Deadly Cover-Up, page 7
EIGHT
Bailey Kennedy pushed back from the table, her face filled with frustration.
“Well?” Ben asked, his tone hopeful. “Can you see what’s on the hard drive?”
“Right now, no,” Bailey replied. “Eventually, I hope so.”
“What’s the problem?” Jordan asked, moving forward so she could get a better look at the screen. She sighed. Getting closer hadn’t helped. She could tell Bailey had been working on something, but she was no computer expert, and it all looked like gibberish to her.
“The problem is, the hard drive is encrypted,” Bailey said as she motioned toward the screen. “And it’s no ordinary encryption program that is keeping me out. This is one called Honey Encryption. I need the key code to get in, and without it, I’m forced to guess at the code. If I guess incorrectly, the program starts sending me fake data, which makes me think I’m going in the right direction, when actually, I’m getting buried by false trails and incorrect responses. At the same time, the real code gets buried even deeper and becomes harder to discover. After hours of working on it and getting signal after signal that I was getting close, I just found out I’ve been going down the wrong path, and now I have to start from scratch all over again. It makes me want to beat my head against a rock!”
Ben smiled and nudged her shoulder playfully. “Don’t do that! There is very little in the computer world that you can’t tackle, Bailey. I have no doubt that you will conquer this latest challenge as well, even if it takes you a few days and the answers weren’t readily apparent.” He glanced over at Jordan. “Any guesses as to what the key code might be? You actually knew the man. You might know the answer without even realizing it.”
Jordan shook her head. “I have no idea. What are normal key codes like? Are they the same as a password?” She knew how to do quite a bit on the computer, but her skills were only rudimentary compared to Bailey’s.
“No,” Bailey replied. “Not usually. A password can be used as a key code, but usually keys are not something that a person will remember. They’re used by the software that is implementing the cryptographic algorithm, and oftentimes they are a combination of letters and numbers that seem nonsensical. There are a few crypto systems that use passwords as an encryption key, but they don’t use the password to perform the primary encryption. Instead, the program uses the password as a starting point and then it will generate the actual secure encryption key itself once the password is entered. This might be one of those, but I’m not sure yet. All I can tell so far is that the access code it is requesting has twenty-five numbers or letters. They can be in any combination, and there are a huge number of possibilities. I’ve got a computer program working on it, but it’s going to take a while.” She met Jordan’s eye. “You wouldn’t happen to know any twenty-five-letter phrases the man was fond of saying, would you?”
Jordan shrugged. “His wife’s name? His birthday? What are the most common passwords?”
“Any word, number or phrase that might be important to him. The problem is, with this program, the more I guess, the more it locks me out, so if you can point me in the right direction, it would really be helpful.”
Jordan bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I’ll try to figure it out. Jeremy wasn’t the kind of guy to keep a list of passwords or key codes in his desk drawer. He liked things simple. Whatever encryption he was using, it would probably have a password-generated key that he could easily remember instead of a nonsensical code. He would have wanted it to be a piece of cake to access the device so he could focus on his work. He wouldn’t have wanted to spend time trying to remember some convoluted code or be forced to look it up every time he wanted to work with a file from the hard drive. He was methodical that way, and very focused. We could search his house from top to bottom and would probably never discover the password or encryption key spelled out for us on a slip of paper,” Jordan replied.
“You’re probably right,” Bailey said as she took a drink from a nearby cup of lemonade. “Most people just memorize their passwords and phrases. He sounds like the same type of guy.”
“So,” Ben said, “the bottom line is that you need more time.”
Bailey smiled and put down her cup. “Exactly. It’s a wonderful challenge, but I do understand that time is of the essence, so I will do my best to figure out how to access the drive as quickly as possible.”
A knock on the office door caught Ben’s attention, and he turned to see his chief standing at the doorway.
“Ben, I need you to come with me,” he said as he motioned with his hands down the hallway. “Ms. Kendrick, you stay here.”
Jordan glanced at Ben and raised her eyebrow, then motioned to the chief with her hands. “Is anything wrong?” she asked.
“No,” the senior officer replied. “But there are some people in my office that Ben needs to meet.”
* * *
Bailey turned back to her computer. “Ben, I’ll let you know when I come up with something,” she said distractedly, her mind apparently already back on the encryption puzzle and sifting through the various possibilities. “Jordan, why don’t you take a seat and see if you can come up with any twenty-five-letter or twenty-five-number combinations that might have meant something to Sparks? If we work together, we just might figure this out.”
“Sure thing,” Jordan replied as she grabbed a nearby pad and went to work.
“Thanks for all your help, Bailey,” Ben said over his shoulder. He hesitated for a moment before following the chief down the corridor and past the conference room into the chief’s office. He didn’t know what to expect, but his chief wouldn’t have pulled him away if it wasn’t important.
There were three people waiting for them that stood when they entered. One was a woman dressed professionally in a navy suit and white blouse, who stood next to an older man wearing a black jacket with a burgundy tie who had a graying goatee. The last person was Donald Eddy, the local assistant state attorney. Eddy was standing apart from the other two, and he had a serious, almost angry expression on his face. Whatever the three had been talking about while they had waited for Ben to arrive hadn’t been pleasant, if Eddy’s expression was anything to go by.
