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“Me?” James pulls a hand to his chest and sits forward asking, “I’m more serious than this entire company put together, so how in the world would I play a joke such as this?” he defends himself and I jerk my head to the left, placing my hands on my hips.
“That’s right, I’m the joker around here,” I smirk at him. “So, when did you discover this and just how serious is this?”
“I found it late last night,” James says with a callous look that he gives me when he thinks I’m not being serious enough.
I can be gravely serious.
“David, this one is highly confidential and more serious than I first thought. Whoever is responsible, managed to get their hands on some projects we did a while ago for the government.”
“The top secret stuff?”I could feel the fear taking shape as its icy fingers spread across my face. I take my seat quickly and blink my eyes a couple of times in disbelief. But he did say that the breach took some sensitive material.
“How do you want to handle this?” James asks, pulling me from my fearful stupor.
“We have to stop whoever it is,” I tell him in a grave voice. “Do we know who or how?”
James shakes his head as he looks at the floor. Looking back up to me, he sits up and rests his elbows on his knees for support. “I have a possible someone.”
His eyes become darker as he glares intently at me. “Who?”
James huffs without taking his eyes off of me and says, “Lily.”
“No!” I stand up, knocking my chair back into the credenza behind me. Placing my hands on my head, I begin to pace the floor space behind my desk. Stopping, I remove my hands and stare at him. “Do you have proof?”
James lowers his head and shakes it before he leans back into his chair. “Not a shred. But it is odd that it happened just after she started here.”
“There’s no way that this could be Lily. Even if she could hack into our system, she’s damn sure not dumb enough to do it just after beginning her job here,” I defend her integrity to the serious eagle eye looking for any sign of trouble.
James waves me off and says, “It could be anyone here. It’s just odd that this hasn’t happened for several years and she just came to us a week ago.”
“I don’t see Lily as that type of person,” I say, folding my arms and running a hand over my stubble. “We need to hire somebody. A forensic investigator.”
“Hold on a minute, mister,” James sits up again and looks me square in the eyes. “Let me peek around a little bit more to see if I can trace it. I tried early this morning but failed.”
“I don’t think this is the way. The longer we sit on this, the more damage to control,” I tell him, turning to face him. “And not to mention, kissing the government contracts goodbye.”
“I’ve thought about that too. But if the breach is coming from the inside, Lily’s trail shouldn’t be too difficult to find,” James says and begins to walk from the room.
I shake my head and come around my desk to stand in front of James. He towers above me, looking down as I get defensive. “I’m telling you that there’s no way in hell that Lily could or even would do this!”
“I found this and need a little more time to get to the bottom of it, damn it!” he shouts at me, losing control momentarily.
“Just saying, it’s not Lily you’re sniffing out,” I say, trying to remain calm.
James crosses his arms and raises his nose higher with authority. “Why are you so adamant that a woman that you barely know didn’t do this?”
The question stuns me and I take a step back. Looking to the floor, I place my hands on my hips and sigh. Caught in between a decision to tell him about the sex Lily and I had or not to. Either way could be damning. I’d rather be honest with him, like I always have been.
Drawing in a deep breath, I look up at him. Nervously, opening my mouth to speak truth. “Me and Lily had sex the other day. I just know she’s not the culprit. She’s too sweet and kind to do something like this.”
Standing there, I feel vulnerable, without a shield from the rising anger and, what is that look? Betrayal? What did he do to have that look? “What did—”
Cutting me short, James points a finger in my face yelling, “You god damned low-down mother fucker!” His shout is loud and heavy, leaving spit dripping on my face. “Why would you do that?”
“Duh, because she’s fucking hot!” I scream back. “That’s why. And you never said anything about you being interested in her anyway!”
James shakes his head and takes a step toward me. “You fucking son of a bitch. Not interested you say? How would you even know? You lead with that cock of yours so how could you even see it? Two eyes are always better than the one, dipshit.”
“Just because you hired her, doesn’t mean you get exclusive rights, asshole,” I shout back.
