Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

“If he knows the roads it won’t work.” I took it upon myself to be the devil’s advocate, because we only had one chance, it had to be a foolproof plan. “Linda, can you go to the next room and find out what has happened with the covert hacking of his cell phone to check his route without disrupting it?”

“Sure.” She got up from her seat. “It shouldn’t take too much time.”

Jerry rolled his chair towards us. He said, “It is a very intricate operation for a single car. If we don’t have the software for it or the details to take over this specific vehicle, it is possible only by bringing down the whole GPS operations in the whole world. And that will never happen.” He stopped for a moment and thought. “Maybe we can signal to him with a drone?” That was Jerry’s expertise.

“We can penetrate the road signs and send him a message.” That was Linda from the door.

“That could be a good idea, but there may be another car following him, maybe even a few and they will see the sign too.”

“And possibly,” I added, with sudden clarity, “we might not get his cooperation. Don’t forget he is on his way to save his son and that is the only thing he sees at the moment. We must make him decide on his own that he needs to stop at the gas station. He needs to think he has to be there.”

“It is a whole lot easier to take control over a car…” two hackers said. They looked so alike they could have been twins, but in fact they had only met one other at the beginning of the mission.

“Taking over the car is not as easy as it looks,” Jerry insisted.

“Taking over is not at all a problem. We can tap the car’s computer through OBD over GSM and then reset or change any of the settings in the car.”

“That is not exactly true,” one of the hacker twins said. “If you haven’t inserted something in the car beforehand it cannot be done. There is another way to take control of the multimedia and from there, through the GPS but for that, one needs a specialist.”

“We can change his route another way. If not through his cell phone, then we could check his speed and distance and then program one of the components in the car to melt or destroy itself at the next gas station. But that is a bit complicated.” Jerry said.

“Why complicate things?” Bobby asked. “Whoever takes over from him will need to carry on in the car, no? It is much simpler to use the on-star system.”

The other hacker twin continued to explain his idea to me. “It is a one way system, which is used to locate the vehicle and, in fact, can perform functions like opening the car doors with a remote control and a few other things that may help us, like disengaging the engine.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jerry asked.

“Absolutely. It was created to prevent thieves from driving the car and, if the car had an accident or turned upside down, to prevent the car from igniting. If there is a fuel leakage, disengaging means one can turn the engine off and prevent the brakes from working or locking the steering wheel by disengaging the starter.”

I asked Guy on the loudspeaker, “If we disengage the engine, will he stop at the closest gas station?”

“I have no doubt he will stop to check. He is very careful and calculated. It won’t cause a real accident will it?” I heard Guy hesitate a bit before he asked, “Can you make a light come on the control panel in the car?”

“Or turn on all the hazard lights. It is possible,” Bobby said. “We have worked on something like that for a long time. I’ll use the database I have.”

“He won’t ignore a warning light,” Guy answered.

“I want to receive the information in real time. Is the helicopter still above the car?”

“Still on him, despite the bad weather conditions. We’re still tracking him. Guy, as soon as we know where he’ll stop, we’ll let you know. Don’t give him any chance to argue. You are going to take his place and carry on according to the instructions.”

“Yes, ma’am.” There was no amusement in his voice. Not even an ironic note. If there was emotion, it was concern. He said, “I have no problem taking his place. I just hope they believe I’m him.”

“They won’t be able to tell the difference. You are very much alike, and it is better you are there than the professor.” I wanted to add, ‘with his abilities’, but avoided saying it. The fact that the FBI put him and other Israeli scientists under a microscope was not a piece of information I wanted to share with Guy.

“You’re right. It was a good idea.” After a moment he added, “I hope you will stop him soon. Up till now the driving has been extremely hazardous.”

“I hope so, too. As soon as we upload the target point and make the change in the tracking device, we will notify you.”

The mission had always been complicated, and became more so as time went on. A kidnapped boy had become a terror cell planning an attack on Israeli targets on US soil and maybe on planes, which had turned into the kidnapping of an Israeli satellite scientist. Would other scientists be kidnapped as well? Would the planes be shot down? Would all the attacks occur at the same time, similar to what we had seen in Paris? The walkie talkies all chirped at the same time in an insane harmony. A few teams were working simultaneously trying to save lives in many creative ways. I was in charge of it all, in addition to being in charge of the Paris desk, and my cell phone hadn’t ceased ringing about the disaster in Paris