Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) by Kennedy Layne Page B
Authors: Kennedy Layne
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any one specific person or any money trail leading to a bank account with any kind of significant amount of funds. Finding this type of person isn’t going to be easy.”
“What exactly are you saying?” Ashlyn asked cautiously, refusing to believe that such an evidence trail couldn’t be followed. Even Chenglei Haung, backed by the full resources of a major world power, had left a digital footprint for Victor’s team to follow. “Are you saying the individual we’re looking for is some type of professional?”
“I’m saying that since Jarod wanted me to upgrade your security system, I took the time to look at how this individual was able to access the network. He or she is better than most of the experts I employ here in our IT department, Ashlyn. I mean, we’re talking this person might even be considerably better than anyone on my team.”
Victor looked at the buried guest chair next to Jarod, spreading his hands open in a gesture of defeat and decided to lean against the wall. He’d always been proud of his abilities and there had never been a case given to him where he wasn’t able to prove innocence or guilt. Now he was standing here telling her the man or woman who’d become fixated on her couldn’t be rooted out of the system.
“Look, this is going to have to be investigated from the ground up by Agent Coulter and their cyber terrorist unit. Effective network monitoring needs to be done in order to find active efforts to bypass your security measures. Coulter came into my office asking if we’d seen anything unusual on our networks. We haven’t, but I did share with him what I found on your private network. He no doubt already has his cyber super geeks department all over it, but I’ll keep following the endless trail of digital footprints this hacker has used to disguise his efforts,” Victor promised, lifting one side of his mouth in what was most likely supposed to be a reassuring smile. He failed…miserably. Ashlyn hadn’t considered this wouldn’t be an easy thing to resolve. How could this guy circumvent the entire technology and information systems’ security efforts of the United States government? “Ashlyn, I’ll follow you home when you’re ready. I have one of our technicians coming with me and he’ll install a new firewall system that far surpasses your old one.”
Ashlyn’s desk phone emitted a low-toned beep, indicating it was an internal call. She glanced at the black and silver unit and confirmed it was Gina. Work didn’t cease for personal issues, but she had been hoping for a moment’s reprieve to gather her thoughts.
“Yes, Gina?” Ashlyn inquired after leaning forward and pressing the speaker button, doing her best to keep the despair out of her tone.
“Agent Coulter is here to see you,” Gina announced, her professional manner telling Ashlyn the man was standing next to her assistant’s desk instead of taking a seat in the small row of chairs opposite her door. “Along with another agent.”
Ashlyn was a bit surprised by Agent Coulter’s visit. Was he here to tell her he’d figured out who had been stalking her? It was the only way to realistically view what had been happening to her over the last few months. The implied intimacy of the emails had left her feeling somewhat uneasy, but the letters and gifts had caused her to be downright worried for her safety and that of her team. She’d taken self-defense classes and was very proficient at shooting a weapon, but that didn’t mean she wanted to test any of those skillsets.
It wasn’t as if Ashlyn had time to have a personal life. Yes, she would spend an occasional evening with a man who understood her free-time limitations, given her profession. She had needs and she saw to them when time permitted. For the most part, she’d spent the majority of every waking hour since she’d graduated law school advancing her career to its current level. Now was no time to rest on her laurels and she’d like to
“What exactly are you saying?” Ashlyn asked cautiously, refusing to believe that such an evidence trail couldn’t be followed. Even Chenglei Haung, backed by the full resources of a major world power, had left a digital footprint for Victor’s team to follow. “Are you saying the individual we’re looking for is some type of professional?”
“I’m saying that since Jarod wanted me to upgrade your security system, I took the time to look at how this individual was able to access the network. He or she is better than most of the experts I employ here in our IT department, Ashlyn. I mean, we’re talking this person might even be considerably better than anyone on my team.”
Victor looked at the buried guest chair next to Jarod, spreading his hands open in a gesture of defeat and decided to lean against the wall. He’d always been proud of his abilities and there had never been a case given to him where he wasn’t able to prove innocence or guilt. Now he was standing here telling her the man or woman who’d become fixated on her couldn’t be rooted out of the system.
“Look, this is going to have to be investigated from the ground up by Agent Coulter and their cyber terrorist unit. Effective network monitoring needs to be done in order to find active efforts to bypass your security measures. Coulter came into my office asking if we’d seen anything unusual on our networks. We haven’t, but I did share with him what I found on your private network. He no doubt already has his cyber super geeks department all over it, but I’ll keep following the endless trail of digital footprints this hacker has used to disguise his efforts,” Victor promised, lifting one side of his mouth in what was most likely supposed to be a reassuring smile. He failed…miserably. Ashlyn hadn’t considered this wouldn’t be an easy thing to resolve. How could this guy circumvent the entire technology and information systems’ security efforts of the United States government? “Ashlyn, I’ll follow you home when you’re ready. I have one of our technicians coming with me and he’ll install a new firewall system that far surpasses your old one.”
Ashlyn’s desk phone emitted a low-toned beep, indicating it was an internal call. She glanced at the black and silver unit and confirmed it was Gina. Work didn’t cease for personal issues, but she had been hoping for a moment’s reprieve to gather her thoughts.
“Yes, Gina?” Ashlyn inquired after leaning forward and pressing the speaker button, doing her best to keep the despair out of her tone.
“Agent Coulter is here to see you,” Gina announced, her professional manner telling Ashlyn the man was standing next to her assistant’s desk instead of taking a seat in the small row of chairs opposite her door. “Along with another agent.”
Ashlyn was a bit surprised by Agent Coulter’s visit. Was he here to tell her he’d figured out who had been stalking her? It was the only way to realistically view what had been happening to her over the last few months. The implied intimacy of the emails had left her feeling somewhat uneasy, but the letters and gifts had caused her to be downright worried for her safety and that of her team. She’d taken self-defense classes and was very proficient at shooting a weapon, but that didn’t mean she wanted to test any of those skillsets.
It wasn’t as if Ashlyn had time to have a personal life. Yes, she would spend an occasional evening with a man who understood her free-time limitations, given her profession. She had needs and she saw to them when time permitted. For the most part, she’d spent the majority of every waking hour since she’d graduated law school advancing her career to its current level. Now was no time to rest on her laurels and she’d like to
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