Brad Thor - Foreign Influence

In the corner, Tsui was crying and writhing in pain. Harvath grabbed a couple of dish towels sitting near the sink and threw them to Peio. “Make sure he doesn’t have any other weapons on him and then see if you can stop the bleeding.”

Harvath turned to Nicholas. “You were going to kill him.”

“More like maim, actually.”

“You told Argos to bite his balls off. He could have bled to death.”

“If he lives long enough to tell us what we need to know, who cares?”

Harvath shook his head. He was going to have it out with both Nicholas and Peio, but now wasn’t the time.

The Yorkie had started barking again and was trying to bite Peio as he attended to Tsui. Harvath was getting a headache. Walking over to Peio, Harvath reached down and grabbed the dog by the back of the neck. Gently, he picked it up along with its water bowl, moved it to the furthest room in the chalet, and locked it inside.

When he came back, the priest was helping Tsui into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Nicholas stood off to the side with his two dogs, both of which were growling.

Harvath leaned up against the sink and set his pistol on the counter next to him. “This is either going to be fast and easy or it’s going to be long and very painful.”

“I’m going to wait outside,” said Peio as he wiped off his hands and stepped away.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Tsui sobbed, his crying beginning again in earnest. “I didn’t do anything to you. I don’t even know who you are.”

“Look at my face!” the Troll yelled again. “You did this to me.”

“No I didn’t! I didn’t!”

The man was hysterical. Harvath studied his face for any indication he was lying, but there was nothing. “What’s your name?”

“Please, I need a doctor.”

“What is your name?”

“Michael Lee. I need a doctor. Please get me to a doctor,” he begged.

“Tell me about Tony Tsui,” said Harvath.

“I don’t know anyone named Tsui.”

“You’re a liar,” spat Nicholas.

Harvath waved him off. “We know you were washing your Internet traffic through Lars Jagland’s computer lab at the University of Geneva. We know about everything.”

“Washing my traffic? What traffic?”

“Just kill him and let’s get this over with,” said Nicholas.

“Shut up,” replied Harvath.

Lee looked at him and pleaded. “I need to see a doctor. Please.”

“Not until you answer our questions.”

Lee was whimpering. “You’re not asking me anything I know the answers to.”

“Why wasn’t your gun loaded?”

“I don’t know,” he said emphatically. “It belonged to Lars.”

“You were expecting us, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone. When Sugar started barking, I looked outside and saw someone coming toward the house. I just wanted to scare you away.”

“How long have you known Gaston Leveque?”

“I don’t know anyone named Gaston Leveque.”

“Why did you hire him to contact Dominique Fournier?”

“I don’t know any of these people,” stated Lee. “Please, you have to call an ambulance for me.”

Harvath had continued to watch for any sign that Lee was lying. There wasn’t any; not one single tic, tell, or facial cue. He had a very bad feeling that they had the wrong person.

“How long have you known Lars Jagland?”

“I am in a lot of pain.”

“Answer the question.”

“Six years, okay? I was a graduate student of his before I became his TA.”

“When did you start hacking?” asked Harvath.

Lee didn’t respond.

“Answer the question.”

“Screw the question,” interjected the Troll. “Kill him.”

“If you don’t zip it,” Harvath warned, “I’m sending you outside.”

“I started when I was sixteen.”

“And what did Lars think of your hacking?”

“What do you think he thought? He was Mr. Straight Arrow. He hated it.”

“But you kept doing it.”

“Is that why you’re here? Is this how companies get even now?” replied Lee. “Like casinos? Is this payback time? Are you the leg breakers?”

“We’re much worse than that,” said the Troll.

“Why didn’t you go to Jagland’s funeral?”

Lee looked at Harvath. “None of your business.”

Pointing to the dogs he said, “You can tell me, or I bring them over and put them back to work.”

“What about a doctor? I think I’m going to pass out.”

“As soon as you answer my questions, we’ll get you a doctor.”

Lee readjusted himself in the chair and winced. “His family hated me. It was bad enough for them that Lars was gay, but to have an Asian boyfriend was too much for them. They always made comments about searching for a cure for Lars’s yellow fever. They were the most hateful people I’d ever met. I brought some of Lars’s ashes up here so I could say good-bye to him alone.”

“What was his financial situation?”

“For a university professor I guess he was paid okay.”

“Did he have any enemies?”

“Lars? No. Not at all.”

Harvath watched his face very closely. “Did you have access to his university computer network?”

“No,” he replied. “I mean yes. Well, not anymore.”

“Which is it?”

“I told you he was lying,” said the Troll.

“I’m not. I just want to answer your questions so I can get a doctor.”

“So which is it?” asked Harvath. “Either you did or didn’t have access to his university network.”

“When I was his teaching assistant, I did.”

“What happened?”

“I did some things I shouldn’t have done.”

“Finally, some truth,” snapped the Troll.

“What kind of things?” asked Harvath.

“I made a stupid mistake that got traced back.”

“A mistake on a hack?”

Lee nodded. “It cost me my job at the university. Lars made me promise never to do it again.”

“But you kept on hacking, didn’t you?”

“It was dishonest, but in my mind I was promising not to make the same stupid mistake again, not to stop hacking.”

“So you lied to Jagland.”

“Yes. Now, please can I see a doctor?”

“I don’t believe that your access to Jagland’s network was cut off.”

“It was. He started changing his password and didn’t even access the university system from home.”

“So no one had access to it but Jagland?”

“And his TA. The one he hired when I left.”

“The woman with the glasses?” asked Harvath.

“That’s her. Dripping with talent, but cold. Ice cold.”

At that moment, Harvath realized that they had made a very big mistake. Rechecking Michael Lee’s wounds he said, “We’re going to get you to a doctor, but first I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

MONDAY

Adda Sterk awoke from a strange dream. In it, she had purchased a very expensive new car, but couldn’t remember where she had parked it. There was something about the car that wouldn’t allow her to go to the police or friends for help. As she continued to search her neighborhood, she became more and more distraught.

When she opened her eyes, the nightmare should have been over, but it was just beginning.

The man standing over her bed was rough and very strong. His face was covered by some sort of mask. He placed a piece of tape over her mouth and bound her hands painfully behind her back. She felt certain that he was going to rape her until he bound her feet and then placed a hood over her head. She struggled, but it made no difference to her situation.