Once she made it to the deli, she stood just inside the door and looked over the menu on the wall. She smiled at Jeremy when he walked through the doors. He looked nervous as hell and she almost felt bad for using him like she planned. Almost. She had a job to do and she was trained to use any means necessary. And this was most definitely necessary. She’d do her best not to hurt him, but there were no guarantees.
She chose the walnut chicken salad on thick slices of homemade whole wheat bread and Jeremy picked out a club sandwich on white. She selected a bag of Ruffles barbeque potato chips plus a vitamin water while Jeremy grabbed Doritos and a bottle of Pepsi. Then she dug her wallet out of her purse and paid for her meal. She would have told Jeremy she’d pay for his, but some guys got embarrassed when a woman paid for them and she didn’t want to embarrass him or make him feel uncomfortable.
When they were seated, she put a napkin in her lap then took a bite of her sandwich and gave an inward sigh of pleasure. “I adore Marco’s,” she said after she’d chewed and swallowed her bite of sandwich.
He pushed his glasses up his nose with his forefinger and looked as though he was so nervous he was going to throw up.
Once she let Jeremy have a chance to settle and she thought his nerves might have calmed down, she said, “How’s your day going?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. Mayo was at the corner of his mouth and he wiped it off with a napkin before he spoke. “Really good, Ms. W—Carla.”
She nodded and looked out the windows at the unusually clear day. “A beautiful afternoon.” She returned her gaze to meet Jeremy’s.
Once he relaxed, she got him to talk about more mundane things such as where he lived, what hobbies he had, and some of his favorite activities. He seemed too nervous to ask her questions about herself, which was perfectly fine with her.
“How’s the Cerebral Voices project going?” she asked when she felt the time was right.
“Great.” He nodded, clearly warmed up to her. “The CVP is almost at a hundred percent accuracy.”
“What is it now?” she asked.
“Ninety-six percent.” He started folding his empty chip bag into a small square and she had the feeling he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
She kept her questions casual. “Are you happy with the amount and type of security around the CVP?”
“For the most part,” he said. “But I’m not sure there can ever be enough for a project as potentially dangerous as Cerebral Voices.”
“That’s true.” She made a point of agreeing with him.
Jeremy leaned forward, wearing an intent, serious expression. “I mean, what if some foreign government got hold of it and used it to read the minds of nuclear scientists, or even the President of the United States?”
“We certainly can’t have that happening.” She kept her tone casual but interested. “If you have any suggestions, I can talk to Mr. Savage about them. After all, who better than one of our greatest geniuses to come up with better ways to protect the project?”
Jeremy positively glowed from the praise.
She went in for the kill. “What do you think the biggest weaknesses are in protecting the CVP?”
“If someone knows what he’s doing, he—or she—can hack into the lab’s computer,” Jeremy said. “The system includes safeguards and protocols, of course, but there is one hole that can be squeezed through.”
She brushed long blonde strands of hair from her face. “Have you told anyone about this?”
“I tried.” Jeremy frowned. “The manager of my department, Michael Demitri… Well, he can be a little close-minded. He insists it’s hack-proof.”
She wondered if Michael was the inside agent and if he had created the hole that Jeremy had discovered.
She gave him an expression of sympathy. “I know the type.” She paused, then acted as if the thought just came to her as she added, “How can Mr. Savage not want it fixed? Did you tell him?”
“No. I don’t work directly for him.” Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t go around my boss and I told Michael.”
“I think Mr. Savage needs to know about this.” Carla frowned for Jeremy’s benefit. “Can you show me?”
“I can do it from my home computer.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again. “But I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“You won’t.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “I want to be able to explain it and tell Mr. Savage in my own way.”
“Okay.” He sounded nervous but hopeful as he added, “My apartment is right around the corner, within walking distance.”
“All right.” She smiled her approval. “Let’s go.” She glanced at the remainder of his sandwich. “That is if you’re finished eating.”
Jeremy rushed to clean up what was left of his meal. “I’m done.”
They dumped their garbage into a receptacle and headed out of the deli.
She hoped no one would see them together as they walked to his apartment. She didn’t want speculation with someone seeing a high-level manager going into a junior scientist’s apartment. His nervousness ramped up again now that he was going to have her in his place and he talked at a fast pace.
It was an older building but nice-looking and they walked up two flights of stairs to the third floor and went to a door with the number 301 on it. He raised his phone up to an electronic sensor and the door unlocked with a click and a thunk.
When he swung the door open, she was surprised to see that it was clean and attractive yet sparse. She had imagined she would see piles of papers and books, but all she saw was what looked like an e-book reader sitting on the otherwise spotless coffee table. Apparently the young scientist was paperless.
“This way.” He led her down a hall and through a door into a large room that was simple but clearly high-tech. A couple of chairs were in front of an L-shaped desk with four monitors on it. The monitors couldn’t have been more than three quarters of an inch thick and each was approximately twenty-four inches diagonally. It was apparently paperless in here, too, leaving the room clear of clutter.
