AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Chloe’s already released five other variations in the same forums, to confuse things. Yoshi is handling everything else public-facing,” Scott said. “Zane emailed you machine information. I need you to find out who this came from and deal with them.”
“On it. We’ll check in soon,” Luke said.
Dread hung heavy in my limbs as we disconnected from Scott. As if missed deadlines weren’t enough, now we were dealing with sabotage—espionage?—too. “Nice of someone to set up a welcome present for us.” My sarcasm came out with more bitterness and less teasing than I intended.
“Yay.” Luke scrubbed a hand through his short hair. “When we get in, Mike and I are going to talk. I need you chatting with developers. Keep it informal. Fast. Don’t plan on getting a lot of your own coding done today.”
“Right.” I hated the idea of losing a day of work, but this was important too.
Luke rested a hand on my knee. The shock of heat was muffled by stress. “I’m glad you’re here.” He gently squeezed my leg. “No one else I trust more to get us through this.”
It wasn’t filthy or sexy, but it did summon a ball of warmth in my chest that spread through me.
We spent the rest of the drive modifying our plans for the week. I watched the scenery pass by in a hazy blur. I’d taken several trips out here, and always loved the scenery. Today, I couldn’t see a lot of it.
Wildfires were tearing through the hills, not too far away, and the air was choked with smoke. We had summer fires in Salt Lake, but nothing this severe. I hated that so many of our programmers were dealing with the evacuation and the fear of losing their homes on top of a deadline and a visit from the boss.
We arrived at the building and headed straight for the floor where the developers worked. My first few times here, doing this felt awkward. Like walking into a stranger’s home and making myself comfortable. But now, it was almost as familiar as walking into my own office.
The location Luke, Chase, and I worked in was Rinslet’s international headquarters. Rinslet didn’t have the same kind of massive campus that some of the bigger tech companies had, but they owned the entire building downtown, and it was one of the taller ones in the city. There was a little of everything on-site—cafeteria, gym, gaming room.
This was a satellite location for developers, so we only took up a floor. Everyone in the open-floor plan had their heads down and fingers flying over keys when we stepped into the room. A few people looked up, and then several more, and whispers fluttered through the air.
Luke growled softly. “Mike was supposed to let them know,” he muttered.
“He’s as busy as the rest of us.” My defense came instinctively. I preferred to think the best of most people, but in Mike’s case, I wasn’t so sure that was wise.
“Hey, guys.” Speak of the devil. Mike strode from his office, meeting us halfway. “I hope your flight was good. Glad you’re here. Conference Room Gamma is set up for you to work in. You speak to Scott yet?”
Luke nodded. “You and I need to talk.” He glanced at me. “You good?”
“Yeah.” I was in my element here. There shouldn’t be any hidden surprises, like my boss and my best friend’s brother agreeing to compete for my affection.
I headed for the conference room and set up my laptop. I was getting ready to talk to the first person on my schedule, when my phone buzzed with a group text from Sadie and Lyn.
How was your flight?Sadie asked.
Shit, I forgot to text them when I landed. And I needed to tell them what had me distracted, too. How was I going explain this to Sadie?
