Catwalk Criminal (9 page)

Zak scanned the room. His eyes lingered on Jessica. “Hello again.”

To Jessica's annoyance, she felt her cheeks colour up. “What are
you
doing here?”

A smile hovered on Zak's lips. “I've come to save your butts. You can thank me later.”

“What's he talking about?” She stared at Nathan, horrified. This could
not
be happening.

“Of course, I forgot. You met Zak at the Shard, didn't you, Jessica? As did Bree and Sasha.” Nathan gestured to the other Westwood girls. “Celia Tyler, this is Zak Dane. Please take a seat.”

“Er, I mean, well, yes,” Jessica stuttered. “I kind of know Zak, but that doesn't explain what he's doing here.”

He slumped into a seat opposite. “It's good to see you again too, Jessica. You look in better shape than the last time I saw you.”

She scowled back.

“Zak works for Rodarte, the CIA version of Westwood,” Nathan said.

“You see, I'm a model and a spy, just like you.” Zak smiled as he ripped off his dark grey coat and pullover, revealing a crisp white shirt underneath. “Who'd have thought we'd have so much in common?”

“You have to be kidding,” Jessica snorted.

“Do I look like I am?”

“Hmm. I don't see it. You know, you being a spy. A really vain model, yes.”

A look of annoyance flickered over Zak's face. “Why? Because you think I'm empty-headed and shallow, banging on about Calvin Klein and my other modelling contracts all the time? Good. Because that means I'm doing my job well. You didn't suspect a thing. But I guessed you were up to something that night at the Shard. I didn't know what had gone down until Nathan filled me in on the
failed
mission yesterday morning.”

Jessica glared at him. “Yes, thanks for that night. You know, alerting Mike to the fact that I was trying to get up the stairs. It was massively helpful. You're a great undercover spy, Zak.”

“I had no idea you were on a Westwood mission, otherwise I'd have kept my mouth shut and helped you,” he drawled. “It's a pity your people didn't let Rodarte into the loop. I hate to say it, but if Westwood had asked me to come on board, I'd have handled the Shard job completely differently. Likewise, last night. I hear you managed to let your best lead escape, Jessica. That was careless of you, if you don't mind me saying. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Actually, I do mind. I've no idea why Nathan thinks we need you here. Frankly, I'm amazed you managed to make it through the door, considering the size of your colossal ego.”

“Ditto. Why do you seem to think you're the only one who can do this job?”

“What? How dare you?”

“That's enough, you two!” Nathan snapped. “We've established you're both government agents. Now start acting like them. We've got bigger things to worry about than wounded egos, if you hadn't noticed, like finding Henry before The Collective and protecting our agents out in the field. We have less than three hours until the next MI6 operative is named on the web.”

Jessica glowered at Zak. Who did he think he was, marching in here, acting as if he were her boss? She didn't answer to him. No way.

“Zak is one of Rodarte's best operatives, which is why he's coming on board with Westwood,” Nathan continued. “You're all to cooperate with him. He has full security clearance on The Collective brief.”

Jessica's jaw dropped. This was unbelievable. She knew The Collective had to be their top priority, but she couldn't let the incident at the Shard go. Not yet.

“So let me get this straight, Zak. When you came to my house that evening, wanting to know if I recognized the person who attacked me, you were investigating what had happened for Rodarte?”

Zak nodded. “My bosses demanded a report, seeing that the US ambassador's wife had been caught up in an armed siege. They smelt a rat from the official reports about a publicity stunt gone wrong. We didn't know at that stage it was a Westwood operation. Correction. A ballsed-up Westwood operation.”

She sucked in her breath, remembering the huge bunch of flowers he'd given her, along with the kiss on the cheek, and his general flirting, which had annoyed Jamie. And her.

“Why? You didn't actually think…” Zak's voice trailed off as he grinned at her.

“No, I did not!” Jessica retorted. She could feel her cheeks reddening again. Why did she have to blush so easily?

“Think what?” Sasha asked. “I'm confused.”

“Forget it,” Jessica growled. She felt stupid enough already for thinking Zak might be interested in her without having to admit her infuriating mistake to everyone present. “Why are you really in London?”

Zak pushed his chair back abruptly. For some reason, his cheeks were flushed too. “In a week's time, the president of the United States is scheduled to visit for a trade meeting with your prime minister. I joined the secret service team sent ahead to assess active risks in the capital. As of this weekend, our main concern is The Collective. The hackers' leader has been active in the States for years – attacking personal bank accounts – but has only chosen to reveal himself in the UK days before the president's arrival. That worries us.”

“I get the secret service being involved in a security visit, but why Rodarte?” Jessica asked.

“The president wants to meet with representatives from the British fashion industry while he's over here,” Zak said shortly. “Plus, his eldest daughter, Lydia, is scheduled to join him for the trip. She's opening for Mulberry at London Fashion Week and also giving a talk to young diabetes sufferers at a conference.”

Of course! Lydia Eastwood was huge in the States, landing lucrative contracts with Mulberry, Coach, Michael Kors and Estée Lauder. She'd also featured in an exclusive spread for
Vanity Fair
, revealing how she'd volunteered to become the goodwill ambassador for a charity helping people with diabetes. This was shortly after her father, Robert Eastwood, made headlines across the world with the news that he had the lifelong condition, which means the amount of glucose in the blood is too high for the body to manage.

“Working London Fashion Week gives me a handy cover
if
the visit takes place,” Zak said. “I'll be a member of Lydia's protective detail at the show, although she'll never know that. I don't stand out as much as the secret service. They're hard to miss – you know, dark shoes, dark glasses, etc. They're what you'd expect from the movies. I'm not. People don't notice me. Well, not in that way.”