He slid into a chair and started using a sensor pad and immediately the monitors came to life. He looked over his shoulder at her then nodded to the chair beside him. “Have a seat.”
Just as she started to sit, her purse slipped out of her grasp and she dropped it on the floor. It opened and the contents spilled out.
Jeremy scrambled to help her pick up everything and she was grateful she didn’t carry her Sig when she went to work as Carla. She did have her agency-issued high powered flashlight, which Jeremy handed her along with pens and the phone she used for Savage Industries. She quickly grabbed the phone for the PIA agency before he could. He probably wouldn’t even recognize it as a phone, it was so small. She got on her hands and knees to pick up a small mirror and two tubes of lipstick that had rolled further back under his desk. One of the tubes of lipstick was actually a recorder and the other a mini camera.
From the corner of her eye she noticed him pause to stare at her cleavage. Bent over like she was, no doubt he was getting a really good view.
She eased to her feet and put the tubes into her purse. She kept her hand in her purse for only a moment to press the On button on the recorder.
“Thank you.” She gave him a brilliant smile.
She sat on the chair, close to him, then held her purse in her lap as she crossed her legs at her knees, her dress slid up to the tops of her thighs. She had to hold back another smile when his eyes widened as he looked from her thighs to her breasts and then he blushed when he met her gaze. Had the young scientist ever been laid?
What would he do if she climbed onto his lap, unbuttoned his slacks, and fucked him senseless? No doubt she could get anything out of him then. That wasn’t her style, but an agent did what she had to do. Right? He wasn’t that bad looking, so taking him wouldn’t be too much of a hardship. And from the bulge in his slacks, it appeared that he was big enough to satisfy a woman—really well. It didn
’t look like it would be necessary though. This guy was telling her everything she needed.
The fact that she was even thinking this gave her an odd sensation—as if she was being unfaithful to Logan.
Crazy.
He rushed to look away from her and returned his gaze to the monitors. After a couple of fumbles, his fingers flew over the sensor pad. At the company he could have given the computer verbal commands, but that would allow others to listen in on a person’s work. When existing technology was combined with Cerebral Voices technology, soon he’d be thinking what he wanted the computer to do and it would obey. That would eliminate the problem of being overheard.
While he was busy, she brought out the lipstick tube that was a camera and took a shot of Jeremy as she put on the lipstick.
“Okay, this is the firewall to Savage Industries.” Jeremy gestured to the screen then typed some more. It took a while longer—at least five minutes—and she watched the screens as he went from one to another and used a program to figure out passwords.
She dug out the mirror to look at herself and turned on the mini video recorder to record his fingers moving across the board and as much as she could of the screens.
“Sorry.” He looked at her apologetically and she hurried to put away the mirror video recorder. “It’s taking me a little longer than I expected, but I will get in.”
“That’s fine,” she said, giving him a smile. “Looks like you’re doing a great job.”
A few moments later a grin broke over his face. “And now we’re closing in,” he said with triumph in his voice.
“That’s amazing.” She loved to stroke his ego. “What exactly did you do?”
He explained his steps and she easily memorized the instructions in case the recorder didn’t work. Memorizing detailed information had been part of her training as a PIA agent.
“This part is a little harder.” He typed more and this time it took considerably longer. Then he said in triumph. “We’re in.”
She layered her words with a good amount of awe. “What steps did you take?”
“This is harder to explain.” But again he gave her a detailed outline of what he’d done, clearly proud of himself.
“Excellent.” She paused. “But extremely worrisome as this shows a glaring weakness in the company’s security. I need to get this information to Mr. Savage right away.”
Jeremy nodded but then his expression fell. “Will I get into trouble for hacking into the company’s computer system?”
“Of course not.” She placed her fingers on his arm. “He’s going to be grateful that you brought this to his attention. Just don’t say a word to co-workers or anyone about this.”
He looked worried now as if second-guessing what he’d done.
“You did great.” She leaned forward and gave him a soft, lingering kiss on the cheek before moving away from him.
His whole face flushed scarlet and she knew he was now too stunned to think about what he’d done. Plus she’d probably just given him fantasy material to think about when he was alone.
“I’d better go.” She stood. “I have a few things to take care of then I’ll go back to the office.”
“Me—uh, me too.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke, his face still red.
“Why don’t I take your phone number in case I have more questions?” she said as she dug out her cell phone then held it up to input his number.
“Uh, sure.”
He said his number and then she thanked him, left the room, and headed for the front door, Jeremy following. She smiled at him again as she reached for the doorknob and opened the door. “See you at work.”
“Yeah. Um, yeah.” He nodded right before she closed the door.
She would have felt bad about using Jeremy if it wasn’t for the fact that the information was so important to gather. Any means necessary, she reminded herself.
When she was a good distance away from the apartment building, she drew her agency’s thin phone out of her purse.
A female voice answered the call. “Wright properties.”
