Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Emma
It was right where Tim suspected it would be: The HR archive.
The only reason I’d been able to take a peek was because Marcus had asked me to write an update for the reminder portion of the records app that notified department directors of upcoming individual reviews.
No problem. I loved the occasional jailbreak, and in order to accomplish his request, I needed access to HR.
Permissions for HR were extremely narrow. Tim didn’t have access to the archive.
The read-me-first note on the thumb drive was short and to the point.
Emma,
We’ve looked everywhere. No joy. Thought it over.
Where would someone put it to hide it in plain sight?
Tate’s not smart enough. Baylor’s a total douche.
Hugo is a devious SOB and probably wrote it.
Posit: Someone had to let him in. He’s been gone for two years, so who’d think he’d come back and drop malware into his HR archived file.
I saw Marcus’s closed support ticket and the notation that you had been granted access. What harm can it do to look? T
As soon as I read the note, the pieces fell into place. Tim had even included samples of some code Hugo had written. And miracle of miracles, Will had confirmed that the malware had been uploaded from a burner phone.
I wasn’t going to jump to any conclusion yet, and I wasn’t going to tell anyone until I had confirmed Hugo was the author of the malware, that he was using the creds, and who he’d used to create the dummy profile.
I’d work backward, but before I began my search, I set a shadow trap. If our intruder showed up again, the profile would be tagged at login and immediately shadowed. If the intruder was this guy Hugo, I’d have to make sure the trap was well hidden.
I’m gonna drop the hammer, you SOB. You’re in my house now.
***
“Know your enemy.” Sun Tzu was right. I didn’t wait for the files I’d requested from Asher. I had access, so I used it. Hugo Wayne’s file proved to be interesting reading.
Besides being an all-around bully, Hugo had all kinds of problems with authority.
On the background, there’d been some hints, but no one came right out and said anything definitive.
Same for university. He explained the gaps in his resume as freelancing, everything from classes on navigating computers, to repair, to basic software installs.
However, the running thread was that he was a talented, excellent developer, coder.
His first review wasn’t exactly glowing, but Asher was impressed with the guy’s expertise.
During his employment with FI, he’d been written up several times, each incident flouting or outright breaking company policy.
At one point, he was referred for counseling.
Result: No change. Asher finally laid down the law and put him on probation.
One more infraction, Hugo was out. Didn’t even take six weeks.
When Tate tried to hack the time tracking app, he confessed that Hugo was the mastermind.
The final straw. When he was faced with the evidence, he actually hit Asher.
I had to admit he had some big brass ones because even when faced with the possibility of assault charges, he’d demanded FI waive the noncompete.
Asher and FI decided not to press charges—seems they didn’t want to wreck the guy’s life but made it clear if Hugo tried to break the noncompete, all bets were off.
Nick’s letter documenting FI’s position made it abundantly clear he’d have no problem going after the guy.
***
I had no idea how much time had passed from when I started reading the file and finished building the trap.
Where to hide it in plain sight? Oh wait, it couldn’t be that simple, could it?
Tate Riser. And voila! There was his archived record.
I threw a chef’s kiss into the air. Install was flawless, and it was running in the background.
If you didn’t know about it, you wouldn’t see it.
Sometime after the third energy drink and another power bar, I got up to stretch my legs and make a pit stop.
On my way back into the office, as I input the keycode, I noticed a faint handprint on the glass that wasn’t there before.
I flattened my hand over it. Asher, it had to be.
Butterflies in my middle and warmth all over.
“When this is over, Asher, we will pick up where we left off, and I will rock your world. Count on it.” As I’d done once before, I kissed my finger and instead of his cheek, I tapped the glass.
Now, playlist number four, fresh coffee, and time to figure out how to dissect the malware without triggering whatever it had been set to unleash.
Fun times.