Double Deception

by Desiree Holt

  “This is my first job for Arroyo so you can bet I’ll be on top of everything.”

  Liam nodded. “I agree. Did Taylor tell you about the ghost program I want to install?”

  “She did. She gave me what she could, but I want to make sure what I have will work.” One corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. “I wrote it on the plane.”

  Liam stared at the man. He’d thought he was good at what he did, but Eric Braun was obviously twenty stages ahead of him.

  “Come on up to my office and I’ll give you the lowdown on everything.”

  At SBD people were moving everywhere. Furniture was stacked in the wide hallway and movers and his staff were moving in and out of rooms. Max and Rosalie seemed to be everywhere, the calm in the midst of chaos.

  “Hey, Eric.” Max walked over, grinning, and stuck out her hand. “Glad to be working with you again. You take good care of our friend, Liam, here.”

  “Absolutely.” He motioned her closer to where he and Liam stood and dropped his voice. “We’re out of here for a couple of hours, but when I get back I’ll need access to the server. Will you have it set up by then?”

  “Of course.” She looked at her watch. “Yeah, that’s doable. I’ll only have the one access ready. Will that be enough?”

  “Yes. Great. Thanks so much.”

  Rosalie brought coffee to their office then closed the door. Sipping the hot liquid, Liam gave Eric every detail about the situation he had.

  “I’m telling you, Eric. I tested that thing top to bottom and then some. When I installed the cyber alarm, I never thought anything would activate it.”

  “But in retrospect, it’s a damn good thing you did.” He set his coffee cup down on the desk. “All right. Let’s take a look at the program. I’ll make sure the ghost I wrote will work with it. Then you can call your client and tell him we’re on the way. When we get back, I want to log into your server and look for the deleted files.”

  Liam knew that not many people realized when files were deleted from a hard drive, even when the trash or recycle bin was emptied, the original file still remained, hidden. With special software, it could be retrieved. Only overwriting it destroyed traces of it completely.

  Liam frowned. “I checked them myself and nothing popped up.”

  Eric grinned. “Ah, but that’s why you hired me. I can find the most invisible things.”

  An hour later, they were in Hoffman’s offices with the head of his IT. Eric sat at a computer in the server room, checking Liam’s software one more time before installing the ghost. Finally, he sat back in his chair.

  “Okay, folks. It looks like we’re ready to go here. This will work for the moment, but I want to install a more sophisticated program tomorrow.”

  “Wait.” Hoffman dragged his unlit cigar from his mouth. “You mean, this is still not safe?”

  “It’s very safe,” Eric told him. “Anyone trying to hack in will get the ghost which will just deliver a message that the server is not working at the moment. That’s not uncommon, but we can’t do it too many times. Whoever is doing the hacking will know something’s up.”

  “So, what’s the answer?” Hoffman demanded.

  Eric looked at the client then back at Liam. “We need to put something in there to direct them to files for a project that failed. In other words, we want them to actually hack into the system, but it will be a false direction because once they get into the Hoffman computers, this will direct them to useless files.”

  It took a while to hash it all out and to convince Hoffman none of this would compromise his electronic security. Then he had to be persuaded to hand over old, useless diagrams with no connection to the current project.

  “We’ll take care of it,” Liam assured his client.

  “When?” he demanded. “This is your mess. You’d better fix it damn quick.”

  Liam looked at Eric. “I can get started on this while you work on taking the security software apart.”

  Eric nodded. “Works for me.”

  Liam turned back to Hoffman. “I’ll be back to upload something to your server Monday morning at the latest. But your people can get back to work on your project right away. You’re well covered up.”

  “It better be.”

  “Take a breath,” Eric said once they were back in Liam’s car. “We’ve got this handled. And I’m going to find your mole.” He grinned. “It’s what I do.”

  By Monday, Software By Design was settled in its new offices and back in business. Max had left, with huge thanks from Liam and even grudging thanks from the staff. Liam had already fired an email off to Taylor expressing his appreciation.

  The false information was installed on the Hoffman computers so anyone hacking into the system would access files of a drone that was filled with flaws. It would also send a signal to Hoffman’s system, allowing someone to backtrack where the hack came from. It was a delicate process, but Liam had seen it work twice before.

  Now it was Friday. Liam had held his breath all week, waiting for something, anything, that would trigger the setup at Hoffman’s, but so far nothing.

  “I can’t believe they haven’t tried again,” he told Eric. “We’ve got it all set so they get sent to the fake server. They’d at least want to see if he server is up and running again.”

  “You haven’t told anyone here at the office what you’ve set up, right?”

  Liam shook his head. “That would defeat the purpose. All they know is there was a problem and I cleaned it up. Everything is good to go.”

  “My guess is it won’t be much longer. They want those drawings and specs before Hoffman can go into production.”

  “I wish to hell they’d get moving then, so you can trace it back. They’ve been told your job is to analyze the problem with the original software. That’s all.”

  “Whoever is doing this I guarantee you is pissed they nearly got caught and think they are smart enough to go around you again.”

