Page 106 of No Stone Unturned

“It’s okay. I just hope this works.”

“It will,” Slash said. “It only needs to be plugged in to any port for ten seconds.”

I glanced in the mirror and adjusted my wig. Slash secured it with bobby pins, but I had loosened it by tugging on it. I had to keep my hands off it or the whole thing would slide off. “I can manage ten seconds.”

“Yes, you can. But be careful,cara.”

“I will.”

Slash walked me to within a block of the security check near the Apostolic office building before we parted ways. I approached the guard, letting him know I had a meeting with Father Julian Koenhein. One guy took my ID, checked his electronic tablet and made a phone call. After a short conversation, he hung up and handed me the ID.

“Father Koenhein will meet you on the front steps of the building. I’ll have to check your purse, please.”

“Of course.” I handed him my bag. While he searched it, I walked through a magnetometer, and I was in. He returned my purse to me and motioned I was free to walk toward the building.

I thanked him and headed out. By the time I got to the steps of the building, I saw Father Koenhein coming out. I waved cheerfully at him, and he came over to greet me.

“Hello, Lara,” he said, taking my hand and shaking it. “It’s a beautiful day in Rome.”

“Yes, it’s not as hot as usual. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me on your lunch hour.” I held up a paper bag. “I brought you some fresh bread, salami and cheese. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.”

He took the bag, grinning. “Sounds delicious. It’s my pleasure to help you with your school project. Let me know what you need me to do.”

“Well, I’d like to get your photo in a variety of shots so I have a lot of photos to choose from.”

“Of course.”

We walked around and I took several pictures of him in different spots on the grounds of the Vatican. After about thirty minutes, I asked him if we had time to get a few quick shots of him in his office.

“I’d also like to make a short video with you introducing yourself,” I added. “You could sit at your desk and talk. These days, videos are worth a hundred words. Would you mind? It’ll add another dimension to the online version.”

He brightened, stood straighter. “I don’t mind. Let’s go.”

“Thank you. This is going to be great.”

We went into the same building I’d been in yesterday for the meeting with the pope. The guards were different and no one seemed to recognize me. Regardless, I was sweating beneath the wig. Despite my confidence back at the hotel, I was nervous as heck. This spy stuff was not intuitive for me.

Father Koenhein got me an exception to keep my cell phone for interview purposes, but I was told I could not move around unescorted. He agreed to keep me in his sights at all times. We walked through a series of corridors until we reached his office, where he opened the door and ushered me inside. It was a small, unpretentious room with a desk, two filing cabinets, a bookshelf and a couple of well-watered plants. Several pictures of various cardinals and a portrait of Jesus hung on the wall, alongside the Vatican shield. His desk held a landline phone, an inbox and an old desktop computer connected to a printer that sat on a small adjoining table. Holy crap, how was it possible that the administrative assistant to the president of the Vatican was working on such antiquated technical equipment? On the other hand, it would make the hacking a lot easier.

“Could you sit at your desk and pretend to be typing on your computer?” I asked.

He perched on the edge of his chair and hovered his fingers over the keyboard. I snapped a picture and then shook my head. “It looks funny because the screen is blank. Can you log in and pull up a document, or a website, so it looks like you are really doing something?”

“I can.” I made a big deal of looking away as he typed in his login and password. He pulled up a website, so I snapped a couple more and then asked him to arrange his chair so that his back was to the computer.

“Let me adjust the settings on my phone,” I said. Instead, I sent Slash a quick text with a single word.

Now.

I took two more pictures when Father Koenhein’s phone rang. “Excuse me a minute,” he said.

“Of course.”

As he scooted his chair forward to pick up the receiver, I slid over to stand next to the printer. I dipped my hand into my purse and palmed the thumb drive. Once I had it secure, I withdrew my hand and set it on the desk, the thumb drive safely beneath.

“Si?” Father Koenhein said and then stopped to listen to what was being said on the other end. He glanced over his shoulder and saw me standing there patiently, so he turned his attention back to the phone.

While his attention was elsewhere, I slid my hand with the thumb drive behind the printer, searching for open ports. When my fingertip found the port I was looking for, I slid the thumb drive in. Once it was in, I took out my phone and texted to Slash again.

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