Calculated Reaction, page 18
Alexis closed her eyes. “Dmitri is using her. All of her instructions came through phone calls. The gauge was sent in the mail. Waffle didn’t alert near Joey and look – Joey isn’t on the phone right now. I have to go. Stay here.”
Before Matt had time to fully process Alexis’s words, she was gone, her dog trotting faithfully behind.
* * *
Alexis forced herself to walk calmly over to Lindsay, whose eyes were wide and hands shaking. Hardly the expression of an experienced spy. Of course. Cam and Quinn were right about her the first time. She was an innocent bystander on the last operation, and Dmitri had taken it one step further. The part she’d missed – the part they all missed – was that Dmitri wasn’t one to let an opportunity pass him by. Lindsay had been at her lowest point, thanks to him, the perfect time to recruit someone looking for purpose. Damn. For a brief second, before she reached Lindsay, Alexis considered the risks if her snap judgment was wrong, but nothing else made sense. There was a reason they hadn’t made a breakthrough. She said under her breath, “Guys, I’m about to do something stupid. Cover me if it goes sideways.”
It would be so much easier if she was sure, but she had to go for it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matt walk over to the coffee, one hand close to his right hip. When Lindsay realized Alexis was coming to talk to her, she took a step back, and the conflict between talking to her caller and asking Alexis for help was clear. She turned towards Alexis, just slightly. It was now or never. Alexis took a step closer.
Panic flashed across Lindsay’s face in response. Alexis mouthed, “Put it on mute.” With her back to the crowd, she pulled her FBI badge out of her pocket and flipped it open.
Lindsay’s eyes went wide and she spoke into the receiver. “One second. Someone has a question for me.”
“Yes, I can wait,” the man who called himself Kurt replied. There was something unnatural about the way that he answered her comment. All of the briefings she’d read in the last few months about new threats came to mind. There was a missing piece, she just had to put it together. Suddenly, it all fell into place. The call center. The CIA’s inability to unscramble the voice. There was no voice to unscramble. Dmitri’s team was using artificial intelligence. It was easy enough to preprogram responses that felt absolutely real, particularly when the caller knew a lot about the person they were talking to.
Lindsay muted the call and turned to Alexis. “Alexis, what’s happening?” She pointed to the badge, which Alexis returned to her pocket. “Who are you? What is that?”
“I’m someone who can help you. I don’t know who you’re talking to, but they aren’t who you think they are. They framed you for the IRT rocket failure, and they’re trying to do it again here. There’s no danger to anyone right now from Fritz’s test.”
“How do you know that’s what it’s about? Are you sure? How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Lindsay put a hand to her face, her belief warring with a healthy dose of fear.
“Ask him something specific he wouldn’t expect or have preprogrammed. I think you’re talking to AI, not a person.”
Fortunately, as someone familiar with technology, Lindsay required no further explanation. Her voice went flat with disbelief. “You’re kidding me.”
Alexis shook her head. “I’m not. You don’t have to trust me. Prove it to yourself. Ask him something he couldn’t program the answer to.”
Lindsay’s hand shook as she hit the unmute button on her phone. “Hey, Kurt. I’m so sorry, someone came up to ask me a question and I needed to answer them. Can you tell me which room number I’m going to?”
Kurt replied, “You need to go to the control room.”
“I know. What room is it next to?”
“You need to go to the control room. You’ll be able to find it once you’re inside. There is a round gage all the way on the left side of the control panel. I need you to try and find it. I’ve sent you a picture. Use whatever you can find to pry it out and disconnect it. We don’t have much time.” Dr. Fritz continued his explanation in the background. By the time Lindsay ran in to “stop” the test, her actions would be too late. Had they not thwarted Andrei’s sabotage the previous evening, she would be the perfect scapegoat.
Lindsay frowned. “What about Dr. Fritz?”
“He’ll be fine, Lindsay.”
“Do you know what kind of car he drives? Just so I know where to find him if he leaves. In case I need his help. He’s the expert, not me.”
