The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25)(46)

‘But your backups didn’t get wiped,’ Reacher said. ‘Or overwritten with porn. Did they?’

‘No,’ Rutherford said. ‘Something stopped that from happening. But nothing new was saved. And spoof management reports did get sent. That’s why I thought we’d be OK after the attack. And why I was so shocked when we weren’t.’

‘Cerberus interfered,’ Sands said. ‘It broke one spike off the trident. It’s the only explanation. I ran simulations using copies of the most recent ransomware we’ve come across, and here’s where things get interesting for the people who are chasing Rusty. In eight out of nine tests, not only was the existing data untouched, but a fragment of the malicious code was retained on the backup system. It was somehow caught by Cerberus when it stopped the disc from getting wiped.’

‘Enough of a fragment to unlock the town’s computers?’ Reacher said.

‘No,’ Sands said. ‘It doesn’t work that way. But it could reveal who’s responsible. It’s like when a bank robber wears a mask but the security cameras pick up his gang tattoos.’

‘That must be why these guys are trying to get their hands on it,’ Rutherford said. ‘They must have analysed the system maps the ransomware sent back to them. Seen something they didn’t recognize – Cerberus. And figured out what it could do. Maybe put that together with the reports in the press about the old data being the only thing that survived. You should have seen the headlines. Rutherford’s Rusty Ransom Response was my favourite. But we have a different reason to want it. Maybe millions of different reasons. Right, Sarah?’

‘That’s why I’m here,’ Sands said. ‘There’s life in the guard dog yet. It’s not the product we thought it was going to be. It obviously doesn’t prevent ransomware attacks happening. But if it bulletproofs any backed-up data, that’s the next best thing. A lot of organizations would pay a lot of money for that. All we need is the servers you were using. Bench tests are fine, but we need to make sure it really was our system that saved the old data. Not some random malfunction. So let’s go get them.’

‘We can’t get them.’ Rutherford flopped back down. ‘When I thought the system had failed I threw everything in the trash.’





FOURTEEN





Speranski was in his study, looking through catalogues from electrical wholesalers, trying to find the closest thing to a World War II anti-aircraft searchlight, when his secure phone rang again.

‘We were right,’ the voice at the end of the line said. ‘It was an ambush.’

‘How bad?’ Speranski said.

‘Could have been worse. The main team, four people, went into the garage. They read the situation, planted a tracker on Rutherford’s car, and got out unscathed. The drifter got the two guys who stayed outside.’

‘Are they dead?’

‘No. But they’ll be out of the game for a while. He knocked them around pretty good. And one of them got bitten by a rat before he was found. They were left in a couple of dumpsters.’

‘Does the Center know?’

‘Yes. But don’t worry. The police didn’t get involved. No members of the public saw anything. No attention was drawn. They’re not pulling the plug. But they are making a change.’

‘What kind of change?’

‘They’re bringing someone in. Denisov. The rest of the team is stood down to surveillance only until he arrives.’

Speranski paused. He had never worked with Denisov. But he had heard of him. Denisov had started out as an interrogator. The human polygraph, he was called. Due to his appearance. And his temper. His ability to loosen tongues. And bowels.

‘I thought Denisov wasn’t used in the field any more,’ Speranski said. ‘Too many unfavourable outcomes.’

‘No, he is,’ the voice said. ‘He’s been in Chechnya for the last five years. Broadening his repertoire. Working on his self-discipline. He’s rehabilitated now. Back in favour with the people who count.’

‘And they’re letting him loose on Rutherford? Isn’t that overkill?’

‘On the drifter. The rest of the team can proceed with Rutherford, as before.’

‘Wait a minute.’ Sands moved over to the window, then turned back to face Rutherford. ‘How could you have thrown an entire server array in the trash? How many were you using?’

‘Eight.’ Rutherford looked at the floor. ‘I guess I didn’t literally throw them in the trash. But I did kind of trash them.’

‘What did you do to them?’

‘Well, first off the glass in the cabinet door broke when I slammed it. I did that when I realized the backup hadn’t worked. Then I ripped out all the cables. I wanted to fling the whole thing in the dumpster outside but when I tried to drag it to the door the foot of the cabinet got wedged where part of the raised floor had come loose so I left it. Then I went back and stuck on a Post-it note saying it was for the trash.’

‘This was before you got fired?’

‘Right. On the day of the attack.’

‘Was the cabinet still there the day you left?’

Rutherford shrugged. ‘No idea. I didn’t go back to the equipment room after the first day. There was no point. Nothing was working. I actually thought about checking on my last day but I was only there ten minutes before they gave me the letter.’