No Turning Back (34 page)

"What kind of celebrating?" I flirted. Avery took a couple steps back toward me.

"How old are you?" he asked curiously, reaching out to brush some non-existent lint off my shoulder. His hand lingered. I swallowed nervously but wanted to keep his attention. The longer he was out here with me and not in his office, the better.

"Twenty-five," I lied. He just looked at me. "Twenty-three," I relented. God, I was such a terrible liar. I never could get away with lying to my dad. He had always known when I was fibbing.

"Old enough," he said cryptically, before turning away again. My courage failed and I wracked my brain for a way to stall him further. Then a memory of Blane came back to me. Quickly brushing my hand against the stack of papers on my desk, they fell to the floor in a scattered pile.

"Dang it," I said, and saw Avery pause out of the corner of my eye. Heaving a sigh, I quickly got down on all fours but took my time gathering up the papers. I could feel my skirt hitch upwards on my legs as I moved, but I didn't pull it down. I also didn't hear Avery's office door open.

"Let me help you," he said, crouching down in front of me. Leaning over, I felt his eyes on my blouse as it gaped from my neck, but pretended not to notice. After a couple of minutes, and despite how slowly I worked, we had gathered up the papers. Rising, Avery helped me to my feet. I smoothed my skirt down over my stomach and hips and his gaze followed the path my hands took.

"Thank you, Mr. Avery," I said with another smile.

"Anytime," he replied, "and please, call me Stephen." My gaze dropped from his eyes to the unmistakable bulge in his pants. Apparently, my little ploy had worked, even if it did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Avery retreated to his office again and I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping CJ had had enough time. Sitting back at my desk, I picked up my cell and called her.

"Was that enough time?" I asked as quietly as I could.

"Just finished a few seconds ago," she said, and my eyes slipped shut in relief. "But I've got bad news." My eyes flew open.

"What?" I asked.

"The server we need access to isn't hooked to the network there anymore. They've already moved it or are in the process of moving it."

"Moving it? Moving it where?"

"Something like this, it has to be hooked up to an internet backbone. Closest to us is probably Chicago," she answered. Dread filled the pit of my stomach as she kept talking. "Unless we can find it, there's nothing we can do."

"Lucky for us, my boss is taking me with him on a business trip," I said. "Guess where he's going."

"No shit?" she said. "He's taking you to Chicago?"

"Yeah. We leave tonight."

"You still have the thumb drive I gave you?" she asked.

"Yes, but what am I supposed to do with it?" I rubbed my hands across my forehead, disappointed that our plan hadn't worked so far.

"The server name is EVE0928," CJ said. "It will be labeled. You just have to find it and stick the drive in it."

"You make it sound easy," I grumbled.

"Hell no, it won't be easy," she huffed in exasperation, "there will be hundreds of servers there. I think you should forget this whole thing and get out of there."

"I don't know if I can do that," I said, thinking of Sheila and how brutally she'd been murdered. "This is our only shot, right?"

CJ sighed. "Yeah, pretty much. But Kathleen, it's not your job to stop them. You can just walk away. No one knows but you and me and I certainly won't blame you. Hell, I would've been out of there by now."

I thought about it. No one, besides CJ, even knew where I was or what I was doing. There would be no one to save me if I got in over my head. Three people had already been killed, and those were just the ones I knew about. A part of me really, really wanted to do what CJ said and just leave. But the other part of me, the part that knew what my father would have done given the same situation, overruled it.

"I'm going to stay," I said firmly. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"Fine," she said in resignation. "If you're going with them, chances are you're going to see the server. If you get that far, you'll be in good shape. You're just going to have to improvise. Don't let them see you plug it in. It has to have at least 30 seconds to upload the worm to the server's hard drive. If someone pulls it out before then, it's over."

"All right. I'll do what I can."

"Be careful, Kathleen," CJ warned.

"I will," I assured her. "I'll see you Wednesday." And I really hoped I would.

