Page 97 of Pressure

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"Have dinner brought in for everyone, please, Kimberly," Lance said as he stuck his head in his assistant’s door.

The efficient woman nodded as she snapped her fingers at two rambunctious children playing near her desk. He was a bastard for asking her to stay but she didn't seem to mind, and the kids were having fun playing in an unfamiliar environment.

"I'll get you home as soon as possible," he promised before turning on his heel and heading back to the boardroom.

"Where are we in pulling up our backups to isolate the data that was damaged?" he asked the tired crew. One man raised his hand. "We're still sorting through it all to find the right files but so far it doesn't look like anything was stolen. We were able to find the intrusion though and it came from within."

"What do you mean? Like an evil maid attack? “

The guy shrugged. "Not exactly. Moss Tech credentials were used to access the server and leave the malware behind."

Lance frowned. "Can we identify who the credentials belong to?"

A woman spoke up next. "We're working on that now. Might take a few hours to match them up to the right person."

Lance nodded. "OK. Let's keep working. I've got dinner coming. We work through the night if we have to."

Some groaned but most nodded and kept typing.

Lance pulled up the employee database and found Marissa's file to switch her credentials back on. He sent her a text to let her know she was good to access the system.

Twenty minutes later, an alarm sounded on someone's laptop.

"What was that?" Lance demanded, his nerves on edge.

"Sir, you're not going to believe this but the same credentials that left the malware behind just logged into the system again."

Lance jumped up and stood behind his employee. "Who is it?"

Her fingers flew as she cross-referenced the sign-on information with the employee database.

"Marissa Sullivan, Sir. I'm not familiar with that name."

Lance felt his heart sink to his stomach. That couldn't be right.

"It's fine, Kara. I'll handle this. I need you to put your attention back on data loss. I'll be in my office if anyone needs me.

He jogged down the corridor to his office and slammed his door, pacing.

What should he do?

God fucking damn it. Was she so hell bent on revenge that she took the Solitaire job to get it? Was she working with Sebastian Forcythe? A million questions raced through his mind. He knew he should confront her instead of jumping to conclusions, but he was worried he would lash out if he called her right now.

He logged into the database and switched her credentials off again, kicking her out of the system.

His phone buzzed.

Something happened and I got kicked out. Help me out?

He ignored the text and dialed Patrick's number.

"Hey, your girl is fine. Must have gone through a gallon of coffee though."

Lance blew out a breath. "Not so sure she's my girl."

Patrick grew quiet. "That doesn't sound great. Let me get some place where I can talk."

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