He leant back in his seat and stretched his hands behind his neck. Muscles rippled beneath his shirt sleeves. Bree, Celia and Sasha shot him admiring glances. Could Zak
be
more full of himself? Why did the Rodarte agent have to be him, of all people?

“Zak's boss has offered us their full assistance, including access to CIA files on The Collective.” Nathan checked his watch. “Perhaps you can crack on.”

Zak pulled out a folder from his rucksack. “LibertyCrossing started targeting the US about five years ago. We have every reason to believe this person is based here in the UK.”

“Why?” Jessica asked. “What evidence do you have?”

“Phishing emails that were traced to IP addresses in the UK, under the name LibertyCrossing. The scam back then worked by hacking into thousands of people's email accounts in the States and vacuuming up passwords to things like online banking. Money was siphoned off into offshore bank accounts while the hacker also sent out fake emails under the guise of the people he'd hacked, begging for cash. He came up with heart-rending stories, like they'd had their credit card stolen while travelling abroad and needed urgent help. Unfortunately, a lot of people believed their friends or family members were in trouble and immediately transferred cash, again to what were actually offshore bank accounts. We believe the hacker has made millions of pounds over the years through these scams.”

Jessica had been doodling on her notepad. She looked up. “Were the hacks ever linked to Lee Caplin? He'd have been fourteen back then.”

“His computer, mobile phone and iPad were seized after the attacks on the Pentagon and the CIA three years ago and they contained no trace whatsoever of the phishing emails or any evidence of LibertyCrossing. Plus, LibertyCrossing remained active even though Lee's computer equipment had been confiscated during the extradition battle.” Zak sifted through the file. “The hacking method suddenly became more sophisticated eighteen months ago. Instead of a scattergun approach, LibertyCrossing started to pick high-profile US victims, which really caught our attention.” He tossed a selection of photos across the table. “Politicians, diplomats, Hollywood actors and actresses, the chief executives of major companies and multimillionaire businessmen.”

Jessica stared at pictures of some of the most famous people in the United States. “What happened to them?”

“The victims were all hacked, but not through the use of spam or phishing emails like before. We've been unable to discover how the hacker actually got into their computers. Most had their bank accounts totally drained, with funds diverted to untraceable offshore accounts. However, others had photos and personal details stolen. They faced having lurid allegations about their private lives posted on the web and were blackmailed for substantial amounts of money to stop that from happening. The cyberattacks were all traced back to LibertyCrossing.”

“Why these people? What do they have in common?”

“Duh,” Zak sneered. “Apart from being massively wealthy, famous and, er, obvious targets?”

Jessica glared at him. “There could be something else that
you
haven't spotted yet.”

It was Zak's turn to scowl.

Nathan ignored them both and leafed through the photos. “It's strange that LibertyCrossing's modus operandi changed again with the attacks in the UK this weekend. He went from being a thief, stealing millions of pounds using different cyber-methods, to recruiting a hacking army, wreaking havoc and declaring the need for total freedom of information across the internet. Thoughts, anyone?”

The door banged open, making everyone jump. Agent Hatfield strode into the room in a black suit and high heels, followed by Agent Booth, Sam the computer analyst, and three security guards. Agent Hatfield shot Jessica a furious look. She blushed guiltily. Oh God. They
had
found out about the Sargasso file. She should have come clean to Nathan right away instead of waiting to be discovered.

“Close this briefing down now!” Agent Hatfield barked.

“What's going on?” Nathan demanded.

“Sam's traced the source of Saturday's hack on MI6,” Agent Hatfield said.

Nathan walked towards them. “And?”

“It came from Jessica.”

She pushed her chair back and stood up. “That's impossible.”

“It's true,” Sam said. “The first attack came from
your
iPhone in this exact room. It hacked into Nathan's laptop and launched a virus to attack our computer system's mainframe. It was definitely an internal hack, originating from you. The second attack also came from inside the comms room. Again, your phone is the likely culprit.”

“I didn't do this. I'm pretty sure I was hacked over the weekend too. I think my Oyster card, MI6 security pass and my dad's bank account and credit card were targeted by The Collective on Saturday morning.”

Zak took a sharp intake of breath.

“Why am I only hearing about that now?” Nathan demanded. “Didn't you think that might be relevant to our investigation?”

Jessica picked her finger behind her back. “I didn't want to bother you when Armageddon was breaking out across the country – you had bigger things to worry about. But I was going to tell you everything once this briefing wrapped today.”

“Is that the cover story you're actually going with?” Agent Hatfield snapped.

“It's not a cover story. It's the truth.”

“As soon as the hack started, I launched Operation Chaffinch – a separate internal investigation monitoring the computer accounts of every single MI6 employee, from agents out in the field to secretaries and technicians. So tell me the truth, Jessica. Did you or did you not hack into confidential MI6 files at one fifteen p.m. on Sunday and access a restricted document entitled Sargasso?”

Jessica felt the room lurch. “Yes, I did. But that's all.”

“What?” Nathan stared at her.

“I didn't hack in. You have to believe me. I logged on to my MI6 account and discovered I had unrestricted access. I admit I took advantage of the security lapse. You see, I had to find out about my mum's death. I've been investigating it for the last six months. I know it's connected to something called Sargasso. This was the only chance I had to see what MI6 had on it.”

Nathan looked stunned. He held up a hand to silence her. “I'd advise you not to say anything that will incriminate you further.”