I'd just hung up my phone when the double doors opened again and a man came barreling into the office. He didn't even pause by my desk but passed me by. I jumped up.

"Wait! You can't just go in there!" Barely glancing at me, he pushed open Stephen's office door.

"There's been a security breach," the man told Stephen. "Unauthorized access via an access point someone plugged in." I lingered behind him, listening.

"What did they access?" I heard Stephen ask. The man shook his head.

"Unknown as of yet. Whoever it was, they covered their tracks." I entered the room and Stephen glanced up.

"Did you need something, Lucy?" he asked.

"I was wondering if I could get you a cup of coffee?" I offered. "And your visitor?" I looked expectantly at the man.

"That would be great, Lucy," Stephen said. "This is Brian. He's head of network security." Brian didn't bother doing more than giving me a brief nod.

"Hi, Brian," I said, smiling and turning up the accent a bit. If there's one thing I knew about men, it's that they assumed most women were dumber than they were. Add blond hair and a southern accent and it wasn't even a question anymore. I thought I'd play up the dumb factor. It's always better to be underestimated than overestimated. "I'll get that coffee right away."

I returned in a few minutes bearing the mugs. Not stopping to knock, I opened the door to the office and walked in. Neither of the men stopped talking, which is exactly what I'd hoped they would do. I was just the secretary, after all.

"How did an access point get installed without anyone noticing?" Stephen was saying, his voice like ice.

"I don't know, sir," Brian answered. "We're having the camera footage reviewed as we speak but there weren't any in that immediate vicinity. It could have been installed yesterday or last night, for all we know."

I thanked whatever gods were looking out for me today and prayed my luck would continue.

"Have it dusted for fingerprints," Stephen said. "And don't tell anyone. Find out what they accessed." Brian nodded as I sat the coffee on the table next to him. Fingerprints. Crap. I hadn't even thought about that. I wondered how long it took to check for fingerprints. My fingerprints had been taken and catalogued as a security measure when I'd begun working for the firm. The clock was already ticking on my charade.

"I hope we won't have any security problems tomorrow?" Stephen said curtly. I sat his coffee next to his elbow on his desk.

"No, sir. Things will be locked down tight." With no more excuses to linger, I left the office and resumed my seat at my desk.

A little while later, Brian came out of the office and left, not speaking to me as he passed. I was in the middle of using a website I'd Googled to translate the pile of Spanish. It was slow going but I thought I was making some progress.

The day passed uneventfully and almost lulled me into a sense of complacency. The place seemed so normal. It was hard to believe they were behind such a scheme as rigging an election. I left at lunch for something to eat, but couldn't manage to stomach more than a few bites of a sandwich. My nerves were frazzled and I briefly longed for a shot of bourbon to steady them. Finally, around four thirty, Stephen came out of his office and I hurriedly shut down my translator website.

"Go ahead and take off, Lucy," he said. "Pack a bag and meet us at the airport at seven. We'll be taking the corporate jet so go to hanger 18."

"Okay," I agreed. He left and I saved my file before gathering up my purse. As I was getting ready to leave, I remembered the coffee mugs in his office. If we were going to be gone for two days, I should probably put those back in the kitchen to be cleaned.

The cups were sitting on a table near the window and I lingered for a moment, watching the sun begin its downward journey to the horizon. The days were getting shorter now. Not that I minded. I briefly wondered about the weather in Chicago. I rarely watched the news and hadn't thought to look on the internet today to see what I should pack. Autumn was a strange time of year. It could be fifty degrees one day and seventy-five the next. Chicago was no exception.

Spotting a small television in the far corner of the office, I went over and flipped it on, hoping Stephen had cable in his office so I could catch the Weather Channel. To my surprise, a television station didn't appear. Instead, the screen was segmented into many different blocks, each block showing a different image. As I watched, perplexed, I realized it was a feed from the security cameras around the building.

