by Desiree Holt
She laughed. Really laughed. “Liam, you are a man after my own heart. I don’t trust anyone a hundred percent, either. Except for Noah, that is. Okay. I have just the person for you. I know him personally.”
“I’d hoped that was the case, because my calling someone might not be able to get them here right now. And I need someone like yesterday.”
“Okay. Let me make a call and I’ll get right back to you.”
Liam was almost at his office building.
“I’ll be at my office in about five minutes,” he told her. “But don’t call me on the landline. Use my cell. I know it’s protected.”
“Got it.”
Once inside and at his desk, he booted up his computer. He had an isolated, locked file on his laptop, which at the moment was at his townhouse. He’d check that as soon as he was finished here. The first thing he wanted to do was unlock the files on the server and see if there was anything hinky that for whatever goddamn reason did not show up in the beta testing.
There was about a ten-minute gap between the time he finished with beta testing and was actually able to install the digital lock. He was working to reduce that time, if not to zero at least to one minute. Theoretically anyone could go in and change it then, but they’d have to have left some kind of digital footprint.
The sky outside his window had turned from black to gray by the time he finished with that chore, frustrated because he could not find a thing. He copied the software onto a thumb drive and sat back in his chair. Just as he wondered when he’d hear from Taylor, his cell rang and her name popped onto the screen.
“Got something for me?” he asked. He figured she wouldn’t care if he did away with the niceties of answering phones.
“Many somethings. But first, Noah says to tell you to take a deep breath. We’ve got your back.”
“Taylor, I want you to know—” He stopped, rephrased what he was going to say. “I am shocked by this, because at least until now I have utmost faith in my staff.”
“You know what they say. Shit happens. You won’t be the first one to be fooled nor the last. It happened to me when I took over the corporation, if that makes you feel better.”
“That’s hard to believe, but I guess you are right.”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat. “Some information for you. Max Bowman just happened to be in Miami, on another job for us. A marketing agency we just brought into the fold. They moved to new quarters and she supervised all the technical equipment. We sent a helicopter for her and as we speak, she should be landing in Tampa. I gave her your cell number so you should be hearing from her ASAP. She’ll take that off your shoulders.”
In Miami? Helicopter? He really had become part of a corporate family that made things happen.
“Do I need to arrange a car for her? A hotel room? I can—”
“Already taken care of,” Taylor assured him. “Now for your forensic data specialist. We are damn lucky, Liam.”
“Lucky?” His eyebrows reached for the sky, even though no one was there to see them.
“Eric Braun, who I’m told is the best in the industry, happens to be a friend of a friend. They reached out to him, put him in touch with me and we just sent the plane to Denver to fetch him.” She gave a short little laugh. “We’re lucky. His job just before this was in Madrid. That’s a long plane ride back.”
Liam breathed a little easier. “I have no idea how to thank you for this.”
“No thanks necessary,” she told him. “This is happening to an Arroyo company. I want whatever bastard is doing this as much as you do. So. My secretary is also arranging for his hotel and transpo while he’s in Tampa. He also has your cell and will call you as soon as he lands. I’d say by midmorning he should be at your office.”
Liam rubbed his forehead. “How are we going to do this and move all the equipment at the same time?”
“Eric and Max will figure it out. Just be ready with whatever they need.”
“You can bet on that. Oh, and one more thing.” He told her about the ghost program he wanted to install on Hoffman’s system.
“I’ll make sure Eric knows that. I’ll check in with you later.”
He disconnected the call, leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingers against his eyes. How was it possible that just when his life was taking a huge uptick, a shitstorm loomed on the horizon? Who in the hell on his staff would do something like this? He considered them family, certainly those who had come with him from Winters and Pryce. He’d need to get to Robert Hoffman again today and assure him that experts were on site and everything was being handled. Something like this could destroy Software By Design just as it was sailing up the ladder of success.
Fuck!
His cell phone buzzed, signaling a call. He looked at the screen. Sydney. And at six-thirty in the morning.
“You’re up early, counselor.” He tried to make his voice as even as possible.
“I need coffee and aspirin before I start my day. Besides, this trial is giving me fits.”
“Your client driving you nuts with no verdict yet?”
She made a very unladylike sound. “You have no idea. Anyway, I’m probably going to be tied up all weekend holding his hand and preventing him from doing something stupid.”
“He can’t stay by himself?”
“I don’t trust him to stay by himself. God, I can’t wait until this is over.” Her sigh carried over the connection. “Anyway, I wanted to see how you were and if you figured out the problem.”
Just the sound of her voice was soothing to him, like a sip of fine aged brandy. God, how he wished she was next to him right now.
“Someone did, in fact, try to hack the system at Hoffman Contractors, but the security cyberfence held.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Thank god, is all I can say. Robert Hoffman was sputtering like a Roman candle.”
“That’s because the cyberfence you built was perfect.”
“Or damn close to it, thank god.”
There was silence for a moment. “Liam, are you okay?”
Not yet, but I will be.
