Countermeasure (9 page)

When they finally reached the fifth floor, Robert’s last words echoed in her head:
Fix it, Cassandra.
God, how she had felt like a little girl again having to tell him she’d screwed up. Fix it is what she intended to do, regardless of what it took.

She breathed in deeply to center herself as they reached the computer room. When they walked in, frustration hung heavily in the air like a thick sticky fog. The servers on the racks against the far wall were blinking amber, red, and green, reminding her of Christmas lights gone wild. Matt sat in front of a series of flat-screen monitors, rolling from screen to screen with a crease on his brow and chewing on his lower lip.

His disheveled shoulder-length hair had escaped out of the leather tie he used to keep it from his face. Where he appeared frantic, Jessica, on the other hand, was as calm as a smooth lake. In typical form, she had buckled down and shut out the world by shoving in her earbuds and cranking up the techno music. It was so loud Cassandra could clearly hear it from where she and Nathan stood a few feet away.

Swiveling his chair, Matt let out a startled yelp as he made eye contact with Cassandra, “Shit, Cass! Next time yell or something. Damn it! Didn’t see you there.” He raised his eyebrow when he noticed Nathan standing behind her.

“Matt, this is Nathan, an old friend from my CIA days.” When Cassandra turned to face Nathan, she noticed his narrowed eyes at the mention of her chosen words to introduce him. “Nate, meet our Boy Wonder.”

Nathan chuckled as he approached Matt to shake his extended hand. “Boy Wonder?”

A grin cracked across Matt’s face. “Yeah, man. I’m the real deal.”

Cassandra guffawed and rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. He suffers from Big Head Syndrome.”

Her grin slowly faded when the reality of what had occurred came crashing down. Walking over to Jessica she tapped her shoulder to get her attention. Jessica quickly pulled her earbuds free and gripped Cassandra’s hand. “Glad you’re finally here. Guess you won’t need a wakeup call today, huh?”

A small smile crept up the corner of Cassandra’s mouth. “I guess not.”

Jessica looked over at Nathan. “Hey, Nate. Nice to see you again.”

Grinning, Nathan lifted his chin toward Jessica from where he leaned against one of the desks. “Jessie, always a pleasure.”

Cassandra took a seat next to Jessica. “Okay, Matt. Bring me up to speed. What the hell happened?”

“You’ll be scratching your head like me over this one, Cass. I got an automated page from the server. Set it up myself so that if there was even the slightest deviation or anomaly I would be notified. Anyway, I logged into the system from home to check it and saw that the server had been accessed. Up until now, all file activity had taken place during the day, so I decided to come in to take a closer look. I thought maybe the team in charge of the project might be working late. I wasn’t sure, but my gut told me something was really wrong. Once I got here, I found out no one with clearance to the files was working last night. Also, the credentials used to gain access to the server room had not been logged as coming in or out of the building.”

Almost out of breath, Matt continued, “By the time I reviewed the contents of the key-logger I’d installed on the server, I realized the entire Morrígan project had been copied.”

“Morrígan?” Nathan asked with a frown.

“The formula I mentioned we were monitoring,” Cassandra explained. Before he could inquire any further, she continued to question Matt. “You said I wouldn’t believe it when I saw it. Saw what? You have video surveillance?”

Matt opened a big grin. “Oh yes, I do.”

Turning back to the computer, he pulled up with a few quick keystrokes the surveillance video captured over night. On the video, a female of slight build, average height, and shoulder-length honey-blonde hair entered the server room. She approached the main terminal, looked up as if searching for cameras, and then sat in front of the computer. She definitely hadn’t counted on the built-in motion activated pinhole camera in the monitor.

“Who is she?” Cassandra studied the woman’s facial expressions and picked up on the slight hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth, indicating she was pleased with what she was about to do. “She looks giddy.”