My heart rate shot up and I studied each of the blocks avidly, hoping Brian had been telling the truth when he'd said there hadn't been any cameras near where I'd plugged in the wireless device. It was hard to tell. A lot of the shots were very similar and I realized the layout of the cubes was probably the same on the different floors. Each of the boxes had labels, though, and by process of elimination, I was able to figure out what location they indicated. I breathed easier. He hadn't been lying. I hadn't seen any security cameras this morning by that cube and that was because there weren't any.

I was just about to flick off the television when something in the corner caught my eye. A man was there but his clothes appeared to be half off. How strange. Unthinkingly, I touched the block where that image resided and it immediately expanded into a larger window. Hmm. A touch-screen, I guessed. I looked closer at the image and gasped.

It was Blane. He appeared to be in a room, pacing its length. I could see his shirt was ripped and torn and blood stained one side of it. His face turned briefly toward the camera and I saw blood on his face.

Oh my God. I stood still for a moment, frozen in horror. Blane was here. And while I'd been whiling away the hours up here in a cushy office, he'd been beaten and held prisoner somewhere in the building.

Frantically, I tapped the screen again so I could see the window's label. Sub2-Area5. This place obviously had a basement. I had to get Blane out of there. Flicking off the television, I grabbed my purse and hurried to the elevator. Looking at the buttons on the elevator, I was momentarily stymied. There was only one level showing below the ground floor. I'd have to get there and see if there were stairs or something.

Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed Kade. When he picked up, I didn't waste time with preliminaries.

"I found him," I said. "Meet me with a car behind the TecSol building downtown in fifteen minutes." I flipped the phone closed without waiting to see if he said anything. I had no idea what I was going to do in the next fifteen minutes to get Blane out, I just knew I had to do something. CJ had said to improvise. I was about to see how well I did that.

Chapter Fourteen

The elevator opened onto what appeared to be a deserted basement, complete with concrete floors and walls. Cautiously, I stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, glancing around. The ceiling was tall, maybe ten feet, with bare pipes crisscrossing overhead. The elevator doors slid shut, startling me. I thought longingly of the gun Kade had taken from me this morning. What I wouldn't give to have it right now. I wasn't getting much done just standing there so I picked a direction and started walking.

My steps echoed on the concrete floor and I cursed my decision to wear heels this morning. Stepping gingerly, I turned a corner. The next hallway was just as dark and empty as the one I was in. Suppressing a shiver of apprehension, I eased forward. About halfway along, there was a door marked "Custodial." An idea came to me and I held my breath as I tried the knob. It was unlocked, the door swinging open easily.

Fumbling for a switch inside, I flipped on the light. My face broke into a wide smile. The small room was filled with janitorial equipment and supplies. Yes, this might just work. A large metal shelving unit stood against the wall and on it were stacked mounds of blue overalls, all with TecSol embroidered in small letters on the front.

I quickly pulled a pair of overalls on over my clothes, hiking my skirt up as I did so. It was big and I rolled up the sleeves and legs of the pants. My heels were a dead giveaway but there was nothing I could do about that. Grabbing a TecSol ball cap off the shelf, I tucked my hair up into it and pulled it down low over my forehead.

A cleaning cart was shoved in the corner and I hid my purse under a pile of folded trash bags. Checking to make sure it had supplies, I added a mop, bucket of water and plunger for added authenticity before pushing it out into the hallway.

Hoping I was going the right way, I resumed walking the same direction. At the end of the hall, I was rewarded with what looked like a loading elevator. Taking a deep breath to calm my jangling nerves, I hit the call button.

The groan and grinding of the elevator through the open mesh cage door made me cringe. Whoever was down below would certainly know someone was coming. When the cage arrived, I slid open the door, my fingers finding handholds in the cold metal. I pushed my cart inside and hit the button for the only place you could go, which was down.

The bottom floor was a stark contrast to where I'd just been. Bright fluorescent light flooded the elevator as I pushed the mesh cage open and wheeled my cart into the glaringly white hallway. Glancing from under the brim of my cap, I saw a man sitting in a chair about thirty feet away. He was watching me. I pretended not to notice.