Ли Чайлд - The Sentinel

‘They’d need two things. A backup with a clean copy of all the data. And an IT manager to re-install it.’

‘The town doesn’t have an IT manager?’

‘Not any more. I was it. They fired me.’

‘Because you didn’t make a clean backup?’

‘Kind of. Only it’s a bit more complicated than that. I told my bosses time after time that we needed a system to protect us against an attack, and a backup, just in case. The town was such a soft target. But fixing it was expensive. They wouldn’t do it. I should have walked. Many times over. But I like the town. I liked it, anyway.’

‘So you let the defence and the backup slide, and that came back and bit you on the ass?’

‘No.’ Rutherford closed his eyes for a moment. ‘I did something even more stupid.’

Twenty-five minutes had passed, and Natasha’s phone did not ring.

The motel was a single structure, long and low, clad with brown wood. It was divided into nineteen sections. An office at the east end, with a covered entrance and an alcove for ice and soft drinks. Then eighteen guest rooms, each with a door and a window, starting with room one next to the office and stretching away to the west. Natasha’s team had taken rooms fifteen through eighteen. They left fifteen vacant, as a buffer, in case of adjacent occupants and thin walls. Vasili and Anatole, from the Suburban, slept in sixteen. Ilya and Petya in seventeen. And Natasha and Sonya in eighteen. When they got back from swapping cars the two women had carried Ilya to their own room and laid him, unconscious, on the couch. Petya had followed them in, nursing his arm. A moment later the other two men had joined them.

To wait.

Thirty minutes passed. Natasha’s phone did not ring.

She checked its signal three times. Three times she found it was at full strength. Some kind of proverb probably applied, she thought. Watched pots. Something like that. Or maybe something more up to date. She pushed the thought aside and tried to focus on practical matters. Like Petya’s shoulder. At first he was reluctant to let her examine it but he eventually relented. She found it was dislocated and eased it back into place. Then she checked on Ilya and found his breathing and pulse were returning to normal.

Thirty-five minutes passed. Her phone didn’t ring.

‘Should we do something?’ Vasili asked.

‘Yes,’ Natasha said. ‘Wait.’

‘For how long?’

‘For as long as it takes.’

‘But why’s it taking so long? Something must be wrong.’

‘Nothing’s wrong.’

‘How can you be so certain? What other explanation is there?’ Vasili lowered his voice. ‘We screwed up. We all know what happens when you screw up. We’ve all heard the rumours.’

‘Cut that kind of talk out right now. You shouldn’t listen to rumours.’

‘Then why is it taking so long for them to decide what they want us to do?’

‘What if they have decided?’ Sonya looked up from the table. ‘Decided, but not told us?’

‘Why wouldn’t they tell us?’ Vasili said. ‘How can we act on our orders if they’re not given to us?’

‘What if it’s not us they’re giving orders to?’ Sonya said. ‘What if they’ve brought in another team? And don’t want any loose ends?’

‘Stop it,’ Natasha said. ‘You’re being paranoid.’

‘Are we?’ Sonya said. ‘Think about it. They know where we are. They know we’re all together. We’re making it easy for them.’

Ilya grunted from the couch and opened his eyes.

Vasili crossed to the window. ‘All clear. For now.’

Forty minutes passed. Natasha’s phone finally rang.

Reacher bit into his first burger. ‘So what did you do that was so stupid?’

Rutherford shook his head. ‘I tried to fix it myself. I was working on a system to detect and neutralize cyber attacks. I called it the guard dog. That friend I mentioned? The FBI agent? She was helping me. She wanted to call it Cerberus. If it worked we were going into business together. We were going to industrialize it. And make our fortunes.’

‘I’m guessing your system didn’t work.’

‘Nope. And neither did the backup I tried to build. And yet I get the blame. Which is so unfair. None of these bozos who are on my back have any idea what I was up against. A lot of these attacks are state sponsored. They have giant warehouses full of people. It’s their only job. They have endless resources. Then there’s me, on my own, cobbling together repurposed parts salvaged from wherever I can find them.’

‘Like David and Goliath. Only Goliath won.’

‘Right. Which was always the more likely outcome, if you think about it.’

‘But however likely or unlikely it was, you still have no job. And everyone hates you. The town is nice, sure, but there’s a whole world out there. Why not hit the road for a while?’

‘I might do that. Eventually. But first I need to clear my name.’

‘How?’

‘There are documents on my old laptop that prove I’m innocent. I’ve hired a lawyer and she’s subpoenaed the town to get it. I can show how I warned and warned my boss, and how he ignored me. And there’s something else. The asshole is spreading a rumour that it was me who infected the network. He’s saying I missed a virus guard update when I was travelling and then opened a contaminated email.’ Rutherford rolled his eyes. ‘Can you believe it? It was me who introduced the update policy in the first place. I bet it was him who missed one. When I get my laptop back I’ll prove it.’

‘Rusty, I admire your spirit, but are you sure this is the best path to take? It would be a hollow victory if you can’t enjoy it because you’ve been bundled into the back of some other thug’s car.’

‘That detective was clear he didn’t think it was a serious kidnap attempt. How could it be, really? What would be the point? I’m not rich. I have no famous relatives. I don’t know any secrets. I haven’t slept with anyone’s wife.’

‘Well, someone sent those guys after you. And it wasn’t someone wanting to invite you over for milk and cookies.’

‘I’ve been thinking about that. I didn’t recognize any of them. So they wouldn’t recognize me. It could have been a case of mistaken identity.’

‘There are these new things. They’re called photographs. I’ve been told that even cell phones can take them now.’

‘Point taken. But hiring a bunch of thugs to drag me somewhere and kick my ass? Why do that? It’s a lot of trouble. A lot of expense, probably. And even if everyone in town believes the attack is my fault, who really got hurt? It’s all hysteria. The papers, social media, people are talking nonsense. Saying the town’s schools are going to close. There’ll be no new swings in the park. Half the police department’s cars will have to be scrapped. Gas prices will double. House prices will crash. It’s all a load of crap. Some of the town’s employees are having to work longer hours, sure. And use their own phones. But who doesn’t have unlimited minutes these days? The online historical archive is delayed, so the town will lose a little face, but we’re not alone. Lots of towns have been disrupted recently. It’s not worth committing crimes over. As long as the systems are back up and running by the end of the month for payroll, it’s no biggie. Despite the hype.’

‘How long have the computers been down?’

‘Two weeks.’

‘There’s a week left to the end of the month. The town has no backup. You said it takes time to start from scratch, and there’s no IT manager. Sounds like a biggie to me.’

‘But the town’s not starting from scratch. We’re paying. Didn’t I tell you that? The deal must be almost done.’

‘If someone’s paying, someone’s going to be left with a hole in their bank account. They might not be happy about that.’