One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [95]
Standish hung up the phone, saying, “They’re on the way over. Should be here in about five minutes. You sure you can do this?
“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s not brain surgery. The key is the information you gave me. If the phone’s a different model, or the pager information is incorrect, it might not work.”
“That intel’s good. I’ve seen them myself.”
“Shouldn’t be an issue, then. We’ll know shortly.”
He left the office and positioned himself on a bench in the marble hallway within view of the entrance to Standish’s office, but far enough away as to be inconspicuous. He opened a magazine.
He didn’t have to wait long. Two men approached Standish’s office. He focused on the one matching the description of his target. They stopped and placed their two-way pagers and cell phones in the ubiquitous cubicles provided outside every government office that whispered the nation’s secrets. He noted which cubicle his target used. He waited until they passed through the cipher-locked door, then waited an additional few seconds. When nothing happened, he walked at a quick pace and pulled both the pager and cell phone from the cubicle. He raced down the stairs to the equipment he had left in his vehicle parked outside.
His task was to clone the cell phone with a sophisticated Trojan horse virus, which would allow a separate cell phone to act exactly like the original. Anytime the target phone rang, the other would ring too. Anytime it dialed out, his would dial out. It would be like a three-way call every time the target used his phone, except that he wouldn’t suspect it.
In addition to manipulating the phone, he was going to reverse the pager the target wore. Using the information given to him by Standish, Lucas knew that the device was specially constructed, capable of worldwide coverage through a satellite network, and equipped with a “panic button” that would send out a signal based on Global Positioning System satellites. Once triggered, it would give a grid reference to its location worldwide. Lucas was going to ensure that the pager sent a signal without the button being pushed, in effect, making the pager a beacon without the target even knowing it. The trick would be ensuring the signal didn’t enter the normal channels and thus cause an alert. Instead, it would be visible only to someone who knew it was broadcasting. Lucas didn’t yet know exactly why this target needed to be tracked, but something told him that Standish wasn’t finished using him on this particular assignment.
STANDISH LEFT KURT AND GEORGE sitting in the anteroom for five more minutes, just because he felt like being a prick. Eventually, he closed out the solitaire game he was playing and told his secretary to show them in.
He heard them enter, pretending to work on his computer. He let them stand for a few seconds before turning around. He pointed to the chairs in front of his desk and started right in, skipping any pleasantries.
“You received a Prometheus alert two days ago, yet you didn’t notify anyone at all. If I remember your initial information briefings to me, those were supposed to trigger a response, but when I called the Taskforce, I got an idiotic duty officer who acted as if nothing was wrong. Either you’re running an organization that isn’t the caliber you so eloquently brag about in your brief, or you’re attempting to hide things from a member of the council that oversees your activities. For your sake, I hope it’s incompetence.”
Standish watched both of them squirm a little, clearly not expecting to be attacked. Good. They need to know who’s the boss here.
Kurt said, “Sir, we did get an alert, but it wasn’t what you think. Neither of your reasons is accurate—the alert came from an old unit member. It didn’t involve an active mission and thus didn’t require a response from the Taskforce.
“As for you not getting any word about it, I apologize, but if you remember the brief you were just talking about, we get oversight solely on which target to attack and our method of engagement, based on potential