It was good to hear his new relationships overseas had already started to pan out.
“Great, what could they tell us?”
“The money originated from a Russian crime family in Chicago. The Kozlov Bratva. It’s run by Pavel Kozlov. He was an up-and-comer in the former Soviet Union, has a lot of ties with the siloviki—the politicians from the KGB, GRU, SVR…the guys with the guns and intel.”
Millar chimed in. “You know, the core framework for the bot was written by someone — well, more than one person — but a Cyrillic keyboard was used for a lot of it.”
“Are you sure it was more than one person?” Turner asked.
“Yep. You can tell by the way they wrote their code.”
Turner understood all too well. It was no different than comparing two handwriting styles.
“Off the top of my head, I’d say there were at least six, seven…maybe a couple more,” Millar continued.
“They’ve got money,” Turner said. “The guy in the park was no hacker, and he knew who I was. If they can hire a top assassin and then kill him, that tells us something.”
“The one at the park was definitely the guy who killed Max,” Millar said. “I’ll never forget him for as long as I live.” His tone seemed more relaxed. “Some data was passed through one of the bots we installed last night. The botnet looks like it’s talking to the mother of all banks. The Federal Reserve.”
Heckler laughed, but it was half-hearted. “What, are they going to destroy Wall Street? Madoff and the real-estate collapse already took care of that one.”
Millar shrugged and said, “I don’t know, but they’re up to something.”
“This recession has people scared,” Turner added, realizing the importance of what Millar had said. “Unemployment is at an all-time high. Retirement accounts were demolished. It wouldn’t take much to disrupt things, cause panic, have people lose what little confidence they might have left.”
“True,” Heckler considered. “By the sound of it, I’ll need to send this all the way up the chain.”
Turner knew that could mean problems with The Island, but for the first time since this ordeal began, things looked like they were lining up in his favor. His brother’s killer was dead, and the people who hired him had something big brewing. He would like nothing more than to serve them up a heaping plate of fuck you and have his revenge.
“Like I told you, I’ve never seen anything this advanced,” Millar said.
Turner nodded and said, “Yeah, run it all the way to the top, Heck.”
“Hold on a sec,” Heckler said.
Turner and Millar could hear a phone ringing in the background.
“Okay…yeah…I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he told the caller. “Something’s come up. I have to go now,” Heckler explained.
“Well, it looks like we’re going on a road trip to Chicago,” Turner said to Millar. “They know I’m involved now, and I’m sure they have no idea who I work for. Heckler, I’ll catch up with you later. Let your bagman know I’m going to need him tonight.”
“Sure thing,” he said, and then disconnected the call.
“Bagman?” Etzy questioned.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Chapter 41
The three FBI agents jumped up from their card game when the alarm sounded. The surveillance equipment had detected an intruder on the grounds. The older systems had given off false alarms in the past, but technology had advanced to a point with the various sensors — microwave, thermal, active and passive infrared — where it was rare. This was the real deal.
The men gathered around the bank of monitors and read the flashing message that indicated a pressure plate on the perimeter had been triggered. An infrared feed was automatically displayed on the center monitor and locked onto the suspect. The monitor displayed the image of a female slowly making her way toward the house.
“She doesn’t look armed,” Scott Richardson said. “You want to handle this one, Joe?”
“Fuck off.”
“Come on, I think you can take her. She doesn’t look like the type who’d kick a man where it counts,” Richardson said with the grin of a true smartass. He was the senior man there.
Joe shot him a pissed off look. “I’ll never live that down, will I?”
“Nope. And don’t forget your cup.”
The agent headed out the back door, up the stairs and bolted along the side of the house, putting a copse of shrubs between him and the intruder. His eyes had almost adjusted to the darkness by the time she had made her way past his location.
She approached the front window on the left side of the house. He waited patiently to make sure she didn’t have a weapon. Satisfied that she was unarmed, the former football player quickly made his move.
Maria Soller let out a muted scream as she was lifted off the ground and carried toward the house. She started kicking her legs as they headed down the narrow stairwell that led to the basement.
“Put me the fuck down!” she yelled, banging her fists on his back.
The other two agents had formed a welcoming committee at the bottom of the stairs. Both men were already laughing.
“Mom, get out of here!” she yelled as they quickly pulled her into the house.
Joe put her down, and she looked as if she was sizing them up.
“Mom, huh,” Richardson said in a mocking tone. “Ken, go see if Mom’s out there too, will ya?”
“Fuck you!” Maria drilled her knee into Richardson’s crotch.
The other two men laughed heartily as he crumbled into a chair with a groan. His face turned beet red.
“Put that bitch in the room with the other one,” he barked.
Ken nodded toward the alarm that just popped up on the monitors. “I’ll go ahead and check outside for Mommy,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
He stopped at the base of the steps for effect and turned to Richardson. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I keep the jewels safe. I hear abuse is something that runs in the family.”
He shot up the steps, leaving the door cracked open so it would be easier to bring their new guest inside.
Chapter 42
Trent Turner took a straight shot south through Washington, DC into Georgetown and crossed over the Key Bridge. He parked the Ford Focus in a quiet neighborhood less than five minutes from the bridge. He approached the townhouse on foot. Etzy Millar was told to wait at a bus stop half a block away while the operative made sure there wasn’t unwelcome company inside. He was fairly confident the place hadn’t been burned, but under the circumstances he wasn’t taking any chances.
A few minutes later Turner returned for the hacker, and they headed to the safe house.
“We can get kitted up here for the trip,” Turner said as Millar scoped out the place.
“I take it you’re a minimalist,” the hacker said, his eyes taking in the sleek decor. “Is this where you live?”
“Not exactly. Think of it more as a place I can go if I want to live.” He smiled. “Come on downstairs.”
Turner led them down a flight of stairs and into a sitting room. The entertainment center had a television flanked by bookshelves. He worked a couple of latches until one of the bookcases pulled out on a hinge to reveal a small armory.
Millar’s eyes widened. “Holy shit! That’s rad!”
Turner grabbed one of the blue duffel bags hanging inside and began to fill it up with gear.