“You can use a screwdriver on the control panel to pry off the gauge. I need you to do it now. I have to go, Lindsay. It’s not safe to keep talking. Call me if you get into trouble.” The line went dead, and Lindsay’s eyes went wide.
“Wait a second. I’m being played by a phone chatbot? And who are you?”
Alexis looked around her. “Not here. Not now. And you didn’t get played by a chatbot, you got played by a very skilled spy who developed some sophisticated technology under all of our noses. We’ve been trying to figure out why we couldn’t catch him for months. He seemed to be everywhere at once, and now I know how he was doing it. Now, quickly and quietly, we have to make some decisions. Will you help us take him down?”
Lindsay’s jaw went tight. “These are the same people who blew up my rocket and destroyed my reputation?”
“Yeah. Believe it or not, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. I’ll fill you in later, but I need you to go inside the building to keep ‘Kurt’ from getting suspicious. Don’t touch anything or get anywhere near the control room. Can you rush into the building and make sure someone sees you doing it?”
Lindsay nodded. “What about security?”
“They’ll let you through. You’ll find a woman just inside the door, past the security guard. The woman’s name is Quinn. She’s with me. She’ll give you further instructions. Got it?”
Lindsay crossed her arms protectively over her chest. “Okay.”
“On my cue, walk into the building. Quickly, like you’re in a hurry, but don’t run. I don’t want to panic anyone else, but we need the people you are working with to believe you are still on their side.”
Lindsay tucked her phone back into her pocket. Dr. Fritz was still explaining his test with great enthusiasm, although some in the crowd were beginning to gather their things. He said something with a flourish, and the crowd clapped politely. Lindsay power-walked to the front door, and a few cameras from the press pool followed her, including Joey’s. A few minutes later, Fritz explained that his passive safety system had worked as intended. The feed of the control room switched to a full screen of the temperature outputs. The crowd began to disperse in earnest. Apparently, Fritz was the only one who wanted to watch temperature readings for eight hours.
Moments later, Matt appeared by her side. “Good catch.”
“Thanks, but we’re not done here. Waffle didn’t alert. If it’s not Lindsay, and it’s not Fritz, we’re not shutting down Dmitri’s operation today.”
In the absence of any major additional news to report, the press began to record overviews of the testing, reading a press release that explained that Dr. Fritz would soon be accepting orders for his production reactors. If that didn’t set Dmitri off, nothing would. They’d deal with that problem as soon as they debriefed Lindsay. Matt and Alexis entered the facility through a side door, using badges Quinn had provided. Minutes later, they reached Quinn, who had stopped Lindsay at the door.
Lindsay turned to face them. “Is this your friend?”
Matt nodded. “Yes.”
Quinn put a hand on her hip. “Convinced?”
Lindsay put her hands on her cheeks. “I am now. Forgive me, I can’t even think straight right now. What is going on? Why am I in the middle of all of this? And who are you guys?”
Alexis stepped forward. “You’re in the middle of this because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. You didn’t do anything wrong, but your friend, Hannah? From IRT? She’s a spy for a Russian politician named Dmitri Yeninov. Well, she was a spy. Now she’s in prison.”
“What? No, that’s impossible. She was always so nice.” Lindsay took a step backward and braced one hand on the wall behind her.
Alexis asked gently, “Have you heard from her lately?”
Lindsay swallowed. “No. But she was so supportive. She asked me all about my job, always looked out for me at work...” She closed her eyes. “To set me up. I feel like such an idiot.”
Alexis put her hand on Lindsay’s arm. “You shouldn’t. She fooled a number of our people, too. One was even killed in a home explosion because of it.”
Lindsay gasped. “She killed Rory? No. I was alone with her. Multiple times. I had drinks with her. We texted. She knows everything about me. Where I live. Where I work. Where my family lives.” Lindsay put a hand to her heart, and her eyes darted to the exit.
Alexis shook her head. “Hannah didn’t do it. Her boss’s hit man did. I need some information from you to help me find him. Can you do that?”
“Um, I mean, yes. Whatever you need.” Lindsay closed her eyes. “How do I move past this? Forget that. How do I even get through the rest of today?”
