Fading Into the Night — Vannetta Chapman

When a cyber terrorist targets the Amish town of Shipshewana, an Amish farmer and a seasoned agent join forces to stop the attack.

How do you defend yourself against an attack you can't see?

Nora Brooks has been sent to the small town of Shipshewana to stop a cyber-attack that could kill hundreds. She doesn't realize that she'll need an Amish farmer to do so. Ben Lapp is walking around the corner of his barn when he comes face to face with a woman dressed in black, bleeding from a wound on her right arm, and aiming a gun at him. When he learns why she's there, he wants to do more than stay out of her way. He wants to help her stop this threat to the community and the people that he loves. But the man who is threatening Ben's community has faded into the night, and it's going to take every bit of cunning and instinct these two possess to find and stop him.

This story first appeared in the Summer of Suspense Anthology. Already read it? Check out the continuing story with Midnight Strike, book 2 in Vannetta Chapman's Cyber Division series.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Nora Brooks stared at her boss across his desk. She'd been called in to the Virginia office for a briefing. She'd guessed it was about Dash, a cyber terrorist she'd personally been chasing for much too long. She knew that he was active again, knew something was about to hit, but she had no idea it would be this big.

“So we know where he is.”
“We don't. We know where he was.”
She waved away his reservations. “Send me. I'll find him.”
“Nora, I want you to listen to me.”

Jason Anderson was fifty-two years old, with gray short-cropped hair, a don't-waste-my time-demeanor, and a scar that ran from the outside of his left eye to his jaw. He'd never told her about how the injury had occurred, but she'd heard the rumors. They only caused her to respect him more.

He pinched the skin at the base of his throat and gestured toward the chair. When she'd sat -- on the edge because she didn't plan on being there long -- he steepled his fingers and cleared his throat.

“The perpetrator that you call Dash…”
“It's his signature.”
“He's contacted over twenty small municipalities.”
“How small?”
“Ranging from under five hundred to a couple thousand.”
“And he's demanding the same ransom amount as before?”
“He is.” Jason waited for her to put it together.
“They don't have cyber insurance, and they won't have the funds to pay the ransom.”
“Exactly.”
“So what does he want?”

“He wants to force our hand. Our best guess? He's behind the bill for the government to provide cyber insurance to every municipality in America.”
“You think Dash is the driving force for pending federal legislation?”
“Nearly two hundred companies are now providing cyber insurance domestically. He could be working for any one or even a combination of them.”
“And their motive -- ”
“Is money. It's always money. US cyber premiums have topped $2 billion. If this legislation goes through, that amount will be a drop in the bucket.”

Nora heard a pounding in her ears as her heart rate accelerated. If she'd caught him last time, they wouldn't be dealing with this now. She didn't blame herself. The man was slippery as an eel, but she had vowed that she would stop him before he managed to strike again.

“What is he threatening to do?”
“The usual -- compromise the water supply, bring down the grid, and get this…” He pulled a sheet of paper out from the stack on his desk and repositioned his glasses. “Pay the ransom or chaos will explode in little towns across America.”

He motioned her over to the U.S. map on the wall, and tapped a pin on the NE corner of Indiana. “Here. A little town called Shipshewana.”
“Never heard of it. Okay. You're assigning me to Shipshewana, right?”
“If you want it.”
“I do.” She didn't hesitate, didn't have to think about it. If Dash was in a town of 600, she'd find him.