Dark reckoning, p.26
Dark Reckoning, page 26
“But they do seem competent,” Bender added. “The larger resorts tend to hire the best people because they have a lot at stake. I’ve heard Vegas has some of the best security people in the world.”
Mei nodded. “I’ll bet the resort has cameras on every hallway. If Owen Sutton and his family left the premises, they’ll know it.”
They arrived at the Sonesto Maho Beach Resort six minutes later. The ten-acre property was even more beautiful than the images Drenna had seen online. The beachfront resort supposedly offered over four hundred guest rooms, as well as a variety of restaurants, bars, and cafés. The amenities included a day spa, casino, and gym. But Drenna wouldn’t have time to enjoy any of those things.
Bender parked in a spot near the periphery of the lot. After retrieving their bags, the group went straight to the resort’s main entrance. Once inside the lobby, Bender led them over to a man who was seated in a plush chair. He seemed to be reading something on his phone. He appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties. He wore khakis and a button-down blue beach shirt emblazoned with palm trees. His close-cropped blond hair was typical of someone in the military.
The man stood when he saw the group approaching.
Bender gestured toward him. “Everyone, this is Dr. Anthony Crone, the director of DARPA.”
Drenna and Mei quickly introduced themselves.
After they had shaken hands, Crone turned to Mei. “I wish we had more time to make a proper introduction. For now, let me express my sincere thanks for the sacrifices you’ve made. Perhaps we can talk further once this is all over. I’d love to pick your brain on a few things.”
Mei smiled. “I’d be happy to help in any way I can.”
“One other thing,” Crone said. “I’ve asked the secretary of state to expedite your request for asylum. She assured me that the wheels are in process. In the meantime, we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“You don’t know how much I appreciate that,” Mei said. “It’s been a long and stressful journey, but I don’t regret it one bit.”
While in Cyprus, Mei had told Drenna that she wanted to make the US her permanent home. Her uncle lived in the Tampa area, which would help her in transitioning to a new culture. With that in mind, Drenna had asked Jack to see what he could do for the defector, even though it wasn’t his specialty. He had come through with flying colors.
Crone turned to Drenna. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’ve placed you and Miss Kwan in a room together.” He hesitated. “Unfortunately, there’s only one bed. As you can imagine, the resort is packed this time of year.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Drenna responded. “We’ll be happy with whatever they can provide.”
“We’ve been sleeping on trains and planes, so anything you can offer us would be an improvement,” Mei added.
Crone nodded. “Speaking of your room, I’ve asked the concierge to take care of your bags so that we can get to work.” He turned and waved at a well-dressed man standing behind a podium near the entrance. “He’ll make sure they’re placed in your room.”
Drenna liked Crone already. He seemed to be one of those men who made sure every little detail was taken care of. It was good to know someone like that was in charge of developing the country’s most advanced weapons.
The concierge came over and gave Drenna two key cards to their room on the third floor. He then collected their bags. “I’ll get the bellman to put these in your room.”
After giving him a tip, Crone turned to the others. “Follow me.”
He walked briskly across the lobby and opened a door marked Employees Only. After passing through, he led the group down a dim corridor. He stopped at the third door down and pressed a button on a panel to the right. A buzz sounded, indicating the locking mechanism had been disengaged. Crone opened the door and waved the others into a small reception area.
A heavyset woman sat at a desk to their left. She smiled at Crone when they came in. “Hello again. Olivier is expecting you.” She stood and escorted the group down a short hallway. At the far end, she opened a door. “He’s finishing a call, but you can go on in.”
After thanking her, Crone and the others entered what appeared to be the resort’s security control center. Drenna took a quick look around. The right side of the space was filled with two rows of cubicles. About half of them were occupied by staff members who pecked on keyboards or spoke into headsets. None of them looked up at the new arrivals.
Crone turned to the left. The wall on that end of the space was covered with five large screens that displayed live feeds of the hotel’s exterior. Under the screens was a long table topped with several computer monitors. A Black man stood at the table, a mobile phone pressed to his ear.
While they waited, Crone turned to Drenna. “I’m not sure how much you were told about Owen’s disappearance, but maybe a quick refresher is in order.”
“Yes, I’d like that,” she replied.
“My administrative assistant organized the event and is handling all the logistics. When she woke up this morning, she checked her phone and realized she had a voicemail from Owen. In the message, he claimed that he and his family had come down with either a bug or food poisoning. As a result, he wouldn’t be able to make any of today’s sessions. A few hours later, one of my associates went up to check on them. That’s when we realized the entire family was gone. The resort’s security team has been reviewing CCTV footage ever since.”
“You said one of your associates went up to check on the family,” Drenna said. “Did anyone speak to Sutton on the phone prior to going up?”
Crone nodded. “I personally called several times, but it always went straight to voicemail. That’s one of the reasons we decided to have someone knock on the door.”
Mei frowned. “I counted four cameras in the lobby alone. Surely, they were able to find footage of them leaving the premises.”
Crone was about to respond when the man at the table put away his phone and faced them. He wore a crisp white dress shirt and tie. He had light skin and a mustache so thin that it seemed to have been drawn on his face with a permanent marker.
Crone gestured toward the man. “This is Olivier Henry, Sonesta’s head of security.”
After everyone had introduced themselves, Drenna said, “You have quite a setup here.”
Olivier smiled. “People spend a lot of money to stay here, so we want them to feel safe.” He nodded at the computer monitors behind him. The screens were filled with dozens of CCTV feeds from around the resort. “As you can see, not much goes on here that we don’t know about. Some might say that all the coverage is a bit intrusive, but we’ve found it deters crime.”
Jack nodded. “I can imagine.”
Crone’s expression turned serious. “Olivier, let’s take a look at what you found.”
“Certainly.” He sat in front of one of the computer monitors. Using the mouse, he clicked on a thumbnail. “This is a camera that covers the northwest exit of our main building.”
Drenna stepped closer. The image depicted a sidewalk that ran between two large hedgerows. No one was in view.
Olivier looked back at them. “The Sutton family got here two days ago. After doing a little research, I discovered that Owen Sutton likes to go out for a jog each evening.”
Crone frowned. “A jog? I’ll need to talk to our PSB team again. When I asked them if the family ever left the resort, they said they only knew of four instances, all of which were local sightseeing excursions. They never told me Sutton went off on his own.”
Mei looked at Crone. “What is PSB?”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve explained who they are,” Crone said. “They’re the US Army Protective Services Battalion. The full acronym is USAPSB, but most just shorten it to PSB. They provide security and protection for senior military officials. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t even bring them to an event like this, but the NSA picked up some chatter that concerned us.”
Drenna frowned. “What kind of chatter?”
“We began planning this event about three months ago. Around that same time, the NSA intercepted a telephone conversation that indicated a terrorist group had purchased a large number of drones. During that conversation, one of the men revealed that the group was also trying to get their hands on AI technology that could guide the drones during an attack. There was even some talk about an upcoming operation to obtain that technology, but the NSA never got specific details.”
“Scary,” Mei said.
Crone nodded. “In light of that, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some protection.”
“Unfortunately, that may relate to what you’re about to see,” Olivier said.
Drenna felt a sense of dread run through her. Were they about to witness a kidnapping?
Everyone turned their attention to the screen. Olivier used the mouse to start the video. At first, not much happened. A dragonfly buzzed across the screen, and a few leaves moved in the wind. About ten seconds in, Owen Sutton finally emerged from the building and began walking down the sidewalk, his back to the camera. He had on polyester jogging shorts and running shoes.
“Please pay close attention to what happens next,” Olivier said.
As Sutton reached the end of the sidewalk, another man appeared from the left. Drenna noted all details of his appearance. He had dark shaggy hair, a full beard, and an olive complexion. A pair of aviator sunglasses covered his eyes. In terms of attire, he wore swimming trunks and a T-shirt, and a towel was draped over his shoulder. It seemed clear he had just come from the pool. Or at least he wanted others to think that.
The dark-haired man said something to Sutton, who faced him.
Olivier paused the video. “You mentioned terrorists. Although it’s hard to tell from a distance, that man looks Middle Eastern to me.”
“There are all sorts of terrorists.” Drenna looked at Crone. “Were the ones involved in the chatter from that part of the world?”
He nodded. “Yes, these men were thought to be connected to the Islamic State.”
“Now watch what happens here.” Olivier hit the play button.
A moment later, the dark-haired man pulled out a phone and showed Sutton something on the screen. Even though they were at least thirty yards from the camera, Drenna could see Sutton visibly stiffen. He was clearly in distress.
The two men spoke for at least two more minutes before going their separate ways. The man with the dark hair disappeared in the direction from which he had come, while Sutton turned and rushed into the building. His face was etched with extreme panic.
“By the way, Sutton leaves through the same exit about a half hour later. I was unable to tell where he went.”
“What did we just witness?” Bender finally asked.
“I’ve watched the footage at least a dozen times,” Olivier replied. “Based on what I’ve seen, I believe this man was showing Mr. Sutton a photo of his family.”
Bender frowned. “A photo of his family?”
Olivier nodded. “Which leads me to something else. I was talking to one of my colleagues when all of you walked in. He’s been reviewing CCTV footage taken at the resort’s main entrance. He told me that Sutton’s wife and children left in a taxi yesterday afternoon. As best he can tell, they never came back. I believe they were kidnapped and are being held somewhere here on the island.”
“Good heavens,” Crone said.
Drenna stole a glance at Mei, who was staring at the screen. Her face hadn’t moved in at least a minute. Something was clearly bothering her.
Jack looked at Crone. “I guess that chatter about terrorists must have been legit.”
“It’s certainly possible that’s what we have here,” Crone replied. “But we can’t be sure the man in the swimsuit is Middle Eastern. Appearances can be deceiving.”
“He could be Italian for all we know,” Bender said.
Her gaze still set on the screen, Mei said, “I think I noticed something when Sutton was walking down the sidewalk. Can we take another look?”
Olivier nodded. “Certainly.”
He rewound the footage then played it a second time. As before, Sutton came out of the exit and made his way down the sidewalk. Even though Drenna was normally good at noticing the smallest of details, she didn’t see anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
Right before the dark-haired man stepped out, Mei pointed at the screen. “There!”
Olivier clicked the stop button.
Crone looked at Mei. “What is it?”
She didn’t return his gaze. “If you don’t mind, go back a few seconds and start it again. This time, don’t look at Sutton. Look at the overall screen.”
Drenna’s eyes narrowed as she watched the scene play out again. After Sutton took a couple of steps, the video seemed to flicker for a split second. Is that what Mei had been referring to?
“I saw the screen move,” Jack said. “A bad signal, perhaps?”
Mei shook her head. “I don’t think so. What are the odds that the feed would flicker right before the man appears from the left?”
“So what are you saying?” Crone asked.
“I think we’re looking at a deepfake,” Mei said. “I worked on that technology early in my career, so I’ve seen some of the best work out there. In my opinion, that flicker was the point at which the video began to be manipulated.”
Crone frowned. “Are you saying none of this really happened?”
“No, I think Owen Sutton did walk down that sidewalk. But I believe the dark-haired man’s appearance has been altered in order to hide his identity.”
“Maybe whoever did this wanted us to think that Middle Eastern terrorists are involved,” Jack said.
“Remember, we have evidence that Chinese assets were traveling to Sint Maarten,” Drenna said. “Maybe it was one of them who approached Sutton.”
“Let’s not get carried away.” Olivier shook his head. “We have lots of firewalls in place to protect our system. No one can just manipulate our feeds from the outside.”
Mei said, “But they could easily do so if they broke into your server room and placed a Trojan directly into the system. Chinese intelligence does it all the time.”
Crone looked at Olivier. “We need to look into that.”
Olivier nodded slowly then pulled out his phone. “I’ll call someone right now.”
As he stepped away, Jack turned to Drenna. “Maybe we were wrong about Sutton working for the Chinese. Based on what we just saw, it looks like they came here to grab him.”
Mei’s brow furrowed. “Still, something doesn’t make sense. Sutton’s profile was on a document that’s used for Chinese assets who are secretly working within other governments and private industry. I’m certain of that.”
“Maybe Sutton was the target of the secret asset,” Drenna said. “We never got all the files from that USB drive. That means there may have been additional pages with information on the mole.”
Mei nodded. “That’s possible.”
“Are you saying there’s a mole on my team?” Crone asked.
“Not necessarily your team,” Drenna said. “But I think it’s safe to say that someone here at the resort is working with the other side.”
Chapter 43
“So what now?” Crone asked.
Jack sat down in one of the empty chairs. “We try to figure out who’s working for the other side.”
“We don’t have much time,” Crone said. “That’s going to be very difficult.”
“You mentioned the DOD sent a PSB protection detail down here,” Drenna said. “What can you tell us about them?”
Crone appeared to consider her question. “I had a preliminary meeting with them to discuss logistics, and I’ve had a few conversations with the team members since then. But that’s about it. As you can imagine, my focus has been on preparing for our upcoming meetings.”
“I understand. You’ve certainly had your hands full.” Drenna thought for a moment. “How many are on the PSB detail?”
“There are four total. Three men and a woman.”
Drenna nodded. “You said you spoke to one of them about the family’s movements. Who was that?”
“I spoke to the woman. I believe her name is Michelle Conrad.”
“And when did you speak to her?” Drenna asked.
“Right after we discovered the Suttons were missing. And we’ve been in touch ever since. As a matter of fact, I was exchanging texts with her when all of you arrived from the airport.”
“Anything concern you about her?” Drenna asked.
“Not at all. As far as I can tell, she’s the consummate professional. She asked good questions and has kept me informed ever since they became involved.”
“Who’s the team lead?” Jack asked.
“His name is Harry Blackman. Top-notch guy. Extremely bright. He’s the type of person who doesn’t miss anything. I’m that way myself, so I appreciate it in others.” Crone paused. “To be honest, I’d be shocked if any of them were working with the Chinese.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not easy to spot a mole because our enemies usually go after the brightest ones,” Drenna said. “Sometimes, the clues are subtle, which makes them hard to detect unless you’ve seen them before.”
Crone nodded. “You’re the expert on this type of thing, so I’ll take your word for it. I’m just a research guy.”
Jack crossed his arms. “You said there were four PSB officers. What can you tell us about the other two?”
“Nothing, really. They were at the preliminary meeting, but I didn’t speak to them directly.”
Drenna could tell they had hit a dead end. In order to find the mole, they would have to conduct interviews and review all digital communications. They didn’t have the time or authority to do that. They needed to focus on finding the Suttons.
Olivier put away his phone then came back and addressed the group. “I just spoke to my IT guy. He doesn’t believe our system was compromised. But given the circumstances, he’s going to run some diagnostics and get back to me.”
