Hard and Fast (3 page)

Alex shifted under the sheets, trying to get comfortable on her stomach. She took another deep breath and blew it out slowly. Sleep came swiftly, as did the shadowy dreams of a strong embrace against a tall, lean, lithe body.

The next morning, she was up and out the door in thirty minutes, dressed in her standard black yoga pants, Ferrari logo-ed T-shirt under a warm spring jacket, and thick socks in work boots. The Magnus Motorsports shop was located in an industrial area of downtown Toronto. She was the first in, other than Oliver Poulton, the overnight security guard.

“Morning, Alex,” stated Oliver as she entered the lobby at the front of the building, her hands filled with two large cups of coffee. The walls were lined with framed Magnus car parts, design drawings, and custom race cars.

“Hey, Oli,” she replied with a bright smile. “I brought you a treat. Caramel white mochaccino with whipped cream and chocolate slivers.”

Oliver beamed at her as his round, pale face flushed with pleasure.

“Sounds yummy. You’re a lifesaver,” he declared as he stood from behind the reception desk and took one of the cups from her. “I was just about to make a fresh pot in the kitchen, but this is way better.”

“Well now I’ve saved you the trouble,” she quipped with a grin. “See you later.”

Alex went through the hallway that led to the business offices. Hers was the last room on the left, right next to the large body shop at the rear of the building and across from one of the meeting rooms. It was a small office, dominated by a big desk in front of a bank of windows covered in vinyl blinds, with a view of the parking lot. Inside, she placed her purse and black coffee on her desk, then hung up her coat and stepped into one of several gray overalls hanging in the closet, all stitched with the Magnus logo along the right shoulder. Sitting behind her large desk, she turned on the powerful computer and the three HD screens that lined up on the surface. While they booted up, she took her iPad out of her purse and opened the notes and action plan from her meeting with Marco on Friday afternoon.

Last week, someone had tried to hack into their computer systems. There was no sign that they had accessed anything critical yet. But according to the security consultants, the attack was very sophisticated and aggressive, and after something more valuable and specific than their library of patented designs. As a result, Magnus was implementing a new network protocol with very specific data storage and backup criteria. The security consultant would be in their office this week to complete the implementation.

There was no question that the Cicada design was the target of this attack. From the moment she had outlined her idea to Marco almost three years ago, they both knew its success was dependent on a high level of confidentiality. Even her team was kept in the dark through the design and build of the prototype. Each engineer was assigned a component of the engine, based on tweaks to current patents, but only Alex worked on the electric motor schematics. And she had hired an external physicist to provide newly developed technology in rechargeable lithium-ion battery power. It was the key component in what made her hybrid different from anything known today.

Alex had also worked alone over the last six months to put the prototype together and run it through the engine-testing equipment after hours. Today, they would start the road tests before more fine-tuning and detailed calibrations. It was time to bring her team into the fold and document every step of the process. And the risk of a security breach was now exponentially higher. It was now mid-April, and any leaks about the strengths or weaknesses of the Cicada design could sabotage their official launch, scheduled in June.

So Alex only had a little time through the day to finish organizing her classified files before the Magnus computer network went on lockdown.

CHAPTER 3

Lucas arrived at Magnus Motorsports at about eight thirty on Monday morning. The eight-thousand-square-foot design and fabrication shop was in a one-story building of an industrial plaza. There were seven custom sports cars parked in the front, and several more in the back parking lot, in various stages of customization and repair. While the company was making its name in racing components, the bread and butter of the business was the tuning, repair, and maintenance of high-end sports cars. Of the twenty-one employees, nine were mechanics licensed to work on everything from Audi to Lamborghini to Porsche, and everything in between. Six design engineers worked on the large library of Magnus-patented components, and another three had been hired within the last year to join the Cicada team, led by the lead engineer, Alex Cotts.

Lucas was very familiar with the organization structure at Magnus. Nine months ago, he had designed a new, highly secure computer and network system for the company, with the sole purpose to protect all the Magnus designs and intellectual property. The most sensitive of which was their high-output hybrid-engine fuel design, though it was still a concept at the time. He set up role-based permissions with very specific access perimeters for each employee based on the job requirements. Then, Fortis sent Raymond Bloom to Toronto for several weeks to implement the system, working with several local, highly recommended consultants.

With post-implementation network administration and support, the Magnus case was a relatively simple assignment, compared to most of the security work that Fortis managed. Or it was, until last week when someone went through a lot of trouble to try hacking their system.

“Mr. Johnson?”

Lucas turned to the woman walking toward him the moment he stepped into the front entrance of the shop. She was short and full-bodied, wearing casual cotton slacks and a light sweater. Her hand was extended in greeting.

“I’m Norma Stavros, Marco’s office manager.”

He shook her hand firmly and flashed a disarming smile. Her grip strength almost matched his.

“Nice to meet you, Norma.”

