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the perils lovingly and yet resolutely. “I’ve given you sixteen years of this life,” she said, “but maybe
now it’s time for you to do something for your family.”
He knew exactly what she was asking for. His whole life, all Chris Tarbell had ever wanted to
be was a cop. He didn’t care if he was handing out tickets to jaywalkers or hunting down the most
wanted man on the Internet; it was his reason for being here. But at the same time he had always
wanted a family too. And between the FBI and Sabrina and the kids, it wasn’t even a question of
which one he was going to choose.
Tarbell handed in his gun and his badge; the Eliot Ness of cyberspace resigned from the FBI.
Tarbell now works for a major cyberconsultancy in New York City, where he assists companies
and the government in computer-related crimes. He still plays the “would you rather” game. Even
though his wife, Sabrina, now feels much safer, she still carries a handgun with her throughout the
house, even resting one atop her fresh towels in the hamper while she does the laundry.
• • •
In the months after the Dread Pirate Roberts was captured, it appeared to Carl Force and Shaun
Bridges that they had gotten away with fake murder and with stealing millions of dollars in Bitcoins.
They had cleverly hidden most of their loot in offshore accounts under fake business names. They
both assumed that those digital coins could never be traced back to them. After all, in their minds,
Bitcoins were like cash—completely anonymous.
Carl was so confident that he tried to contact book publishers in New York City and movie
studios in Hollywood with the hope that he could sell his story as the undercover DEA agent who
helped bring down the Silk Road. He was lionized as a hero at the DEA and even given awards for a
job so well done. When it seemed that no one suspected Carl of anything unlawful, he quietly began
selling some of his Bitcoins, paying off the mortgage on the old Colonial home and picking up a few
toys.
But when the FBI and IRS started to trace the Bitcoins that had flowed in and out of the Silk
Road, by putting together a complex algorithm that figured out where the money took off and where it
landed, it became apparent that some of these coins didn’t add up. While most of the money had been
accounted for, with tens of millions of dollars pointing to Ross’s laptop and millions more directed to
employees, hackers, and informants, there was also a slew of Bitcoins that curiously found their way
back to Carl Force and Shaun Bridges. Maybe, the Feds thought, it was an anomaly. Two cops on the
same task force would never steal money from a case.
Or would they?
As the Feds covertly began investigating this possibility, more peculiarities started to appear, all
of which led back to Shaun and Carl.
In one instance the FBI had found a message on the Silk Road servers that had been sent to the
Dread Pirate Roberts from one of his alleged informants who was a mole inside the government. The
plant went by the name “French Maid” and had been selling secrets to DPR for a hefty fee. But as the
FBI started to look further, they noticed that one of the messages sent from French Maid to DPR was
bizarrely signed “Carl.” And then another message sent shortly afterward provided a clarification: “I
am sorry about that. My name is Carla Sophia and I have many boyfriends and girlfriends on the
market place.”