Evans sat across the table from Niko. “We know you released the information about Batman, Turkey.”
“What?” Niko feigned surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What information?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. What other information are you planning to release?”
“How can I release anything?” Niko raised his arms. “You’ve got me handcuffed in a room surrounded by guards.”
“Talk now or you and Harris are going to prison for a long time.”
Niko dropped his head to his chest and mumbled. “I didn’t break my part of the deal.” He looked up and raised his voice. “You said Secretary Grimes agreed to a shorter sentence. Did he decide to revoke that deal, too? Does he even know what you’re threatening to do? I want to talk to Grimes. I want to talk to Bodnar.”
“You’re in no position to make any demands.”
“You think sending me to prison is going to stop these leaks—whatever they are?”
The door opened. Niko couldn’t see who was there, but Evans left the room.
The second time bomb must have gone off as scheduled. A message should have been posted on the Homeland webpage, promising to expose a high-level member of Homeland supporting illegal torture in Turkey. Grimes should have received an email with an audio attachment. He was recorded discussing the death of a prisoner, and how to cover it up. That recording was only for Grimes—at least for now.
Within five minutes, Evans returned. She waved all the guards to leave the room and took a seat next to Niko. She grabbed the arms of his chair and turned it to face her. “Can you stop the leaks?”
“I told you. I didn’t leak anything. I’ve been with you all day.”
“Cut the bullshit. End the leaks now!”
Niko held up his cuffed hands. “Even if I could, why should I? You’re going to send Lydia and me to prison.”
Evans grabbed Niko by the shoulders. “Stop the leaks. We’ll work something out.”
“No prison for Lydia or me?”
“Agreed.”
Niko shook his head. “Do you have approval to say this? Did Secretary Grimes authorize this?”
“I do. And the secretary authorized it.”
Chapter 21
Cat and Mouse
Niko sat at the conference table in the offices of Crystal Intelligence, hands bound in cuffs, police monitor attached to his ankle, staring into the eyes of Victoria Evans, mere inches from her face. He had taken a chance—a dangerous one—and he came out on top.
Despite winning, Niko didn’t trust Homeland. “Release me—Lydia, too. We’ll see if we can stop the leaks. Get the immunity paperwork to Bodnar within the hour and send someone to remove our ankle bracelets.”
Evans nodded and unlocked Niko’s cuffs. “Stop the leaks—immediately.” She stood and walked to the door. “You two work for me now. I expect you to do a good job, but you’ll never set foot in this building again.” She opened the door.
Vyper stood in the hallway, a worried look on her face. Her eyes opened wide and her face broke into a smile. Tears ran down her cheeks.
Niko rushed out and embraced her.
She buried her face into his shoulder. Trembling, she hung on with surprising strength.
Bodnar placed his hand on Niko’s shoulder. “You’ll have time for that later. We must be going.”
Silently, they walked to the car. In the back seat, they fitted their soundproofing socks over their ankle monitors.
The lawyer handed his prepaid phone to Vyper who sent an encrypted text to end the time bombs:
Gr@nd-tH3fT Quiesce
Bodnar removed a small electronic box from the glove compartment. He used it to scan the interior and exterior of the car before sitting behind the wheel. “We can talk.”
Niko gave Vyper a quick kiss. He sat back in his seat. “They’re going to remove our ankle bracelets and monitoring software, aren’t they?”
“I’ll make sure they take care of everything within a couple of hours,” said Bodnar. “You’ll be free from all those restrictions.”
Vyper handed the pre-paid phone back to the lawyer. “If Homeland backs out of this deal, we need to reset the time bombs. In the event I am unable to reset them myself, I need you to text the keyword ‘Boom.’ Then the whole world will hear Secretary Grimes’ voice demanding American guards to cover up the death of a prisoner.”
“Grimes won’t take a chance—he won’t screw up the deal. I’m sure Ms. Evans will come through.” Bodnar started the car and pulled out just as his phone beeped. He handed it to Vyper. “This could be her. Check out the message.”
She glanced at the phone. “This is not a text. It is a news alert… Someone hacked into the Moscow Metro—a cyber-attack. All the signal lights on the tracks around the city are red. No trains are moving… businesses and government offices are closed… people cannot get to work. Russia suspects the CIA, but they do not cite any evidence.”
Niko shook his head. “This isn’t like the CIA. I’m sure they could do it, but not without high-level government approval. If Russia had evidence of American involvement, they’d consider it an act of war.”
Vyper gave the phone back to Bodnar. “Whoever did this could have caused train crashes and loss of life, but they did not. If it was CIA, they would deny it. Just like our deal. They want us to hack the Russians, and they want deniability.”
“You’re right,” said Niko. “The government will never come to our defense. If we get caught doing something illegal, they’ll throw us under the bus. So, deniability is important to Homeland—we can use it to our advantage.”
Bodnar spoke up from the front seat. “You never stop scheming, do you?”
Niko smiled at Vyper. “Never. But don’t worry. This is nothing like the time bombs. This is about Homeland letting us do our job without constantly looking over our shoulders. If Homeland wants deniability, they can’t be caught communicating with us—monitoring us. They have to leave us alone.”
Vyper raised her eyebrows. “Do I get my computers back? The network equipment? Everything?”
Bodnar took the ramp to I-66. “You two make a lot of sense. I’ll make your demands clear.”
Sterling, Virginia
Niko unplugged his laptop from the front of a network switch. He looked around Vyper’s computer room with satisfaction. It had taken three days, but all her equipment was back where it belonged, wiped clean and rebuilt.
He opened the door and stepped down from the raised computer room floor to the living room. Vyper sat on the couch, computer in her lap. The TV on the wall displayed a large map of the Texas-Louisiana coast with colored lines connecting colored dots.
Vyper turned her head. “Sit down and take a break. How is it going?”
Niko sat down and leaned over to give her a kiss. He opened his laptop. “The last of the configurations are complete. It’s time to run through final tests.” He looked at the TV. “Looks like the oil fields. Is that what Cybercade’s monitoring?”
“It is. I copied their data feeds. They will not notice.” She set her laptop aside. “I have been checking out Runion and a few other dark websites, picking up chatter. There is more information on the Moscow Metro break-in. I am not sure who did it, but whoever it was, they included some of Prixster’s signature code. It was not me, but the word is out—Prixster hacked the Metro.”
“The world thinks you attacked the Russians? That makes you a target. Zatan was looking for you before Sokolov was killed. I can’t see why he’d stop now.” Niko held her hand. “If our government wanted deniability for their attack, this is one way they could do it. Maybe they know you’re Prixster, and they’re using you as bait.”