Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
PEN
E lijah follows me into my library. Something I installed when I renovated. I blame my mother. She brought me up on Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t have a beast to provide me with all the books I wanted.
As an independent woman of means, I bought my own.
He stops behind me. His eyes take in the expanse of shelves covering every wall, floor to ceiling.
“Impressive,” he says, running a finger over the spines of some of the more traditional hardback books I searched high and low to acquire. My library is an eclectic mix of old and new, from classical to modern, spicy contemporary. There’s a whole paranormal fantasy section too. Although that’s further away from the door.
“Every old house needs a library,” I say.
Mine is based on the one at his parents’ house. Every summer I visited, I flicked through the books. Franny lent me multiple titles over the years. Part of this collection comes from her. After I completed the renovation, she came to visit. Her housewarming gift, five hundred books to begin my collection. She also introduced me to her principal supplier, who I now have on speed dial.
Computer Nerd and Bookworm were my names growing up. As a child, I lost myself in stories. As an adult, I lost myself in code.
How have I made my fortune?
By combining the two things I love the most and writing first-class computer games that sell the entire world over.
I leave Elijah and move further into the room.
I pull an attached ornament on one bookshelf forward, exposing a hidden doorway.
“Very spy novel,” Elijah says over my shoulder, making me jump.
I didn’t sense his approach.
“Similar to a library. Every old house needs a secret passage,” I say, my heart pounding as I turn my head to look at him, our faces inches apart. “And you can talk.”
His eyes sparkle. It’s not like Elijah isn’t used to secret passages. Secret passages litter his family home. Doorways hidden in the walls or behind wooden panels. Years ago, the servants used them to silently move from place to place without bothering the lord and lady of the house. Gabriel told me they used them to torment one another growing up. Looking back, poor Franny and Robert must have had their hands full.
I step forward, putting some space between us.
“I admit, Jaxson outdid himself with this one.”
Elijah grunts.
“Come on.”
I gesture towards a flight of stairs leading down into the basement.
“Are you leading me down there to kill me?” he asks.
“Don’t tempt me,” I say, suddenly wanting to put some space between us. “I could murder you, take over your company, rule the world. Although, quite honestly, I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
Elijah’s chuckle echoes around the enclosed space, causing my stomach to contract, but I ignore it.
I lead us down the brightly lit staircase into my sanctuary. The closer we get, the more the gentle hum of my equipment sinks in. My shoulders relax, and the knot coiling in my stomach releases. This is my safe space. My creative sanctuary, a refuge from worldly chaos.
“I’m amazed. I don’t have to duck,” Elijah says, taking in the additional ceiling height.
I remain silent, not wanting to admit even to myself why I asked Jaxson to make the ceiling height taller. Then, it was about fitting in all my computers, but now seeing him here, in my space, I realise I was kidding myself. I’ve always dreamed about showing Elijah the real me.
I plaster a smile on my face and turn towards him as we reach another doorway.
“Jaxson,” I say. “I told him I didn’t want to watch my head the whole time, so he designed the space to be above normal head height, unlike most basements.”
I input my code into the security pad and wait for the door to slide open, wanting to change the subject.
Elijah steps up behind me, his body too close for comfort.
“You take your security seriously.”
“I’ve had to,” I say, stepping further into the room, cutting off any more questions, and putting some well-needed space between us.
Inside, lights flash and twinkle, welcoming me home.
Elijah steps into the room behind me, exhaling loudly.
“Welcome, Pen,” Tiffany, my AI system, says, her voice coming from my speakers.
“Thank you, Tiff,” I reply. “This is Elijah Frazer. He’ll be working with us. Please ensure he has access to everything he needs.”
“Certainly, Pen. Welcome, Elijah,” Tiffany says.
Elijah looks at me, and I shrug.
“Tiffany is company. She’s great for bouncing ideas off. Don’t knock what you haven’t tried.”
Elijah holds his hands up but doesn’t look convinced.
“What happened to Daphne?”
Oh crap, I forgot he knew about Daphne.
“Tiffany is an upgrade.”
“So Daphne was tossed aside for the latest model? Not like you,” Elijah says, raising a brow.
“It was a little more complicated than that and not something we need to get into now.”
I’m thankful when he lets it drop.
I move towards the back wall and the bank of monitors and computers I have set up. A seating area, TV, and full kitchen are at the far end of the room.
“This is?—”
I turn and smile at the man now standing next to me.
“Only a handful of people know this place exists. I’d like to keep it that way,” I say.
Not even Kris knows about my room. There’s been no need to tell him.
He nods and takes in our surroundings.
“This is quite the home setup,” he tells me, moving around me, taking in the different screens. “I considered Gabriel and Leah’s place advanced.”
He stops and stares at me when I burst out laughing.
“Gabriel wanted to base it on this place. Not that he needs all I have. Your baby brother is a tech nerd like me.”
Elijah chuckles, taking me by surprise.
“So he is one of the few?”
“That he is,” I say.
When he’s finished looking around, I direct him to the sofa and take a seat opposite.
“So why are we here?” he asks.
