White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(23)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“We should move these meetings to Applebee’s,” Tom said when Ian and the rest of the task force filed into the conference room where Phillip was waiting. “If we can’t hold them at headquarters, we might as well take advantage of the two-for-one happy hour that starts”—he glanced at his watch—“in about forty-five minutes.”

“Not to mention the hot wings and free Wi-Fi,” said Brian, the newest member of the group.

“That’s hilarious,” Ian said. “I’ll remember that next time one of you needs to be on the down low.” He pulled out the printouts Charlie had given him at their last meeting. They were covered in notations identifying the markers that proved the attacks were the unique work of the same hacktivist collective they’d already brought down once. “I’ve read through all the evidence and analyzed the code. I know for a fact the attacks were carried out by Joshua Morrison’s group.”

“Same signature?” Charlie asked, his forehead creasing in concern. Hackers often left TTPs—tools, tricks, and procedures—behind that pointed to the work of a certain person or group.

“Yes,” Ian said. “They appear to be pulling together, organizing, but their goal isn’t clear.”

“How are we going to proceed?” Tom asked.

“Now that we know for sure it’s the same group, a task force member will infiltrate,” Phillip said. “It’s our most efficient way of uncovering their agenda.”

“Don’t worry Merrick,” Charlie said. “You’ve more than paid your dues, and I already volunteered.”

Ian took the teasing in stride. He had no problem with Charlie going undercover and knew Kate would be very happy to hear it wouldn’t be him. “I appreciate that, and it’s Smith, remember?”

“E-mail me a spreadsheet with your names. I can’t possibly be expected to keep them all straight.”

“I wonder what they want,” Tom said, looking contemplative.

“Could be anything. I want everyone to be thinking about possible attack vectors,” Phillip said. “Charlie, start monitoring the channels and planning your entry. We’ll reconvene in a week.”

“Will do.” Charlie closed his laptop and turned to Ian. “Let’s go get a drink.”



Ian followed Charlie to the bar he’d chosen, hoping the Navigator would still be there when he came out because the location was neither trendy nor particularly desirable. One might even say it was downright sketchy. His misgivings were compounded by the surly bartender who barked out, “What do you want?” upon their entrance and the fact that their shoes stuck to the sticky floor as they carried their drinks to a table in the back.

“Jesus, Charlie. Don’t tell me this is your regular hangout, because I fail to see the draw.”

Charlie knocked back half his drink in one swallow. “Are you kidding me? This place is perfect. The drinks are strong and there’s never anyone around to eavesdrop on my conversations.”

“You better pace yourself. We just got here.”

“My tolerance for alcohol has already increased significantly thanks to the hacktivists. Damn carders never made me want to drink like this. I’m going to require a liver transplant by the time this task force wraps up.”

Ian raised his glass and then took a drink. “I hear that.” He’d been in Charlie’s shoes before and knew how intense it could be. The sheer number of hours he’d put in and the constant threat of blowing his own cover by saying the wrong thing or not covering his tracks well enough had worn on him. He’d cut Charlie some slack on the drinking.

“It’s great to have you back, man.”

“Thanks. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until I ran into you.”

“Kate seems like a great girl.”

“She is.”

“How’d you convince her to marry you?”

“Women are powerless when it comes to my charms.”

Charlie snorted and took another big drink. “Still wearing ’em down, I see.”

“It took a little persuading, but she came around.”

“I’m happy for you. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure about any part of that crazy plan working out. But here you are, Kate by your side.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Here we are.”

“You buy a house?”

Ian nodded. “We planned to buy something closer to headquarters, but we ended up on a horse farm in Middleburg.”

“How did that happen?”

“Seventy-five fenced and secluded acres and a top-of-the-line security system, which I modified to make even better.”

Charlie’s glass had been empty for five minutes when Ian finished his drink.

“Want another? I’m buying.”

“Thanks, but I’d better head home. Kate taught herself how to cook and undoubtedly has some sort of gourmet dinner on the stove. It’s going to take me a while to fight my way through the traffic.”

“Beautiful and she can also cook? Boy, you really did hit the jackpot, didn’t you?”

“I remind myself of that every single day.” He stood and put on his coat. “Thanks for the drink. I’ll see you around.”