But he didn’t want to say anything to Sydney that would put her off-balance.
“Yes. I am. That’s no bull.”
Okay, so a little white lie.
“I’m crossing my fingers for you. Listen, I have to go now. Is it okay if I text you later and see how everything is going?”
“I’d be mad if you didn’t.” He paused for a moment. “Anyway, don’t worry. Taylor is sending me someone to straighten this out. A data forensic specialist. It’s probably just someone in Siberia who’s bored and perfecting his hacking skills. Or hers. I’ll talk to you later. You go chew ’em up today, Syd.”
After their conversation ended, he sat there for a moment, just thinking about her, the vision an oasis in the storm brewing around him. It was the only thing that prevented him from tearing his hair out and having a meltdown. How the fuck could this have happened?
At eight o’clock, he called Robert Hoffman on his cell phone to give him an update.
“The expert will be here about midmorning,” he told him. “I’d like to bring him right over to your place to install the ghost program so we can begin monitoring any outside activity.”
“Fine.” Hoffman’s voice was a cross between a bark and a growl. “This damn well better fix the problem, Benedict, or your name is in the toilet in my industry.”
Yeah, Liam figured that.
“The good news, Robert, is that they were unable to pierce the cyberwall. This will put another layer between you and whoever this is and allow us to trace back activity.”
I hope.
“Fine. Call me when he gets here.”
He had barely disconnected when the phone on his desk rang, startling him. He picked it up, frowning. Who the hell would be calling him on his private line? Better yet, who knew his private umber?
“Yes?”
“Mr. Benedict?” The voice was somewhat familiar. �
��This is James in the lobby.”
Oh, yeah. The overnight security guard.
“Yes, James. What can I do for you?”
And why are you calling me on this number at—he looked at his watch—six-forty-five in the morning?
“There’s a lady down here that says you’re expecting her.”
Liam frowned. He wasn’t expecting any women except those on his staff, and they had their coded key cards.
“Not here. What’s her name?”
“Bowman. She says she’s from Arroyo.”
Click!
Taylor had sent him a woman to ride herd on this?
Chauvinist much, Liam? Asshole.
He had very talented women working for him. It was just… What?
His brain flaked out.
“Send her up. I’ll get her a key card today.”
He was waiting by the elevator when the doors opened, trying not to show his shock when the woman walked out. She was tall, maybe even six feet. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, emphasizing the dark eyebrows and high cheekbones. She was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans that emphasized her long legs and toned body. She carried a large messenger case with a cross-body strap, and a boxy briefcase.
She held out a hand to him. “Max Bowman. No one but my grandmother is allowed to call me Maxine, but I wasn’t sure what name Taylor had given you.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Max. And I mean that in every sense of the word.”
“Here. Just so you know it’s really me.” She pulled a wallet out of her back pocket, flipped it open and showed him her Arroyo identification.
“Feel free to call Taylor for verification.”
He supposed someone could have faked this whole thing or waylaid the real Max and sent in a ringer, but his senses were telling him this wasn’t the case.
“We’re good. I know you’re basically here to oversee the technical aspects of this move, but did Taylor tell you what else is going on?”
She nodded. “Said someone’s fucking with new software you wrote for a client. Hate people like that. But no worries. Eric will take care of it. Never saw a hidden glitch he couldn’t find.”
“You know Eric Braun?”
Liam was beginning to think this was all a tight-knit little group that Taylor put together to troubleshoot and handle difficult tasks.
Max nodded. “We’ve worked together before. Listen, I know we’re tearing down this place today, but do you still have a coffee machine that works?”
“What? Oh, damn! Forgive my manners, but I didn’t sleep last night.”
She snorted. “With what happened? Not surprised. Just lead me to it. I don’t need to be waited on.”
“Ah, sure. This way.” He led her down to the break room.
“Oh, single serving. Great. Hate waiting for the damn plot to brew.” She stuck a pod in the machine, filled the reservoir and found a mug.
“My staff will be arriving shortly,” he told her. “Along with my executive assistant, who can help you with just about anything.”
“I think when your people are all here, we should meet with them and set down the outline for how this is going to work. I don’t want them to think they need a babysitter for this.”
Liam found himself grinning. “Even if they do?”
She laughed, a warm, natural sound. “Yeah, but we won’t tell them. This was supposed to leave you free to manage all the other details, but with this new glitch popping up—”
He held up a hand. “I’m good. Rosalie will be my stand-in. I think she’ll actually do it better than I would.”
She laughed again. “Most executive assistants can. Okay, show me where the brains are hidden.”
He led the way into the large room where all the servers were.
“I sent a schematic to Taylor when we first discussed this.”
Max nodded. “Got it in my bag. Let me walk around and—”
“Liam?” Rosalie’s voice echoed down the hallway. “You here already?”
He turned to Max. “Let me introduce the two of you. She’ll be your contact for just about anything and she’s a great problem solver.” Then he touched Rosalie’s arm. “A minute in my office, please?”