“Her name is Allison Davis,” Jessica spoke up, giving Cassandra what information she had compiled on her so far. “Has been a top employee for more than five years. No associations with any other pharmaceutical company. Credit check is perfect. Parents. Married sister. They all live in the area. No disclosed personal relationships. The classic loner.”

Cassandra’s frown deepened with each added piece to the puzzle. “Why would a quiet mouse like Allison Davis steal a multibillion-dollar formula? Somehow the pieces just don’t click. Whose credentials did she use?”

“Steve Baylor. He’s away on vacation.”

Things still didn’t fit together. “We need to interview him when he gets back. Have you tried to locate Allison?”

“I was about to when you walked in,” Jessica answered right away.

“Do it now. We don’t have a lot of time. She might already be out of the country for all we know.”

****

After a few hours of work netting zero results, Cassandra sent a tired Jessica and Matt home. There was nothing they could do at this point. Working on no sleep and gallons of caffeine wouldn’t help them in any way. Maybe once refreshed, they could pick up the lead again.

Nathan was still hanging around while Cassandra pulled together the details needed for the report for Bristol. Her chest ached and her head pounded. She dreaded the outcome of that particular meeting. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders and began to type.

Nathan listened to Cassandra’s fingers pounding the keyboard. Glancing across the room, he caught the determined look on her face. He knew that look—she was blaming herself for the mess.

“What are you up to Cass?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Chasing the rabbit down a hole for all I know. There has to be something. There just has to be a trail we can pick up.”

“Let me go over your project file for you. Maybe there is a minor connection you might have missed. You should go home at get some rest. Come back in a couple of hours.”

Cassandra hated his condescending tone. “No. I’m staying, you go. This isn’t your issue. You’ve been a big help.” She glanced in his direction. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Nate took the hint. Cassandra was pushing him out and he didn’t want to press his luck. “Okay. Leaving. But make sure you call me,” he said, knowing the minute the words left his mouth that she never would.

He paused on his way to the door and walked back to where she sat. Turning her chair so she faced him, he leaned down toward her lips whispering, “Houston, we have a problem.” Cassandra must have sensed his intent because she turned her head at the last minute. Instead of the sweet contact of lips he was expecting, Nathan’s mouth connected with her cheek. Frowning slightly, he pulled back, pretending not to notice her avoidance, and asked, “Care to let me out?”

“Damn. Hold on a second.” Picking up the phone, she called Kelly, who had been in the building for the last hour or so. “Hey Kel, can you call a cab and then come by the data center? I need you to escort a friend of mine down. The cab is for him—Nathan Nelson.”

Nathan watched as Cassandra fidgeted. She appeared anxious to get rid of him, adding to his suspicion she was giving him the cold shoulder, as if last night had never happened. “Will I see you later?” He asked, hoping he was wrong and that it was only the stress of the case dampening her reactions to him.

Cassandra sighed. With a tired voice she responded, “I don’t know how busy I’ll be for the next few days, Nate. I’ll call you when I can, okay? You’re here till the end of the week, right?”

Her expression didn’t give away much. She was really good at that whole psych shit they’d learned at the Farm. He knew he wouldn’t get any more out of her if she didn’t want to disclose it, so he backed off. “Yeah, I am. Okay, then. Call me when you can.” He squeezed her shoulder gently and headed to the door where Kelly already waited to accompany him to the lobby.

****

Cassandra ran her fingers through her hair and scratched her scalp vigorously before slumping back in her chair. “There has to be something. No matter how small…” she mumbled under her breath. She swung her chair back and forth while filtering through the various options in her head. She had checked and rechecked the system several times and still couldn’t find a trace of an infiltration. More and more it looked as if the employee had worked alone.
Damn
. She went to the breakroom to grab a cup of coffee and clear her head.

Moments later, she was back at her desk. Frustrated, she strummed her fingers on the desktop with one hand while the other rubbed along the outline of the scar through her skirt. The facts about the case lined up in her mind. Matt had been able to verify that all the project files had indeed been copied by Allison Davis. She hadn’t showed up again for work. A search of her office showed that all personal items were also missing. She had flown the coop.

