With Jony’s help, Hunter could get the names of the hacker elites that Murdo mentioned by doing some old-fashioned open-source intelligence (OSINT), or reconnaissance work. Two of the hackers used the same unencrypted email address for the correspondence (a rookie mistake), and all of them used their own hacker call signs.
“It looks like these elite hackers are connected to an estate just north of Edinburgh,” Hunter said.
“Atta boy! I knew you could do it,” Jony said.
“Do what?”
Both men turned around in unison. Dahlia stood rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“I will let you do the honors, mate,” Jony said as he slapped Hunter on the back.
“It took a bit of work, but Jony and I—”
“Hunter did the work,” Jony interrupted.
“We found the person behind the hacks,” Hunter said.
Dahlia looked at both of them as if they were speaking another language.
“What do you mean? We know who is doing the hacks. Gregor!” Dahlia demanded.
“That is correct, D, but there are other factors at play,” Jony said.
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“Like what?”
“A third party has made it their priority to make sure that Black Iris and the Collective are at war with each other.”
“You still haven’t told me who this third party is,” Dahlia said.
“Are you familiar with Jeremiah Mason?” Jony asked.
Dahlia thought for a long moment before answering.
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Jeremiah’s daughter, Melissa, was recording the events at the Shadow Dealers,” Hunter said.
“This is dubious. We don’t know why he is trying to cause Black Iris harm, only that it is ongoing,” Jony said.
“What is the organization called on the Dark Web?” Dahlia asked.
“They call themselves the Timeslicers. They have been unknown to most organized hacker groups until now,” Jony said.
“Then I suggest that we make finding out who they are our top priority—besides winning the war with the Collective, that is.”
“Speaking of that, we might want to host a parley. It may be of mutual benefit to share information on this one,” Jony said.
“No way!” Hunter said.
“I don’t want to reveal our hand just yet. Let’s do our best to verify any suspected Collective attacks. These Timeslicers may try to send us chasing after ghosts,” Dahlia said.
“Consider it done, Mum,” Jony said.
“I think I need to pay the Timeslicers a visit,” Hunter said.
“Good idea. Be discreet. We can’t afford you getting caught, or worse,” Dahlia said.
Hunter grinned. “I don’t plan on getting caught.”
“Wait—I have something for you.” Dahlia left for a moment and came back with a leather pouch. She opened it to show Hunter.
“I know you adore the intimacy of a close kill, so I will lend you my recon kit.” Hunter opened the kit. It contained a small metal syringe with some vials of clear liquid. Mum’s knockout juice, Hunter thought. “Or I can lend you my tranquilizer gun. Your choice.”
“This will do nicely,” Hunter said, smiling.
Dahlia’s phone buzzed. It was an old friend. “I need to take this,” she said. “Report back as soon as you can, Hunter.” Then she walked out of the room.