And it was going nowhere fast. All had been silent, and then everything seemed to open up. Quite by chance, through a routine database scan, I was suddenly able to access chat records that had been buried under mountains of encryption.

When I saw the hacker’s handle I almost lost it.

<Freed0m0v3rdr1ve>

I noted that the chat records went back only a few days. But it was something, at least. The first shred of hard information that took me that one step closer.

The records showed an ongoing conversation between Freedom Overdrive and another cracker with an unreadable moniker. A series of numbers that was vaguely familiar.

I stared at the handle for a long time. How did I know the numbers?

06050900.

I got a pen and paper and wrote out the numbers in a different order.

06050009.

00000659.

And then it hit me.

I pulled up the information retrieved from the Ryan Law exploit. The embedded signatures, one belonging to Freedom Overdrive.

The other I hadn’t been able to decipher.

Until now.

06050900.

A separate signature.

As I read through the transcripts I found what I had suspected all along. Freedom Overdrive was working with someone else. He had found himself a partner.

And they were plotting.

Ryan Law was only one of their crimes.

There had been others.

There would be more.

I had been right.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I called out loudly.

Perry’s head popped up from behind his monitor, his thinning hair sticking out in all directions. His eyes were sunken and he looked as though he was coming off a three-day bender. His pasty complexion looked shiny beneath the lights. He had been glued to his computer for days and it was showing.

“What? Did something happen?” he asked, appearing startled.

I waved him over impatiently and he hopped up and all but ran to my desk.

“Check this out.” I pointed to the screen. Perry leaned over my shoulder and I could smell his body odor through his cologne.

“Okay, not that close. Back up a little,” I told him.

“Oh, sorry,” he muttered, moving over a few inches. He peered at my computer. “What am I looking at exactly?”

Instead of growling in frustration, I held on to my patience. I had been paired with Perry because no one else wanted to work with him. Agent Sanders expected me to find it difficult. He hoped I would.

I wouldn’t give him, or anyone else, the satisfaction of seeing me lose it. So I was learning to find ways of dealing with Perry. And that involved lots of deep breathing and a good dose of self-control.

“That right there.” I tapped on the screen with my fingernail. “Recognize the name?”

Perry’s eyes widened. “Shit, it’s Freedom Overdrive! What is this? An email?”

“Nope. It’s transcripts from an encrypted chat. Read it and tell me what you think.”

Perry scanned the fragmented words and text full of acronyms. “Uh, it sounds like they’re planning something.”

I nodded, smiling. “Very good.”

Perry frowned. “But wait a second. There are two people here. Freedom Overdrive and someone else.”

Don’t roll your eyes, Mason, I thought to myself.

“Yes, Perry, there are two people. That’s the point of a chat room.” I couldn’t stop the sarcasm.

Perry flushed at my derision. “I just mean it looks like Freedom Overdrive has a partner.”

I patted Perry on the back. “Bingo. That’s exactly what’s going on.”

Perry grabbed my shoulder. “Damn, Mason, this is a big deal! This is a really big deal!” He turned back to my computer and pointed to a name on the screen. “And that’s the name of their target, isn’t it?”

I nodded, grinning at my partner. “Yep. I think it is.”

Perry laughed, slapping me on the back. “I can’t wait to see Chaz’s face when we report this in debriefing.”

I chuckled. “Me either, man. It’ll be sweet.”

I felt gloriously vindicated. Like maybe I hadn’t lost my touch. I had felt off my game since moving to Richmond. I could admit I had been floundering.

Not now.

Now I was getting somewhere.

I was eager to announce my findings in the status update meeting on Monday. It would feel great to prove Derek wrong in his dismal assessment of me as an agent.

—

“We’ve been able to track down Internet chatter between Sayid and Shameem Edris, another known affiliate of the SEA. Agent Armiger was able to isolate their location to a town outside of Damascus that is a well-known hub. We’re liaising with several assets in the area to determine whether they are indeed there,” Chaz reported smugly, his arms crossed over his bony chest with importance.

“What a douchebag,” Perry muttered under his breath, and I had to stifle my laughter.

“That’s great. Well done, Agents Armiger and Edwards.” Derek regarded the rest of the agents in the room before looking across at Perry and me. “And this is how you get a job done. I don’t have to tell the rest of you that anything less than success isn’t acceptable.”

Agent Sanders zeroed in on me. “Agents Kohler and Winston, any updates in the Freedom Overdrive case? Is it still a dead end? Do you need another agent to step in and help out?” His words were clipped and hard, our failure expected.

Perry and I glanced at each other.

“Would you like to share or should I?” I asked my partner.

“You go right ahead, Kohler,” Perry said, barely able to contain his glee.

He was practically bouncing in his seat. I gave him a sharp look and he stilled, crossing his legs and setting his face in grim lines. His attempt to be serious was humorous.

I held up the printed transcript. The other agents spoke quietly among themselves, not paying me much attention. The Freedom Overdrive case wasn’t hot news. It barely registered on anyone’s radar. Too much time had passed with little development. No one expected much to change.

This was going to be good.

“I was able to decrypt layered communications between Freedom Overdrive and another hacker who he appears to be collaborating with.”

The room went instantly silent. Agent Sanders cocked an eyebrow. “Freedom Overdrive has a partner? That seems unlikely.” He didn’t believe me. He didn’t want to believe me.