Cassandra could not let it go. Allison was not in the list of employees with access to the formula and all the ones that did have access had been checked. She had not found any trace of deception during their interviews. Had she failed to cover all bases and take into account the fact that most pharmaceutical industrial espionage was committed by employees of the companies? Was Steve Baylor in on it?

Yawning, she looked at the clock. It was midafternoon and she was exhausted. The stress of the last twelve hours had left her drained. Her brain had turned to mush and she craved sleep. Cassandra logged off the system and left a message for Jessica and Matt to let them know she had gone home. As she was leaving the War Room, her cell vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and spotted a text from Nathan.
Hey Cass, find anything yet? Let me know how I can help.

She was torn. She could really have used his help, but she also didn’t want to encourage him because she knew he would read more into it. She had seen the look he’d given her when she introduced him as a friend, but had chosen to ignore it. A blunt conversation was on the horizon, but at the moment, it would have to wait. She had bigger fish to fry—hunting down Allison and the copied files.

****

Back at home, Cassandra sent Caldwell a request for his help in getting her onsite visitation to EXClinic so she could review their current security protocols for the flaw that might have allowed the breach to happen. She didn’t tell him the real purpose of the visit—to retrieve copies of the system logs—because she didn’t want to give anybody the time or chance to tamper with them. Once the email was sent, she stripped off her clothes and climbed into bed to finally give in to the exhaustion beating at her.

It was still the middle of the night when Cassandra’s eyes slowly opened. She lay in bed, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness in the room. Disappointment was a bitter taste in her mouth and the events of last the few days a reality. She rolled over and looked at the clock, noticing the message light on her answering machine blinking like a rapid heartbeat.
I must have been out like a light. Didn’t even hear it ring.

Pressing the button, her father’s voice came over the speaker. “Cassandra, I just received a call from Caldwell. You have been set up with an ID and security access at EXClinic.”
Damn. Not good. Caldwell went through Bob instead of directly to me. “
I hope this means that you’re about to clean up this mess.”

Cassandra flopped onto her back again, flung her arm across her face, and buried her eyes in the crook of it. Her other hand rubbed back and forth along her chest. Her heart was held in a vice grip that had grown tighter and tighter at the disappointment in her father’s voice, which had filled the room and still echoed in her ears.

She retraced their steps from the time she had been handed the project up to when the files had been copied. They had followed all protocols and covered all bases. Nobody could have foreseen that twist of fate. So typical of her life since her mom’s passing. Every positive achievement derailed by something out of her control. It was like being stuck in quicksand, struggling to get out of that vicious cycle.

Cassandra itched to get her hands on EXClinic’s logs. Her gut told her Allison wasn’t working alone. She hoped to squeeze in a visit with Steve Baylor, the employee whose credentials Allison had used, and maybe find some pattern—something to indicate someone else might have been involved. While Jessica searched for Allison’s trail, she would be digging for breadcrumbs in the log files. Something would pop out at her—it had to. With her strategy planned, Cassandra set the alarm and curled on her side drifting back to sleep with the mantra
, I will make it right
, playing over and over again in her head.

It was another day in
the giant Crypto City complex located off Interstate 95 between Washington and Baltimore. The NSA sucked up 650 million intercepts a day from satellites, ground stations, aircrafts, ships, and submarines around the world; its analysts chased patterns that might lend seemingly ordinary words significance in the war on terrorism. Sitting across from George, Trevor focused on his screen and the chatter flying across it. He and every single analyst in that room needed to be careful screening the data. The tricky part was to avoid flagging harmless conversations as threatening, and vice-versa. They were also on the lookout for important and dangerous conversations masked as trivial. It was Trevor’s personal opinion that while knowledge and skills were crucial, sometimes you had to go with your gut instinct.