needed to weigh all threats and consequences to the exhibit and the Chinese delegation. The political fallout of canceling the event or postponing the opening could be a serious problem. Her intuition told her they had trouble, though she disagreed with Spalding that the trouble would strike in the form of an immediate personal attack. “The radicals on the other side of that computer screen are noisemakers,” she said decisively. “They’ve never struck in person. We’re prepared and we’ll continue with the program as scheduled.”
Spalding’s eyes were hard and his voice was barely audible. “If you’re wrong?”
Since accepting her role within the State Department, she’d been walking the tenuous line of relations between China, Vietnam and other interested parties in the South China Sea long enough to trust her gut instinct. “There is trouble, I’ll grant you, but it is not a physical threat tonight. Someone is playing us, saying enough of the right things to make us doubt and potentially cause a rift. I refuse to make a decision based on fear that will undo the progress we’ve made in the past year.”
Spalding glared down at her and only her years of ballet training kept her spine straight, her gaze direct. “Listen, Goode, if you—”
“Sir! Ma’am!”
Madison peered around Spalding to see a member of the museum security staff waving frantically from the various readouts that confirmed priceless objets d’art and artifacts were secure in their displays. “What is it?” Spalding demanded as he crossed the room, Madison on his heels.
Her famous self-control almost snapped when she saw which exhibit caused the concern. The first troubling email her office had intercepted two weeks ago specifically mentioned the cup with dragon handles carved from white jade. The cup signified more than exceptional artistry and craftsmanship. Bringing a prized item from twelfth-century China to this museum in America indicated growing trust between their countries. Priceless, it wasn’t the oldest piece China had shared in this exhibit, but certainly one of the best known. Any impression that it wasn’t secure could destabilize the agreement.
“We read a spike in the display temperature first,” the man at the controls explained, bringing up a graph. “Now the electronic lock is flickering.”
“Flickering? What does that mean?” Spalding asked.
Madison already knew. She’d been through the museum a dozen times already, reviewing every detail of the items selected as well as the security measures necessary to protect the extraordinary exhibit China planned to share as a gesture of good intentions. A flickering electronic lock meant someone either was in the security system right now or had planted a virus to weaken it.
While Spalding sent his team along with museum staff to verify the safety of the cup and secure the galleries, she pulled her phone from her clutch and prepared to make an uncomfortable call. Whether or not the cup or any of the other priceless treasures were stolen tonight, a perceived flaw in the security would raise suspicion. She debated with herself over how to keep the head of the consular staff informed without wrecking the confidence she’d worked so hard to establish.
She turned to the man still monitoring the control panels. “Is it possible to isolate what type of interference is affecting the lock?”
“I can do that.” Carli stepped up when the technician hesitated.
Madison watched the younger woman conduct a swift search of the programming until she found what they were all looking for. Madison wasn’t an expert in computer languages or coding, but she recognized enough groupings on the monitor. The source of the problem in the locking mechanism on the display case was a hacker who’d been pounding at the State Department computer system firewalls in a chaotic effort to make his point about the insecurities plaguing the world. The official position was the hacker was tilting at windmills for the sheer joy of annoying cyber security. Now Madison wondered what they had overlooked. Only a thorough investigation would determine if this stunt was a timely coincidence or if he was in fact part of the outrageous, threatening chatter Carli and Devon had discovered.
“This is a hacker,” Madison stated. She kept her opinions and curses to herself as she opened a menu on her cell phone and located the right name in her contact list. “The reception and gala will go on. I want security increased around the cup please,” she said to Spalding. “Carli, please take a screenshot and do what you can to hold the hacker’s attention,” she added.
“I can help her.” Devon plugged in a wireless keyboard and jumped into the technological fray. “How much do you want us to do?”
“Don’t strike back directly,” Madison said, keeping the phone to her ear. She listened as the line rang and rang, hoping for a miracle. From what they’d been coping with at the office in recent weeks, she suspected the hacker was better than Carli and Devon, even combined. “Make him jump through enough hoops that it keeps him entertained.” Madison wrote her cell phone number on a notepad and left it between them. “Keep me in the loop.”
“You got it,” Carli and Devon said in unison.
As she left the security suite, Madison heard Spalding reorganizing his staff and she hit the redial icon. Again, the one man she needed didn’t answer and her call went to voice mail. Irritation plucked at the tense muscles in her neck and shoulders. She had answered immediately when he needed her last year. Of course, he’d reached out by email that day. Rethinking her approach, she disconnected the call and opened her email application. After entering an admittedly desperate message, she hit Send. All she could do now was wait and hope Carli and Devon would be enough.
She made a last-minute adjustment to the guest list in case her secret-weapon expert did show up, alerting the team assigned to the rear entrance of the museum. Ignoring the raised eyebrows and a low whistle at the name she added, she headed for the main museum entrance. The lead dignitaries from the Chinese consulate would arrive within minutes.
“Hope you’re right about this,” Spalding muttered, his gaze sweeping the area.
“I am,” she replied with more confidence than she felt. There would be time for recriminations and self-doubt later when she was home alone. Plenty of time if this became an assassination attempt, since she’d either be dead or unemployed by morning.
Minutes later the formal greetings were exchanged on the red carpet outside and she gave her full attention to the delegation while Spalding watched everything else. Everyone in this first, exclusive group from China appeared as relaxed as she’d ever seen them as she guided them into the museum entrance hall. The invitations had specified black-tie and she thought the group resembled a stunning kaleidoscope with the colorful silk dresses of the women spiraling about the backdrop of black tuxedos.
Madison treated herself to an inward sigh of relief when the first group was safely inside, smiling and greeting senior staff from the State Department as well as the museum director, Edward Wong. Stepping out of view, she confirmed preparations were on schedule for the champagne toast in front of the prized white jade cup.
Brief, scripted speeches were exchanged between officials along with gestures of confidence and trust. If the hacker had attempted to rattle a saber on the Chinese side, the group showed no signs of distress. For the first time in over an hour, she believed the evening would run without any visible hitch.
At either side of the doorway to the premier gallery, golden champagne sparkled and bubbled in narrow crystal flutes ready for guests. Seeing that the key players from China and America were all smiles as they gathered together around the white jade cup display, Madison wanted to give a victorious cheer. With the drama and bids for power that filled the
