Into the Night(58)
Macey reached for a pair of gloves. “The whole place is a crime scene, so be very careful, okay?”
Jonah had already reached for his own gloves. “Always.” His gaze slid to the corners of the room. “Tech can be so tiny these days, freaking microscopic. We need to get a sweeper in here so that we can detect any devices.”
Macey sat down at McKinley’s desk. She drew in a bracing breath, then opened the top desk drawer. A bottle of whiskey sat inside.
Jonah gave a low whistle. “Don’t see that every day in an ME’s office.”
Her fingers bumped the mouse, and the computer woke up as the screen flashed.
“No.” She gazed down at the bottle. A fourth of it had been consumed. “He said he had a sponsor. That he’d been sober for ten years.”
Jonah paced closer to her. “You believe that? Or you think the ME has been hitting the bottle for a while now?”
He hadn’t seemed drunk when she’d met him before. His eyes had been clear. His words hadn’t shown any typical alcohol-use slurring. He’d spoken in a normal pattern, articulating well.
“Macey...” His fingers stroked over her shoulder. Jonah’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “The camera is on.”
What camera?
His head bent, and he whispered in her ear, “The computer, Macey. The camera is on right now.”
Her gaze lifted, and sure enough, she saw the faint red light next to the camera—a camera that was perched on the top of the computer monitor.
“Don’t stare at it. Just...act naturally, okay?” Again, Jonah had whispered in her ear. “Come with me.”
She rose, moving with him, and a few moments later, they were in the hallway.
“Genius,” Jonah announced. “Fucking genius.”
Macey shook her head, wanting to make sure she understood. “He was watching McKinley...through the guy’s own computer?”
He nodded quickly. “You can do it remotely. Hell, try a search on the internet—you’ll get instant results, a freaking how-to guide. Anyone can do it. You hack into your victim’s webcam and boom, you can always see what they’re doing.”
“The camera was on when I woke the computer up. Was he watching me? How?” He’d said, “hacking,” but she wanted specifics.
Jonah waved his hand. “It’s really easy to do. You get the vic to download a bad link on a website, you give a malicious document to the target—so many options.”
Her stomach was dropping. “Can you figure out who did this? Can you figure out where the guy is?”
But his gaze had turned distant. “The perp could have taken still shots from the camera. Or even done a live viewing.”
And if he caught McKinley drinking... Her eyes squeezed closed. “He saw Dr. McKinley.” With the whiskey?
“Trojan malware,” Jonah said, nodding hard. “The malware found a way to activate the camera and from that moment on, Dr. McKinley was his.”
She stepped closer to him. “You can find out when the malware was installed.” He was their tech genius. He’d better be able to find that out.
“I can find out when it was installed.” His eyes were bright. “Dr. McKinley wouldn’t have noticed it. I saw it because I knew to look for the LED light flashing with the camera... When that happens, always a fucking sign.”
She made herself take a deep breath. “You can find the guy, right? You can trace this for me.” He’d gotten her out of that office fast, and he’d whispered the whole time. Trying not to alert anyone who is watching?
He smiled at her. “I can find the guy.”
Yes. “Then let’s get to work.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“WE’VE GOT HIM,” Macey said, her voice catching with excitement as it filled Bowen’s ear. He stood outside a cabin—another damn cabin that he’d been searching with Tucker. “Jonah just did a reverse DNS query and tracerouting and some pretty much computer voodoo magic—and he found the guy.”
“What? Slow down, Macey.”
“The perp was watching Dr. McKinley through his computer. Jonah found the email that was sent with the Trojan file attached. Jonah traced him—we’ve got the bastard! The guy is at the museum, Bowen. The file was emailed directly from the oddities museum!”
Fuck. “He was screwing with us.”
“Jonah and I are going there now—I left a cop to stay with Dr. Lopez. She just arrived. Are you meeting us at the museum? I—I know you’re supposed to stay back, but—”
“Tucker and I are on the way.” He’d let the other agent take lead, but Bowen would be there for his team.
She disconnected the call, and he turned to Tucker. “They got him!”
Tucker bounded toward him.
“The ME’s computer was being hacked. Jonah traced it back—he said the guy was at the oddities museum. The fucking place with the hate nails.” And the museum director had been so calm and controlled during their meeting. Peter Carter.
But Tucker shook his head. “The signal from your cabin wouldn’t transmit that far.”
“Then keep the men here searching. Maybe he has a second base here.” Tricky son of a bitch. “But Macey and Jonah are closing in and we’re their backup.”