Bleeding Edge: Elliot Security (Elliot Security Series Book 2) by Evie Mitchell (short story to read .txt) 📗

“No, it’s because you’re into her.”

“Fuck off.”

“You fuck off, douchebag.” Pax leaned forward. “You’re into her. I’ve been distracted, but I’m not blind. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. If you try to tell me you’re not into her, then you’re a fucking idiot and I’ll take you outside.”

“Well, fuck.” I offered a wry smile. “Can’t pull one over you.”

“You idiot.” He tossed a pen at me. I caught it, spinning it with one hand.

“What are we doing about this?” I tapped the photos.

“We need to find the threat.”

“Stalker?”

“Maybe.” Pax reached for one of the photos. “This is disturbing.” He held it up. The dolls genitals were melted, its mouth covered by duct tape.

“It’s personal. And angry. There’s a lot of rage in this picture. That’s dangerous.”

“She needs protection.”

“She’s leaving. Got her official resignation letter today.” The words tasted like sawdust. “London.”

“What’s the new job?”

“Some start-up.”

“You didn’t do the referee check?”

I frowned. “No. I assumed you did.”

Pax leaned forward, tapping a hand against his knee. “Do you know the name of the company?”

I shook my head. “Let me call Sawyer.” I hit the digits on my handset, leaving it on loudspeaker.

“Yel-low?” Sawyer answered.

“Sawyer, I’m here with Pax. Which start-up is Emmie working for in London.”

Sawyer paused. “I… I don’t think she’s said.”

I exchanged a look with Pax. “Can you find out? Quietly?”

“Give me five.”

We waited, hearing his keys as he typed, muttering to himself.

“Umm, this is unexpected.” He murmured down the phoneline.

“What is?” I prompted.

“She doesn’t have a passport. Or any flights booked. There are no visa applications either.”

“She’s meant to be leaving at the end of the month.”

“Dude. She may be leaving us, but there is no evidence that she’s leaving the country.”

“Thanks.” I hung up, looking over at Pax. “She’s hiding.”

Pax nodded. “This.” He tapped a picture on the table. “And her leaving? Too coincidental.”

“Fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Just… fuck.”

“You’re gonna need to get the full story.”

“If she’s been planning this, I highly doubt she’s going to do anything but run.”

“Way I see it, you have two options. One, you tell her and she runs. Or two, you tell her and she stays. Either way, you need to tell her. Learn from my mistakes. Don’t keep her in the dark.”

“You dick.” I threw the pen back at him. He caught it mid-air, sending me a shit-eating grin.

“Am I wrong?”

I rubbed a hand over my mouth, frowning. “Fine. But I’ll handle it.”

“And if she runs?”

“We’ll find her.”

Pax grinned. “Finally. You have your balls back.”

“Fucker.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emmie

Tuesday saw me working on a patch for a customer’s database. They liked us to double check any of their work, make sure the vulnerabilities were shored up.

“Em.”

I looked up to see Luc and two guys I’d never met walking towards me. The older man wore a smart suit and tie, I placed him at maybe mid-fifties, with grey-brown hair, brown eyes, and a friendly smile.

I held out a hand. “Hi, I’m Emmie.”

“Grant Stoltz, CEO West Investment.” We shook hands.

The younger had to be early thirties, dressed in an equally sharp suit with blond hair and extremely light blue eyes. I held out a hand and for a moment he hesitated, then easily slipped his hand in mine, offering a smile.

“Eric Flowers. I’m the COO.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Conference room six is open, I’ll explain there.” We headed downstairs to the wood and tile room.

Luc helped me sit, leaning down to whisper, “Sorry, would have put it in your calendar, but Addie scheduled this last minute. Apparently, it’s an emergency.”

I offered him a smile, putting my hand on his. “Honestly, it’s no problem.”

After we’d taken seats and Addie had set up coffee and tea, Luc and Grant got down to business.

“Emmie, Grant’s had some issues with money transfers. Eric caught it. They’re concerned that someone, or many someones, are taking advantage of the business. His company only recently acquired West Investments so he wants an overhaul. Full vulnerability testing, surveillance, physical security, employee background checks- the works.” I nodded, jotting down notes.

“Em and I will pull together a workplan this week. Can you tell us a bit about the issue?”

Grant explained his concerns and the reason he’d come to our agency. It seemed to be in line with what had happened at the Grosford’s, only more covert.

Charges disguised as interest were charged each month but never from the same account. It seemed random, like a small unintentional computer glitch appearing as an unexpected fee. But when Eric had started an investigation the trail had become twisted. Realising something or someone was skimming cash, he and Grant started looking around for outside assistance. This was where we stepped in.

“You’ve been there the whole time?” I asked Eric, making notes.

He nodded. “But not as COO. I’ve only been in the role since Grant took over in February.”

“And the merger?” Luc asked.

“Completely above board. The old business had the big money coming in from long-term clients. But they were lagging in terms of upgrades of technology and so on. We were a newer company without the solid reputation or big numbers, but we have the best investment software. We just weren’t expecting the issues on the security side.”

“Investment software?”

“Software that predicts market trends to get the best outcomes for our clients. We’ve been developing it for years.”

“Right. And the fraud was only just reported?” Luc asked.

“It’s subtle.” Eric shrugged. “If I hadn’t picked it up as a result of one of my new clients asking about additional fees, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

“How far along are you in terms of updates to systems?” I asked.

“We’re not. The roll out isn’t scheduled until next year. We’ve been focused on building the back end to ensure the transition doesn’t result in any issues for our customers.” Grant huffed out a laugh. “This has thrown that timeline right out. We can’t integrate our secure systems or upgrade our existing platform until we know the extent of the problem and if we can mitigate.”

Sitting down