The Big Bad Wolf (Alex Cross 9)

“I sent out some stealth UDP scans. Then IP spoofing. Their root server bit on the false packets. I planted a source code for the sniffer. Finally hacked in using DNS poisoning. It’s a little more complicated, but that’s the basic idea.”

“I get it,” Monnie said. Suddenly I was very glad she was there with me at the Olsen house.

“I think they know I was on with them. Actually, I’m sure of it,” said Lili.

“How do you know that?” I asked her.

“They said so.”

“You didn’t get into too many specifics with Agent Tiezzi. You said you thought someone might be ‘for sale’ at the site?”

“Yeah, but I blew it, didn’t I. Agent Tiezzi didn’t believe me. I admitted I was fourteen, and a girl. How dumb of me, right?”

“I won’t hold it against you,” Monnie said, and smiled kindly.

Lili finally cracked a smile too. “I’m in big trouble, aren’t I? Actually, I know I am. They might already know who I am.”

I shook my head. “No, Lili,” I said to her. “They don’t know who you are, or where you are. I’m sure they don’t.”

If they did, you’d already be dead.

Chapter 66

IT WAS SO EERIE AND STRANGE, being in the young wunderkind’s room—with her life, and her family members’ lives, possibly in great danger. Lili had been a little coy in her message to the Bureau, so I understood how the tip might have fallen through the cracks. Also, she was fourteen years old. But now that we’d met and spoken to Lili face-to-face, I was sure that she had something real that could help us.

She’d heard them talking.

Someone had been purchased while she listened.

She was afraid for herself, and for her family.

“Do you want to go on-line with them?” Lili asked in an excited voice. “We could! See if they’re together now. I’ve been working on some cool anonymizing software. I think it will work. Not sure, though. Well, yeah, it’ll work.”

She smiled broadly, showing those beautiful braces.

I could see in her eyes that she wanted to prove something to us.

“Is this a good idea?” Monnie leaned in and asked me.

I pulled her aside and lowered my voice. “We have to move her and the family anyway. They can’t stay here now, Monnie.”

I looked over at Lili. “Okay. Why don’t you try to get on-line with them again. Let’s see what they’re up to. We’ll be right here with you.”

Lili talked constantly as she went through the various steps to get through the site’s passwords and encrypted protection. I didn’t understand any of what the fourteen-year-old had to say, but Monnie got most of it. She was enthusiastic and supportive but mostly impressed.

Suddenly, Lili looked up in alarm. “Something’s all wrong here.” She went back to her computer.

“Oh, shit! God damn them!” she swore. “Those creeps. I can’t believe this.”

“What’s happened?” Monnie asked. “They changed the keys, didn’t they?”

“Worse,” Lili said, and kept tapping out commands rapidly. “Much, much worse. Awhh, horse spit. I can’t believe it.”

She finally turned away from the glowing screen of her laptop.

“First, I couldn’t even find the site. They set up this very cool, very dynamic network—it was in Detroit, Boston, Miami, bouncing all over the place. Then, when I did find it, I couldn’t get on. Nobody can get into the site now except them.”

“Why is that?” Monnie asked. “What happened between the last time you got in and now?”