The Intelligence Control and Analysis Program

Chapter 15

Rossi heaved a sigh and put one hand on his hip. "It's not good, kid. Twenty-two dead and counting, and everybody else is going to the hospital." He glanced over at the elevator when the doors opened again, watching Deputy McClintock and Deputy Crane help a genius walk toward the exit. "We've got some help from the local sheriff's office, and when I last talked to Emily, she said Strauss and West were both calling in favors from the Marines and the NCIS. Cross your fingers, kiddo."

Garcia let out a breath on the other end of the line. "Yeah. I will." She inhaled slowly and then cleared her throat, a little bit of the pep going back into her voice. "So, apart from being super worried, I called you to give you an update on my decrypting shenanigans."

"Update away," Rossi replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Okay, so, we got our foot in the door because that mysterious and wonderful force of goodness who cannot be named dumped two kinds of files onto the web. I lined up those documents—the financial records and the documentation of various special jobs—and then I compared those couplets with news articles from around the world."

"Right." Rossi nodded as he listened. "Spencer was used to create a new strain of anthrax, and the records of his research lined up with the receipts for the chemical compounds used, which lined up with an anthrax attack against Syria." Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "We can't afford to let the Syrian government know our government was using their country like a guinea pig; hence, national security issue."

"Exactly! But here's the thing..." Garcia trailed off for a moment, and Rossi could hear keys clacking in the background. "We really needed a way to get into the basement, so the mysterious and unnamed force dumped what they had when that connection was made. But I'm finding more stuff, and I don't know what to do."

"Well..." Rossi glanced around the lobby briefly, wondering what kind of recording equipment might be hidden, and then he cleared his throat. "As helpful as that mysterious and wonderful force of goodness was, this new line of investigation should give us access to all of the encrypted files we need."

"Riiight... and a vigilante would want to do everything they could to go undetected, so they probably wouldn't post more than once in such a short period of time, unless they had inside information. Which, obviously, they don't, because they are not me. So." Garcia cleared her throat. "Got it. I'll doublecheck my servers and make sure nothing can be traced back to me, or you guys, or this location, and once everything is bleached to my satisfaction, I'll head—"

"To bed," Rossi interrupted. "You'll head to bed and get some sleep."

Garcia didn't respond right away, and Rossi could hear the protest starting to burst up her throat.

"And you'll stay with Spencer and Dallas, because they're scared, and they need you with them right now."

Garcia was silent for another moment, and then she heaved a sigh. "Yeah... you're right..." She sighed again. "Yeah. I'll clean up and go check on the boys."

Rossi opened his mouth to reply but stopped when he saw a couple deputies—or at least, he assumed that was their rank—coming in the front door. "Hold on." He tucked the phone against his jacket to muffle the sound and addressed the newcomers. "If you head down there, you'll be able to figure out where the geniuses are right away. We need to get them to the hospital."

One of the deputies raised an upward thumb. "McClintock filled us in over the radio. We'll get right on it."

"Thanks." Rossi put the phone back to his ear and softened his voice to something more conversational. "Listen, why don't you all set up in the living room? Put in a movie, get a bunch of blankets and pillows, pop some popcorn. I'm sure it would make them feel a lot safer if you were all together, and maybe it can help you kids unwind a bit."