Landon and I sit up straight. “Corporate espionage?”
Gage holds his hands up. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He motions to a woman out in the office, and she walks in with a laptop and leaves.
Gage hooks up the portable hard drive. “We connected to your network this morning. Let’s see what happens.”
Gage connects and asks me to write a basic line of code. I do, and when I try to set it, the computer seems to stutter a minute. Then it goes to a black screen and begins to reboot.
Whew. Nothing is worse than taking something in for repair, and once it’s in front of the repair person, it works fine and they think you’re a little left of nuts.
I watch as Gage transfers the connection to a different Wi-Fi network. He turns my computer to me. “You’re a much more elegant developer than I am. Please, type any line of code.”
I type.
Elif answers==1:
Print “It is certain.”
Landon smirks. “Magic 8 Ball?”
“I’m impressed. Yes. It’s all I could think of. Do you want any more?”
Gage shakes his head. “Set it.”
I push enter, and the computer code sets.
It isn’t the software. It’s something else.
Gage studies the computer. “I think this is going to take some work.” He looks at me. “This may take some time, but I don’t suggest you connect your computer to the network at the office.”
Landon sits up straight. “Do we need to pull all the developers off the network?”
“They’re not having problems right now?”
Landon shakes his head. “No.”
“I don’t want anyone to panic. We need to do some sniffing around. We’ll work on it today and tomorrow. We can meet here Monday morning. Would that work?”
I nod. “I’ll need the address, but yes.”
“I’ll pick you up. Don’t worry,” Landon assures me.
As we walk out, Gage leans over. “Would you like a tour?”
I nod. This is my type of porn.
When we go back out to the car, I can feel the anger and frustration rolling off of Landon. I’m the one they seem to be stealing from, so that makes me nervous. I know Landon and Claire vetted my code when they bought me.
“Should we call Claire?” I ask.
Landon looks up. “I’m so blinded by rage right now, I hadn’t thought about it.” He gets on the phone, and I hear Claire’s voice mail.
“Claire, we met with Jim and Gage. They don’t want Tinsley on the network until we get this figured out. There’s a possibility of corporate espionage. We need to let Mason know. I’ll wait for your call.”
We stop in front of The Adams, and Greg parks and comes around to open the door. We gather our purchases from the farmer’s market, and Landon turns to Greg. “Can you take Tinsley up with the bags? I’ll be back shortly.”
I don’t feel comfortable hanging out in his apartment when he’s not home. “I can come back later. Don’t worry about me.”
He hands me a fob. “This is for you to keep. Please, stay. I need to think a minute. I’ll be up shortly. Promise.” He puts his arm around me and kisses my temple. “We’re going to get this figured out.”
It’s strange to walk into the building without Landon. Tiffany shimmies into the elevator with Greg and me. “He doesn’t do monogamy, you know.”
I look at her. “Who him?” I hook my finger at Greg, who looks at me like a deer in the headlights.
“No, Landon.” She puts her hands on her hips, and I wait for her to point at me.
“That’s fine. He’s an adult.” I look away from her, bored with the conversation.
“He likes the way I suck his cock.”
Wow, that was not necessary. “If you’re good with it, that’s fine with me.”
“He’s totally into ass fucking.”
The elevator doors open.
I have no idea how to respond. “I think this is your floor.”
“You should have more respect for yourself,” she admonishes.
I hold the door open as she exits. “Me? You just said you got on your knees for him, and he fucks your ass. I’m his business partner. I have plenty of self-respect. Maybe you should look in the mirror.”
I step away, and the elevator doors begin to close. Tiffany’s mouth is open, and she’s turning bright scarlet. After the elevator begins to move again, I look over at Greg. “Sorry about that.”
He smiles. “I think you handled that well. She wants him bad.”
“I know. Crazy isn’t it?” I sigh as the elevator arrives at Landon’s floor. “She’d wet her pants if she knew where he lived.”
“I’ll park the car and be back.”
“I don’t think I’m going to stay. It wouldn’t be right. I’ll unpack the groceries and put what needs to be kept cool in the fridge. Then I can grab a rideshare home.”
“The direction I was given from Jim was to stay with you. So, if you want to go back to your place on Nob Hill, I can do that.”
“Oh. Let me think while I unpack the groceries.”
“No problem.” Greg walks away.
I quickly put away the fish and vegetables, and I find a pitcher and put the flowers into some water.
There’s no sign of Landon or Greg.
Me: Hey, I’m thinking of heading home to work. What time do you want me back?
Landon: Please don’t go. I’m on my way there. Plus, you can’t work on your network.
Me: Be careful. Your crazy, redheaded girlfriend informed me that you like her BJs and are into anal, and I should have more self-respect.
Landon: She did what?
Me: I wasn’t very nice, so be aware. I told her to look in the mirror because I’m your business partner.
Landon:
