Unauthorized Access by Andrew McAllister Read Free Book Online Page A

moment with his head cocked to one side. He had no recollection of dropping any paper—and for that matter he couldn’t remember having any blank sheets of paper on his desk.
    The strange part was that this had happened before. Every so often he would find an envelope in the middle of his desk, a USB memory stick he had never seen before beside his computer keyboard or, as was the case this afternoon, a blank piece of paper lying around.
    Rob shook his head. He was getting punchy after pulling his first all-nighter in years. He dropped the sheet into his recycle box, sat down and went back to work.
    * * *
    Tim huddled forward in his chair as he finished the text message to Lesley. If anyone happened to walk by his cubicle he didn’t want them to see him sending a message. He doubted anyone would be able to make the connection with Lesley receiving one at the same time, but still, there was no sense taking chances.
    He slipped the cell phone back into his pocket. He had paid for it with cash, specifically so he would have an untraceable way to send messages like that one. Soon he and Lesley would have to look out for each other, and Tim knew she had been struggling for bigger stories. The media was sure to hear from their customers that there were problems at First Malden, so Lesley might as well be the first to arrive.
    Not that the news people would have any idea about the true cause of all the excitement. Dysart and Kelleher had made it crystal clear that no hint about the sabotage was to be discussed with anyone outside their team. The public was to think any problems were strictly technical, just as Tim had predicted.
    Tim glanced at his watch again and saw it was finally two o’clock. A thrill of anticipation filled him. The spectacle should soon begin. He stood up and wandered over to Rob’s cubicle. Rob was hunched over his computer terminal, working away.
    “Hey buddy,” Tim said. “How’re you holding up?”
    Rob swiveled to face Tim and stretched.
    “I’m completely wasted,” Rob said. “Usually by mid-afternoon I’m just getting my second wind, but not today.”
    “Tell me about it. I haven’t pulled an all-nighter like that since my senior thesis was due.”
    Rob rolled his stiff neck in a circle. “I slept for an hour or so leaned over my desk, but it wasn’t nearly enough.”
    Tim noticed the blank sheet of paper wasn’t on the floor where he had planted it earlier. It was now in the recycle box. He made a mental note to return later and use the pair of tweezers he kept in his pocket to slip the paper into a large brown envelope. Then he would have one more item with Rob’s fingerprints for his collection. Tim didn’t know if he would need this one, but it never hurt to be prepared.
    Paul Dees appeared beside Tim with an anxious look on his face.
    “Did you get it too?” Dees asked Rob.
    Rob looked puzzled. “Get what?”
    “The email,” Dees said. “I got another one from the Financial Patriots a few minutes ago. Have a look and see if you got it too.”
    Rob turned to his monitor and clicked on his email program.
    “Yeah, I did,” he said
    He opened the message.
    Tim read the email over Rob’s shoulder, though he could have recited it from memory.
To the First Malden Bank:
The deadline of noon has come and gone. Obviously you ignored our warning. You had your chance, now you will get what you deserve.
Financial Patriots of America
    “Holy shit,” Rob said. “What does they mean, we’ll get what we deserve?”
    “It means another attack just happened,” Dees said.
    Rob groaned.
    “No. Same deal as before?”
    Dees nodded. “I found a new scrambled file on the server. It’s bigger this time, big enough for thousands of accounts.”
    “Oh man.”
    Tim bit his lip to keep his satisfaction from showing. He mentally checked off another step in his plan as successfully completed.
    “I’m not sure how many accounts are affected yet,” Dees said, “but Kelleher just called me