Defended & Desired
Page 23
It warmed Devon to her soul to see Logan enjoying his role as a family man. His caring responsiveness toward Allison, and his dedication to fatherhood, renewed her faith that there really were men who put family before anything else.
An image snapped into her mind like the click of a camera, of Trey holding a child in his arms, looking over at her and smiling.
A swell of emotion seized her throat. Palms clammy, she felt faint.
“You okay?” Logan asked, taking a step toward her.
“Sure,” she said in a rushed exhale, gripping the back of their couch. “I’m fine.” She gathered her composure. That was an image she never wanted to see again. Because it would never be hers. “If there’s no video, then what are you and your team looking at today?”
“By footage, I meant we’ll go over your security system’s data. There’s a bio-feed that’s part of your system, plus the material and leads we’ve gathered so far. First, we’ll track where the devices were purchased. They’re very specific and high-end. Your hacker has expensive taste in surveillance equipment.”
Acidic disgust filled her mouth. “Lucky me.” She took a swig of hot coffee that burned her tongue. She swallowed hard. “Do you think you can learn whether someone besides me disarmed my system and came into my home?”
“That and any other anomalies we find along the way. Trust me,” he said with a purposeful glance. “We’ll get this guy any way we can.”
“You never should’ve been involved. I wish Trey hadn’t called you.”
“He did exactly what I would’ve done if our roles were reversed,” Logan insisted. “He obviously cares about you. He made the right decision.”
Devon rolled her eyes. “I disagree. But since I can’t do anything about it now, I’m really glad you’re helping me.”
He nodded. “Keeping people safe is what I do.”
She supposed Logan and Trey shared a similar mind in that regard. They did everything in their power to keep safe the people who counted on them. Even though technically she didn’t count on Trey for anything more than a paycheck.
When Logan shifted Sammy against his side, the boy started crying again. “I know it hurts, bud. This teething thing is no fun for any of us.”
At the same time, Peanut scraped his paws against Devon’s knees. “Looks like we’re both in demand. Thanks for everything, Logan.” She hoped the look she sent him encompassed her gratitude, despite her stubborn pride wanting to handle everything by herself. “Will you call me if you find anything new?”
“You bet.”
Devon emptied the last of her coffee into the sink and set the mug in the dishwasher. She picked up Peanut, grabbed her overnight bag, and walked out into the warm summer morning.
Since Logan’s team would return to her house shortly, and she wasn’t up for a rerun of last night, she decided to head to the office. There was no shortage of work since the servers went down, and there would be no one there to interrupt or distract her on a Saturday morning. She stopped on the way to grab Peanut a few packs of Caesar’s wet dog food and replenish her stash of nicotine gum, then pulled into the empty parking lot at Soren Security.
When she entered, the building was mausoleum silent and unnerving at first. As she headed for her office, she reminded herself how much she looked forward to the solitude and privacy. Elusive luxuries of late. Especially after learning the most intimate details of her life had been caught on camera.
Anger clawed through her. That bastard had done enough damage. She refused to give him free rent in her head. Instead, she’d focus on restoring the company’s lost data and retooling her network’s security.
Peanut gobbled his breakfast, then curled up under her desk and went to sleep. She settled in and absorbed herself in the blissfully uncomplicated world of ones and zeroes that provided the digital foundation for the work she loved.
The next time she glanced at the clock, it was eleven thirty. Her stomach growled. She yearned to inhale the puff of smoke from a cigarette. She reached for nicotine gum instead, rather proud of herself for not caving in to her former addiction, even with multiple layers of stress piling onto her life.
A few minutes later, she heard a knock. Startled, she glanced up and found Zander in her doorway, standing there with his usual reluctant awkwardness.
“Zander. What are you doing here on a Saturday?”
“Same thing you are, I guess.” He tugged at the cuffs of his oversized shirtsleeves. “Catching up on work. We’ve had a crazy week.”
“Amen to that.” She waved him inside. “Something on your mind?”
“Yeah. I did some research on the guy who calls himself ‘Captain Jack.’”
Devon sat straighter. “Please divulge.”
“Did you know he was kicked out of DEFCON two years ago?”
“No way. Seriously?” This was the most interesting news she’d had in two years. She leaned forward setting her elbows on her desk. “For what?”
He scratched his ear. “It doesn’t say, exactly. He might’ve done something invasive, even by hacker standards.”
“Obviously, to get kicked out of DEFCON—I mean, that’s the one place each year that programmers like us go to find acceptance.” She let out a snort. “He must’ve really pissed someone off to get booted.”
“From what I’ve learned, he was determined to crack a code that was actually up for an award that year.”
Devon went still . “Two years ago…I was given the Signet Award for the facial recognition software I created for Stone Security.”
“Oh. Oh, wow. I mean, I knew that.” Zander raked a hand through his disheveled hair. “But I didn’t connect the two situations until now.”
“Me either.” Devon felt familiar claws of repulsion scrape along her spine.
“If you don’t mind me saying, Miss Leigh…” Zander blushed, then dragged a chair beside hers. “That award deserved to go to you. You overlaid facial recognition software over live streaming feed. The security system you created blew my mind. Everyone’s. You made something no one thought existed. The forums sang your praises.”
Devon grew uncomfortable under his unabashed admiration. “It worked. That’s all I cared about, honestly.”
