would cut down on the time he needed to spend here, where he could be
caught.”
Sawyer shook his head. “Wait a minute. If Archer didn’t use his own
workstation to access the files because it could positively identify him
and used this one instead because it couldn’t, how do you know it was
Archer who accessed the files in the first place?”
Hardy pointed at the keyboard. “An old reliable. We lifted numerous
fingerprints from here. They all matched Archer’s.”
Sawyer finally asked the most obvious question. “Okay, but how do you
know this workstation was used to access any files?”
Lucas sat down on one of the boxes. “For a period of time we were
getting unauthorized entries onto the system. Although Archer didn’t
need to go through the identification process to log on through this
unit, he would still leave a trail if he accessed files using it unless
he electronically erased his trail as he exited. That’s possible to do,
although tricky. In fact, I think that’s what he did.
Initially, at least. Then he got sloppy. We finally picked up the
trail and, while it took time, we narrowed down the breach until it led
us right here.”
Hardy folded his arms across his chest. “You know, it’s ironic. You
put all this time and effort and money into securing your networks
against any breaches. You have steel doors, security guards, electronic
monitoring devices, smart cards–you name it, Triton has it.
And yet …” He looked up at the ceiling. “And yet you also have
drop-down ceiling panels with exposed cables connecting your entire
network together, ripe for penetration.” He shook his head in dismay and
looked at Lucas. “I’ve warned you about this risk before.”
“He was an insider,” Lucas said heatedly. “He knew the system and he
used that knowledge to hack it.” Lucas brooded for a moment.
“And then he took down a planeload of people in the process.
Let’s not forget that little fact.”
Ten minutes later the men were once again in Gamble’s office. He did
not look up when they reappeared.
Sawyer sat down. “Okay, any further developments on the RTG end?” he
asked.
Gamble’s face flamed red at the mention of his competitor. “Nobody rips
me off and gets away with it.”
“Jason Archer’s involvement with RTG hasn’t been proven. It’s all
speculation at this point,” Sawyer said evenly.
Gamble dramatically rolled his eyes. “Right! Well, you just go and
jump through your little hoops so you can keep your little job and I’ll
take care of the tough stuff.”
Sawyer closed his notebook and stood up to his full height. Hardy stood
up too, and reached out to grab Sawyer’s coat, until his former partner
froze him with a stare that Hardy had seen him use on many an occasion
at the bureau. Sawyer turned back to Gamble.
“Ten minutes, Sawyer. Since you don’t appear to have anything of note
to report, I’m going to catch my plane a little early.” When Gamble
walked past the burly FBI agent, Sawyer tightly gripped his arm and led
the Triton chairman outside into the private reception area. Sawyer
looked over at Gamble’s executive assistant. “Excuse us for a minute,
ma’am.” The woman hesitated, looking at Gamble.
“I said excuse us!” Sawyer’s drill-sergeant tone catapulted the woman
out of her chair and she fled the room.
Sawyer turned to the chairman. “Let’s get a couple of things straight,
Gamble. First, I don’t report to you or anyone else at this place.
Second, since it looks like one of your people conspired to blow up a
plane, I’ll ask you as many questions as I want to and I don’t give a
shit about your travel schedule. And if you tell me one more time how
many minutes I’ve got left, I’ll rip that goddamned watch off your wrist
and stuff it in your mouth. I’m not one of your lackey boys and don’t
you ever, ever talk to me that way again. I’m an FBI agent and a damn
good one. I’ve been shot, knifed, kicked and bitten by some seriously
demented assholes who would make you look like the biggest pussy in the