“I’d like to talk with a broker about a property I saw in Tacoma.” Tori used the city that would tell the operator that it was her.
“Just one moment.”
A couple of seconds later, Janice came on the line, “What do you have, Agent Adams?”
“From Jeremy Farrell I have Information on how to hack into Savage Industries computers, directly to the Cerebral Voices project.” Tori kept her voice low but spoke clearly. “Of course I recorded the instructions.”
“Continue,” Janice said.
“How they can leave this huge gap in security is beyond me.” Tori felt genuinely puzzled. “Jeremy said he told one other person in the company about the vulnerability, but that guy has done nothing about it. It was his boss, Michael Demitri.”
“What do you know about Demitri?” Janice asked.
“Not much.” Tori accessed the memories she had gathered from Carla and from what she’d learned while at the company. “A supervisor with high-level security clearance.”
“I see.” Janice said, sounding as if she was mulling everything over.
“That’s it so far,” Tori said.
“Excellent.” Approval was in Janice’s tone. “Transfer over all that you have as soon as possible.”
“Will do,” Tori said before she signed off.
It took a matter of moments to include Jeremy’s name, position, and home address as part of the intel she was forwarding to her HQ, as well as the picture of him and some screen shots that she’d taken with the lipstick camera. She downloaded the information through the secured line to the agency’s computer system, then exited out of the protected file on her phone.
When she slipped her phone back into her purse she glanced inside and stilled. Her wallet wasn’t there. Her brow wrinkled as she thought about the last time she had seen it. She’d paid for her lunch, so she knew she’d had her wallet then. She must have dropped it when her purse fell off the desk at Jeremy’s.
Damn it. She’d have to go back tonight some time after her date with Logan. She doubted Jeremy would mind her stopping by late in the evening.
Her thoughts turned back to the intel she’d just turned in. She smiled to herself and headed back to Savage Industries to see what additional information she could gather and then report back to Janice. That was easy.
Her smile turned into a frown. Maybe too easy.
Chapter 8
Tonight was a bad idea. The kiss earlier today had been a real bad idea.
What had gotten into him?
Logan jogged on the treadmill in the exercise room in his home. Sweat poured down the sides of his face as he jogged at a fast pace.
His thoughts continually turned to Carla. He had transported into Carla’s lab just to see her because he’d had to see her. These last two weeks she’d been so different and he’d been so drawn to her. It was almost inexplicable.
When he’d arrived in her lab he watched her for a moment. She had just walked in as he’d arrived then stood as if in thought. And then she’d looked over her shoulder, right at him. As if she could feel him. As if she’d known he was there.
Impossible.
He probably should have felt some guilt for spying on her. He couldn’t explain why he’d done it. He never had before.
When she turned away again, he’d moved toward the door. He opened it and reappeared at the same time, as if he’d just come in.
The treadmill went faster as he kicked it up a notch. He thought about how her gray eyes had warmed when she saw him, a light smile on her face. It was clear that she was pleased to see him, which was a good sign… If he wanted to continue in that direction.
He picked up the water bottle from the holder on the treadmill and took a swallow before setting it back in its place. He felt the need to run and run and run, as if that would free his mind of everything that needed to be cleared out.
Maybe he sho
uld call his brother. Ah, hell, what would John know about women problems? Leaving behind a trail of one-night stands, John enjoyed women but loved his freedom.
Logan shook his head. He was clutching at straws, unable to figure this out for himself. And he wasn’t used to not being able to figure out his problems.
The treadmill made a beeping sound to tell him it was time to cool down and the machine’s speed lessened. He continued jogging, slower now that the treadmill wasn’t going as fast.
The machine gradually came to a stop. He jumped off, grabbed the hand towel hanging on the treadmill, and wiped sweat from his face. He headed for the spacious bathroom with its hot tub and long vanity with a TV built into the center of the mirror. He didn’t miss a thing when it came to sports.
The shower was built with rock that curved around like a natural waterfall, and there were three showerheads amongst the rock. He tossed the hand towel into the laundry basket in the enormous walk-in closet then stripped out of his sweaty clothing and tossed them into the basket, too.
When the shower was running hot, he stepped in and let the water beat down on him. His muscles relaxed and some of the tension melted away.
But his thoughts didn’t slow down.
He thought of going to Carla’s house this morning, just to watch her, but he would never invade her privacy like that.
The first time he’d vanished was when he was four years old and he had wished he could just disappear when his mother wanted him do chores.
He had sat and watched his mother look around the living room and call for him when he was sitting right in front of her. At first he’d thought it was some kind of game. But then he’d realized she wasn’t playing.
“Logan Richard Savage,” she’d yelled. “Get your butt right back here and clean up this mess.”
“Okay, Mama,” he’d said as he walked up to her.
She’d looked around. “Where are you hiding, Logan?”
He had touched her arm and she had cried out with surprise and stumbled back. He remembered frowning and going to her.
“Can’t you see me?” he’d asked, afraid that he might never be seen again.
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