Mortal Fear

“Harper, you realize that most hemophiliacs born before 1985 got AIDS from tainted blood transfusions?”

“Brahma’s a doctor. Maybe he suspected early that there was a problem with the blood supply and acted preventively. Don’t ask me how. I think the disease had a lot to do with shaping his character, though. Hey, what’s Cellini’s Perseus? A painting?”

“A sculpture. The Renaissance version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mikhail Baryshnikov with better muscles. He’s holding a sword and the severed head of Medusa.”

“Severed head… wow. Lenz will flip over this guy. Miles, I know there’s enough here for Baxter’s people to figure out who Brahma is. After I black out some of the stuff I had to say to get him to talk, I’m going to fax copies to Quantico.”

“They may not need it.”

“What? Why not?”

“I think they may have figured out who Brahma is.”

“ What? How?”

“Maybe the organ donor registries. As soon as the FBI started checking donor networks, they turned up two kidnappings, both from the same registry. It’s called DonorNet. One was a long-standing missing persons case that had basically been written off. The victim disappeared about eight months ago in Florida. It was a man.”

“A man?”

“Yep. A guy named Peter Levy. The other happened the night after Rosalind May was kidnapped. Virginia Beach, Virginia. Jenny something or other. Drewe hit it right on the head.”

“And you think this somehow led Baxter to Brahma?”

“I don’t know. I do know that an hour ago Baxter asked Jan to temporarily shut down EROS.”

“Did he say why?”

“He said it was because the media has picked up on what we’ve been doing, because of Mrs. Lenz’s death. He told Jan that staying on-line any longer would be counterproductive, even to catch Brahma. The perception of risk to our clients would be too great.”

“The perception of risk?”

“Baxter’s words, not mine.”

“But with EROS down… and with potential hostages, they’ll need my information more than ever.”

“Maybe. But I think Baxter told us to shut down because he knows who Brahma is, and he’s trying to cover up the Lenz fuckup as thoroughly as he can, however late it might be. He threatened us with an injunction if we didn’t go off-line.”

“And?”

“Jan decided to comply. The risk of client lawsuits is pretty high at this point. When the FBI wanted us on- line, we could pass the buck to them. Now that shield is gone.”

“Miles, I’ve got to pass this stuff along. How many hemophiliac doctors can there be?”

“I don’t know. Go ahead and pass it on. But even if Baxter has a name on Brahma, catching him could be a whole different thing. Why don’t you fax me the printouts of your conversation? Fax them to Jan at EROS. She’ll get them to me.”

I hesitate. “I will if you’ll answer one question. The one you’ve been avoiding from the beginning.”

“What?”

“How did Brahma get into the system? How did he get the master client list?”

A flicker of interest on Jan Krislov’s inscrutable face.

“I don’t know,” Miles says simply. “I may never know. But every account Brahma hijacked is over a year old. He could have done everything he’s done so far by breaking into the system a single time over a year ago and downloading the list. And there’s just no way to check that now.”

“How good was your security a year ago?”

“As good as anybody’s.”

“Like what? A firewall?”

“Give me a break. That’s corporate pacifier stuff. I use traps, filters, alarms, other things.”

“Logs?”

“Yes.”

“You know what I’m thinking?”

“Yes.” Miles’s voice is strangely flat. “Brahma got physical access to a company computer, either in the office or in one of our homes, and printed out the list.”

“Right. Any break-ins at the office?”

“No.”

“Your house? Jan’s? The techs’?”

Krislov shakes her head. Miles says, “One of my techs had a burglary seven months ago, but that’s too recent.”

I’m mulling this over when he adds, “There is one other possibility.”

“What?”

“It’s a little uncomfortable to talk about.”

“People are dying, Miles. Spit it out.”

“Can you hear me, Jan?”

Krislov’s lips move jerkily, but I hear nothing.

“Okay,” Miles says. “You’re a widow. You date men of the age we’re considering as suspects. It’s possible that Brahma could have begun a relationship with you just to get access to your house. Your computer.”

Even before he stops speaking, I know he’s found the truth. His words seem to hit Krislov with physical force.

“That’s got to be it!” I tell him.

“Except,” he says quickly, “Jan doesn’t exactly date guys off the street. She dates corporate people, architects-”

“Doctors?” I cut in.

The static closes around me like a malevolent embrace. Jan’s lips are moving again, her eyes wide in anger or fear as she talks to Miles. It’s over a minute before he speaks again.

“You going to fax that stuff through, Harper?”

“One more question. How is your Trojan Horse supposed to work? Can it really nail Brahma by itself?”

“If he uses the EROS UUEncoder-Decoder software, there’s no doubt about it.”

“So how does it work?”

“Just be patient, okay? I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Shit. Then when is it going to happen?”

“I can’t predict that exactly. But it will.”

“Damn it, Miles!” I want to push harder, but I know it’s useless. “All right. Just keep your head down.”

“Harper, wait. Did Brahma’s messages show any typos during the time you talked to him?”

“I didn’t notice any.”

“Not during the entire exchange?”

“No, but I’ll check again. You think he’s on the move?”

“I just want to be careful.”

“He can’t trace anything to my house, right?”

“No way. I’m just being paranoid. Even if Baxter hasn’t identified Brahma, the Trojan Horse will have sealed his fate by dawn tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! Miles-”

“Tell Drewe thanks for letting me stay there,” he says, his voice full of hacker’s glee. “And fax your stuff to Jan. Ciao.”

The static ends.

I can tell from Krislov’s face that she wants to speak to me, but I am not interested. Our professional relationship will very soon be over. I terminate the video link, walk over to my desk, and get the number of Investigative Support at Quantico. My name gets me quickly past the operator, but instead of the person I asked