah, I suppose. The fact remains I’m not thrilled about you working for him. I think he’s trouble, and I don’t want him to take you down with him.”
“I’ll be there for two weeks. That’s all. It’s good money, and red teaming is the business. I can’t tell you anything about it, so please don’t ask.”
He sighed and pointed his spoon at her. “As if. Just promise me you won’t do anything dangerous.”
Ah. That was a promise she wasn’t comfortable making. “I’ll be careful. Honest.”
They ate in silence for a minute. “We’ll be pulling an all-nighter tonight,” she said. “I was planning to head round to Dane’s later, to see how Kaali is doing.”
“Want me to come with you?”
“She’s still scared of men. The only reason she likes Dane is because he’s so obviously gay, she feels safe with him.”
Griff stared at her, his gaze intense. “Why do I get the feeling you’re planning something?”
She wore so many faces, depending on who she was with, but Griff saw through them all. He was the only person who saw the real Andi.
“You know me too well,” she said.
“That wasn’t a no. What are you up to?”
“Nothing yet. The human-rights lawyer I spoke to in Auckland said she needed more than Kaali’s testimony. When I find out where she was held, I want us to go check it out.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she talked over him. “Just a look. Nothing more. Call it reconnaissance.”
“After last time? Going on a stakeout with Lia the psycho-queen? If I say no, you’ll go by yourself. I know that.”
“All I’m talking about is a little drive-by. Peep in a few windows.”
“Listen to yourself, Andi. You’re not fuckin’ Wonder Woman. Bullets don’t bounce off you. Fact—you don’t know who’s behind what happened to Kaali.”
Anger stiffened her spine. “Don’t be so fucking passive. Who’s behind what happened to Kaali,” she mimicked. “You mean who enslaved Kaali and raped her. That’s what you meant to say.”
Griff sank his head into his hands. “Jesus. Okay. You’re right. But it scares the shit out of me that you’re going to go head to head with some dangerous gang boss on nothing more than a hunch.”
She bit down on her sharp retort. Griff loved her. That was why he was so gnarly. “I’ll do due diligence first. Nail this bastard’s identity online, so I know what we’re up against. And then, we’ll have enough to make a move and get the officials involved too.” She snaked a hand across the scratched Formica and closed it around Griff’s. “Thank you for caring. You mean everything to me.”
“Yeah, and now I’m really suspicious. You’re being nice.” His eyes crinkled in the corners, and a smile briefly emerged. “Hey. When you’re done with this job, let’s get away. Go on holiday. Somewhere hot and dry, where there’s no WiFi and we can drink all day under the sun. Just you and me.”
“That sounds good.” She could imagine that. White sand, endless blue ocean, and palm trees. She could daydream about that later, and then get on with her job.
Andi called Dane as she walked back towards the office. It went to voicemail, so she left a message. “Hi, it’s me. Wondered if you were free later, so I can come over to see K. Let me know. Cheers.”
She was careful, as always, not to mention Kaali by name. Until they knew who was behind the trafficking, she’d no idea what level of risk she was taking. How great the danger.
Dane’s text dropped in moments later.
Dane: Hey, girl. All good. See you around 4.
He was a lecturer at the nearby university and worked odd hours. Meeting up at four suited her. She’d be able to go back to the office afterwards, and if she picked up takeaway, she’d keep the team happy. She messaged back, to confirm the time, and then flicked a text to Griff, to let him know. That done, she turned her focus to the evening ahead and the red team exercise.
Her scans should be complete by now, which might give them some starting information about Caleb’s issue. It wasn’t strictly part of the red team scope, but it was a mystery she wanted to unravel. Assuming Caleb was innocent of his earlier crime, there was a serious miscarriage of justice, waiting to be cleaned up.
The office was quiet when she returned. Nat told her most people were out get
ting a late lunch, which left just them and Caleb, who was currently working in his office.
She logged into her laptop and checked the scans. All complete. She downloaded the results and worked through them, from start to finish, making notes of leads to follow up and questions around gaps. She’d have plenty of information for the afternoon briefing.