“Marco’s running late at another appointment, but he should be here in about an hour,” she explained as she turned to walk through the main showroom. “He’s asked me to set you up with a space where you can work.”

“Okay, thanks. Can you also show me to your server room?” Lucas asked.

“Sure, it’s near the entrance to the auto shop.” She opened another set of doors at the other end of the large space, leading to a long hallway with offices and meeting rooms running along its length. “Would you like some coffee or anything?”

“No, I’m good, thanks.”

Norma turned into the first doorway on the left, a small conference room with a round table, four chairs, and a phone on top. There was a large whiteboard mounted on the side wall.

“You can use this room for as long as you need,” she told him.

Lucas set his laptop bag on the table and removed his cell phone from the inside pocket of his blazer, then slipped it off to hang it over one of the chair backs. He unzipped the leather bag and pulled out an iPad and a few network cords.

“Ready whenever you are,” he told her.

She smiled and led the way down the hallway and through another exit at the end. Before they went through, Lucas glanced into the auto shop through the glass wall that ran the full length of the hallway. There were five men working on several high-end cars at one end of the large space. Another three were standing around a big contraption, watching a readout on a computer screen, while a fourth appeared to be crouched low behind the machine. All wore full-cover gray overalls.

“Is Alex Cotts in there?” he asked Norma, who was waiting patiently in the doorway.

“Yeah, in front of the motor-testing machine,” she replied.

Lucas nodded, then followed Norma through to a locked door with a touch-screen access panel. She entered the eight-digit numerical code and led him to a small equipment room, with the compact stack of high-storage servers, and other network and electrical equipment.

“It’s not very fancy, I’m afraid,” she stated wryly as they both looked around the dusty space. “No one has access but Marco and I, and neither of us know what anything is.”

“No worries,” Lucas assured her. “Everything important is well protected.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she laughed. “Let me know if you need anything else. My desk is just beside the showroom, and I’ll have Marco call you when he arrives.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a grateful smile. Then he got to work.

An hour later, he was back in the small meeting room, on a call with Evan DaCosta.

“What are we looking at?” Evan asked, referring to the expanding scope of the Magnus assignment.

“I haven’t met with Passante yet. But from what we know already, I sent Passante a new mission outline for an on-site security detail in addition to the systems lockdown, until the official launch of their product,” Lucas stated.

“When’s the launch?”

“I’ll confirm this morning, but their plan was for mid-June.”

“Eight to nine weeks,” Evan estimated. “Who do you want?”

Fortis had eleven field agents with a wide variety of specialized and military training.

“I’m thinking of Ned, Lance, and Michael,” Lucas suggested.

Michael Thorpe was from the FBI, and Ned and Lance were already familiar with the mission from the assignment in Chicago on Friday. All three were highly skilled in physical security detail and close contact combat.

“What about the network? Raymond is working with Sam and me on a couple of other projects, but we could free him up if needed.”

There was a knock at the meeting room door. Lucas turned to find Marco Passante standing in the entrance.

“I’ll call you and Sam this evening and we’ll finalize the team,” Lucas told Evan before they ended the call.

He then walked forward to meet his client.

“Lucas Johnson? I’m Marco.” He was a slim man in his midforties, about five feet ten inches tall with a full head of long curly hair and a goatee. “Sorry to interrupt your call, but I wanted to let you know I’m available to meet whenever you are.”

“No worries, I was wrapping up anyway,” Lucas replied smoothly as they shook hands. The two men had spoken many times by phone and video chats over the last eight months, but this was their first meeting face-to-face.

“Thanks for coming into town to meet so quickly. I hope Norma was helpful is getting you settled,” Marco stated.

“She was great. I got access to everything I need so far,” Lucas told him.

“Good, good. Everything in order?”

“All’s good with your on-site systems, based on the strategy we implemented last year,” replied Lucas. “We can modify as required, if you agree to the proposal we sent you on Friday.”

A cell phone rang, and both men looked at their devices. It was for Marco.

“Sorry, it’s Alex,” he told Lucas before accepting the call. “Hey, how are you guys making out?”

Marco walked back and forth as he listened to the response.

“What time will you guys get there?” Marco asked into the phone, looking at his watch. “Okay, we won’t be far behind.”

Marco listened intently for another few seconds before he hung up.

“Do you want to go for a ride?” he asked Lucas with a boyish grin.

“To where?” Lucas responded, unfazed by the change in direction.

“Alex and the team have just left to take the Cicada prototype out for the first road test. There’s a track a few miles north of here,” explained Marco. “You could see the new engine in action, and we can talk about your proposal on the way.”

“Sure,” Lucas agreed with an easy shrug. “How long do you think we’ll be out?”

“I have a meeting a four o’clock, so I need to be back by then anyway,” Marco explained as he led them out into the hallway. “But, we can certainly come back sooner if you need to.”

“No, that works.”

It would give Lucas plenty of time after to get Evan and Samuel up to speed.

