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"Time to move. Nothing we can do for Mercy."
Holding each other up, they slipped down the dark hallway to the open door on
the run again. The dog howled as if lamenting Mercy's death, or to warn them
that they would be next.
22
Dinner usually was served at 7 p.m. in the main dining room. Tonight, with
only five hours till the project, Ingersoll preferred to eat alone. He
apologized to Barrington by phone, citing last-minute details that required
his attention. The old man didn't sound upset. All he worried about was the
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money. And destroying the Net.
Sitting in his office in his stocking feet. Ingersoll nibbled on a roast beef
sandwich and reviewed foreign bank account numbers. During the past week, he
had set up more than five hundred new accounts, already prepped with millions.
All were located in credit exchanges that asked no questions. According to NSA
files, most served as repositories for drug money and syndicate profits. He
didn't care.
Once deposited, the money from tonight's operation could be withdrawn only via
a digital key. And he was the only one who held that code.
Turning on the scrambler and a voice modifier, he touched his phone icon and
dialed the San Jose hotel where his three operatives were staying. With the
heist scheduled for midnight, he wanted assurances that there would be no
outside interference. Three rings. "Roy Reed."
"Hello, Roy," Ingersoll said. "How goes the job?" "Exactly as promised, sir,"
Tuska said. "Paul and I
completed the last assignment on schedule, late this afternoon. We used the
proper tools, as instructed."
"I'm pleased to hear that," Ingersoll said. Though there was no reason to
suspect a police tap on the phone line, it was best to remain discreet.
"Anything to muddy the waters. The more confusion the better in this
situation."
"No motive, though," Tony said. "That's the missing ingredient." "A good
point," Ingersoll said. 'Til take care of that this evening. Meanwhile, any
word on our female friend? The one who broke your nose?"
'"We've not seen her," Tony said, "though I gather from certain reports that
we were closer to her than we realized, earlier today. Paul's damned annoyed
that we didn't stay and check the surroundings. I
reminded him we were on a tight schedule, and had no reason to suspect she was
in the neighborhood.
He understands, but is still anxious to find the young lady."
"He sounds obsessed," Ingersoll said.
"The cast on his hand serves as a constant reminder," Tuska noted. "Paul's a
professional, sir, but he's still looking to even the score,"
"Well, I'm not thrilled with his attitude," Ingersoll said, "but I'm not
opposed to his objective. I'd be willing to up your fee twenty percent if you
could eliminate the problem by tomorrow morning," "Twenty percent?" Tony said.
"That's a substantial amount, sir." Ingersoll had promised Tony and Paul two
million dollars each for killing five hackers without raising suspicions.
Twenty percent was another four hundred thousand, just for terminating one
security specialist who so far had eluded their best efforts.
"I'm in a generous mood, Tony," Ingersoll said. "But I require results."
"You'll get them," Tuska said. "As per your orders, Ernie drove up with us
yesterday. He's been pulling a few strings, knocking on a few doors. Only a
matter of time before he finds a lead."
"Call me when it's done," Ingersoll said. "No matter the hour. I'll be awake."
"Will do," Tony said.
A soft beep let Ingen>oll know someone was approaching his door. He felt sure
he knew who it was.
"Harry will meet you tomorrow," In-gersoll said. "As arranged."
"I look forward to seeing him."
"Good night, Tony," Ingersoll said. ''And good luck."
He switched off the phone and rose to his feet. Harry Barton was scheduled to
meet Tony, Paul, and
Ernie tomorrow afternoon in the airport parking lot, But instead of millions
in cash, he was bringing them a different sort of payoff. So much for
generosity.
As he had expected, it was Gloria Simmons at the door. Not saying a word, he
motioned her to wait in the hall.
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"Just a minute," he said loudly. "I'll get the tray."
He walked back to his desk and lifted the wicker serving tray that held the
remains of his dinner. Odd to see a roast beef sandwich and sweet potato chips
on hand-painted china. As out of place as the gold-leaf silverware he used for
mustard and ketchup, and the cut-crystal glass goblet for his cola. Barrington
had money to burn. Ingersoll wanted to know that feeling.
Platter in hand, he turned and bumped into his chair. He stumbled, fell to one
knee, as the contents of the tray dropped to the floor. "Oh, hell," he said
for the microphones, as he grabbed the table knife and used the rubber heel of
his shoe to shove it into the electric outlet on the wall behind his desk.
With a loud pop, the room went black.
"Enter," he said to Gloria, ushering her into the dark office. He closed and
locked the door behind her.
Curtains wide open, there was still plenty of light this early in the evening.
"Your boss needs to upgrade his circuit breakers," he said, dropping back into
his black leather chair.
"Microphones and camera are off. We should have five or ten minutes before
anyone comes to see what's wrong. You get Barrington to tell you his plans?"
Gloria settled into the chair facing him. She still wore the skirt and blouse
from the afternoon. They looked wrinkled. Ingersoll didn't ask. She didn't
offer. No attempt at seduction this time. No big smiles, no playing with her
hair. She was all business.
"You promised outside to tell me all the details about the operation tonight."
"Like hell I did," Ingersoll said. "You find out about Harry?" "Sure," Gloria
said, "I said I would, and I
did. Disgusting old bastard. Harry's supposed to cut a disk of Cal's code, but
not tonight. Barrington's worried there still might be bugs in the program.
He's waiting for the final code, the second run."
No problem. There would never be a disk cut of Gal's software. All so
stupid Ingersoll had all of Gal's code on backup, on the server right here in
his office. Why would Barrington require a disk?
Still, Barrington could cause problems if he wasn'twatched. Better to string
Gloria along until after the big heist. The more she knew about the project,
the closer she'd watch the old man, make sure he did nothing to jeopardize the
outcome. Gloria wanted that cash.
"Most people at the agency think I'm paranoid," Ingersoll said. He had to be
brief. "Too suspicious of new technology. Fortunately, my superior knows
different. He realizes the Net's an atomic bomb waiting to explode. When 1
came to him with Nikonchik's code, he authorized this covert operation. Time
to wake up the president and Congress before it's too late."
"By stealing a billion dollars," Gloria said.
"For starters," Ingersoll said. "Tonight's just the dress rehearsal. Using
Nikonchik's genetic code, I'm plundering one billion dollars from banks all
over the country. The money will be transferred over intricate computer
network routes, passing through hundreds, maybe a thousand computer nodes
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