Quinn leaned in. “You’ll get through it one day at a time. But getting past it starts with taking your life back. Let us help you do that.”
“Okay. Do you need my phone? Do you need to listen in when Kurt calls?”
Quinn and Alexis exchanged a look. Alexis answered. “Um, we’re already listening.”
Lindsay rubbed her forehead. “Of course you are. Okay. That saves time. So what do I do?”
Alexis asked, “Have you been in contact with anyone about Fritz’s test that we don’t know about?”
Lindsay crossed her arms over her chest. “No. Just Kurt, I mean, the chatbot or AI or whatever.”
Alexis exchanged a look with Matt. “Why don’t you come back to our house until we get a plan together? Our guy has a bad habit of killing people once they aren’t useful anymore.”
Quinn nodded at Waffle. “Any other news from this guy?”
Alexis shook her head. “I’ll send you the full update via email. Short answer, he didn’t alert on anything or anyone.”
Lindsay eyed Waffle incredulously. “Is your dog a secret agent too?”
Alexis grinned. “Something like that. Let’s get you back to our house.”
* * *
While Alexis handled their witness, Quinn left with Cam to debrief Joey. They met back at their hotel a few hours before Joey’s flight was due to leave. Joey rocked back on his feet. “That was uneventful.”
Quinn crossed her arms. “Agreed. Sounds like it was a false alarm.”
“Dan said we intercepted some communications. Maybe they were wrong.” Joey stuck his hands in his pockets. “Good to get out of the office every once in a while, I guess. While we didn’t have a nuclear meltdown, I did spot two women talking that I’d feel better checking out.” He handed her the camera. “Pictures are on here. One of the women went inside the building in a hurry at a key moment. I assume you noticed her already.”
Quinn accepted the camera from Joey. “I did. I intercepted her. She thought she was supposed to be helping Dr. Fritz but misunderstood his text message. She’s new and didn’t want to get fired.”
Joey raised an eyebrow. “And her story checks out?”
“It does. Although, have you heard anything about a politician in Russia who’s been getting enthusiastic about his spycraft over here?”
Joey’s jaw went tight. “The woman I was dating was killed by him, so yeah. I know who he is. His name is Dmitri Yeninov. He’s a real piece of work. I’ve been doing some research on the side but haven’t gotten anywhere.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Quinn startled. “You and Rory were dating?”
Joey’s nostrils flared, and he set his mouth in a line. “Yeah. We’d just started seeing each other when she went on a work trip.”
Quinn’s heart began to race, and she closed her eyes. “Joey. I’m so sorry. She was my friend, too.”
Joey nodded. “I know. She talked about you all the time. By first name only. But there aren’t a lot of people named Quinn at the CIA, and you act exactly like she described you.”
Cam took a step closer. “Did she tell you anything about her time on the operation?”
“No. The op was classified.”
Quinn winced. “And you didn’t break the rules?”
Joey looked at the ground. “No. I wish I had, though. Every damn day. Did Dmitri have something to do with our mission here?”
“He was trying to sabotage the test. Cam and I stopped him last night.”
Joey rubbed the back of his neck. “Am I here as a test?”
Quinn stopped short. Of course, Rory wouldn’t date an idiot. She narrowed her eyes. “Should you be?”
“Yeah, probably. It’s not personal. How’d I do?”
Quinn let out a low chuckle. “Just fine.”
Cam put his hand in Quinn’s. “Maybe sometime, Joey, we can get a drink and exchange some stories, okay?”
“Deal.” Joey leaned in. “You should know, I found more information about Dmitri in a file at the CIA. It was under the operation designation Waterfall. Maybe Dan can help us check that out when we get back.”
Cam and Quinn exchanged a look. “Sure, we can talk about that next week.”
Joey eyed them both. “Professional curiosity. How’d you guys test me?”
Quinn smiled. “Combination of things. You figure them out, drinks are on me. We appreciate your help, and thanks for being a good sport about it. We might bring you in later to chat more, okay?”
