“And to stop him we’d have to change all the log-on codes?”
“Right. And circulate the new codes to every authorized Agency employee around the world, in a highly secure manner.”
“And that’s a big job.”
“It is, and every time we do something like that we run the risk of opening new security breaches, of having the codes fall into the hands of some hacker lurking out there.”
“When was the last time the codes were changed?”
“Six years ago. We had teething problems, of course, but the mainframe has remained secure since we worked those out. If we issue new codes, we’ll have to start all over again.”
Shit, Lance thought. He stared at the desk in front of him.
“If I could make a suggestion?” the kid said.
“Go ahead.”
“This guy has not shown any evil intent with these intrusions; he’s just looking for information. It might make sense to let him continue and hope that he’ll make a mistake that will make it easier to nail him. I’ve got the alert on the mainframe, and if he makes a more threatening move, then we can act on a code change.”
Lance was pleased to have a way out of this mess. “All right, do that, but every time he logs on I want to know what he’s looking at.”
“I’ll see that you do,” the kid said. He gave a little wave and left, closing the door behind him.
Lance was still thinking, though. This intruder had made two visits to the mainframe, both looking for information about Holly, and he didn’t like that. Of course, it could be somebody from Holly’s past: an old lover, maybe, who had worked at the Agency and still harbored a crush on her. But he kept returning to another possibility: Teddy Fay.
Lance had really begun to believe the man was dead; certainly that’s what he had repeatedly told the director, though she still seemed skeptical. To be frank with himself, he didn’t care if Teddy was alive and well as long as he didn’t call attention to himself and embarrass everybody, particularly himself but up to and including the director and her husband, President Will Lee.
Lance turned to his phone and pressed a speed-dial number, then he stared at the screen.
Holly was jarred awake by the ringing phone. She rolled over and looked at the bedside clock: seven fifteen. Then she realized the television screen at the foot of her bed had come alive, and Lance was staring at her-and at Josh, who had not yet woken up.
“Call me back on your secure line,” Lance said, “as soon as you can be alone.”
Josh woke up. “Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” Holly said. She grabbed the remote and switched off the TV.
“I heard a man’s voice,” Josh said.
“No, you didn’t,” Holly replied, placing a hand on his forehead and pushing down. “Go back to sleep.”
She got out of bed, threw on a shirt and jeans and went downstairs to her Agency cubbyhole. She tapped in the code that opened the door, then went inside, closed the door behind her and logged on to her computer. A few keystrokes later, she had Lance on the screen.
“I’m here,” she said.
“Sorry to wake you; something odd has come up.”
“Go ahead.”
“One of those geeks in computer services has come to me twice, now, with the news that someone outside the Agency has managed to log on to the mainframe, at least twice.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. Of course, he may have logged on before, but he has been caught at it only twice.”
“Who is it?”
“Unknown. He creates a sort of channel through several computers around the country, then logs on from one of them, so we haven’t been able to pinpoint his location.”