The chief motioned with his hands again as he talked. “Deputy Graham, I believe you know Assistant State Attorney Donald Eddy.” He pointed to the man with the burgundy tie. “And this is Sam Delvers, the CEO of Southeastern Labs.” He nodded toward the woman. “This is Suzanne Tammington, one of Mr. Delvers’s attorneys.” He pulled the door closed behind him, then went and sat behind his desk as the group greeted each other.
Ben shook hands with each of them, then unbuttoned his jacket and took a seat as the others sat, as well. He made eye contact and nodded to Eddy, then turned toward the man with the goatee. “What can we do for you, Mr. Delvers?”
Mr. Delvers smiled but didn’t say a word. Instead, Ms. Tammington spoke up. “We understand you’re investigating Southeastern, and we’d like to know why. You must realize Southeastern has already been investigated and fined for sidestepping a few minor federal regulations when the company was navigating Mintax through the drug approval process.” She leaned back. “That isn’t a secret, and we’ve learned from our mistakes. The company has paid the fine and put that nasty mess behind us. We worked with the federal agencies as much as possible and were extremely accommodating and open during their inquiries. As far as we are concerned, the matter is over, and we’ve moved on to greener pastures. If you have questions, we’re happy to answer them so we can put your minds at ease.”
“We still have some questions of state law to sort out,” Eddy said, his voice professional. “It’s an ongoing investigation, so I’m afraid we’re not at liberty to discuss the details at this time.”
Ms. Tammington crossed her legs. “The Feds thought they had more, and yet their entire case fell apart during the trial. Even the witnesses they called were weak and inefficient, and they didn’t have nearly enough evidence for a conviction of any sort.” She leaned forward. “I understand you’ve been in contact with Jordan Kendrick?”
Neither Ben nor Eddy reacted or replied, and both men kept their expressions stoic. Ms. Tammington waited a moment as she glanced at the two men, then continued, “What makes you think you can do better than someone with the full force and weight of the United States government behind them?”
Ben finally glanced back at Eddy, who just smiled. He looked totally unruffled by the woman’s words, even though Ben knew that Eddy was probably burning on the inside. The woman’s comments were infuriating, but it was her body language and tone that were the most insulting. It was almost as if she were daring them to do their worst, because she was confident they would fail.
Well, they would just see about that.
Ben took in the full measure of the attorney who sat before him. Her clothes screamed tailored and expensive, and she had a gold Rolex on her wrist and a large diamond pendant around her throat. He could see her studying his jacket and tie and mentally measuring his own tastes and lack of wealth against her own. Her lip curled in disdain. She probably made his entire annual salary in less than a month, but having a large bank account didn’t impress him. It was a person’s heart and actions that mattered, not one’s salary. “Did you have anything further, Ms. Tammington?” Ben asked, making sure his voice was calm and friendly. There was no reason to antagonize her, regardless of how she was treating them.
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, as I said, we are happy to cooperate. If we could help you close this matter once and for all, you only need to ask. Why don’t you tell us specifically what you are looking for, and we’ll see if we can accommodate you?”
Ben shook his head. “I’m afraid we are going in circles. As Mr. Eddy already stated, we can’t comment at this time.” He started to stand but stopped when Ms. Tammington spoke again.
“Detective, Southeastern is a very large company with millions of dollars in assets. We have an army of attorneys ready and waiting to fight whatever you throw at us. You may think that you have the upper hand, but that just isn’t true. The wise move here would be to close this case and try working on something else that you might actually have a chance of winning.”
Eddy’s smile grew wider. “A challenge. I like that.” He stood. “Ms. Tammington, I can’t tell you what a joy it has been to meet you and Mr. Delvers today. Thanks so much for stopping by. If you’re ever in the area again, do stop in and say hello.” He shrugged. “Or not. Either way, have a good day.” He nodded to the chief. “Chief. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He nodded to Ben and left, leaving the office door open behind him.
“I hope that attorney isn’t representative of the best of your team,” Ms. Tammington said under her breath as she looked at the chief. “He seems like a bit of a loose cannon.”
Sam Delvers had a stony expression on his face, despite the confidence his attorney was spouting. He suddenly spoke up in a raspy, tight voice. “Fighting unnecessary legal battles is expensive and time-consuming. If you persist in prosecuting either me or Southeastern, we’ll make your life miserable, and you’ll only find yourself on the losing side of an embarrassing lawsuit and the six o’clock news.”
The chief leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. “Are you threatening me, Mr. Delvers?”
“Not at all,” Ms. Tammington said quickly as she put a hand on her client’s arm in a show of restraint. “In fact, we are here in a show of cooperation. If you’d only let us know what you are looking for, we might be able to provide it for you, so we can avoid all of this unpleasantness. Southeastern is a reputable company that has done outstanding work in the community. It would be a shame to tarnish that reputation just because your young attorney wants to make a name for himself.”