Dimitri Andreevich Volkov was first she reviewed. One of four heirs to a Russian oil magnate, he was richer than she could imagine, with a massive portfolio of shares around the globe. His father was still in business, leaving Dimitri free to invest in everything from alternate energy sources to printing and merchandise. He’d made a home in New Zealand, but he also owned a string of properties across Europe and the USA. He married Nicole two years ago. She didn’t take his name, preferring to keep her professional adopted surname instead.
On the surface, everything looked normal. He was indeed the primary funding source of Nicole’s company. There were pictures galore of the two of them on all the main social-media channels. They appeared to live a life Andi couldn’t imagine.
Nicole’s digital footprint was also clean. She worked, she partied, she posted on social media. And like Dimitri, she travelled. A lot. Some of her major clients were based across the ditch, in Australia, and she shuffled back and forth to Sydney and Melbourne as frequently as some people commuted into Wellington.
Her PR company was up to date with its taxes, and ranked in the Top Five media organisations in NZ.
Andi dug deeper. Nicole’s life must have more to it. What about medical issues? She was currently in hospital after an overdose, so she must have had access to pills, which implied a regular prescription.
There was a photo op of Nicole and Dimitri, donating a large cheque to the Starship children’s hospital in Auckland, and a sound byte from Dimitri, talking about how he hoped to be a father soon. That was eighteen months ago.
Andi started another set of searches, while she turned to the information on Freddie. There wasn’t much. He was a musician and had moved to Wellington from Melbourne a few months ago. His social-media feed was filled with images of him on stage, wearing tight leather trousers and white T-shirts. In his own words, he channelled his idol, Freddie Mercury. It seemed likely that Freddie Sparks’ birth name would have been different.
Andi started another search running.
Time for more coffee. While she worked, the others had all returned and resumed work at their desks.
Caleb announced that the planned briefing would move to the evening, around seven, and the team could take a break for the afternoon. It suited Andi perfectly.
She headed out to Dane’s apartment on the sprawling campus for Wellington Victoria University. One thing she loved about Wellington was how compact the city was. Apartments jostled side by side with businesses, and she could walk from one end of the city to the other in twenty minutes. All the hills kept her fit, too. No need for an expensive gym membership.
It was windy today, as always in Welly, but she didn’t mind. By the time she arrived at Dane’s building, she’d walked off most of her frustrations about Griff, and she was calm and ready to try to talk with Kaali.
“Hey, girl.” Dane greeted her at the door of his ground-floor apartment and pressed air kisses on her cheeks. “I just made a pot of Rooibos tea, if you want some?”
“I’ll pass. You know I’m a coffee addict.”
He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “At least go decaf occasionally. Give your poor heart a rest.”
“If you pulled some dead leaves off the nearest shrub and stomped on them with muddy boots, and then made tea with them? That’s what Rooibos tastes of. I’ll stick with my flat whites, thank you.”
It was a debate they held regularly. Dane had the attention span of a butterfly, when it came to food and drink. Over the years she’d been friends with him, she’d lost count of the number of things he’d tried and raved about.
“Does Kaali drink that stuff?” she asked.
“She says it reminds her of home.” His smile faltered. “Come on through.”
The apartment was tiny and designed for one person, but Dane only paid a token rent and said he had no intention of moving. The sofa converted to a bed, and that’s where Kaali slept. She sat on it now, curled up in the corner, hugging a rainbow-hued cushion that was almost as big as she was. Her hair was cropped short, the pixie-cut making her dark eyes huge in her face. She was painfully thin, and it hurt Andi’s heart to look at her.
“Hi, Kaali,” said Andi. “How are you today?”
Kaali shrugged. “Okay.”
Dane walked the three steps into the galley kitchen, and Andi claimed a seat near Kaali. “I’ve found a lawyer in Auckland who might be able to help you, but she’s going to need more information about what happened.”
“Will she be able to give me a visa? Or will she deport me?”
Andi longed to promise the girl would be safe from deportation, but she wouldn’t lie to her. “It’s complicated. The lawyer needs to prove you were tricked into coming to New Zealand. If you can identify the man you were sold to, it makes everything easier.”
Tears welled in Kaali’s eyes. She clutched the cushion tighter. “I’m scared. If he catches me, he’ll kill me.”
“Is he holding other girls? Like you?” Girls sold to a modern-day slave trader, in the capital city of a first-world country. The thought made Andi sick to her stomach.
“Yes.” It was a whisper.
“And you want to help them, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe,” said Andi. “Anything more you can tell me about where they are—anything at all—it’ll help.”
Kaali hung her head, tears trickling down her cheeks.
It was hopeless. They needed a break. Some information that would help Andi identify the guy in charge. Once she had a name, she could start the hunt.
“Okay. Dane can get hold of me, and I’ll come back in a couple of days anyway.” Andi stood, ready to leave. Conscious that Dane was behind her, she learned towards Kaali. “Does the Rooibos tea really remind you of home, or are you just being polite?”
Kaali smiled. It was fleeting, but Andi saw it. “My mom used to drink Rooibos tea. She grew up in South Africa,” Kaali whispered. “It reminds me of her.”
“There,” said Dane, his voice overly bright. “Told ya.”
He walked Andi to the door and air-kissed her again. “Tell that handsome boy of yours that I was asking after him. If he wants to take a walk on the wild side, I’d love to corrupt him.”
“Really not sure about that, but I’ll tell him. See you soon.” She hugged him and left.
She set off down the hill towards the CBD. What could they offer Kaali, in exchange for information? A visa would be good. Or at least a guarantee that she wouldn’t be sent back to Samoa. Right now, Andi had nothing.
Chapter Seventeen
The evening briefing was over an hour away, and Andi needed to clear her head. She had to be on the ball tonight, ready to take advantage of any opportunity that arose.
She found herself heading to the waterfront. It should be quiet there. Darkness was falling, and the wind was picking up. It might blow the cobwebs out of her thoughts.
After a brisk walk, she felt more centred and ready to face the evening ahead when she settled back at her desk. She still wasn’t used to working in such a tightly packed environment. Would that ever feel normal? Most of the time, she worked from home, in her converted-spare-bedroom of an office. Who needed a spare room, anyway?
If she moved in with Griff, he would. His family lived out of town, and were forever coming up to Wellington to visit him.
Nope. Not thinking about that at the moment. She pushed the thought to the back of her head, to jostle with all the other ideas she didn’t have time for.
Nat and Will stood together at Nat’s desk, peering at his screens.
“How did the fax
takeover go?” Andi asked.
Nat flashed her a grin. “Wicked. I think I’ve found my calling. Within fifteen minutes, I was in their Exchange server. I grabbed a bunch of distribution lists, and Will sent the LetsConnect email. We’re watching the results, rolling in.”
Andi glanced at her phone. “It’s gone six. Are people replying so late?”
“This is embarrassingly easy,” said Will. “All those diligent employees, checking emails on their phones on the way home and not realising it’s a fake. I’m glad it’s us, doing this, and not a real hacker.”
“And the best of it,” continued Nat, “is that their Security team probably won’t pick it up until first thing tomorrow.”
Andi shook her head in disbelief. “How many have replied so far?”
“Thirty-seven,” said Will. “Scratch that. It’s forty-one.”
Over forty login names with network passwords. All from a single breach. It was staggering, from a security viewpoint. “Great work, guys.”
“Cheers,” they chorused, intent on the data pouring in.
Caleb walked in. “Okay. Let’s catch up.”
The team quieted, and everyone looked to him, where he stood at the smartboard, calm as anything. He must have freaked out when he was taken in for questioning earlier. What must it be like, to be locked up for something he didn’t do? He was far more together than Andi imagined she’d be, in his situation.
“Official stuff first,” said Caleb. “Any news on the phishing?”
“Yep.” Nat read out the stats on the number of users who responded to the LetsConnect email.
Caleb shook his head, much like Andi did. “Amazing. Okay, here’s the plan. As soon as we’ve finished the briefing, I want us to hit up their network with these logins. Chances are they won’t change their passwords until morning, so we have all night to work through them. Devin will divvy up the list. I want you to log in and see how far you can get. There’s a high likelihood they use single sign-on for all their internal systems, so you could get a long way. Try everything and screenshot everything. Devin, I want you capturing the results, okay?”
