Page 75 of Wicked Villain

We move into the elevator car and go down three floors. I’m surprised the building goes down this deep.

Seconds later, the elevator door opens, and we step out into something that reminds me of the operation setup in Mission: Impossible. There are bays of computers and employees with headsets tapping vigorously on their keyboards.

We have nothing like this, and we’re the ones with a shipping company. This setup looks like Kieran is doing something else. Something on top of the house his forefathers built. Good for him.

The guard takes us into an office. There, Kieran and Lachlan are waiting for us.

Kieran smiles as we enter and spreads his arms wide. “Gentlemen, welcome to our humble abode.”

“Humble?” Aleksandr grins.

“Humor me.”

Tiernan comes into the office and joins his brothers.

“What are you doing down here?” I ask Kieran, pointing through the glass wall at the machines.

“That is what you call modernization with a touch of creativity,” he answers with pride.

“Very interesting.”

“I’ll tell you about it someday.”

I give him a curt nod.

“How about we make a start?” Lachlan suggests, pushing away from the wall.

“Of course.”

We get seated around a table with laptops at every seat. Kieran switches them on so we can all see the same information.

“This database runs from here on a server isolated from our main network,” he explains. “Each port feeds encrypted records into it through a dedicated terminal. The process was designed for utmost privacy, but clearly, the system has been compromised.”

“That’s where I come in,” Cassian states. “On the central database, the trail runs cold in Greece. Moretti picked that location because its terminal is running on outdated software.”

Kieran nods. “Yes, my guess is Moretti has been infiltrating that port for years. Your evidence showed him doing business with the Armenians and the Greek Mafia. It was easier for him to slip through the system unnoticed there. I updated the process when I took over, but clearly, I was already too late.”

“Greece isn’t actually the concern,” Cassian points out. “My system checks show a lot of activity here in New York.”

Kieran leans forward, balling a fist on the desk. “How is Moretti doing this?”

“A phantom virus. It’s running on a server here. This kind of virus bypasses even the most powerful firewalls known to man and masks its presence once inside. It hides discrepancies in the system. That way, you see what they want you to see.”

Lachlan and Tiernan exchange worried glances.

“That fucking cunt.” Kieran scrubs a hand down his face. “This is madness. Can you check the discrepancies?”

Cassian nods. “Yes.”

Sometimes I wish I had Cassian’s tech skills. It would make life easier. But I don’t have the patience for it. He went to MIT. Aleksandr and I got our business degrees from Harvard. Though we graduated with top marks, Cassian did so well, he got offers to work for the CIA and NASA. Both of which he turned down to do his duty for the family.

“I’ll bypass the virus without alerting whoever’s controlling it, and show you an example.” He presses a button so we can all see the reports on our screen. “Look, the December reports for the San Antonio port are identical to those from Morocco and Panama.”

My brows rise as I scan the numbers.

“You don’t have the same ships passing through all three ports on the same day and the same fucking time. Do you?” Cassian asks.

“No, that’s impossible.” Kieran’s brows knit.