White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(33)

“Not really, but if one of them asks me out, maybe we can double with you and Nathan?”

“Just keep it in your khakis, Todd, and no one will get hurt.”

“How was lunch?”

“Well, other than telling Ashley my boyfriend’s name was Steve and he’s away at astronaut training, it was uneventful.”

He burst out laughing. “What the hell, Kate?”

“I know. It was the first name I thought of and it just tumbled out of my mouth. By the way, can you find out a few things about a guy she likes so I can help her?”

“Really? You’re asking me if I can find things out about someone?”

“How silly of me.” She tore a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote Tristan’s name on it. “He works in the marketing department. I need to know if he already has a girlfriend or if he’s just socially inept. Guys sometimes need a little nudge when it comes to making the first move.”

Ian seemed confused. “They do?”

“Well, not you. But others sometimes do.”

“You’re adorable when you play matchmaker.”

“These kids need some help. I’m convinced they’re star-crossed lovers who need to be together, but Ashley’s paralyzed by shyness and Tristan is completely oblivious.”

“I’m on it.” He folded the piece of paper and tucked it into his pocket. “C’mon. Let’s take a stroll.”



She had no idea where he was leading her until they reached the second floor. “I assumed you’d want to avoid the IT department?”

“I did at first, but now it’s time to start raising my visibility a bit.” They walked brazenly through the department as if they had no particular place to go, but no one gave them a second look. They walked by the server room, pausing when someone came out. Ian stared at the room through the open door and didn’t start walking again until it closed. Then he led her to the stairwell where they went up three flights to the fifth floor. He stopped in front of a door.

“Whose office is this?”

“The CEO’s. I just need a few pictures and we’ll be on our way.” He fished a small metal tool from his pocket, picked the lock, opened the door, and pulled her inside.

“Is that from your lockpicking kit? Let me see it.”

He handed it to her and then locked the door from the inside and started taking pictures with his phone.

“Kate, sit down in his chair.” She complied, back straight, hands folded and resting on the desktop.

“What are you going to do with the pictures?”

“Maybe I’ll make a slideshow montage. I’ll call it ‘look at all the places we broke into while you were gone.’”

“I’m sure he’ll love that. Let me take one of you.”

They swapped places and Ian turned on the CEO’s computer. “I’m going to hack into his computer first. Putting some sensitive information on the screen adds a certain flair to the picture.”

“Indeed it does.”

He finished typing thirty seconds later. “There. The salary breakdown of the entire IT department ought to do the trick.”

“Impressive.”

Ian shut down the computer and they were about to leave when someone knocked on the door. They froze. The doorknob rattled and Kate shot him a panicked look. He winked and held a finger to his lips.

After not speaking or moving for five minutes, Ian gave the all clear. “Let’s go,” he whispered.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kate arrived home before Ian. By the time he walked into the kitchen, she’d already poured a glass of wine and started dinner. He dropped a kiss onto her lips.

“What took you so long? I thought you were right behind me.”

“I stopped at a hardware store to buy supplies. During our server-room recon this afternoon, I noticed the door had a small gap underneath it. When the door opened, I also made note of the sensor on the wall inside the room, so I did a little snooping around before we left for the day.”

“As you do,” Kate said.

“Five years ago, a different company occupied the building and they used what’s now the server room for some kind of lab. It’s perfect, really. Secure. Contained. Except for the small gap between the floor and the bottom of the door they never bothered to close. As for the sensor on the wall, it’s heat activated. Say your hands were full of test tubes or some other lab-specific item and you didn’t want to put them down to swipe your badge. The heat from your body triggers the sensor and the door opens for you.”

“Have I ever told you how much your brain turns me on?”

“I thought it was my hair that did that?”

“Your hair is just the nice packaging. It’s what’s underneath that really gets me going. Nothing is hotter than smart, my friend.” She poured him a bourbon and they clinked their glasses.

“I don’t know if it still works. They could have easily disconnected the sensor. They should have disconnected it. Either that or sealed the gap under the door. At the very least they’re losing some of their cold air.”

Kate mulled it over for a minute. “So you’re going to trigger the heat sensor from the outside.”

“I could not be more proud of you right now.”