Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Carnes swallows hard and nods.
“Good. You do this right and help us recover Barrett safely, and that will go a long way to help you out of this shirt storm you’ve landed yourself in.”
Carnes nods again.
Frankly, I don’t give a flying fuck what happens to him after this. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.
“Let’s do it, then,” Kynan says, giving Carnes a tiny shove toward the door.
♦
Carnes is in Scavino’s office, waiting patiently for him to finish a phone call. We stationed four FBI agents outside the office, prepared to swoop in and arrest him as soon as the call connects. It could happen within seconds of Carnes leaving or it might never happen. It’s a risk we’re taking with this path, but Bebe’s also working hard on Scavino’s accounts, so hopefully something will pan out there if this doesn’t work.
The rest of the agents and the Jameson crew are still in the conference room, gathered around some hi-def speakers to listen in. Bebe is poised over her laptop, fingers ready to do whatever magic she needs to identify and intercept the call we hope Scavino will make.
We all go on high alert when Scavino’s voice comes across the speaker, wrapping up his phone call. We can’t see what’s going on, but based on Scavino’s tone of impatience, I can imagine he’s frowning across his desk at Carnes.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Carnes?” Scavino asks briskly, making it clear he doesn’t really have the time.
“I think they’re on to us,” Carnes says, and his voice is high pitched and squeaky. He sounds incredibly nervous, but that actually works in this case.
“On to us?” Scavino replies vaguely.
As instructed, Carnes doesn’t withhold details, making it clear exactly what’s at stake since we’re recording this. “I just had a meeting with some attorneys at DOJ. They’re investigating what they term as ‘suspicious’ activity on the West Wing servers, and they wanted to examine my computer.”
“Did you let them?” Scavino asks, his tone now harsh but concerned. No one wants the Department of Justice sniffing around illegal, treasonous activity.
“They had a warrant,” Carnes whines in response.
“Shit,” Scavino growls, and I can only imagine the panic in his expression. He knows if they have Carnes’ computer, they will find the tracking code that would search out the president’s niece where she was hidden in the Caribbean.
It could go one of two ways at this point. Scavino could be suspicious and grill Carnes about this more. If he were smart, he would demand more details as to the types of questions DOJ supposedly asked. If he did, he’d probably sniff out this was a sting operation pretty soon because Carnes isn’t particularly good at this stuff.
Or Scavino can panic and react, which seems to be the route he chooses.
“Get out of my office,” Scavino orders Carnes.
“Who are you calling, sir?” Carnes asks, and I have to give the fuckwad credit… that’s an important alert to us that we didn’t ask him to do. Without eyes inside the room, we have to rely solely on Bebe to track and hack the phone call from Scavino. Not only is she going to identify the person to whom the call is going, but she’s also going to block the incoming number so the recipient doesn’t know who’s calling. It might mean the person on the end won’t answer if an identifiable number or contact isn’t shown on screen, but it’s a chance we’re going to have to take. We can’t give this person any indication anything is wrong.
Carnes just gave us a heads-up Scavino has a phone in hand, ready to make a call.
Bebe moves quickly, tapping on her keyboard.
“I’m calling none of your damn business,” Scavino barks, and I can imagine him pointing at his door. “Now… get out. And I suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut. I’ll handle all of this.”
“Yes, sir,” Carnes says, the relief in his voice a little too dramatized. I hope it doesn’t make him suspicious.
There’s a shuffling sound, presumably Carnes leaving, then Bebe murmurs, “There’s an outgoing call.”
Her fingers start tapping furiously, lines of code scrolling across her machine.
The ringing of a phone comes across the speakers… once, twice, three times before it connects.
“Hello,” we hear. The only thing easily identified is the voice is male.
“Gotcha, you bastard,” Bebe exclaims victoriously as she punches a few keys.
Then Scavino’s voice, “Richard… DOJ is on to us.”
There’s silence because Bebe effectively disconnected the call.
“Hello,” Scavino says. “Richard… are you there?”
“Move,” Kynan orders softly into a headset he’s wearing that puts him in direct contact with FBI agents outside Scavino’s office.
We can hear the door to Scavino’s office flying open, then him crying out in surprise. “What the hell is this?”
“Clarence Scavino… turn around and place your hands behind your back. You’re under arrest for treason, kidnapping, and conspiracy.”