“As Mr. Eddy said, thank you for stopping by,” the chief stated as he motioned toward his door. Ben was glad that his chief wasn’t willing to budge or divulge any of the details about their investigation, no matter how small. They both knew they still had plenty of work ahead of them before they would be ready to take Southeastern or Delvers to court, but Ben and his team were committed to seeing this case through to the end.
Delvers shrugged and looked at Ms. Tammington, who raised her eyebrow in response. He wasn’t quite able to hide the frustration from his features. The attorney leaned to the left and grasped her briefcase, then followed her client out of the office and down the hallway. The two whispered back and forth as they disappeared onto the elevator, their heads bent together as they plotted their next move.
Ben watched them go, then turned back to his chief once he was sure they were gone. “Well, that was a nasty pair.”
The chief shook his head but smiled. “You doubt their sincerity? I’m shocked.”
“I doubt every word they uttered. The last thing they want to do is be helpful.”
The chief’s smile faded. “Yet, they can be a dangerous adversary. They do have a lot of money and attorneys at their disposal, just like she said.”
“Sure, but they are just fishing right now. They know we have Jordan, but they don’t know we recovered the hard drive from the Sparks house. We’ll find what we need to take them down. I’m sure of it.”
“I hope so. As much as we were showering them with bravado, the last thing we need right now is a lawsuit to tie our hands and make our jobs even harder. Our resources are limited, just like any public agency.”
Ben put his hands on his hips. “We’re getting closer, Chief. We just need more time.”
“You have some,” the chief answered, “but don’t think we can focus on this forever. If you don’t find something soon, we’ll need to move on to our other cases.”
Ben nodded. “Message received, Chief. We’ll step it up if we can.” He exited the office and closed the door behind him, then went in search of Jordan to tell her about this latest development. They’d already been working as hard as humanly possible, but now he realized they no longer had time to wait for Bailey to find a way in to the mysterious hard drive. They had to pull out all the stops and follow even the most unlikely of leads.
NINE
“Can I get a caramel macchiato, please?” Jordan asked. She looked at the coffee shop’s menu board once more and laid four dollars on the counter.
Ben was a few steps away, pretending to be another customer while watching the barista surreptitiously from the side of the counter. The wide eyes and narrow face were identical to those of the man in the photo on Ben’s phone. His hair was a bit longer and had been pulled back into a ponytail, and he sported a well-groomed beard, but he was definitely the man they were looking for. According to the official records, their target was twenty-three years old, five-feet-eleven-inches high and weighed 174 pounds. All of that information matched, as well.
They had finally found the man they had been searching for and their hard work had paid off, but it hadn’t been easy. Jordan and Bailey still hadn’t discovered a way into the hard drive, so they had turned their attention to Samantha Peretti’s murder. Chad Peretti, Samantha’s son, had done an admirable job of disappearing into the woodwork after his mother had been killed, which had forced him to use a fake social security number to get a job. Ben was extremely thankful that Chad hadn’t left Jacksonville. If he had, it would have been much harder to find him. With a little interoffice cooperation, however, Ben had been able to get a list of the workers in Duval County whose W-2s didn’t match the name and social security numbers the Social Security Administration had on record. The administration didn’t have a lot of manpower to investigate the discrepancies, but after failing to find Chad through other normal channels, Ben and Jordan had started searching using other resources, including federal databases they could access. Once they had limited the search parameters to match when Chad had disappeared and his age and gender, they had been able to narrow the list of possible suspects to five individuals. The man before them was number three on the list. They’d already seen the first two and been able to scratch them off this morning.
Ben eyed the exits of the coffee shop, then moved slightly and positioned himself between the counter and the dining room, effectively blocking off two of the ways out of the restaurant.
Chad glanced up at Jordan as he took her order. “Coming right up,” he said jovially. He turned to make the drink, oblivious to Ben’s perusal, then came back and put the steaming cup on the counter. “Three seventy-nine,” he said as he took her money and punched in the amount at the cash register.
Ben didn’t think that Chad would recognize Jordan, and he’d been right. In fact, the cashier was so engrossed in his work that he barely acknowledged the individual customers, except when he smiled and took their money. According to Jordan, the two had never met, even though Chad’s mother had worked closely with her on the development of Mintax in the Southeastern lab. Samantha Peretti had kept a picture of Chad on her desk, however, and Jordan glanced at Ben and nodded, letting Ben know that they had indeed found the right man.
“Chad Peretti?” Ben asked.
The barista looked up quickly. “Ah, no. That’s not my name. We don’t have anyone named Chad working here. Are you sure you have the right store?”
Ben shook his head and took a step forward. The man was not a good liar. In fact, his face had paled at Ben’s question and his hands had started shaking, even though he tried to hide it by wiping them again and again on his apron. Ben took another step closer to the counter, knowing that his big body created a formidable presence. “Yes, I’m sure, and you look amazingly like Mr. Peretti’s driver’s license photo.”
The coffeehouse employee hesitated, then slowly lifted his head and looked Ben directly in the eye.
“I have one of those faces. You know—common. I look like a lot of people.”
