Suddenly, this all started to make some sense to Daniel.
“Marcus Stryker was a public individual in his pre-government days,” Ron continued. “He had a tremendous ego and loved to brag in print how his new approaches toward computer protection methods were superior to everyone else’s. To the king belongs the glory or something like that. But while he never got into specifics about his methods, he spoke volumes about his philosophy involving what he did, and that doesn’t change just because he has a new employer. Know the man and you know the method. I think I know the man enough to be able to decipher his methods. Now I could be totally wrong…but I’m willing to give it a try.”
“What if we fail?” Daniel asked trying to put the whole thing into one of Louis’ bottom line questions.
“We go to jail for at least ten years,” Ron replied.
“What if we succeed?” Daniel followed up.
“If the rumor is true,” Ron answered; “we get access to information that nobody else out there has. It could make our search for the average individual right on the money.”
If this was a money laundering operation and Daniel agreed to do something that might bring their little racket into the light of a federal investigation, he knew that there would be no place on the planet Earth where he could hide or be safe. On the other hand, if this was a covert government operation, he knew that there would be no place on the planet Earth where he could hide or be safe. In short, if Ron failed, then, both of them were as good as dead. Weighing this against the odds of succeeding, Daniel realized that everything was stacked against him…except for the fact that Ron was willing to give it a try, and this wasn’t a kid who would put anyone in jeopardy if he doubted his own abilities. On the other hand, what if Ron was just too cocky for his own good and had overestimated his own abilities?
Normally this would be a tough call for Daniel to make, but he had to factor in one reality: Louis. Daniel was already into him for seventeen million dollars and had made promises of an ocean of money coming their way. Louis was not about to let that investment go without a profit. Had the team managed to secure enough data already to make going after a little more a moot point, or was there enough in the CIA cache that would ensure success? That, dear Hamlet, was the question.
“Do you honestly think it’s there?” Daniel asked referring to the information.
“I don’t know for sure,” Ron answered; “but why would they need somebody of Stryker’s abilities if there wasn’t anything?”
“We go for it,” Daniel said almost regretting the words as they slipped out of his mouth. “I’ll pay off the other team members and send them home. I don’t want Richie involved, just you and me. How long will it take do you guess?”
“I’ll have to go very slowly analyzing every level I crack in relationship to the next one,” Ron said. “I figure at least a week, maybe more. But you’ll need the team to analyze the data if and when we get it, so don’t send them packing yet. We just need to occupy them with other tasks right now.”
While he didn’t want to tell Ron about Louis to increase the pressure on him, Daniel knew that a week would be two days beyond the limit of that damn ticking watch; and that would be if it only took a week. Having admitted he made a mistake by not asking Louis for enough money in the first place, there was no way Daniel could go back to the man and ask for an extension of time.
CHAPTER 6
As with most problems, the harder you think, the more you have a tendency to overlook the obvious. The answer was Lisa who was definitely Louis’ key informant on the project other than his surveillance equipment. The trick was how to convince her that granting more time would prove beneficial to Louis. This was one time when Richie would come in handy.
Carefully rehearsing their conversation at Daniel’s apartment, they were now ready to play it for real back at the office.
The next day, Dan called Lisa in on some pretext of discussing a file. As soon as Richie saw her go in, he counted to twenty and burst in himself.
“We have a big problem,” he said appearing to be out of breath. “They told me that one of the programs they wrote to aggregate the data failed, so they have to rewrite it. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Would you like me to come back when you’re finished?”
“No, Lisa’s okay,” Dan said reassuringly. “You can talk in front of her.”
“I know you’re under a deadline,” Richie continued trying to sound as convincing as he could; “but we need a few more days than you’ve allowed us. Otherwise the whole thing is a no go.”
“That’s not a problem,” Dan answered. “I’ve found three money men who would be willing to come up with the seventeen million. I’ll use it to pay back Mr. Postadolas and make a deal with them that’ll guarantee more time. This thing is too important to shut down now when we’re so close. Tell the group to start writing the new program.”
Richie ran out of the office hoping that their little story had fooled Lisa. Now it was up to Dan to sell it.
Inside the office, Lisa acted as if nothing had happened; her body language revealed little except that she seemed eager to finish the discussion on the files.
“Where was I?” Dan asked.
“You were saying that you needed the files of Brandon Leseur, Paul Crossler, and William Crede. Is there anything you’d like me to check in them?” Lisa asked.
“Just make sure their private phone numbers are listed; if you don’t see them, come to me and I’ll give them to you,” Dan said dangling the carrot in front of the rabbit as bait. He knew these were three of the biggest speculators in New York
Lisa exited and two minutes later Louis came walking through the door unannounced.
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