Page 81 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“I pulled our backups for the last month to see if I can pinpoint when the bug was introduced. That might help us figure out what the hell is going on.” John Tatum has been on Troy’s team for almost two years, choosing to move to Denver with Troy when they packed up the project team in DC and headed west. Not everyone on the team had been happy with the move, particularly the members he’d left behind in DC. Troy looks around the table of tired people, trying to piece together the problem.

“That’s a good idea, John. Harris, I know you’ve run through your findings with me already, but at the end of the day, what is your gut telling you?”

Tom Harris glances self-consciously around the table filled with John Tatum and three other technicians before looking Troy in the eye. “Honestly, Troy, I hate to say it, but I think there is only one conclusion I can come to. The code has been tampered with.”

“What are you saying?”

“You know what I’m saying, Troy.”

“Sabotage? I just hate to even consider it.”

“I don’t know what else it could be. We’d passed every test and were home free. The code wasn’t on the network. It can’t be a virus or someone from the outside. It has to be...”

“Someone in this room.” Troy finishes for his friend.

The room is silent. Troy looks from person to person and is met with varying degrees of anger and surprise, yet not one person in the room refutes the claim because they all recognize the truth in the accusation. Their project is locked down so tight that only one of the six people in the room should have access to do the kind of damage they are dealing with.

Troy doesn’t need this. He should be home remembering his wonderful weekend with Hallie and making plans for their future, but instead he’s at the base, dealing with a top-secret security breach possibly caused by someone close to him.

Taking one last look across his team, his gut clenches. “There has to be another explanation. I trust every person in this room. We have all worked together and I’ve watched you all pour your heart into this project. It’s important to all of you. There has to be another explanation.”

The room finally erupts as everyone starts talking at the same time, all agreeing with Troy, relieved that they feel the same. Maybe he’s being naive, but he is usually a good judge of character. There has to be another reason.

“John, make the forensic investigation into the backups your top priority. We need to know exactly when the bug was introduced and that will help us track down what the root of the problem is and with any luck, lead us to the person behind it. You all have been here all weekend. Go home. Get some sleep and come back in the morning. I’m going to spend some time here tonight to see if I can make some headway. Meeting in my office at oh-eight-hundred. Dismissed.”

The crowd disperses and Troy heads to the secure lab to dig into the problem. It’s going to be a long night.

Two long days later, the team has made marginal progress. Harris has pinpointed the introduction of the problem to Christmas Day, which only intensified the mystery since not one of Troy’s team had worked that day. All surveillance footage into and out of the secure lab the team works in confirms not one person had set foot in the lab for the forty-eight hours around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Troy had been relieved with the proof that his gut hadn’t been wrong about his team, but the mystery still stands and they are running out of time. They were supposed to hand the project over by the New Year and the fact that they’ll now miss that deadline is a huge blow to Troy and his whole team.

He thinks back to the disastrous phone call he’d had to make late the day before to his commanding officer back in DC, outlining the problem and explaining the delay. He’d sat through thirty minutes of uncomfortable ass-ripping and was just grateful it had been over the phone and not in person.

That’s Troy’s next problem. His boss, Peter, is using this event as an excuse to try to pressure Troy into moving the team back to DC since nothing like this breach ever happened when they’d been working out of the more secure location in Washington. Peter had even threatened to turn the project back over to Victoria, a key team member he’d left behind in DC.

Troy hopes Peter was just blowing smoke because if Troy had been sure about moving to Colorado before he met Hallie, he is adamant now that this is where he belongs. He’s barely had time to eat or sleep since seeing her, but he’s made sure to text her often and they’ve spoke a couple quick minutes. He knows the responsible thing to do would be to cancel his date with her tonight to keep working, but there is nothing on this planet that could stop him from spending tonight with Hallie. His team had worked until four this afternoon before he called it quits, telling everyone to go home and report back the day after tomorrow. He tries not to feel guilty for wanting to spend time with Hallie and reminds himself his whole team is hitting the wall and they all need the downtime.

Troy is thrilled when he pulls into the covered parking garage of his apartment and finds Hallie just parking Gina’s SUV in the spot next to his. He hadn’t expected her for at least an hour. They both exit their cars quickly and rush into each other’s arms.

“Oh man, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Let me look at you?”

They’ve separated enough for him to look down into her beautiful green eyes. She looks incredible and his heart contracts that this amazing woman is looking up at him with such love in her eyes.

“Hi.” He can sense her shyness.

“Hi yourself. Damn, I’ve missed you. I know it’s only been two days, but it feels like a week. Let’s get you inside.” Troy grabs her duffel bag from the SUV before locking up and walking to the elevator, his arm tight around her waist as if to keep her from getting away.

They make it into the elevator before Troy leans in to claim his first kiss. He tastes her cherry chapstick and has a craving to taste her other delectable tastes and wonders if they have time for a nap before they head out for dinner. The trip to his sixth-floor apartment is too short.

“Come on in. The place isn’t much, but I’ve only been here a couple months and haven’t even really unpacked. You’re the first guest I’ve had, other than my work buddies.”

Hallie is hugging him to her. “I don’t care about your apartment. I just missed you.” He hears a twinge of sadness in her voice that surprises him considering they’re just starting their time together.

“Well, you got here a whole hour earlier than I expected. You have any ideas what we might do with that extra time?” He grins.

“Oh, I can think of a couple of things. Which way to the bedroom?”

“I guess that settles that.” Troy grins down at Hallie from above, still buried deep inside her.

She can barely catch her breath. “Settles what?”

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