  Liam nodded. “I’ll be they are so egotistical they think they can do a better job this time.”

  “Even if they hit the false server,” Eric reminded him, “they may be clever enough to put up a wall that it will take me time to get through.”

  “Shit.” Liam shoved his fingers through his hair. As much as he’d been doing that today, it stood up on end.

  “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it won’t be much longer.”

  Eric was settled in one of the new offices with two laptops. He had one set up so if anyone tried to hack the Hoffman system again, it would send a signal and he’d be there to backtrack it. At the other, he was meticulously taking apart the code for the Hoffman program one line at a time.

  Liam also spent some time making sure each of his programmers was satisfied with the new setup, had a proper workspace and wasn’t feeling disrupted by the move. Then he turned them loose on their current or new projects. He continued to be amazed at the fact it had been accomplished in two days and everything was up and running again.

  He was working on a program for a new client when there was a knock and he looked up to see Phil standing in the doorway.

  “You got a minute, Liam?”

  Well, not really, but at the moment he was acutely interested in what any of his staff had to say.

  “Sure.” He waved the man into his office. “What’s up?”

  Phil sat in the chair across form him and leaned forward.

  “It’s about this specialist. Eric.”

  “Oh?” Liam cocked an eyebrow. “Is he causing some kind of problem?”

  Phil lifted a shoulder. “Not exactly. But Teri, Sy and I were talking, and we still don’t understand why you went outside the firm to get someone. All three of us are more than qualified to look for whatever is wrong with the program.”

  “Maybe so, but Eric is a specialist in that area. Besides, he doesn’t come to the table with any preconceived ideas. He’s never seen these lines of code before, so it’s easier for him to spot a gli
tch.” He studied the man across from him. “You worried about something, Phil?”

  “Only that you might suddenly see us as incompetent. Besides, I don’t much care for a stranger digging around in my codes.”

  Liam’s stomach knotted. Was Phil trying to hide something? Was that why he was asking the question? Was he the problem?

  “He’s digging around in mine, too,” he reminded the man. “Let’s just relax, okay? We’ve got new contracts that have to be fulfilled. I’d think you’d be elbows-deep in the new program I asked you for today.”

  “I am, I am. It’s just—” He shrugged. “Forget it. I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill. Sorry I bothered you. I’d better get back to work.”

  Liam rubbed his forehead. It made him sick to think Phil might be involved in this. If it had to be anyone he wanted it to be one of the newer hires, someone he wasn’t emotionally invested in.

  And there was this weird feeling that continued to plague him, that someone was watching him. He’d even gone so far as to check every inch of his offices and his townhouse to make sure that no one had breached his security and planted bugs. He was pretty damn sure that hadn’t happened, but he couldn’t get rid of the feeling.

  He hadn’t felt it at all since the Hoffman debacle, but he could have just been so wrapped up in this emergency it didn’t register. He hadn’t sensed anything this morning, either, but his brain had been so busy with everything else he might not have noticed if a building had fallen on him. Maybe whatever this was had just disappeared. A figment of his imagination. Whatever. He was just happy to be rid of the feeling he was constantly bring watched.

  He was working in his office on a new project, just the bare beginnings, and wondering if Sydney would get her jury verdict today. He had hoped to hear from her by now worried at how crazy her client had made her weekend and that jury deliberation would drag on yet another day. He was just about to get himself a fresh cup of coffee when his phone chimed with a text.

  Not Guilty! Free at last! Great God, I’m free at last!

  A smiley face emoticon was pasted right next to it.

  Liam actually laughed, loud enough that Rosalie tapped on his door and opened it.

  “You okay, boss? Not losing your mind? Because I don’t think our current situation is humorous in any way.”

  Liam had of course filled her in on everything. There was no one in the world he trusted more than Rosalie. He motioned her into the room and showed her the screen on his phone.

  “She’s been going nuts with this trial. She doesn’t even like her client.”

  Rosalie quirked an eyebrow. “Then why did she take the case?”

  “As a favor to her mentor from law school. He was the one who recommended her to this firm and he’s helped her with other things. I think she’s more than paid him back.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.”

  Liam motioned to the door. “Close that for a minute.”

  She did, and leaned against it. “What’s up?”

  “How’s Eric coming along? I don’t want to keep bugging him, but I know Hoffman’s about to have apoplexy.”

  “But you guys gave him a temporary fix so he’s protected, right?”

  “He was protected without it. We set it up so anyone hacking now will find that failed diagram, and also hopefully track us back to whoever is doing this.”

  “Have you checked it since you installed it?” she wanted to know.

  Liam shook his head. “I left the alarm active and it hasn’t signaled. Whoever it is may be taking a step back.”

  “Well, Eric’s hardly left his desk. Sometimes I think he sleeps here at night. I’d say if anyone is going to find the problem, it’s him.”

  “Let me know if he needs anything. How’s everyone else coming along?”

  “Oh, you know. Hard at work but tense. Everyone’s looking at everyone else, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It’s a good thing you didn’t confront them. We’d have a mess here.”

