Page 54 of Bar Down

Chapter Thirteen

Marcus

36 hours remaining

Marcus paced the length of the Stephanie’s office, the tension in his shoulders building with each turn. His mind calculated possibilities, eliminated variables. But for the first time in his career, the numbers weren't cooperating.

Thirty six hours until things went to shit.

He stopped at the whiteboard where Chenny had mapped out the data points of where the emails and the breach could have connected in neat, color-coded lines. The left winger's blue streak caught the fluorescent light as he hunched over his laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard at a pace that matched Marcus's internal countdown.

"Anything?" Marcus asked, his voice tight.

"Negative," Chenny replied without looking up. "The son of a bitch knows what he's doing. He's got multiple layers of encryption, and everything is behind proprietary firewalls that aren’t not playing nice with any of my standard workarounds."

"There has to be a connection," Marcus insisted. "A back door. Something."

Marcus glanced over when Stephanie stormed in. The sight of her sent a surge of something fierce and protective through his chest. “How did it go?”

"The presentation went well, I think. Reed was coming into meet with Jack as I was leaving."

"That manipulative prick," Chenny muttered, still typing.

Marcus moved instinctively toward Stephanie, stopping just short of reaching for her in front of Chenny. "What happened?"

She leaned against the table, ankles crossed, the picture of control except for the slight tremor in her hands. "Westfield offered me the new combined Communications and Analytics Director position." Her eyes met Marcus's. "Which means Reed could step right in if we fail.”

The room went quiet except for Chenny's furious typing. Marcus processed this information, analyzing implications and outcomes while tamping down the adrenaline surge that threatened to cloud his judgment.

"Take it," he said finally.

"What?" Stephanie's voice sharpened. "I don’t think it’s necessary. I like things the way they are and even if we manage to nix this blackmail attempt, I think it’s setting me up for failure.”

"Tactically, it makes sense," Marcus explained, keeping his voice even. "Accept the job and I can help you navigate anything they throw at you.”

"It's surrender," Stephanie countered, crossing her arms. "Communications and Analytics shouldn't be under one director anyway. They're complementary but distinct disciplines. That's like asking a goalie to also be a center."

"Unless we can stop the release, we're all screwed six ways from Sunday."

Marcus turned back to the whiteboard, focusing on the problem's core. "If Reed’s here, his computer is probably on our network. Can we get in that way?"

"Worth a shot," Chenny said.

There was a tense pause. “I can do it, but not remotely.” Chenny pushed back from the desk. "We'd need direct access to his laptop."

"It’s bound to be password protected.”

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