“Could you do it?”
She considered it for a moment before saying, “There isn't a security system out there that can't be breached. If you can't get at it through the Internet, then you can get to it by direct physical attack. All of them present problems, risks and require lots of time and money.”
“I have the money. We just don't have the time.”
Leo was rich? Or he could get large sums of money? He didn't look like it, at first glance, but she had seen that while all of his possessions were well worn from his boots to his truck, they were all very well maintained and probably cost decent money originally. Another data point to add to the equation of this mysterious man.
“Can we get something from the bank routing number? I seem to remember that it's specific to each bank, maybe even down to the branch.”
“Sure. There is a web site that can tell you that information. It may not be very up to date because of all the recent banking problems, mergers and buyouts. But it would get us pointed in the right direction.”
There was a crook in her back from sitting in the same place too long. Settling back in the seat, she said, “I wish we could have snagged one of the computers, or heck, even a cell phone from the sniper device. It might give us some clues as to who is after us.”
Leo looked at her. “You are looking for a cell phone or computer from one of the guys after us for information? How about a Blackberry?”
“You have one? From the sniper?” How the hell had he managed to pull that off?
“Nope. But someone tried to kill me, didn't, and as a prize, I got his Blackberry. I've been carrying it around since then, though I did take the battery out.”
What other things did Leo have up his sleeve?
“Well, where is it?”
He reached across her and popped open the glove box. His presence, in her space, startled her. They were so close that she could feel the heat from his body and the smell of his skin.
She wasn't sure how she felt about this.
Forcing herself back on task, she took the Blackberry and its battery from his gentle but calloused hand.
“It was a pain figuring out how to get the battery out. I was about ready to simply destroy it rather than leave it someplace where it could lead to me.”
She popped open the back of the Blackberry and slid the battery into place.
“That's a cell phone, right? Can someone trace us with it?”
“Yes, but I have a way around that.”
Putting the cover back on, she reached into her duffel bag.
“What's that, wrap it in foil or something like that?”
“Nope, something a lot more sophisticated, a cell phone jammer. It's an invention of my own design, based on a schematic that I found on the Internet. It's a multiple band jammer, and can even block some of the European frequency hopping cell phones. If it transmits between 800 megahertz and 2200 megahertz, and is within thirty feet of us, it won't work.”
She found the device she was looking for, not much bigger than a pack of playing cards with two short, stubby antennas sticking out the top. Flipping a switch, a red LED started glowing.
“We're protected.”
“Okay.” Leo didn't seem impressed.”I also have the ability to jam WiFi and GPS and almost any other frequency I'd like. The cool thing is that this single device self tunes using phase locked-loop and is driven by a micro-controller. Quite a sophisticated design, if you ask me.”
Leo growled, “I'm not asking. What have you found?”
She realized that she was treating Leo like she would some of the computer geeks that she hung out with. While he may be a 'gun geek,' he probably didn't have the education or inclination to understand her world and appreciate the things that she could do.
She flipped through the screens on the Blackberry. The call log had been deleted, but there may be a way around that. The Blackberry is simply a very small computer and it stored things like computers do — when something is deleted, mark off the space allocated by the deleted file as 'available' and continue on your way.
The contact list was blank and there were no e-mails or anything else of interest saved. There was, however a SIM — Subscriber Identity Module — card with this particular model and while she couldn't directly access it here, there might be important information saved on it. The information on the SIM not only included information allowing the phone to access cellular networks, they often contained a phone book and copies of any messages sent — deleted or not.
She wasn't that familiar with this particular model, so it took a bit for her to find out if a memory card was installed — yes, there was one.
Powering down the device, she popped open the back and removed both the SD memory card and the SIM card. While she hadn't ever really had any interest in cell phone hacking, she knew the exact person who could help her.
“Find anything?” Leo asked.
“Nothing that I can use right now. I will have to talk with someone else about reading these cards.”
“Why?”
“Because it's an area of expertise that I don't have. Hackers specialize, and I know just the person we need to see.”
“Who?”
She tucked the chips into a static proof plastic bag that she found in her duffel and tossed the Blackberry in after it.
“I'll give you the directions to get to his place.”
With a reluctant sigh, Leo started the truck up and pulled into traffic.
Leo didn't know what to make of Jackie's performance. Was she trying to impress him? It was like she had been a giddy school girl. Maybe it had been the adrenaline burning off that had caused it. He had plenty of experience in dealing with it and knew that the feelings were like riding a roller coaster — you were thrilled as hell to be alive, and then you hit bottom, often with a depressive crash.
He knew that the cycle would continue for the next couple of days and she would have to find some way to take the edge off. Leo had long experience with the adrenaline highs and lows and knew that in a couple of hours he would be ravenously hungry. Sex was often a great release, but Leo didn't subscribe to that particular thinking as it opened you up to other vulnerabilities.
Despite it being Saturday morning, there was a great deal of traffic. Leo carefully made his way through the streets, always driving at two miles per hour less than the speed limit and obeying all traffic laws to the letter. It wouldn't pay at all to get pulled over for a simple traffic violation with all the specialized equipment he had in the truck. After the shooting, he hadn't had the time to properly stow and hide it. While it wouldn't be noticed during a cursory search, why even take the chance?
Leo was also anxious to follow up on the Alamut Enterprises information. Why would a company that specialized in assassinations be so obvious about what they were up to? Hiding behind obscure historical facts that very few people knew was one thing, but all it would take would be a simple Internet search to track down a bunch of history about the meaning behind the name.
That they were so obvious meant something, but Leo couldn't figure out what. It might be as simple a thing as that it was a shell company that led to someplace else. Anyone trying to find out more about the company would set off trip wires that would trigger a lethal response.
Another explanation was that the company had protection from the government or governments. Deniability for your dirty work was always something that Leo understood — if captured and tortured, he had no links back to the US government. Another point was that he had an expensive and very specialized tool and didn't require the skill set that say, a SEAL did. Why invest a huge amount of money and time into skills that a long distance shooter wouldn't ever need or use?