“Good,” replied Marco with a big smile. “My car is parked out back.

The men walked through the hallway, into the auto shop, and out the back entrance. As they walked to Marco’s car, a top-of-the-line BMW, something slick and gray caught Lucas’s eye. It was a Porsche 911 with matte black rims and shiny red calipers, identical to the one that had pulled up to the valet parking last night at the hotel. The one owned by a very sexy and intriguing woman named Lex.

“Your first time in Toronto, Lucas?” asked Marco, interrupting Lucas’s musing as they entered his car.

“No, I’ve been here a few times for work,” he replied, leaving out that it had been on Secret Service business. “It’s a beautiful city.”

“Well, we’ll make sure you see more of it while you’re here.”

Marco pulled out onto the street behind the building. The traffic was busy, but moving smoothly. They took a couple of turns, then entered the freeway going north about ten minutes later.

“Like I told you on Friday, Marco, you will need more than just the updated network security plan I’ve outlined,” Lucas stated once they were cruising.

“But you said you’ve shut down the hack into our network, right? Once you upgrade our systems, won’t that stop the attacks?” asked Marco, giving him a quick glance.

“I’ve done a full review of your local servers this morning. Everything looks secure, for now. But, based on what we discovered on Friday, someone has invested a lot of time, effort, and money to try infiltrating your network. Experience tells me that they aren’t going to stop because we shut down their first attempt,” Lucas explained. “When you hired Fortis, you made it very clear from the beginning that your highest priority was the confidentially of your new prototype. So we designed your computer system and network to be completely self-contained, with encrypted storage and backup on your local servers. All cloud-based or hosted solutions have inherent security vulnerabilities. The hosting company and its employees would have access to your information, even if it’s hidden behind layers of security algorithms.”

Marco nodded with agreement.

“But, that means the only access to your network is through your servers, or if we grant it through the collaboration portal,” Lucas concluded. “If someone wanted to steal your information, they would need to get into your location to do it.”

Marco was silent as he tapped his thumb against the steering wheel as the reality of the situation became clear.

“They’ll try to break into the shop,” the older man stated.

Lucas shrugged. He didn’t want to scare his client, but his job was to prepare for all scenarios.

“It’s a real possibility. Or someone in the company could do it, with the right incentive. It’s why I’ve suggested expanding our assignment to include an on-site security team,” Lucas explained. “Have you reviewed the new plan?”

Marco nodded.

“Yes. It’s fine, of course,” Marco replied. “I was actually thinking of hiring my own security team. Right now, Oli is just there after hours. But with the engine built and going into testing, I’ve been worried about keeping it secure twenty-four seven.”

“Good,” Lucas stated.

“How did they plant the worm in our network?” asked Marco.

They had just exited the highway and Marco continued north on a two-lane regional road.

“It wasn’t a worm, it was a Trojan horse. Most worms are meant to destroy computers or shut down a network,” explained Lucas as he glimpsed the confused glance on Marco’s face. “A Trojan hides on a file, acting like a back door into a system to get undetected access to all the files.”

“Okay. So how did they do it?”

Lucas checked the map on his cellular phone, noting their location on the more rural roads.

“It was through that professor you guys hired, North,” he explained. “The Trojan was attached to an encrypted document he shared last week. Once the doc was accessed inside your network, the trap door was opened.”

“Adam North was involved? That can’t be true,” insisted Marco with a look of shock on his face. “He’s a highly acclaimed physicist, and an associate professor at the University of Illinois.”

“We don’t think he knew anything about it. Someone just used him as a point of access, and we suspect they had been tracking his movements for some time.” explained Lucas.

“Alex started working with him months ago,” Marco recalled.

“Back in December,” confirmed Lucas. “They could have been tracking him from the start, looking for an opportunity to gain the access they need. But we only gave North the ability to upload locked files onto your collaboration portal. He couldn’t save anything from Magnus on his own computers or to a drive. So, they had to find another way to access your information.”

“Shit!” Marco muttered. “They’ve been targeting us for that long?”

“We can’t be sure, but it’s very possible,” Lucas conceded.

The two men sat quietly for a few seconds before Lucas got to the second purpose for this meeting in person.

“Marco, I need to know what exactly your Cicada engine is, and why people with a lot of time and money want it.” His client sat up higher and looked a little intimidated by the directive tone of Lucas’s voice. “And don’t tell me it’s just a hybrid. I’m pretty sure Tesla and others have already been there and done that.”

Marco cleared his throat and checked his mirrors. There were no other cars near them.

“I’m not asking out of curiosity, Marco. I need to clearly understand the scope of the threat in order to effectively neutralize it.”

Marco let out a deep sigh.

“It is technically a hybrid, but completely different from anything commercially available now for passenger cars. Most of them use the electric motor to run at lower speeds, for a few hundred miles, then the gas engine charges the battery and takes over when the motor is out of charge. They’re designed mostly for economy, not power.”