Bridger glanced to Deric and Jim. “Did you know about this?”
Both men shrugged.
Steve twisted in the front seat, buttoning his dress shirt. “This one was my idea. The only vehicles on the road with a ‘do not stop’ order attached to the tag number is one of these.” He smiled as he wrapped his tie around the collar. “I had an ex-girlfriend that was secret service. She let it slip one time that…well, let’s just say that her lips weren’t the only thing that was loose that night.”
“Eew.” Ryan shook his head. “That sounds like something Slippy would say.”
“Yes it does,” Gregg chimed in over the earpieces. “Congrats Steve. I think you’ve earned your ‘pro’ card. You’re now a provert. No more amateur shit for you, pal.”
Steve chuckled as he knotted his tie then pulled the black suit coat on. “This could have gone down a lot worse than it did.”
“Copy that,” Gregg chimed in again. “They’ve already got drones in the air and they sent out a BOLO for the dirt bikes. It won’t take them long to realize that you fellas switched vehicles.”
Ryan slowed the truck even more and set the cruise control. “No sense in standing out. Drive casually. No reason to stop a secret service vehicle, right?”
“Casual, not lethargic. At least go the speed limit, Ryan,” Steve urged, pointing to the speedometer.
Ryan punched it up a few more miles an hour then slowed to pull the truck into traffic. “And now we blend in with all of the thousands of other government vehicles in this cesspool.”
Bridger finally sighed and leaned back in the seat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the SD card. “Somebody tell me we can transmit this shit to Slippy.”
Gregg chimed in over the radio again. “I’ll be meeting you in ten.”
“Thank god.” Bridger leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Please, let this be over soon.”
Langley, VA
CHESTERFIELD SCREAMED AS he watched the dirt bikes tear across the grounds, dirt and grass flung behind their big knobby tires as they accelerated toward the small creek that crossed the property. He pounded against the glass of his window when he watched each of the motorbikes take to the air and jump the narrow waterway.
“Son of a BITCH!” He slammed his fists against the glass harder.
“Colonel Nelson wants to see you.”
He spun and glared at the young woman slinking away from his office. He marched back to his chair and pulled his coat from the back of it.
He turned to leave and caught his reflection in the mirror again. “Good lord you look like shit.” His reflection didn’t reply, but it seemed to smirk at him.
He sighed heavily and marched out of his office. “Tell me the building is off lockdown.”
A man in a tweed jacket nodded as he approached. “They just released the doors a few moments…hey!” He fell against the wall as Darren pushed his way past him.
Chesterfield didn’t hear the man’s remarks as the door shut behind him and he began to climb the stairs. He knew he needed to find out what Bridger had taken. If he had a copy of the encryption program, there would definitely be hell to pay. He could offer it on the black market and the agency would have no choice but to either purchase it themselves or develop a whole new system.
He pushed the door open to the fourth floor and quietly slipped into the hallway. The entire floor was abuzz, but quiet, as people hurriedly tried to assess the damage. He made his way down the hall and stood in the doorway of Nelson’s office as the man gently hung up the phone.
“That was our illustrious security chief.”
Darren grunted and leaned against the doorjamb. “Let me guess, they have no idea how it happened.”
“Oh, no. They know exactly how it happened.” Colonel Nelson stood and motioned him inside.
Darren pushed the door shut and sat across from the man. “What happened? Full on assault?”
Colonel Nelson stretched his neck and shoulders before taking his seat again. “Apparently they orchestrated an electronic attack on our internal security systems.”
Darren’s eyes widened. “They were inside our security?”
Colonel Nelson nodded. “Since they couldn’t access the encryption programs through their hack, they had to physically get inside the building.” He motioned to the sensors mounted in the corner of his office. “They sent an electronic attack that caused the system to repeatedly reset itself. That gave them a window of anywhere from eight to twelve seconds.”
Darren shook his head slowly. “What could they do in that amount of time?”
Colonel Nelson sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Once? Nothing. But a series of system blackouts? They could waltz right in and do whatever they wanted.” He suddenly sat up and gave Darren a tight lipped smile. “And boy, did they just waltz right in.”
Chesterfield’s eyes narrowed. “How?”
“They posed as the techs that were sent to repair the system.” Colonel Nelson leaned back in his chair and actually laughed. “Imagine that. They attack the system through an unknown chink in the chainmail then pose as the very people who come to repair the damage.”
“Wait…if they were here to fix it…” Darren shook his head as he tried to connect the dots. “How’d they get caught?”
Nelson shook his head. “Get this. Two showed up. But three left.” He raised his brows at Chesterfield. “Tell me how the hell that happens.”
Darren sat quietly as his mind tried to connect dots again. “The third man was hidden in the truck?”
Nelson shook his head. “Security cameras verified that only two men exited the vehicle.”
Darren sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “He came in dressed as an employee?”
Nelson shook his head again. “No questionable entries in the log. Only known employees of the agency arrived today.”
Darren sat up straight. “Today. As in, he could have snuck in earlier?”
Nelson
