Cross Roads, page 27
“Not without the hacker’s private decryption key.”
The full, disastrous weight of the situation settled around Lena. No wonder Rohan was consumed with helpless fury. The Collective had him—and his family business—at their mercy.
“Fuck!” A loud thump, like a fist hitting a desk, followed Cruz’s furious exclamation.
Jamming his feet into his dress shoes, Rohan’s head whipped up. “What’s wrong?”
A heartbeat of silence. Then Cruz bit out, “The ransomware deleted the backups.”
“Both sets?”
More typing and clicking. “Both,” Cruz confirmed.
Rohan closed his eyes, and Lena could almost hear the shattering effects of Cruz’s words. She took a step toward him, but he stormed into the bathroom, shutting the door.
Lena lowered her voice. “How did the hacker get by all of Rohan’s systems?”
“Probably through phishing,” Cruz said.
Lena was familiar with the term. Anyone with an email account probably received a dozen emails every day, encouraging them to click a link or open an attachment.
A lot of times they were easy to spot and users deleted them right away or the email provider sent them straight to spam. But some bad actors have devised remarkable imitations of correspondence one might receive from a favorite retailer or social media app.
All it would take is one moment of inattention or someone in too big of a hurry and they click on a malicious link or file.
Then Wham-o.
A viral infection.
But the BARS team didn’t strike Lena as a group who would fall victim to such schemes.
“I don’t understand,” Lena said. “How did the ransomware get activated?”
A deep, tortured voice behind her answered. “Because I opened a file I shouldn’t have.”
“You?”
Rohan reached past her to collect his phone. “Zeke, I’m on my way.” He disconnected, then pulled up a message from Cameron Blackwell.
Or at least it looked like an email from his brother.
The email address didn’t contain an obscure URL and the body of the message was free of typos, strange wording, or anything else that would have set off his alarm bells.
“Did the Collective hack into Ash’s email and send you the message?”
He shook his head, while hitting buttons on his phone. Then he held it up for her to read.
He’d pulled up Ash’s contact information. At first, she didn’t key in on what he was showing her. Then she zeroed in on the email addys, specifically the work address.
cblackwell@fbi.gov
She bent toward his laptop and squinted at the Sender’s email address.
cameronblackwell@fbi.gov
Her hand drifted to cover her mouth, then she looked up at him. “Anyone could have missed this, Rohan.”
“Not someone like me.”
There was something in his eyes. Some message there that she couldn’t decipher. Until he broke visual contact to stare daggers at the message on his laptop.
The two previous times she’d looked at the message, she’d focused her attention on the Sender field, not wanting to invade his privacy.
Now she looked. Read the message from “his brother” and a cold knot in her chest formed. It wound tighter and tighter with each word. He’d asked the FBI to investigate her.
Her. The woman he’d purported to love.
She’d told him everything. Hauled out every piece of dirty laundry and dropped it at his feet.
Of anyone he could have betrayed her to, why had he chosen the FBI? His brother would be duty bound to investigate anything he found. What if his investigation had led to Angela Jones and the arrest order?
She scraped a fingernail over the PDF icon in the lower left corner of the message. “What did you hope he would find?”
“Answers.”
“That’s obvious,” she ground out, fisting her hands at her side as she glared at him. “But to what questions?”
He leaned past her and snapped his laptop shut. “I’ll explain on the way to the Friary. Right now, I have another mess to clean up.”
“Mess?” Scalding heat erupted across her entire body. “You consider me a mess that needs tidying up?”
He suppressed an expletive from bursting out of his mouth. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
It hit her then. The last time Rohan had gotten serious about a woman, a man had lost his livelihood and Rohan had shouldered the blame. From that point forward, he’d viewed romantic relationships as distractions.
Lena knew he was now regretting their sabbatical and his declaration of love. His mind was probably telling him if he hadn’t been preoccupied by his feelings—if his logic hadn’t been compromised by lust—he would have caught the email address discrepancy.
She touched the hand holding his laptop. “You’re not Superman or Cyberman or Technoman. You’re Human, with all the accompanying limitations and irritating flaws.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and raked a hand through his hair. “Look, I have to get back to the Friary. Grab your shoes and purse.”
Shifting back a step, she shook her head. “You don’t need me there—and let’s face it. You don’t even want me there, at the moment.”
“The hell I don’t.”
She put more distance between them, then nodded at the door. “Go.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” he said, stepping back into her space. “Three people associated with you have been killed, and your friend Izzy seems to be out for your blood.”
“Izzy’s bitter, not a murderer.” At least she hoped not.
“I’m not convinced. Who do you suppose ordered Desmond to kill Ruthie? Palmer? For what purpose?” He shook his head. “My money is on Izzy. Zeke filled in Maggie, and she’s going to see what she can find out from the local authorities.”
Lena was glad they’d requested Sheriff Kingston’s help. Maybe, just maybe, whoever murdered Ruthie would be brought to justice.
“I appreciate you contacting the sheriff, but Izzy and Palmer are no longer your problem.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that remark?”
