Cliff Ryder - The Finish Line

The hacker recoiled as if she had slapped him. "Naturally."

"Right, no offense." Kate winced — sometimes her intensity about the job could be taken for brusqueness.

"None taken. Autom8 out."

Kate disconnected and leaned back for a moment, weighing possibilities. Making her choice, she hit a key on her computer's speed-dial directory, listening to the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Samantha, this is Kate." There was an odd kind of echo on their connection that Kate couldn't figure out. "Where are you?"

"I'm standing in the entryway of your suite."

Kate pushed back from her improvised office to see Samantha, her face pale, standing right next to Jake, who was holding her long cashmere coat. He shrugged and disappeared into the adjoining bedroom.

"Well, I guess we don't need these anymore." Kate took off the headset and waved her in. "What's going on?"

Samantha slid the recessed door closed behind her. Taking a small device from her pocket, she quickly swept the room for bugs, even going over Kate and her computer. She then attached it to the window and pressed a button, making the device emit a faint, high-pitched whine that vibrated the window ever so slightly. "Okay, we're clean. What I have to tell you cannot — cannot — go beyond this room. Do you understand?"

Kate slowly closed her laptop. "Samantha, you know I can't give you that assurance. If this is really that sensitive a matter, then perhaps I'm not the one you should be speaking to."

Samantha walked in and sat on the sofa. "That's the issue at hand, since this does involve the current mission. It's just — there's a particular aspect of it that is of vital importance to the security of Great Britain — and America, as well."

Kate mulled it over for a second. "All right. Tell me what's happening, and let's see what we can do about it. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, my digestion is already in knots as it is." Samantha brushed back her hair and continued. "Here's what I can tell you. It is imperative that we recover that woman who escaped the Wyvil house, and any data storage devices she has on her."

"Okay, we're working on that. May I inquire as to the sudden paramount leap in her importance to your government?"

Samantha actually glanced at the door before speaking. "Yesterday, the headquarters at MI-6 was infiltrated on-site, and our computer system was broken into from the inside."

Kate had been prepared for anything but that. "My God, I thought the new headquarters building was impregnable."

"So did the architects and builders. The hackers found an old, abandoned sewer pipe that ran exactly where they needed it — from Wyvil Road. They broke through and were able to access the mainframe undetected. It seems they used a backdoor — even though we were sure we had eliminated all of them. We're still getting an idea of the damage, but it appears that they might have our entire playbook — classified information, agents in place, everything. If word of this got out, you can imagine the black eye it would give the department. I can see the headlines now — MI-6 Can't Even Protect Its Own Headquarters."

Kate's mind whirled as she absorbed the magnitude of the news. "Not to mention the damage caused in the intel community if any of the data is leaked to the public. I can think of dozens of organizations that would pay handsomely for even a fraction of what those files contain."

Samantha nodded. "Exactly. Long-term operations scuttled, deep-cover agents blown, informants exposed. It might set law enforcement back a decade or more worldwide. There are terrorist and crime rings around the world who would love to know just what we know about them. No matter what, that woman — and every bit of stolen data — must be recovered."

"We're doing everything we can at the moment. I assume that MI-6 has scrambled everyone they have to work on this?"

"Every available officer is scouring the city for her. That's another thing — there may be cross fire if the Midnight Team runs into anyone from MI-6. They're under orders to consider anyone attempting to approach or assist her as an immediate threat, and to capture or neutralize them using whatever methods are available. Even she is expendable, as long as the data is recovered."

"Understandable. I'll let our boys know. If MI-6 gets to her first, we'll break off our pursuit. If we get her first, we'll arrange a handover as soon as possible," Kate said.

Samantha took a deep breath. "Kate, with what I've just told you, does that change your mind in any way about using the Midnight Team?"

"I have the utmost faith that they will be able to get the job done, even with this new wrinkle. Our teams have not failed in executing an assignment yet, and despite what others have been saying, I'm counting the Wyvil Road operation as a win. I expect this one will be no different."

"I hope you're right." Samantha rose. "I've got to head back — they've pulled me in to consult on this. I'll do what I can to keep you informed."

"Check in whenever you can. If anything breaks on our end, you'll be the first to know after me." Kate got up with her and walked Samantha to the door. "Don't worry, with all of us on the job, she won't get away."

"Yes, but more operators in an area also means a higher chance of something going wrong," Samantha said.

"Then we'll just have to do our best to make sure that doesn't happen. Stay in touch, and good luck."

"You, too."

Like a silent butler, Jake appeared to help her on with her coat. Samantha flashed a wistful smile at both of them, then let herself out.

"I take it that wasn't a social call," Jake said.

"Not in the slightest." Kate's computer chimed yet again. "Damn, when things happen, they really happen fast." She crossed the room to the computer and stabbed a key. "Yes?"

"Primary, this is NiteMaster. I have a fix on your target with a seventy-eight percent chance of accuracy."

Kate sank into her chair again. "Where?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but…" a photograph popped up of the outside of the house on Wyvil Road, and of the crowd surrounding the police vehicles "…she actually went back to the scene of the crime." The picture zoomed in on a woman in a baseball cap, denim miniskirt and leggings, with a laptop case over her shoulder. Although she was watching the police work with the rest of the crowd, she also did her best to keep her head down and face away from the news cameras. "When she left, she forgot to keep herself covered, and a watch camera on the next block got a good front-on shot."

He showed the ball-cap-clad girl next to the grainy shot of the woman they had obtained from their specialist on the Midnight Team. She had cut her hair, and her clothes were completely different, but the face was the same, albeit happy in the first picture, and haunted in the second.

"That's her, all right. How are you doing following her trail?" Kate asked.

"She's good, I'll give her that. She crossed into several areas that weren't covered by surveillance programs, so there are gaps in our coverage. However, using the general timeline, as well as the average walking speed of a five-foot-eight female…"

Kate cut him off. "NiteMaster, I don't need to know how, I need to know where she is now. "

The hacker blinked as if being brought back to reality from his virtual version. "Oh, right. Anyway, using a spiral search correlated with the time-stamp data, I found her outside a hotel near the St. Pancras railway station this morning. She's a blonde now, by the way, and I last spotted her coming out of a coffee shop near the train station."

"Fantastic." Kate was already dialing. "See if you can locate a more recent sighting, and also watch for tickets being bought within twenty minutes of that time to Paris, and the name of each purchaser — we might be able to get a name out of this. Great work."