“We can’t work at your office. My presence will raise too many questions. We don’t want to tip off whoever is behind this, and I can’t be seen with you. I’m a soon-to-be-married woman to your main competitor, and as you are now a single man...”
I leave the rest of the statement hanging.
His lips purse, but he remains silent.
I have my suspicions that this is bigger than either of us is aware. I’ve sent out feelers to my contacts, but I can’t tell Elijah that. I’ve just got out of this business. I don’t want to expose myself to the life anymore.
“Whoever is involved may be the one who planted the bugs. If I’m seen to be there, we may cause them to change course. The element of surprise is going to be our greatest advantage. At least until we know what we’re facing.”
“We’re facing?”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Yes, we’re . I’m involved in this now. I was the moment Gabriel called me.”
“You don’t have to be,” Elijah says.
“Are you telling me you don’t need or want my help?”
Our eyes clash, and Elijah pauses. I can see his brain whirring, wondering if he should tell me to mind my own business, stay out of his business. Maybe I should have. It’s not like we’re friends anymore. Not in the true sense of the word. Acquaintances at best.
That ship sailed a long time ago. The day I made a promise, circumstances forced me to abandon our business venture and, as Elijah saw it, our friendship.
Elijah runs a hand down his face, squeezing his mouth as he studies me over his hand.
When he finally let’s go, he exhales.
“You’re one of the best coders I know. If anyone can help uncover what’s going on, it will be you.”
I nod, surprised when he continues.
“We used to be an unstoppable team. Am I stupid enough to cut my nose off to spite my face? No chance. I have clients to consider, their businesses, and my employees. Whatever is going on, I need to understand it, and fast. If that means working with you again, accepting your help…” He pauses, his eyes still locked on mine. “I’d appreciate your help, Pen.”
No gloating or sarcastic comment springs to mind. Instead, a wave of sadness envelopes me. If only things had turned out differently.
If only, a pointless statement.
Elijah looks at me as if waiting for me to add something. When we were students, I would have teased him endlessly, but life and our experiences have transformed us both. We’re different people than we were back then.
Instead, I nod and rise to my feet, making my way back over to the monitors.
Elijah moves to stand next to me.
“I understand your presence in the office might raise questions, but what can we do from here? We need access.”
I turn my head to look up at him. His closeness sets me on edge.
“Pen, what’s going on?”
I jump at his words.
“Sorry, I was miles away,” I say, earning myself a harrumph.
Pulling up my chair, I sit down, motioning for Elijah to do the same.
“We don’t want anyone to know you’ve uncovered their plot,” I say, my fingers flying over the keyboard in front of me. “Whatever it is. Someone removed the change files from the main backup and meticulously deleted or redirected all email notifications for your login. There must be a backup for them to reinstall at a later date if they want to set you up. If it’s there, we’ll find it.”
Elijah’s fingers drum on the desk, his tell that his brain is up and running as he processes all the information he has to date. Sorting, trying to make connections.
“Your program found malware on my computer. They’ve been watching me through my own fucking camera.”
“It looks like we’re not dealing with an amateur. Whoever it is means business.”
Elijah grips the back of his neck.
“There’s a secondary backup. It’s where I got the data download.”
I smile. “I taught you well.”
His lips twitch. “Only a handful of people know about the secondary backup.”
“We can’t discount them. If that was deleted too, then we’d be able to narrow our list of suspects.”
“We don’t even know what the code changes do,” he tells me. “I’ve looked. They all seem innocuous, scattered with no pattern.”
“That’s why there are so many changes. That’s what they want you to believe. A mass of small, pointless code changes hiding the dangerous changes among them. It’s what I would do. It’s why there are so many. If we didn’t know about the bugs and camera, this would definitely tell me we’re not dealing with an amateur. This is someone who knows how to cover their tracks and go undetected. They want it to look like you were tinkering to anyone who notices your changes. Who’d challenge the boss over minor code tweaks?”
His eyebrows fold inward, and his nose wrinkles as my words sink in.
“I’d hope my coders would call me out on it,” he says before pausing as my words sink in.
“Shit!” He spins to face me. “What do you mean? It’s what I would do. ”
I press my lips together. Things that have remained hidden are unravelling. I made a promise, one I cannot break.
“If I were to sabotage a system. I’d bury it in a mound of harmless changes. Make it near on impossible to find.”
I spin to face my screens, unable to answer the unspoken questions I see on his face.
“That’s not what you said.”
I ignore his pressing and continue what I’m doing.
“Fine,” he huffs. “But this release goes live in a matter of days. There are thousands of lines of code changes. There’s no way we can uncover what they’ve done. If I delay, the consequences...”
“Get it into your head. You’re going to have to delay the release. What we’re doing here is damage control. Giving you the facts to go to the board with. For your information, there’s no way Todd is involved. I’d bet my mother’s life on it. As for working out what’s going on. They’re not me.”
I crack my fingers and flex.
“Let’s get to work,” I say.
“What do you mean? We can’t do anything from here. We won’t be able to get through the firewall.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” I say, turning to face him. “I’m already in. What do you think I’ve been doing all afternoon? Painting my nails?”