afloat.”
“I’ll find the pattern,” she stated. “And you think the best place to do this from is your west coast office? Why?”
“There are two departments operated solely out of this office. Both handle the huge sums a person would need to use to cover their tracks, our pension fund for employees and our Blue Chip investments fund for profits.”
She nodded in agreement with his thinking. “But if those aren’t the sources, I understand I can access all other sections of the company from here?”
“With the right passcodes, you can.” His cool tone now seemed to be directed at her.
She froze. Caught off guard, she reviewed any reason he wouldn’t trust her. Okay, she may have given him a few. “I’m here because I haven’t ever said no to Ty, but also because I want to help you. I owe you. I have no other agenda. I trusted you with my identity, and I’m putting my anonymity in jeopardy by taking on this job. Don’t you trust me?”
He’d maneuvered the change from business to personal so smoothly she concluded he’d been pushing for it. “If Tyrus says you’re up to the job, I trust you are. Do you have a personal agenda? I trust you don’t. But what’s going to happen if half way through, your cover gets blown and the press is at you? Are you going to bail on me? I have a finger-wide opening before JDI stock goes public. I can’t afford to start over again. If you’re in, I need a commitment you’re in for the kill.”
She sagged back in her chair. The part of her longing to help Jake had locked the part protecting her privacy in a closet. Now he’d pulled the door open and demanded she come out. She had a choice to make.
“I don’t see why I can’t do it. After all, I’m just a new employee working away in a cubbyhole in Vancouver. Even my name isn’t real. The media would have no interest in me if I stayed away from you.”
“But that’s ourconundrum, Siree. We won’t be able to stay away from each other.”
Outraged, she straightened, ready to defend herself against the charge.
He worried his bottom lip with his thumb, unaware of her reaction. “I need to be kept in the loop at all times. That means close communication and I can’t trust in the usual methods. If we have a hacker or hackers moving funds, don’t you think they’re just as likely to be hacking into our communication systems? A thief inside the company already has access to all our communiqués. Our security team constantly finds and closes breaches in our systems. The world rotates on corporate warfare, money, and power.”
His voice softened, became sympathetic. “You’d have to meet with me, and though I’d do everything in my power to protect you from the media, someone spying for another company, or yes, in order of full disclosure, my crazed stalker”—he sighed with resignation, as he took in her surprise—“I can’t promise you I’ll be successful.”
“Stalker?” She leapt to her feet. “Some crazed guy is after you?” Her lungs felt like they’d turned to stone. She couldn’t get a breath.
“Take it easy.” He half rose, as if to go to her. “Gribbs has it under control.” His knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of his chair. He sank back into it. “The question here is whether you want to commit to this.”
She sieved air into her lungs, and crossed to the huge bank of floor to ceiling windows, ranging two sides of his office, to give her rioting thoughts time to settle. Below her, Vancouver looked like a gigantic ballroom, with thousands of Japanese cherry trees preening in voluminous pink skirts. Miniature people waltzed through the streets, joining and parting in intricate steps, and somewhere in the changing pattern serious journalists and sleazy reporters worked hard to find a new way into Jake Ingles’ business and private affairs. The thought caused a pinching sensation in her chest. Could she do it? Abstractedly, her gaze moved from the scene outside to the
“I’ll find the pattern,” she stated. “And you think the best place to do this from is your west coast office? Why?”
“There are two departments operated solely out of this office. Both handle the huge sums a person would need to use to cover their tracks, our pension fund for employees and our Blue Chip investments fund for profits.”
She nodded in agreement with his thinking. “But if those aren’t the sources, I understand I can access all other sections of the company from here?”
“With the right passcodes, you can.” His cool tone now seemed to be directed at her.
She froze. Caught off guard, she reviewed any reason he wouldn’t trust her. Okay, she may have given him a few. “I’m here because I haven’t ever said no to Ty, but also because I want to help you. I owe you. I have no other agenda. I trusted you with my identity, and I’m putting my anonymity in jeopardy by taking on this job. Don’t you trust me?”
He’d maneuvered the change from business to personal so smoothly she concluded he’d been pushing for it. “If Tyrus says you’re up to the job, I trust you are. Do you have a personal agenda? I trust you don’t. But what’s going to happen if half way through, your cover gets blown and the press is at you? Are you going to bail on me? I have a finger-wide opening before JDI stock goes public. I can’t afford to start over again. If you’re in, I need a commitment you’re in for the kill.”
She sagged back in her chair. The part of her longing to help Jake had locked the part protecting her privacy in a closet. Now he’d pulled the door open and demanded she come out. She had a choice to make.
“I don’t see why I can’t do it. After all, I’m just a new employee working away in a cubbyhole in Vancouver. Even my name isn’t real. The media would have no interest in me if I stayed away from you.”
“But that’s ourconundrum, Siree. We won’t be able to stay away from each other.”
Outraged, she straightened, ready to defend herself against the charge.
He worried his bottom lip with his thumb, unaware of her reaction. “I need to be kept in the loop at all times. That means close communication and I can’t trust in the usual methods. If we have a hacker or hackers moving funds, don’t you think they’re just as likely to be hacking into our communication systems? A thief inside the company already has access to all our communiqués. Our security team constantly finds and closes breaches in our systems. The world rotates on corporate warfare, money, and power.”
His voice softened, became sympathetic. “You’d have to meet with me, and though I’d do everything in my power to protect you from the media, someone spying for another company, or yes, in order of full disclosure, my crazed stalker”—he sighed with resignation, as he took in her surprise—“I can’t promise you I’ll be successful.”
“Stalker?” She leapt to her feet. “Some crazed guy is after you?” Her lungs felt like they’d turned to stone. She couldn’t get a breath.
“Take it easy.” He half rose, as if to go to her. “Gribbs has it under control.” His knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of his chair. He sank back into it. “The question here is whether you want to commit to this.”
She sieved air into her lungs, and crossed to the huge bank of floor to ceiling windows, ranging two sides of his office, to give her rioting thoughts time to settle. Below her, Vancouver looked like a gigantic ballroom, with thousands of Japanese cherry trees preening in voluminous pink skirts. Miniature people waltzed through the streets, joining and parting in intricate steps, and somewhere in the changing pattern serious journalists and sleazy reporters worked hard to find a new way into Jake Ingles’ business and private affairs. The thought caused a pinching sensation in her chest. Could she do it? Abstractedly, her gaze moved from the scene outside to the
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