Concern lined her face as he ushered her in and closed the door.
“What’s up, boss? You look like death warmed over. Are you sick?”
“In a manner of speaking. Have a seat.” He indicated the couch against one wall, not wanting the barrier of the desk between them. This was too personal. Taking a deep breath, he laid out the situation for her from the time he’d gotten the alarm and called Hoffman. Rosalie listened, her face turning pale and her lips tightening.
“Shit, Liam.” She whispered the words. “This could destroy us. Who on earth would gimmick the software and when? How? Who do you suspect?”
“Everyone? No one?” He shrugged. “That’s part of the problem. All questions yet to be answered. But we’re covered. I worked on it all night and Taylor Cantrell sent in a couple of experts.” He explained what the next steps would be.
“And with this big move right now.” She shook her head. “What can I do?”
“Just be your usual efficient self and keep your eagle eye peeled.”
“You know it.” She rose, brushed an imaginary speck of lint from her jeans. “All right. Let’s do this.”
Within the next ten minutes, the movers arrived, and Liam was happy to hand everything over to Rosalie and Max. But he needed to get his staff together and give them some story to cover Eric’s sudden appearance. They began arriving even as he thought about it, and when everyone was there, he asked them to come into his office.
“We have awesome new people who will be around for a couple of days. Maxine Bowman—Max—is going to supervise the move of the computers and servers. And yes, Pete, I know we could do it ourselves, but I need you all to take care of your own equipment. She’ll oversee the servers and make sure everything is up and running properly. She does this for a living and we’re lucky to get her.”
“And who else?” Teri asked. “You said some people.”
He studied everyone for a long moment, watched them carefully as he gave his little speech he’d prepared. “It turns out even with all our testing, there’s a glitch in a couple of the programs we recently delivered. I needed someone who specializes in this to dig them out. Eric Braun, who was referred to me by Arroyo, is a high-level forensic data analyst. It’s his job to dig out these trouble spots.”
“What kind of glitch?” Sy demanded.
Liam tried to decipher if that was irritation underlying the man’s words or fear.
“Some things that disrupted the operating process.” He was deliberately vague, again looking at each person in turn. “As soon as I know more, I’ll tell you.”
“Why didn’t you ask us to do it?” Teri demanded. “We worked on the programs.”
“Exactly.”
“So, you don’t trust us?” Phil barked.
No, I don’t, and it’s killing me.
Liam shook his head. “That’s not it at all. It’s the reason authors should not edit their own work. You are so used to seeing what you see that it’s easy to miss something.”
“But—” Teri began.
Liam held up a hand. “I’m sure it’s something stupid that we all, including me, overlooked. It is what it is. So just go with it. I just ask if Eric needs any of you for anything you give both him and Max your utmost cooperation.”
They all nodded, albeit some reluctantly.
“Fine. Good. Now, let’s get this move done.”
He watched them file out of his office and he could almost hear the buzz of undercurrent as soon as they were away from him. He’d tried to get a reading when he’d laid it out for them as to who might be involved in this. Unfortunately, whoever it was, they were very good at concealing it, which didn’t help either his trust issues or his state of mind very much.
He leaned back in his desk ch
air and opened the top right-hand drawer in his desk. Reaching into it, he lifted out a box, flipped the top open and took out the object it was holding. The Arkansas Toothpick Bowie Knife had been a present from his father, who got it from his father. It usually sat displayed on his desk, but he’d put it away in preparation for the move along with some other items he didn’t want to lose. He had a habit, sometimes, when he was trying to get his brain to work, of sitting there fiddling with it. Now he returned it in the box to the desk drawer and got back to work.
By ten o’clock, there was action everywhere in the SBD offices. Under Max’s direction, his people were getting the server room and their individual stations broken down and packed up, using colored tape to show which parts went where. It appeared Taylor had sent a big enough crew to move the entire building, but that was good. They could not afford any down time. Furniture was stacked in the wide hallway, and movers along with his staff were hustling in and out of rooms.
If Eric Braun would just get here, Liam’s nerves might settle down a bit. He wondered how close to arriving the forensic data specialist was.
At that moment, as if an inanimate object could read his mind, his cell phone chimed in his hand and an unknown number popped up on the screen.
Hesitant, he punched Answer.
“Yes?”
“Eric Braun, Liam. I just pulled out of the airport and I’ve got you on GPS.”
“Just come to the front door. I’ll take care of it now.”
Instead of calling downstairs to James about their visitor, he decided to go down to the lobby himself. Less than fifteen minutes later, a man walked through the front door.
Good thing we’re changing that at the new building. No one, not even clients, will be able to get off the sidewalk without verification.
The man was about his height, lean with dark hair almost to his shoulders, and a day-old scruff outlining a strong jaw. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with the legend Nerd? I prefer the term intellectual badass. Liam swallowed a smile. Eric and Teri should get along just fine. And he had a feeling badass was a much more accurate term for this man.
He handed Liam a business card along with a fax from Taylor that said, Trust this man.