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“Yeah, so?”
“If dust is one of them, then you definitely need to step outside while we clean these ducts. It won’t take more than five minutes, and I’ve got forms signed by the division head clearing both of you to leave your post during the process.” She tossed the inhaler to Todd. “So let’s move it out, boys.”
“Where’s your uniform?” Bill asked Natalie, pushing to his feet. “The other maintenance guys always wear those white jumpsuits.”
“New contractors,” she improvised, shooting Kyle a quick glance before herding the two men toward the exit on the other side of the room. “Street clothes are easier on these kinds of jobs.”
“You’re sure those forms will cover our asses?” Todd asked as they moved farther away from their terminals. “Maybe I should log out first. I can’t afford to lose this job.”
“No, no.” Natalie placed her hand on his shoulder to keep him from returning. “These forms will take care of everything, trust me. You’ll only be gone a few minutes. No need to log out…”
They left the room, and Kyle lowered himself down from the ceiling, then took a seat at Todd’s desk. According to the intel Hayley had gathered, he was looking for the server named Big Dog. Not exactly subtle, but then again, Williams wasn’t known for his modesty.
He clicked a few keys and brought up the main directory, then scrolled through until he found the right list. His phone buzzed constantly in his pocket. The other team members were hitting the servers in their respective locations tonight, too, so Kyle suspected they were sending updates on their progress.
Name after name whizzed by on the screen until he found the correct server. Hayley had said they could tell if the virus had been uploaded or not by a particular line of code in the main directory.
The clock on the wall said he had three minutes left.
Line after line, Kyle scanned until it all started to blur together into a glowing green blob. Jesus. How the hell did people do this for a living?
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Kyle scowled and pulled out his phone. Checking one or two messages might help him to get his eyes uncrossed.
Problem was, it wasn’t just one or two messages. More like fifteen or twenty. His stomach plummeted to his toes. The first message was from Gage in California:
HOUSTON, WE GOT MAJOR PROBLEMS.
The next was from Spencer in Minnesota:
I THOUGHT YOU SAID HE WAS UPLOADING IN GEORGIA.
And finally, from Scotty in Maine:
DUDE, SOMETHING’S SCREWED UP HERE.
He shut off his phone and scrolled faster for the code, searching for the line that Hayley had told him to look for. Two minutes left. He was running out of time. He heard the doors opening on the other side of room, but he couldn’t afford to lose focus. He had to find that code, had to know if his deepest fears were going to be realized. Had to…
“Find it?” Natalie asked, coming up beside him.
“Why aren’t you watching the geeks?” Kyle growled, not taking his eyes off the screen.
“Oh, don’t worry about them. I locked them in a supply closet down the hall. They’ll be in there for a while.” She bent closer, the spicy citrus scent of her perfume doing little to calm his nerves. “What’s wrong?”
“The guys messaged me. There are problems at the other server stations.”
“Problems?”
“Yeah. I haven’t had a chance to call them back yet.”
“I’ll handle it.” Natalie picked up his phone and hit redial for Scotty. “Hey. It’s Nat. We’re at the server in Savannah. What’s up?”
Her gasp didn’t help Kyle’s situation. “Right. Okay. We’ll be in contact later.”
She hung up and tossed Kyle’s phone back on the desk. “Arrieta uploaded the virus.”
“Where? When? I thought for sure he would’ve used this one.”
