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“I’ll be right back,” I announce to Tomer, who doesn’t respond other than a grunt. “I’m going to brief Boss.”
After grabbing my laptop and striding down the hall, I pause in front of Peggy’s desk and point over my shoulder at Big Al’s closed office door. “We need him. Is he busy?”
The older woman looks at me over her wire-framed glasses and grins. “He is, but I’ll tell him you stopped by.”
Her smile grows wider, making my chest constrict. She’s roughly my mom’s age, with the same pleasant demeanor. They’re both caring and generous. Comforting and loyal. Hell, Peggy often ties her salt and pepper hair up in a soft bun like Ma does.
The differences between them are few. The most glaring is that Peggy isn’t slowly losing her grip on reality.
I swallow a thick gulp and focus on the pressing issue. One thing at a time.
“It’s important, Peggy. Maybe we should interrupt him.”
She cricks her neck to one side and offers a subtle head shake. “Given the look on your face, Klein, I’m guessing you want to talk to him about the system issues, right?”
Interesting. How does she know about that? Perhaps she overheard, or Big Al told her.
“That’s right. Tomer and I have been working through it for a few hours, and Boss said he’d come and see us earlier, but he never did. We need to brief him.”
Her nose wrinkles, and she shakes her head once more, this time more dramatically. “It’s not necessary. He’s aware of everything. That’s part of what his meeting is about. Didn’t he tell you not to worry about it earlier?”
My fists clench at my sides, and my pulse spikes. “No. He didn’t. And what is…” I trail off, unsure of what question I want to ask first.
Sensing my rising frustration, she leans across her desk to comfortingly grasp my hand. “Relax, kid, or you’ll go gray way before your time.” She smiles and squeezes my hand before letting go. “Boss must have forgotten to tell you guys to stand down. But he should be wrapping up with the new hire any minute. Head down there and tell Tomer I said he should take a break. You both can stop whatever you’re doing. It’s all going to be fine, honey.”
Before facing her computer again, she winks at me.
The new hire? Already?
That’s a super-duper way for this day to turn out.
Well, whoever he is, I hope he’s ready for the shit show. Nothing like being thrown into the soup when it’s at a full boil. But why the hell would Big Al want us to stop trying to fix this mess? It doesn’t make sense.
When I return to Tomer’s lair, two other Redleg guards, Shep and Kri, are hanging out in the doorway. Looks like they’re trying unsuccessfully to get Tomer to respond to them. Kri’s still out on medical leave after suffering a life-threatening injury when she was attacked on the job a few months ago. She’s been staying at Shep’s place since she got out of the hospital, and I guess they decided to get out of the house today and come to the office.
I blow past the love birds, frustration seeping out of my every pore. “Move it. Coming through.”
From over my shoulder, I hear Kri mumble, “They seem… busy.”
Never one to back down from a challenge, Shep ambles into the office. I try to ignore him, but when he pauses in front of my temporary workspace, he wiggles my laptop lid like he’s threatening to close it.
My pulse thrums loudly in my head while I attempt to pull my focus away from the fact that my replacement is already sitting in Boss’s office. “Don’t you fucking dare, Shep. It’s not the time.”
Shep grunts and squats down to come to my eye level. With his face next to my laptop screen, it’s impossible to ignore him. “Hey, man. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Rolling my shoulders out, I lean back and stretch my arms over my head. Might as well tell him. He’s never going to shut up until I do.
“Things are most definitely not okay. Redleg has been fucking hacked.”
Kri gasps. “What?”
My gaze shifts between Shep and Kri, who are both understandably shocked. This is unprecedented for Redleg.
Heavy footsteps capture everyone’s attention but Tomer’s. Scrolling through endless code, he keeps his focus locked firmly on his screens.
Boss sticks his head in, wearing a downright cheery expression.
He knows about the hack, so why is he unbothered? Have I been sucked into a wormhole and emerged in an alternate reality where up is down and Boss is calm?
