Chapter 13
Hailey avoided her preferred back corner parking spot when she arrived at work on Monday.
The distance from the cameras and close proximity to the tree line had never bothered her before, but she saw no reason to make it easy on whoever had targeted her last week.
After finding that message on her garage door, she could no longer cling to the hope that the slashed tires had merely been the work of opportunistic vandals.
Once upstairs in her office, she powered up her computer and opened her inbox.
Several client emails had piled up over the weekend, but an urgent one from her boss snagged her attention.
She clicked on it and gasped as she gave the message a quick scan.
Someone had accessed their office Friday night?
It must have been the same people who ambushed Peter.
Gleason said they hadn’t yet figured out the motive of the break-in, and instructed everyone to check their equipment and personal effects to make sure nothing was missing or appeared tampered with.
She scanned her desk. The computer and monitor were obviously here and intact. She didn’t keep much else in the office—certainly nothing worth stealing—but she checked the contents of her desk drawers to be sure. Nothing seemed out of place.
For the next thirty minutes, she addressed emails from clients and organized her to-do list for the day. Once she had a battle plan in mind, she navigated to her priority client’s file and opened the most recent spreadsheet.
Or tried to.
When the program loaded, it contained nothing but gibberish. Pages and pages of gibberish.
She sat back, panic flaring. She’d just been in this file on Friday, and everything had been fine then. She tried another account that she hadn’t been in last week. That one was scrambled too. She clicked into Eukaria Investments. Same thing.
This was bad. Really bad.
Had she picked up a bug somehow? She pulled up her antivirus software and started a scan. Several minutes later, it came back clear. No viruses. No malware.
But her files were definitely corrupted.
After trying, and failing, to revert to an older version of the files, she restarted the computer. Please work, she pleaded as she booted everything up again. But when she reopened the first file, the same sight greeted her.
What should she do? She could download older copies of some of these files from her inbox and sent mail, but she would still lose days’ or even weeks’ worth of work.
Trying not to go into full-fledged panic mode, she called the help desk and explained her situation.
The IT guy asked a few questions, then requested permission to access her computer remotely.
While he worked, Hailey tried to think of what could have happened.
Had the system just glitched? This computer wasn’t brand-new, but it wasn’t terribly old either.
The IT guy made a contemplative noise, and Hailey swung her gaze to the screen. He had the properties tab of one of the files pulled up, and she frowned.
“Does that say this file was created two days ago?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That can’t be right. I’ve been working on that spreadsheet for weeks, and I wasn’t even here on Saturday.”
“Does anyone else have access to your computer?”
“No. I mean, it’s here in the office, but no one has my log-in information. And we’re closed on the weekend. No one would have been here.” Except whoever had broken into the office. She checked the time stamp and sucked in a breath. 3:46 a.m. The time fit.
Her brain wandered while IT continued to probe her device.
Why would someone have broken into the office to replace her files with scrambled ones?
Had she been targeted again? Had anyone else’s computer been messed with?
She’d have to figure out how far they’d dug into her records.
And she’d have to notify all the affected clients.
She tried not to groan. Her clients could choose to take their business elsewhere, or worse, try to sue.
She dropped her head into her hand. This kind of breach was not good.
The IT guy gave a grunt of satisfaction. “I think we’ve hit pay dirt.”
She lifted her head and almost cheered at the sight of what appeared to be her real files.
After the tech restored them, he relinquished access to her computer so she could check the contents privately.
A cursory examination indicated all was in order.
She expressed her thanks and finished the call.
But she knew she couldn’t just get to work. Her spreadsheets were back. The information recovered. But someone had been in these files. She had to report it.
Squelching the urge to get on with work and pretend nothing had happened, she locked her computer and headed to Gleason’s office. Her boss held up a finger when she tapped on the half-open door.
“Don’t go off half-cocked. There’s probably a good explanation for that. . . . At least wait until someone can go over it with you. . . . Fine. I can do that. I’ll be there at three.” He hung up the phone and motioned her in. “It’s shaping up to be a rotten day already. What can I help you with?”
His day was about to get worse. She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think whoever broke in over the weekend also accessed my computer.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“When I logged in this morning, everything looked normal. But when I tried to open a client file, it was corrupted.” She explained her conversation with IT and what they’d discovered.
Gleason scrubbed a hand down the side of his face. “I knew I should have asked for a triple shot of espresso this morning.” He fixed his eyes on her. “Was your computer shut down properly Friday afternoon?”
“I always shut it down completely at the end of the day. Even if I hadn’t, the autolock would have kicked in after fifteen minutes,” she reminded him. The security measure was an office requirement.
“And you don’t leave your passwords lying around or hidden in your desk?”
“No. And before you ask, I don’t share them with anyone either.”
He frowned, but she knew it wasn’t directed at her. “All right. Don’t do anything else on your computer right now. The police may want to look at it. Were you able to tell which accounts were compromised?”
“I only know for sure about the ones that were duplicated and corrupted.” She listed off the affected accounts. Gleason grimaced when she mentioned Eukaria.
“Figures they’d mess with one of our biggest clients,” he muttered.
She shared his frustration. “I’m pretty sure the system records the last-access date on each file, so we should be able to tell which were opened that night. But I have no idea if there’s a way to tell whether any were copied onto an external drive without being opened.”
He grunted and reached for his phone. “If the police have no objection, I’ll contact IT and see if I can track someone down who can do a more in-depth analysis of your computer and files.
Since you’re new to the Eukaria accounts, I’ll try to do damage control with them when I’m done. Can you handle the others?”
“Of course.” She stood. She could have handled Eukaria too, but she couldn’t deny she was grateful for the help. Today wasn’t just rotten; it was turning out to be an office nightmare.
