Black Rose

CHAPTER 43

The George V in the heart of Paris had been a favorite hotel of the rich for decades. It was where Gutenberg always stayed when he was in town. He was getting dressed in his room when his encrypted phone signaled a call from Appo Thorvaldson, one of AEON's seven directors.

"Appo. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Johannes, but I'm afraid you are not."

"What do you mean?"

"We have a security breach. Your emails are being intercepted by an outside party."

"What? That's impossible."

"I have a man working for me who takes care of all my electronic security. He monitors everything that comes into my computer. He discovered an anomaly in your last email."

Gutenberg looked at his watch. He was meeting Valentina for dinner.

"Go on."

"Someone has put a tracking program on your computer that allows them to monitor all of your communications."

"You're certain."

"Of course, or I wouldn't bother you."

"How would this be done?" Gutenberg asked. "How could someone get through my firewalls and plant their program?"

"Our security protocols make it unlikely it was done over the Internet. It had to be done by someone with direct access to your computer."

Gutenberg flushed with anger. He kept his laptop was with him at all times. There was only one other person who could have gotten to it.

Valentina. She has betrayed me.

"We have to deal with this, Johannes."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I think I know who is responsible. Where are the messages going?"

"We don't know yet. If you send me a long message, we'll have time to trace the signal back to whoever is spying on you."

"Perhaps we can turn this to our advantage," Gutenberg said.

"In what way, Johannes?"

"They don't know we've discovered them. Let me think about it."

"When will you send the message?"

"Tomorrow morning. I'll alert you when I'm ready to do it. And now, I'm going to be late for a dinner engagement."

"Ah, yes, the lovely Valentina. You are fortunate to have such a beautiful mistress."

"I've been growing tired of her. I think it may be time for a change."

"Oh? Do you think she might consider a new liaison?"

"With you?"

"Why not? I don't mind slightly used goods."

Gutenberg thought about what he was going to do when he talked to Valentina about the computer.

"I don't think you'll want to pursue that, my friend."

He ended the call.

In a room three doors down, an SVR technician had been listening to the conversation. He turned off the recorder and took off his headphones. Gutenberg had made a mistake common to men who thought they were invulnerable, the mistake of predictability. He always stayed at the George V when he was in Paris. It had been a simple matter to determine when he would arrive at the hotel and equally simple to put listening devices in his rooms.

The program installed on Gutenberg's computer had been discovered. The technician called the number he'd been given in case there was a problem. Across town, Valentina's handler picked up his phone.