  He nodded. “I’m keeping that to myself until Eric gets the answer. Okay, I’m going to text Sydney and see if I can grab her for a few hours.”

  “Good idea. You need some recreation.” She winked as she walked out of the office.

  Liam picked up his phone.

  This calls for a celebration. Are you free yet?

  Pause.

  Tonight. After seven.

  He smiled. “Dinner? Out? In? Your place? Mine?

  Dinner. My place. Seven o’clock.

  Sounds good.

  You can get away?

  He laughed. Try and stop me. C U then.

  He was glad he had plenty to do for the rest of the day, keeping his mind busy. About four-thirty, he knocked on the closed door of Eric’s office.

  “Come in.”

  Eric looked up from his computer when the door opened, and motioned Liam inside. The man was again in jeans, this time with a T-shirt that said Byte me. His hair looked as if he’d run his fingers through it a few hundred times and the scruff was back at his jawline.

  “Sorry I don’t have an answer yet,” he began.

  Liam held up his hand. “Not even going there. I think we both know this one’s going to be a bitch and a half to find.”

  “They always are. One of the things I’m doing is comparing the final product line by line with the deleted files.”

  Liam snorted. “Better you than me.”

  “In more ways than one. You’re so used to seeing the lines of code that an aberration might not—probably would not—jump out at you. Listen. Your programmer, Teri, poked her head in to see if I needed help.” He grinned. “We bonded over our T-shirts.”

  “She’s one of the trio who came over with me from Winters and Pryce.”

  “I thanked her but told I’ve got this okay.” He studied Liam’s face. “I didn’t think you wanted any of your people in the middle of this.”

  “Yeah.” Liam scratched his jaw. “The fact that I’m sure it’s one of them makes me sick to my stomach. I treat them like family.”

  “Sometimes family hurts you the most,” Eric pointed out.

  “I know. I know. Anyway, a couple of things. I won’t be around tonight. You have my cell, but for emergencies only.”

  Eric’s mouth split in a wide grin. “Got it.”

  “The other thing is Gasparilla. I’m sure you’ve seen the craziness all over the place. I have to hit a couple of evening events this week and tomorrow I have to ride in the parade. I’m a pirate.” He held up his hand. “Do not even say one word.”

  Eric laughed. “Sounds like fun. And with this hanging over your head, you need a change. I’d hate to have to tell Taylor Cantrell if you stroked out.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t be too happy, either. Anyway, I’ll always have my cell with me if you need me.”

  “Except tonight,” Eric joked.

  “Damn straight. You need me to get any food for you before I take off?”

  Eric shook his head. “Got it covered. I’ll take a break later and walk to one of the places around here. I’ll need a break and it helps me clear my head.”

  “Okay, then. See you in the morning. And, Eric? You get some rest, too.”

  “I’ll rest when I get some answers.” He pointed at his computer screen. “Whoever fucked with your program is very, very clever.”

  “The curse of hiring smart people. Since you’re set, I’m leaving.”

  He said goodbye to Rosalie and headed out to his car. As soon as he stepped out of the building, that chilly feeling that someone was watching him crept along his spine again. He looked all around but did not see anything or anyone out of place. Damn it! What the hell was going on?

  Chapter Twelve

  Sydney took one look at Liam when she opened the door and wanted to ditch her plan for a romantic evening and just hold him in her arms. He looked like warmed-over shit. His thick brown hair looked as if he’d dragged a rake through it at least a hundred times. The circle
s beneath his golden-tinged chocolate eyes could have held a week’s worth of luggage, and his face, usually so strong-looking with his square jaw and slashes of cheekbones, looked drawn, haggard even. His shirt and jeans didn’t help the look. They gave the appearance he’d slept in them for a week.

  “Have you been sleeping in the office?” she demanded. “My god. You look like shit. What happened?”

  The smile he gave her was more pathetic than anything. “Hello to you, too.”

  She opened the door wider. “Come in, come in.”

  She closed and locked the door behind him and drew him over to the sofa by the big window.

  “Sit.” She pushed him onto the couch, although it didn’t take more than a tiny shove with one finger. What the hell?

  “At first I wasn’t sure if I should inflict myself on you.” His smile held little humor. “But then I realized what I needed the most was just to be with you.”

  She stopped in front of the couch, leaned down and pressed her mouth to his. He was a big man, a strong man, but she could feel a frailty in him that only extreme stress could cause. And so, when she pressed her mouth to his, she put everything she felt for him, all the emotion that had bubbled up in her in such a short time, into her kiss.

  She licked the seam of his mouth and nudged it open before easing her tongue inside. She wanted him to know this was as much about what she felt for him as it was about wanting him. When she finally took a step back, she was pleased to see the pain in his eyes had diminished a little and was now mixed with equal heavy doses of caring and wanting.

  “I have wine for our dinner but how about a real drink first?”

  “I won’t say no.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I think I need it. Bourbon, if you’ve got it.”

  “No problem.”

  She put ice cubes into a rocks tumbler and poured a generous slug of aged bourbon into the glass.

  “Thank you.” He took the glass from her, raised it to her in salute and downed half of it.