“Or both,” added Marnie.
“If they were running a honey trap, sounds like they needed a way into the company,” said Rich.
Berg shook his head. “I don’t know. Why use a team on the verge of retirement for that? I know that springing a honey trap isn’t complicated, but following through with the blackmail side of an operation is tricky. Especially if you’re asking someone to commit a crime. Not something you’d put in Harvey and Jolene Rudd’s hands. I think this was more of a one-and-done situation. My guess is they were trying to get him to quit the company, so someone could take his place. Whoever filled his shoes is most likely another one of these second-generation sleepers.”
“So there’s more of these things out there,” said Emily Miralles.
Devin liked her use of the word things to describe the sleepers. Like manufactured goods.
“We have to assume there are more,” said Berg. “In total, possibly twice the number Helen discovered. The rest of them hidden in tech companies like DEVTEK, where they can remain mostly anonymous—and do untold damage. That’s why it’s so important to get a look at this camp. If it exists. There’s always the possibility that it doesn’t. She spent a significant amount of time looking for it and came up empty handed.”
“Locating the camp appears to be the tricky part,” said Rich. “But Gray has been right about everything else up to now, so this is where we start. Graves?”
Graves started typing, and a list of names filled the left third of the screen. A map of the United States filled the remaining two-thirds—red dots appearing across the country. Devin guessed immediately that they were looking at a list of the 109 sleepers and a map corresponding to their locations. Frighteningly, but not surprisingly, a majority of them resided around Washington, DC. The rest were scattered across the country, corresponding with a major military base, state capital, or larger city.
“For obvious reasons, we’ll remove anyone connected to law enforcement or the military from the list,” said Graves.
About thirty names disappeared from the left side of the screen, their red dots vanishing with them.
“We went through the rest of the names and disqualified anyone with a sensitive or an on-call position in state or federal government, along with anyone at a high-enough level in that we might be running an outsize risk by grabbing them. Anyone protected for sure.”
The list dropped to less than twenty names.
“That doesn’t leave us a lot to work with,” said Berg.
“Even less if we want to avoid five-day car rides,” said Graves, clicking his mouse and eliminating everyone west of the Rockies.
Twelve names remained.
“We may as well focus on opportunities within easy or easier driving distance of the Ozarks,” said Rich.
“That leaves us with Susan Belker. Secretary of state for Missouri,” said Graves.
“Too high profile,” said Rich.
“Harrison Jeffries. Deputy chief of staff to the attorney general in Illinois?” said Graves.
“That’s a possibility.”
“Or William Barber, the supervising deputy attorney general for the litigation division in Indiana?” said Graves.
“Let’s look at Barber’s profile,” said Rich.
“These seem like low-profile jobs for Russian sleeper agents,” said Scott.
“State-level secretary of state is a stepping-stone toward governor, which can launch a national political career,” said Berg. “Deputy chief of staff to the AG puts you in a position to run for AG, and failing that, an appointment to the state supreme court or US district court. The sky’s the limit from there. Politics. Higher courts. Same with a supervising deputy attorney general position. Governor. AG. Courts. Politics. These are solid roles.”
Barber’s face appeared on the screen.
“William Barber. Forty-four years of age. Married to Stacy Barber. Same age. She works as an IT specialist at Defenders in Indianapolis. That’s an ADT subsidiary.”
“As in the home security company?” asked Devin.
“Yes. ADT bought them out a few years ago,” said Gupta. “That’s actually good news. We have some regularly updated, custom hack kits for ADT systems. We can shut it down so it’ll look like it’s still working.”
“That’s a disturbing thought,” said Marnie.
“Just a little,” said Devin.
Graves continued. “They have two children, David and Melissa. Sixteen and fifteen years old, respectively. All-American family.”