“You got it, Quinn. And I will take you both up on drinks. But do me a favor?”
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Sure.”
Joey crossed his arms. “Get this guy the hell away from our people.”
Quinn fought tears. “Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Joey. We’ll get him. One way or another.”
Joey stuck out his hand and gave hers a firm shake. Minutes later, Joey was on his way back to the airport.
20
Matt drove Alexis and Waffle back to their home base, checking his rearview mirror frequently to make sure Lindsay was still behind them. So as to not overwhelm her, or tip-off anyone who might be following her, everyone else would keep their distance. Matt and Alexis exited the car in silence, each looking for signs that someone had followed them back to their house. Matt eyed all of the rooftops in the neighborhood that had a view of the backyard. As far as he could see, they were clear. Lindsay exited the car, and Matt moved under a large tree in the backyard, motioning for Alexis and Lindsay to join him. There was no clean shot from anywhere in the neighborhood to that spot.
Lindsay put her hands on her hips. “Do you really live here?”
Alexis held up a finger. “One second.” Alexis walked Waffle around the perimeter of the house and around Lindsay’s car. Waffle finished his check, then gave Lindsay a sniff for good measure. Fortunately, he didn’t alert on anything explosive.
Matt ran the bug scanner across Lindsay’s car. Alexis took the device from Matt and scanned Lindsay. The device remained silent, and she handed it back to Matt. “She’s clean.” Alexis held out her hand, palm open. “Cell phone?”
Lindsay pulled her phone out of her pocket and tilted her head towards Matt. “Does he have ID?”
Alexis and Matt exchanged a look, and Alexis shook her head. “No. He’s with me. Let’s go inside.” Lindsay eyed them for a few seconds and frowned. Alexis softened her tone. “It’ll be okay. We’ll talk through my credentials more inside. The guy you’re working for employs a sniper, and I’d rather not be out in the open.”
Lindsay put her hands on her hips. “Really? I’m supposed to believe there could be a sniper in the middle of this quiet neighborhood?”
Alexis cracked her neck. “You’d be surprised. Look, if you’re having second thoughts, I understand. I’m just asking you to hear me out. Inside. Please.”
“I’m guessing you don’t really study solar panels?”
“I did this week. Someone’ll use the research. Just not me.” Alexis held up her open palm again. “May I have your phone now?”
Lindsay looked back and forth between them. She sighed and handed over the device, which Alexis promptly turned off and gave to Matt. He pulled a small tool out of his pocket and used it to pop out the SIM card. Lindsay shook her head. “Okay.”
Once they were inside, Alexis led Lindsay to the dining table. She told Waffle it was okay, and Waffle made a beeline to Lindsay, all wiggles. He rested his furry chin on Lindsay’s knee, and she kept a hand on his head.
Alexis gestured to the kitchen. “Coffee, tea, or water?”
“Do we have time for that?”
Alexis said, “Sure. If anyone asks, you’re here for another girls’ day.”
Lindsay shook her head. “Why not? This day can’t get any weirder. Tea, I guess.”
Matt sat down at the table. “If you need us to add any whiskey, let us know.”
Lindsay studied him. “I’m not sure if you’re serious.”
Matt shrugged. “You’ve been through a lot. I’ll go get some, if it helps.”
Lindsay’s eyes softened. “Thanks. I think. I’m good with just tea.”
Alexis returned with hot tea and slid the mug to Lindsay. She pulled out her FBI badge and flipped it open. “Take a minute to study it if you need to. You can also call the FBI main line if you want. They’ll confirm my credentials.”
Lindsay swallowed hard. “Does the CIA do that? I mean, when they recruit someone to help them?”
Alexis considered. “I suppose they could. Is that who Kurt said he was working for?”
Lindsay looked down into her mug of tea. “Yes.”
“Did he offer to verify his identity?”
Lindsay put her head in her hands. Her reply was muffled. “No.”
“Lindsay, you have no reason to be embarrassed.”
Lindsay looked up from her hands, her face twisted into a grimace. “I have a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. I’m supposed to be smarter than this.”