“Our business, professional and personal—” The word caught in Lena’s throat. She cleared it and tried again. “It’s over, Rohan. Now, go deal with your family crisis.”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Not until you get your damn shoes on and grab your purse.”
“I don’t want to be anyone’s mess to clean up.”
“You’re not.” He pointed to the rumpled bed. “I all but said three words to you I’ve never said—and will never say—to another woman. Unless you find a life with me repulsive, Anjali, Angela, Angelena, you’re stuck with me.”
She sucked in a breath. “Was that a proposal?”
“Neither one of us is ready for that yet.” He stepped closer and brushed a thumb over her chin. “But it’s a commitment to get there. If that’s our destiny.”
She leaned into his touch. “A tech guy talking about destiny?”
“It seemed like a romantic thing to say.” He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, the tip of her nose, then her lips. “Get your things.” His thumb caressed her cheek. “Please.”
Lena could see the uncompromising determination in his eyes. He wasn’t leaving without her and every second he stood here arguing with her put his family’s livelihood at greater risk.
She nodded and turned to collect her belongings. “I’ll stay the night at the Friary, but no guarantees beyond tonight.”
As she marched toward the exit, she heard him murmur, “We’ll see.”
60
Rohan strode into the Annex. Every step pushed a glob of bile higher and higher into his throat.
The moment he’d been dreading for years had arrived.
He’d failed his family. Just like he’d failed Troy Neff’s family.
But not in the way he’d feared.
The Collective hadn’t bested him because of a missed software patch or inadequate detection systems or by a dozen other more technical and complex means.
He’d fallen for a damn phishing scam.
How many warning emails had he sent to his family about phishing and social engineering tricks? How many times had he cautioned them to double-check a sender’s email address—even if it’s a family member—before clicking links or opening attachments?
Dozens.
It was the ultimate embarrassment.
Rohan rounded the small reception area and halted. Trailing behind him, Lena slammed into his back and emitted a surprised, “Oomph.”
“How about a rolling stop next time—” Her words faded away as she stepped to his side and took in the seven people milling around the Theater’s conference table.
Zeke, Phin, Cruz, Lynette, Grams, Liv, and Maddy. The entire crew was there to observe his humiliation.
Perfect.
Everyone was on their feet, except Grams and Cruz. The latter’s nose was stuck in a laptop, no doubt trying to find a digital miracle.
When he realized that Lucy had failed to stop the files from being encrypted, Rohan knew the game was up. No one had ever been successful at uncovering a hacker’s private key. Many in the business estimated that it would take a thousand years to unlock the correct mathematical sequence.
Cruz knew it, too, but his mule-headed brother was slower to concede defeat.
While Rohan stood there, waiting for his family’s judgment, Lena slipped her hand into his. The action startled him as much as seeing his entire family assembled.
He glanced down and found her, not looking up at him with an encouraging smile like he’d expected, but glaring at the other occupants in the room. His attention shifted from her to the others to her again, trying to understand what had upset her.
When he looked at his family a second time, he became even more confused by the burgeoning smiles on Maddy’s and Liv’s faces. Then Phin’s and Lynette’s joined in. Zeke remained his stony-faced self. Grams’s perpetual serenity was on full display.
“We clear?” Lena asked the other occupants.
Smiles grew wider. Even Zeke’s stoicism cracked a tiny bit.
Rohan squeezed her hand, but she kept her hard gaze on the group.
Grams said, “As clear as the starlit sky outside.” She indicated two empty seats at the end of the table. “Please.”
“Clear about what?” Rohan asked, feeling like a kid eavesdropping on an adult conversation about sex.
“Your guardian angel just warned us not to assign blame for what happened earlier.” Zeke’s lips did twitch then. “An unnecessary threat, but it’s good to know she’ll be able to hold her own with us.”
The last bit of his brother’s comment wiped the scowl off her face and replaced it with wariness.
If Rohan’s emotions hadn’t been so pinned tight, he would’ve enjoyed the moment when his family gave their blessing for his choice.
Instead, he thanked Lena with a kiss.
He’d meant it to be a quick peck. But his lips never popped off hers like he’d intended.
They lingered. Explored.
Possessed.
“For the love of God, Rohan,” Phin said. “Are you really going to make me watch this with Grams sitting two chairs down?”
Lena broke away, a flush painting her cheeks. He hadn’t thought she could be more beautiful. He’d been wrong.
Rohan pulled out one of the empty chairs for her and he took the one next to hers. The others followed suit.
A weighty, dread-filled silence settled between them.
Drawing in a breath, Rohan said, “Despite my angel’s warning, I owe you all an apology.”
“No you don’t, Rohan,” Lynette said. “The technological world is changing at a never-before-seen rapid pace. Too fast for one man to guard against.” She glanced at Lena. “Especially if he wants to also have a life.”
“I don’t disagree,” he said, catching his family’s surprised looks. “But my apology is for keeping y’all in the dark on a past misdeed that’s come back to bite us all in the ass.”
