Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
I turn to find Bennett staring right at me, his expression thunderous.
We say our goodbyes. Worth leaves at the same time and Bennett doesn’t say a word to either of us as we ride the lift down to the lobby. He doesn’t even hold my hand. He grips me by my elbow, like he thinks I’m about to run somewhere.
“Catch you later,” I say to Worth. I don’t get a chance to give him a kiss goodbye before Bennett leads me forcefully out of the building and onto the street.
“Hey,” I say, pulling away from him. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” he spits. “What are you doing?”
“What?” I ask, but he doesn’t answer and we get into his car in silence.
“Why are you so angry?” I ask again as he starts the engine.
“Why did you drop your phone behind the cushion where I was sitting?”
I sigh. I really hope we don’t go to war and assign me to the intelligence division. I’m a terrible spy. How did he possibly catch that?
“I’m waiting for an explanation,” he says, and I can hear real venom in his words. It’s not a tone I’ve ever heard from him. He’s usually so calm and collected.
I fix my stare straight ahead through the windscreen. I can’t bear to see him so angry. “It was a phone Aarvi gave me.”
“Aarvi?” he asks. “What? Why?”
There’s no getting out of the corner I’ve painted myself into. There’s nothing I can do other than tell him the truth.
“You know Tristan, my not-brother-in-law?”
“The guy in your apartment.”
“I’ll state again for the record that he’s very happily married. But I didn’t tell you the entire truth about him.”
He pulls out into the street and he heads in the direction of my place.
“I’m waiting,” he says.
“He’s in tech. I didn’t lie about that. And it’s kinda true that he’s been helping me think about my career. But that’s not why I met up with him. I wanted his help in tracking down the person or organization responsible for the Fort security breaches.”
“You told him?”
I let out a breath. “I did.” I turn to him in my seat, hoping he’ll see that I’m telling the truth. “But he’s, like, the best in the business. And a family friend. He’s not going to do anything that’s—”
“And?” His jaw is so tight, it might shatter at any moment.
“And he helped me with a theory I had about where the attacks are coming from.”
“What theory?”
“Well… then I met Aarvi.”
“What theory, Efa?”
I ignore his question, because I’m getting to it and I don’t want to be rushed. “Turns out, Aarvi had a similar theory. So we worked together to test it out.”
“Tonight?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
We pull up in front of my building and I go to get out, but before I do, he locks the car doors. “I want to hear your theory.”
I’m irritated that he’s locked us in, but this is Bennett Fordham. He’s used to getting what he wants.
“Aarvi and I both think—and in fact, Aarvi has proof, and Tristan also discovered—that it was your phone that gave the attacker a gateway into the Fort systems.”
His eyes narrow slightly but he faces forward, not looking at me as I speak.
“But to be able to do that,” I continue, “Aarvi explained that someone would have to be close by to you, because the malware isn’t sitting on your device. The attacker is smart and doesn’t want to give away how they’re getting in. So the malware only routes through your phone. I’ve never even heard of that. Aarvi said they’d have to put a mobile device within a meter of your phone to gain access.”
He lets out a hardened half-laugh. “So you slipped a phone down the back of a cushion so you could route malware through my phone, then had the backup of five other people in the room as a cover. Did you do this on your own or are you and Tristan working together?”
“What?” I snap. “Stop being an asshole for a second. I’m trying everything I can to help you. You can’t think I’m responsible for the attacks.”
“I don’t know about entirely responsible. But it sounds like maybe you’re part of it. Why else would you put on a show—a bad show, I might add—about your phone being lost in the couch?”
“Because, dickwad, Aarvi has control over that device and she’s trying to pick up the attack in real time.” I try the door handle again and it’s still locked. “Let me out of here. I’m trying to help you and you accuse me? You’re a real distrusting piece of shit. I’ve never given you the slightest reason not to trust me.”
“And neither have the five men up there who you’re accusing of sabotaging me.”
“Yeah, you’re right. That’s who I think is attacking Fort. One of them. One of your best friends. And it’s horrible and it makes me feel sick that someone could do that to you, but it’s definitely not me doing it.”