“Hailey.” He stopped her before she reached the door to his office.
“Keep this quiet for now. Make those calls from the small conference room. I don’t want any visiting clients to overhear you.
Taking responsibility for any breaches that actually occurred is one thing, but I don’t want to incite unnecessary panic. ”
“Yes, sir.” She excused herself and closed his office door behind her. Taking a deep breath, she started toward her desk. She needed to grab her phone and a notebook before settling into the conference room.
“My, my. Called into the boss’s office already? That can’t be a good way to begin the week.”
Hailey cut her eyes toward Stefania’s cubicle and found the woman smirking at her. A sharp retort was on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. The woman could act like a dramatic middle schooler if she wanted, but Hailey refused to stoop to her level. It wasn’t worth it.
But she couldn’t think of a graceful reply either.
The fact that Stefania took pleasure in picking on her was maddening.
Instead of answering, Hailey ignored her and retrieved the needed items from her own desk.
After a brief stop in the break room for a desperately needed cup of coffee, she headed for the conference room.
About an hour later, Gleason poked his head inside. Seeing she was in between calls, he entered and closed the door. “How’s it going?” He slipped into the seat across from her and set a laptop and a heavy cardboard box on the table.
“I only have one client left to call. The others have been . . . upset. But I think I managed to pacify them for now.” She took a sip of her cold coffee.
A bigger accounting firm might have sent out letters informing their clients of the breach, but part of Pendleton Accounting’s draw was the personal attention given to each client.
That included calling them directly with information of this sort.
Hailey didn’t usually mind, but it made this particular situation much more stressful than it had to be.
“What about you? Were you able to get through to Eukaria?”
He grimaced. “They’re less than pleased. The chief financial officer is demanding an in-person meeting with us both. He’s flying in from Maryland on Wednesday. I’ll give you more details when I have them.”
“Oh joy.” She couldn’t blame the CFO though.
Eukaria was more than their biggest client.
It was one of the most lucrative private investment firms on this side of the country.
How they’d come to work with Pendleton Accounting instead of a more prestigious accounting firm in a major city still baffled her.
Perhaps the CEO or one of the board members had connections in Kincaid. But that was none of her business.
“Yes, joy is the first word that popped into my mind too. And just so you have a heads-up, he was also none too pleased to discover Frank is gone and you’ve taken over Eukaria’s accounts.”
“He wasn’t informed?” She gaped at him.
“He was informed. As soon as we determined what to do with their accounts, we tried to call him but were unable to get through, so we sent an official notification by mail. He apparently hadn’t bothered to read it yet.
That’s on him, not us. But don’t worry, I have every confidence you’ll win him over. Your work is exceptional.”
“I appreciate that.” She glanced at the items he’d brought in. “What’s in the box?”
“Some of Frank’s files. His wife—well, ex-wife—dropped it off this morning. Said she was in town to clean out his house and found it buried in a guest room closet.”
“Work files?” Hailey’s interest piqued.
“Yep. I haven’t had time to do more than glance inside, but they seem to be related to Eukaria’s accounts, so I’m passing them on to you.”
“Why did he have them at his house?” That seemed like a privacy breach ready to happen. Frank had been living alone since his wife left him though, so maybe it wasn’t quite as risky as it seemed.
Gleason shrugged, but his expression was grim. “You know Frank was a workaholic. It would have surprised me more to discover he hadn’t been taking work home with him. Why they were in a closet, I have no idea.”
It was curious for sure, but considering Frank’s dedication to work and his other eccentricities, Hailey probably shouldn’t waste too much time trying to figure out his reasoning.
She was interested in going through those files though.
Maybe they’d shed some light on the problems she was having with the investment firm’s accounts.
“I’m sure you’ll have fun with them,” Gleason said dryly.
He pushed both items to her side of the table.
“The laptop’s for you too. I know your most up-to-date files are on your desktop computer, but if there’s anything you can pull from your email or from the cloud, you can use this to get some work done—after you finish your calls, of course.
Hopefully we can get your computer analyzed and back to you soon.
Or at least copy your files from it so you have them. ”
“I would appreciate that. Has anyone else reported any issues this morning?”
“No. From the details security gave me, the intruders weren’t inside long, and they hit several businesses during the time they had. It’s very possible that your computer was the only one compromised.”
“I don’t think I like being the chosen one.” She didn’t like it at all. “And why my computer? My cubicle is nowhere near the door, so it’s not like it was the most convenient option.”
He returned her frown. “I thought of that. There must have been a reason for them to single you out. But the only one I can think of is if they were looking for information on your specific clients, which would require them knowing which clients are yours.” He eyed her.
“Is there anyone you’ve shared that information with? ”
“No one outside of Pendleton Accounting. I take confidentiality seriously.” She tried not to take offense at the question.
She knew he wasn’t accusing her. But his line of thought made sense.
Could one of the other CPAs have let it slip to a friend or family member?
Her thoughts immediately went to Stefania.
It wouldn’t be a reach to assume she’d complained to someone about not getting the Eukaria accounts.
But she couldn’t accuse the woman, not without any evidence to back her up.
As if he’d seen the way her mind was tracking, Gleason shook his head.
“No guarantee the leak even came from us. It could be that one of your clients has a big mouth. It’s also entirely possible that my theory is wrong.
The intruders could have done a quick search of the room and then randomly chosen your computer because it was at the last desk they searched. ”
Hailey knew he was right. The fact was, they knew very little about the incident or the motive behind it.
But with everything going on lately, she had a feeling this hadn’t been random at all.
She couldn’t prove it, but after this weekend she could no longer pretend there wasn’t a target on her back. Someone was trying to get rid of her.