Zander touched her shoulder. “There was nothing like it on the market. I—all of us—found our guru in security.”
An image snapped into her mind like the click of a camera, of Trey holding a child in his arms, looking over at her and smiling.
A swell of emotion seized her throat. Palms clammy, she felt faint.
“You okay?” Logan asked, taking a step toward her.
“Sure,” she said in a rushed exhale, gripping the back of their couch. “I’m fine.” She gathered her composure. That was an image she never wanted to see again. Because it would never be hers. “If there’s no video, then what are you and your team looking at today?”
“By footage, I meant we’ll go over your security system’s data. There’s a bio-feed that’s part of your system, plus the material and leads we’ve gathered so far. First, we’ll track where the devices were purchased. They’re very specific and high-end. Your hacker has expensive taste in surveillance equipment.”
Acidic disgust filled her mouth. “Lucky me.” She took a swig of hot coffee that burned her tongue. She swallowed hard. “Do you think you can learn whether someone besides me disarmed my system and came into my home?”
“That and any other anomalies we find along the way. Trust me,” he said with a purposeful glance. “We’ll get this guy any way we can.”
“You never should’ve been involved. I wish Trey hadn’t called you.”
“He did exactly what I would’ve done if our roles were reversed,” Logan insisted. “He obviously cares about you. He made the right decision.”
Devon rolled her eyes. “I disagree. But since I can’t do anything about it now, I’m really glad you’re helping me.”
He nodded. “Keeping people safe is what I do.”
She supposed Logan and Trey shared a similar mind in that regard. They did everything in their power to keep safe the people who counted on them. Even though technically she didn’t count on Trey for anything more than a paycheck.
When Logan shifted Sammy against his side, the boy started crying again. “I know it hurts, bud. This teething thing is no fun for any of us.”
At the same time, Peanut scraped his paws against Devon’s knees. “Looks like we’re both in demand. Thanks for everything, Logan.” She hoped the look she sent him encompassed her gratitude, despite her stubborn pride wanting to handle everything by herself. “Will you call me if you find anything new?”
“You bet.”
Devon emptied the last of her coffee into the sink and set the mug in the dishwasher. She picked up Peanut, grabbed her overnight bag, and walked out into the warm summer morning.
Since Logan’s team would return to her house shortly, and she wasn’t up for a rerun of last night, she decided to head to the office. There was no shortage of work since the servers went down, and there would be no one there to interrupt or distract her on a Saturday morning. She stopped on the way to grab Peanut a few packs of Caesar’s wet dog food and replenish her stash of nicotine gum, then pulled into the empty parking lot at Soren Security.
When she entered, the building was mausoleum silent and unnerving at first. As she headed for her office, she reminded herself how much she looked forward to the solitude and privacy. Elusive luxuries of late. Especially after learning the most intimate details of her life had been caught on camera.
Anger clawed through her. That bastard had done enough damage. She refused to give him free rent in her head. Instead, she’d focus on restoring the company’s lost data and retooling her network’s security.
Peanut gobbled his breakfast, then curled up under her desk and went to sleep. She settled in and absorbed herself in the blissfully uncomplicated world of ones and zeroes that provided the digital foundation for the work she loved.
The next time she glanced at the clock, it was eleven thirty. Her stomach growled. She yearned to inhale the puff of smoke from a cigarette. She reached for nicotine gum instead, rather proud of herself for not caving in to her former addiction, even with multiple layers of stress piling onto her life.
A few minutes later, she heard a knock. Startled, she glanced up and found Zander in her doorway, standing there with his usual reluctant awkwardness.
“Zander. What are you doing here on a Saturday?”
“Same thing you are, I guess.” He tugged at the cuffs of his oversized shirtsleeves. “Catching up on work. We’ve had a crazy week.”
“Amen to that.” She waved him inside. “Something on your mind?”
“Yeah. I did some research on the guy who calls himself ‘Captain Jack.’”
Devon sat straighter. “Please divulge.”
“Did you know he was kicked out of DEFCON two years ago?”
“No way. Seriously?” This was the most interesting news she’d had in two years. She leaned forward setting her elbows on her desk. “For what?”
He scratched his ear. “It doesn’t say, exactly. He might’ve done something invasive, even by hacker standards.”
“Obviously, to get kicked out of DEFCON—I mean, that’s the one place each year that programmers like us go to find acceptance.” She let out a snort. “He must’ve really pissed someone off to get booted.”
“From what I’ve learned, he was determined to crack a code that was actually up for an award that year.”
Devon went still . “Two years ago…I was given the Signet Award for the facial recognition software I created for Stone Security.”
“Oh. Oh, wow. I mean, I knew that.” Zander raked a hand through his disheveled hair. “But I didn’t connect the two situations until now.”
“Me either.” Devon felt familiar claws of repulsion scrape along her spine.
“If you don’t mind me saying, Miss Leigh…” Zander blushed, then dragged a chair beside hers. “That award deserved to go to you. You overlaid facial recognition software over live streaming feed. The security system you created blew my mind. Everyone’s. You made something no one thought existed. The forums sang your praises.”
Devon grew uncomfortable under his unabashed admiration. “It worked. That’s all I cared about, honestly.”
Zander touched her shoulder. “There was nothing like it on the market. I—all of us—found our guru in security.”
