Page 49 of Cold Silence
“Eryn also said she finished her background report on Norton and is sending it to us, but there were zero red flags on him.”
“Not even his finances?”
He shook his head. “Guy looks solid on paper.”
Claire frowned. “I was hoping for something to go on, but I guess if it existed, Eryn would have found it.”
She would,” Gage said. “We’ll need a cover story for her while she’s here.”
“What’s her background besides IT?” Travis asked, his focus back on the camera.
“Former FBI agent. Worked cybersecurity.”
“Why’d she leave?” Travis asked.
“Got her hand slammed in a door on a raid. Took away her ability to clench her fist or grasp objects as well. The FBI wouldn’t risk the potential liability from an injury like that, so they benched her.”
Claire couldn’t imagine losing her profession just because she hurt her hand. “That’s rough.”
Gage nodded. “She could’ve taken an analyst job at the FBI, but she wanted at least the hope of some adventure. So she left.”
Claire was impressed at her willingness to follow her passion. “And sounds like she found that adventure with your team.”
“She did.” Gage lifted his shoulders. “I’m glad to give her the chance to chase her dreams again.”
Travis didn’t speak but cast a proud look at his buddy.
“The FBI angle won’t help here,” Claire said. “But since she’ll be working on the network, why don’t we say we hired a white hat hacker to try to penetrate the network. If that’s even possible without remote access.”
“It’s possible,” Travis said. “You all get email and access the Internet through your LAN so a hacker could find his way into even a secured LAN just like Eryn’s going to do.”
“Okay, then she’ll be a hacker,” Claire said.
“You can do that without your network security manager’s buy-in?” Gage asked.
She nodded. “Normally, I wouldn’t, but, yeah, I’ll go rogue.”
“Claire Reed going rogue?” Travis grinned at her. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not that straightlaced.”
“Umm. Yeah, you are. And that’s one of the things I like about you. You think in black and white, not grays, just like me.”
She blushed at his compliment. “Then we’re agreed. Eryn will pose as a white hat hacker.”
Gage held up his phone. “I’ll text her in case she needs to bring anything with her to support her cover.”
“Okay, got it.” Travis looked up. “The camera records the footage and stores it locally. However, it’s programmed to transmit the data at specific intervals.”
“Which means what?” Gage asked.
“That Robb would have to have access to the network and be within range to receive the data at these times. I’ve turned it off but we’ll need to look for others.”
“He had to have access to this office to put the camera in the bear,” Gage said.
Travis nodded. “Or take the bear out and return it without raising Claire’s suspicions.”
“I lock the office when I’m gone. Opens only with my key card.”
