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CHAPTERONE
Cole Kensington signedthe check and slipped the black card back in his wallet. He looked back up at his long-time friend. A friend who also happened to be the owner of a private security firm-for-hire that he’d made use of several times before.
“I’ve known you for a long time, Flint. You know I appreciate everything you and Black Tower have done for me. But this one…it’s tricky.”
That was the understatement of the century. The truth was that literally everything Cole had worked on for his entire life was on the line. And if Flint couldn’t help? Well, then Cole didn’t know what he’d do.
Flint nodded from his seat across the small table of the cozy lounge, tucked inside an old building, steps from the brick-lined sidewalks of King Street in Old Town Alexandria. “I understand. You’ve got to protect your company.”
Cole nodded, but it was more than that. Zia Pharmaceuticals was more than just a company to him. They changed peoples’ lives. He’d spent his entire life with the solitary goal of advancing Alzheimer’s treatment and prevention. He might not be in the lab as a researcher anymore, but the work his company did was still why he showed up every day. And why he’d been adamantly opposed anytime the board of directors hinted toward an acquisition.
But there was something going on, and he needed to get to the bottom of it. Which was where Black Tower Security came in. Flint’s elite team of private security agents was the best in the business. He’d hired them for everything from training his in-house security team to using them for additional security for an important transport of bio-hazard samples.
He rubbed the rim of his glass with his finger. A casual movement, but one that gave his restless hands something to do while they talked. “So, you’ve got a plan?”
Flint looked briefly across the room, then met Cole’s eyes again. “I’ve got the perfect person. If you can get Joey plugged in as some systems analyst or security specialist…” He waved a hand. “Basically anything around your computers and you’ll be set.”
Cole leaned forward, eager to hear more of the plan. “That’s easy enough. We’ve got an opening in Internal Tech right now, actually. And you’re sure Joey is the right one for the job?” He wanted to trust Flint on this. Hedidtrust the man, but this was his everything. “I’m not messing around here. Ihaveto find the mole. There’s no other option.” His chest tightened painfully as the weight of the problem pressed in around him.
Flint bent his head slightly forward. “I’m telling you, Joey is the one you want. If there is something hidden in your systems or someone stealing information, Joey will find it…or them.”
Cole let out a huge breath at Flint’s firm endorsement. Knowing that someone Flint trusted would be on the job was incredibly reassuring. “Good. I’ll want personal updates about what he finds.”
Flint smirked, and Cole heard a small laugh.
He tipped his head in confusion. “What? Is that a problem?”
“No. It’s just that… You should know…Joey’s a woman.” Flint leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
Cole mentally rearranged the assumptions he’d already made. He couldn’t tell if Flint’s posture was preparing to defend his employee or simply trying to get comfortable.
Before he could respond, Flint continued. “She’s the best hacker I’ve ever seen. She worked for me at Raven Tech…and well, let’s just say before that she was wearing a different color hat.” Flint’s stern, protective tone suggested that Cole would be better off not asking questions about her past.
Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise at the admission. “But you trust her?”
Flint bowed his head slightly. “With my life. And the lives of every single one of my men.”
That was quite a statement. Cole knew just how much Flint invested personally in every operative at Black Tower. He lifted his hands and spread them in invitation. “Well, all right then. When can I meet her?” He needed to size this woman up for himself. Especially since he was apparently going to let her inside the fortified walls of Zia’s computer network.
Flint glanced across the room and signaled someone with a head nod. She was here? Cole followed the motion and searched the room for the infamous Joey.
When he realized the woman walking toward them was actually walkingtoward them,his mouth went dry.
Initially, he expected to create a cover for a pale-skinned, balding guy with a soft belly who would fade into the woodwork of the IT department. When Flint had said Joey was a woman, Cole realized he’d simply switched the gender of his imaginary person. It hadn’t prepared him for the gorgeous woman in front of him. Even without the red dress she wore tonight, she would never fade into the woodwork. Anywhere. This was the woman who could program circles around the team at Raven Tech?
Flint stood as she approached, and Cole scrambled to do the same. “Cole Kensington, may I introduce Josephina Rodriguez?”
He caught the friendly eyeroll she flashed her boss before she turned to meet him. “It’s Joey,” she corrected firmly.
Her dark-brown eyes met his with a spark of irritation. All traces of the humor she’d shown to Flint were gone. He held out his hand, thankful for the decades of business meetings that helped his body complete the expected greeting automatically, since his brain was currently short-circuiting at her arrival. “Pleasure to meet you, Joey.”
Cole was pretty good at reading people, and by his estimation, Flint’s ace programmer was definitely not pleased to meet him. But why? He’d never done anything to her, as far as he knew. Maybe they’d interrupted something. A date perhaps. That would explain the striking red dress that currently had every eye in the place glued to her. It wasn’t exactly standard for a business meeting, and it made her impossible to ignore. Flint thought she should go undercover? The woman would stick out like an intern at a board meeting among the staff in his ITS department.
If he decided to let her in at all.
* * *
Joey considered a moment before taking his offered hand. She’d seen his photo a dozen times as she looked through news articles and his Wikipedia entry. He was taller in person.