Lena put her hand on his thigh and gave it a light squeeze of assurance.
“Misdeed?” Phin said, “Like modifying a formula in Zeke’s spreadsheet and watching him spit fire until he found it.”
Zeke’s pivoted his head toward the youngest Blackwell and narrowed his gaze.
Cruz made a sharp movement beneath the table, and Phin sucked in a breath as he reached down to rub his injury. “No need to get violent. I was just trying to judge the level of Rohan’s misdeed.”
“Which I’m sure he’s about to explain if you’d keep your trap shut for a few minutes.”
Zeke made a motion for Rohan to continue.
He filled them in on his senior project and the Neff family. About his relationship with the company president’s sister and how their family’s secret energy bar recipe got broadcast across the Internet. He told them about his revenge on the hacker and how that caught the Collective’s eye. He shared with them the excitement he first felt in working with the Collective, then his concern about the group’s apparent shift from their original ideals.
“I wasn’t comfortable with our last two hacks, so I left,” he finished.
“When was that?” Zeke asked.
“About six months ago.”
“From how you described the Collective,” Liv said, “I get the impression that it’s an organization you can’t just walk away from.”
“The hacker who recruited me wasn’t happy about my decision, nor my resistance to their entreaties to stay.” He braced his elbows on the table and stared at his clasped hands. “I know their history, their methods, and their means, which makes me a threat to their continued anonymity.”
“Hackers are competitive, paranoid beings,” Cruz said, closing his laptop and shoving it away. “Some, a lot more than others. If nothing else, they would work to uncover his identity and use it to ensure he didn’t betray them.”
“Which they did.” Rohan covered Lena’s hand on his thigh. “They made sure I understood they’d found me by throwing volleys at our network, sending me threatening messages, and disabling my car. Nearly killing Lena in the process.”
“And you,” Lena added.
“Worst-case scenario, notwithstanding sending you both off a mountainside,” Cruz winked at Lena, “would be destroying everything and everyone important to you.”
“Which they’re doing.” By locating and burning backups he had kept on two separate clouds. Why hadn’t he saved a third one offline, completely disconnected from their network? Stupid, fucking mistake.
Losing control of BARS’s database and business files would set their multimillion-dollar company back years. Their technological infrastructure and knowledge base would have to be rebuilt from the ground up, while they continued meeting new clients, planning recoveries, and executing those plans.
“What’s the ransom demand?” Zeke asked, cutting straight to the question that was no doubt on everyone’s mind.
Lena’s thumb rubbed along the inside of his thigh, somehow knowing this would be the hardest question he would answer.
“They want eleven million eight hundred and fifty-two thousand four hundred seventy-three dollars and twelve cents in seventy-two hours.”
Phin surged forward in his chair. “You got to be fucking kidding.”
Maddy ran a comforting hand over his arm, then wove her fingers between his. A heartbeat later, Phin lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers.
Everyone displayed their shock in different ways. Zeke’s jaw was clenched tight, Cruz made for the liquor bar, Lynette closed her eyes, Liv stared at him wide-eyed, and Grams wore a strangely expectant look.
Like she expected Rohan to pull out a silver bullet.
He didn’t have one.
Sensing an unspoken undercurrent, Lena asked, “Why such a specific amount?”
Everyone, including Rohan, turned toward Lynette, BARS’s office manager and keeper of the books.
“Because,” his mother said. Her voice was full of fear and uncertainty. A state Rohan had never heard in twenty-nine years. “That’s the exact amount in our bank accounts.”
61
Lena’s breath caught in the back of her throat.
Financial ruin.
A group of off-the-rails keyboard warriors were going to destroy an entire family because one of their members chose not to play in their polluted sandbox anymore?
The destructive plan was unconscionable. Evil on a level that Lena had trouble grasping.
“In order to get the files back, you have to bankrupt the business?”
Rohan nodded.
And lose everything.
Their crisis hurt her far more than it should. She barely knew these people.
But the thought of Grams never tearing down the road in her utility vehicle again, Sadie having to leave the only home she’d ever known, and Rohan living with such unbearable guilt tore a softball-sized cavity right into her chest.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t watch them lose everything, like she had. Twice. No one should have to rebuild their lives from scratch.
Some people had a romantic notion about erasing their past and moving some place where no one knew their name. For some, it would be an exciting adventure—for about three days.
Then boredom would set in, followed by fear of getting sick or hurt or, God forbid, dying. What would strangers do with their corpse?
What no one considered, though, even diehard introverts like her, was how endless loneliness eats at your mind, blackens your enjoyment of your new world.
Her gaze took in each occupant of the room before settling on Rohan. If his inadvertent action bankrupted his family, he would never forgive himself, never open himself up to love again.
There would be no them. He would cut himself off from everyone, including her.
She couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let Rohan dwell the rest of his days on a blank canvas.
Lena withdrew her phone from her shoulder bag and tapped through several screens with her free hand.
Confirming what she already knew, she said, “I have a solution.”
