Page 86 of No Vow Broken

“Whoa! Back up there.” Elvis abruptly held up a hand. “Did you say Plotnikov? As in Boris?”

I turned back to my screen to confirm. “Yes, as in Boris. Why? Does he mean anything to you?”

Elvis shot a long glance at Xavier. “Yeah, he sure does.”

Slash raised an eyebrow as he pushed back from his laptop, crossed his arms against his chest, and looked between the twins. “Okay, guys. Talk to me.”

The room fell completely silent other than the whirring of fans on the laptops still running some automatic programs.

“Well, one of our early efforts at ComQuest was working on ransomware attacks,” Elvis explained. “Xavier and I traced the hacks to one of Plotnikov’s front companies. It took a bit of time and work, but we were ultimately able to expose the connection between Plotnikov and several of his illegal businesses and activities. ComQuest decided to let it go public, and it caused a huge international outcry, because no one was exempt from his ransomware web, including several Russian companies.”

“Our hacking also exposed some disreputable Russian allies and even several high-ranking Russian officials who were getting rich from the Plotnikov association,” Xavier added. “The connection between the ransomware attacks and Russian officials put an embarrassing spotlight on the Russian government at a sensitive time. Although they typically don’t mind hacking if it suits their purposes, they want it done discreetly and to be able to keep it at apparent arm’s length. When this ransomware program went public, along with all the proof, it was a huge embarrassment internally and externally to the Russian government. It’s hard to deny your country is the number one source of ransomware when something like Plotnikov’s vast network goes public. The Russian government put pressure on him to shut it down, and as a result, Plotnikov’s most lucrative business began to tank.”

“I bet that ticked him off,” I said.

“Yeah, I’m sure it did,” Elvis said. “Plus, it exposed several of his political associates inside the Russian government who wouldn’t have been happy with the connection.”

Slash stared out the dark window of the office, a frown etched on his face. “I think that’s what’s been bothering me. These attacks are far too sloppy for Russian intelligence. If the Russian government did intend to assassinate the first lady, I don’t think they would have done it this way. It doesn’t feel right, and not only because this isn’t their typicalmodus operandi. The intelligence piece has consistently been missing. This feels like a personal vendetta to me.”

“What does that mean?” Xavier asked. “You think Plotnikov is trying to assassinate the first lady on his own?”

Slash slowly shook his head. “No, because I don’t think the target is the first lady.” He turned to look directly at Xavier and Elvis. “I think Plotnikov is going after you and Elvis.”

“What?”they said in shocked unison.

“Let’s look at this logically,” Slash continued. “ComQuest was the company that exposed Plotnikov, but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that you and Xavier were the masterminds behind the operation. Plotnikov is clearly deranged, but he’s not stupid. He wants his revenge, but a direct attack on ComQuest would be way too risky. Everyone would look to him first for that, including the Russian government, and they want him to lay low. A direct hit on you two would draw a line right back to Plotnikov. I don’t think he’s worried about the criminal implications, but the scrutiny and heat that would come from the US government and the Russians would be both excruciating and untenable—and likely the last nail in Plotnikov’s coffin.”

“Unless he was able to deflect the attention and they were killed as part of an attempt…on someone else.” I looked up, my stomach churning. “Their deaths,ourdeaths, would have been considered as nothing more than collateral damage. No one would have given us or Elvis and Xavier a second look if they thought the attack was on the first lady.”

“Exactly.”

The twins looked as stricken as I felt. I rose from my chair and went to stand behind Slash, resting my hands on the back of his chair. Better that we push fear and panic out of the way and get to work.

“If we’re right on this, we need a better handle on this Sergei Sokholov guy,” I said. “Who is he? Perhaps more importantly, where is he?”

“He and Plotnikov are probably in Russia,” Xavier said grimly. “It might as well be the moon. We can’t honestly expect the Russians to just turn them over to us.”

“They’d do a lot worse to him if they thought he was trying to implicate them in the assassination of the first lady of the United States,” Slash said quietly. “I suspect Plotnikov knows that. His life depends upon his connection to this attack never getting out, at least to the Russians.”

Eugene had been working on his laptop during this whole discussion, but now he lifted his hands from his laptop and turned around in his chair to face us. “Plotnikov is not in Russia. Not now, anyway. He’s in Monaco, or at least his jet is in Monaco. The CIA reported it landed there yesterday, according to one of their sources that monitors executive and diplomatic travel. I suspect he’s concerned that events are not going as planned and wanted to give himself some running room from Moscow.”

“That was smart to check on that, Eugene,” I said, letting the information sink in for a moment. “So, if Plotnikov is in Monaco, where’s Sergei Sokholov?”

Eugene shook his head. “I don’t know yet. He didn’t show up on the Customs and Border Protection’s entry list and neither the CIA nor the FBI have any current information on him.” Eugene’s face turned grim. “But don’t worry, guys. I’m going to find him.”

FORTY-FIVE

Slash

Icould tell the energy in the room was declining as we moved from active hacking to deciding what to do next. It felt good to at last put names to the villains who were trying to have us killed. Clearly, however, Elvis and Xavier were having a hard time processing they were the targets.

Lexi slid her arms around my waist. Our job for now was complete. The FBI and the Secret Service were going to decide how to proceed with Sokholov and Plotnikov. I figured they’d try and get them extradited to the US, but the bitcoin connections we’d identified were tenuous evidence at best and likely wouldn’t provide adequate justification. They would look for another way to snare them…as would I.

Xavier still sat in his chair, looking upset. “We’re sorry we ruined your wedding and almost got everyone killed.”

“Why are you sorry?” Lexi said. “None of this is your fault. You exposed a huge criminal ring and helped get it shut down. You’re acting like that’s a bad thing.”

“It’s a bad thing if innocent people die because of it. It totally sucks.”

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