Wired (Buchanan-Renard #13)(73)

Liam nodded. As soon as Phillips went into his office, Liam walked by her side to her office.

“Does Phillips live here?” she asked.

He laughed. “No, he lives with his wife.”

“He’s married?” She sounded shocked.

“Yes, he is.”

“Who would marry that man? He’s a classic type A personality, and he’s obsessive-compulsive. He’s—” She suddenly stopped. Wait a minute. She had just described herself.

“I’ve met her. She’s nice.”

“Who?”

Exasperated, he said, “Phillips’s wife. They’ve been married a long time.”

“I know why their marriage works. He’s never home.”

He pulled the chair out for her, and as he turned to leave, she said, “I heard Phillips tell you someone is coming in. Who is it? Is it Bale?”

He didn’t answer her. He simply walked away.

“You’re becoming as rude as Phillips,” she called after him.

He obviously didn’t understand she was trying to be insulting or he wouldn’t have laughed.

The little glitch turned out to be a whopper, and it took her the entire day to straighten it out. She also found and removed two bugs. Her hope of spending a relaxing weekend on Nathan’s Bay had been crushed. Maybe another time, she thought, trying to stay optimistic.

She closed down her station and headed toward Phillips’s office. She didn’t have any idea when she’d be able to leave. She knew he would want her to explain what she’d found in the London office. With an ordinary person that might take twenty minutes, but with Phillips it could take half the night.

She had just rounded the corner in the hallway when she came face-to-face with Curtis Bale. He looked surprised; then his expression quickly turned to anger. Allison tried to maneuver around him, but he blocked her path.

“I know what you did,” he said, sneering.

Allison was shocked at first and then took offense to his accusatory tone. “Tell me. What did I do?”

“You made yourself look good. You couldn’t find what Scott and Phillips wanted, so you manufactured it. I had nothing to do with those leaks, and yet you did whatever it took to make me and my department look bad. Tell me, Miss Trent, was this all just a game to you, or did you deliberately set out to destroy me?”

“I don’t even know you, Mr. Bale. Why would I do that?”

“Don’t play innocent with me. Are you aware of how many lives you’ve ruined?”

He was becoming more agitated, and Allison could see there was no reasoning with the man. She took a quick step to the side and passed him. As she walked away, he shouted after her, “Gloat while you can. This isn’t over.”

Her heart was still pounding from her encounter with Bale when she reached Phillips’s office and found it empty. She looked up and down the hall, and there was no sign of him or Liam. Checking the time, she realized it was already night. She needed to calm down, and because she hadn’t had anything to eat since the disgusting granola bar that morning, she took the steps to the cafeteria. Even though it was Saturday, she knew it would be stocked with meals for the weekend techs. The dining room was empty except for a table of four men, who were having an animated discussion as they munched on their sandwiches and chips. They stopped talking and turned in her direction when she walked in. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she smiled as she passed their table and walked over to the refrigerated case. She took out a salad with chicken. When she turned around and started for an empty table, one of the men waved to her.

“Come join us,” he called. He stood and pulled up another chair to the table as the other men scooted theirs aside to make room. Once she was seated, he introduced himself. “I’m Sean,” he said, and extended his hand. He pointed to each of the others, saying, “And this is Jeff, Paul, and Andy.”

They greeted her with smiles, and then Andy said, “We’ve seen you around. You must be doing something pretty important to have that office all to yourself.”

Allison’s answer was deliberately vague. “I’ve been given specific assignments. I’m under contract for only a few months.”

Paul spoke up. “I’ll bet they’re complicated assignments. I was in the security room when you came in and found that breach a couple of months ago. I have to tell you, I’ve never seen anybody get to a source that fast, especially one that intricate. You were amazing.”

Embarrassed by his comment, she said, “I had seen something very similar before, so I just used what I knew.”

“Still, that was mighty impressive work,” Paul said.

“Where did you go to school?” Andy asked.

“I just graduated from Boston College,” she answered. When she told them she had lived in the Boston area her whole life, the conversation turned to more personal topics, everything from which restaurant served the best chowder to who was their favorite Red Sox player. At one point Sean pulled out his wallet and showed her a picture of his one-year-old son dressed in an infant Red Sox uniform.

“I’m definitely going to miss Boston,” she admitted.

“Where are you going?” Jeff wondered.

“I plan to move to California when my contract is up,” she answered. “I’d like to start my own software company.”