Page 48 of Cold Silence
“But nothing. There aren’t many impenetrable networks out there.” Gage gave her a conciliatory smile. “At least I know Eryn has never come across a network she couldn’t hack. I’m guessing the same is true for Nick. And that it would take less time than a flight down here.”
Claire sighed. “That’s most disheartening.”
“Agreed,” Gage said. “But the good news is there aren’t enough hackers out there to attack all networks. And of course, big business uses white hat hackers to do penetration testing and analyze security gaps within a computing system.”
“Sounds like you’ve dealt with this before,” Travis said.
Gage nodded. “A couple of investigations. Eryn’s top-notch in this area, but she would understand if you decided to use Nick.”
“He’s still trying to trace that IP address,” Travis said. “Would be good to keep him on that.”
“Agreed,” Claire said.
“Don’t touch anything else on your computer, and I’ll get Eryn on board.” Gage dug out his phone and made the call.
“I’m going to find that camera.” Travis went back to the bookshelves.
She stepped over to him.
He looked over his shoulder. “I can do this alone if you want.”
“I can’t just sit there and do nothing.” She started pawing through the many books and binders filling the tall bookcase.
They worked side-by-side as Gage talked with Eryn.
“Got it.” Travis pulled down a stuffed bear.
“No,” she said backing up from the bear. “Not in the bear.”
Travis looked at her. “Sentimental?”
“A little girl gave it to me when our team supported a walkathon for the Make a Wish Foundation.”
“I’m sorry, honey,” he said. “It’s got to make things worse.”
She drew in a breath. “We have to make sure he pays for this.”
“We will.” Travis turned his attention back to the bear. “Camera’s in his nose. Mind if I take the bear apart?”
“Mind? I do, but go ahead. Figure out how he’s doing this.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and worked hard not to cry. She wasn’t usually a crier, but this was all getting to be too much. Each strike and her vulnerability rose.
He took the bear to the desk and pulled a folding knife from his pocket. He sliced along the back.
“Don’t worry. No bears will be hurt today.” He smiled. “Just cutting stitches that were applied after the camera was placed.”
She returned his smile but she had to force it. She didn’t like this privacy invasion one bit but continued to watch as he lifted a camera from the back of the bear.
Gage shoved his phone into his pocket and looked at Claire. “Eryn’s onboard. She’s sending a phishing link in an email to you. Click on it as soon as you get it, and she can be in the network in seconds. However, she says it’s likely your network manager will be notified of this intrusion soon, but she might be able to check out files before he shuts her down. Then she’ll have to come here to access the files internally to keep from raising red flags.”
Travis looked up. “Pretty soon your whole team will be here.”
“Everyone but Riley and Alex,” Gage said. “Gotta leave someone there to man the compound.”
“I’m not big on military style compounds, but after hearing about your operation, I would like to see it sometime.”
“You’re welcome any time. We have some nice guest cabins you could stay in.” Gage smiled, probably thinking she would never take him up on it.
But she honestly thought it might be nice to get away from here when this was over. To rest. To recuperate from the shock and fear. Why not visit then? Of course, she saw herself there with Travis—not alone.
