Andi wanted to say a few distasteful words she’d heard from construction crews but bit her lip instead. After the guys had gone up, she’d climbed into an air plenum, looking for her grandfather’s hidden prize. The air plenum had been secured with screws, which she’d heartily dismantled to allow herself entry. Then she’d heard a slow scraping followed by a heavy thud. At the time, intent on her search, she’d thought nothing of it. But later, when she’d tried to back out of the space, it suddenly dawned on her. Something had fallen—probably sheetrock—blocking her escape.
After several unsuccessful attempts at pushing away the object that held her captive, she gave up. If they found her—no, when they found her—she’d never live this down.
Though embarrassment crashed against her, there was no way around it—she’d have to call for help.
Andi yelled, feeling as though her cries didn’t go much beyond the walls imprisoning her. Unfortunately, the only chance she had of being heard would be if someone were in the equipment building capsule.
“Oh no.” Andi pressed her forehead against the wall. She’d missed picking up Elisa. Hope lay in that disruption—that is, if Elisa cared that Andi hadn’t shown up to get her.
Andi wished she could at least sit or lie down. Even though it was an air plenum, the space was too small for her to do much but stand. The air became stuffy, her body sticky with sweat. She didn’t want to stay here all night.
After minutes ticked into an hour, her humiliation gave way to panic.
A nervous laugh escaped, precluding a whimper. She thought of Vance’s reaction if he were stuck in this small space. But she couldn’t imagine him wedging himself into such a precarious position.
“Andi…Andi?” Vance’s voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
“In here! Vance, I’m in here!”
A few seconds later, she heard Vance groan, then heave. Again, then several times more she heard his efforts accompanied with panting. Andi pushed the wall plate she’d dismantled as relief flowed through her. The plate gave way. Vance’s face appeared in her line of vision, as he tugged the wall out of her path.
She smiled, defying the torrent of embarrassment and relief entwining her, and stepped out of the compartment. “Oh, thank—” Shaky legs gave way as her knees buckled under her.
“Andi!” Vance swept her against him, steadying her. “Are you all right?” His words were breathy, laced with concern.
She allowed herself a moment, relishing his embrace. All comfort and strength, his heart beat rapidly. He felt so good.
Breathing a sigh, she became aware she’d stayed too long and stepped free.
“Yes, I think so.” She stood as tall as she could and faced her humiliation. She’d shown herself weak, practically collapsing into his arms. What sort of ninny was she?
“Looks like all that sheetrock fell over and wedged you into that space.” Vance peered into where she’d been trapped. “What on earth were you doing in there?”
This was the part where Andi should tell him she was searching for something her grandfather supposedly hid. But sharing that information on the heels of what just happened might give Vance all the reason he needed to shut her down, keeping her from searching.
“Well, what do you think? I need to know what is behind every cavity, every nook and cranny, every hidden space in order to make this an efficient living area.” There. Her answer had been confident because it was true. Under most circumstances. She stared back, looking into his searching gaze, glad he knew nothing about construction.
Or did he?
He smiled, but wariness lurked in his eyes. “I’m just glad you’re all right. But let your crew do that sort of thing for you next time, will you?”
Funny. He hadn’t made her feel like an idiot for getting stuck. On the contrary, he appeared concerned. Very concerned. And she’d worked hard this past week to avoid him and his God talk. Now she wondered why. Being with him made her feel good inside. Though he was brilliant, he never made her feel ignorant, or less than him. Never spoke to her in a condescending way.
Holding out his hand, he said, “If you’re ready, I’ll escort you up top.”
She laughed as she took it. “Is that to make sure I leave?”
His gaze lingered before he replied. “I never like to see you leave.”
What did he mean?
“Well, if you don’t mind, I want to use your restroom and wash my hands. I feel grimy. Oh, and I need to call Elisa.”
“You can thank her. She called to say she’d found a way home, but she wasn’t happy that you weren’t there to pick her up.”
“And that’s when you became concerned?”
Vance nodded.
Andi’s heart warmed. She realized they were still holding hands.
“So you found her!” Karl and Lars stepped into the room, beaming with relieved smiles. Their gaze flitted to Andi and Vance, holding hands. She quickly released his, but not fast enough.
Lars chuckled. “Well, looks like everything is under control down here. We’d better head home.”
After Andi refreshed herself she headed up top, leaving Vance to his computer. From there, she called Elisa.
She got no answer and huffed. Climbing into her truck, she noticed Vance standing there, watching. “Are you checking on me again?”
“I thought I might.”
How she loved his Texas accent and wished she had an excuse to stay longer. But Elisa was waiting.
Once at home, Andi walked into the house. “Elisa?”
A quiet and empty house greeted her.
How had Andi gotten herself into that predicament? Though relieved, Vance remained concerned for her well-being as she continued work on the missile site. But then, was there any line of work that was safe? As his thoughts returned to his own problems, he recognized that he was putting himself into a precarious position, too.
Vance munched on a bag of sour cream potato chips, then washed them down with a cola. He’d remotely searched the ANND Systems computers for all versions of his algorithm, finding nothing out of the ordinary. The one thing he had going for him was that he’d known Peter a very long time. That was to his partner’s disadvantage. No wonder he’d wanted Vance away. Vance guessed that Peter was running a parallel system, within the mainframe—a system that Vance wouldn’t know to look for unless, of course, he had a reason.
Should he do it, or should he not? The moral dilemma of the day.
He crumpled the empty bag of potato chips and shot for the garbage can across the room. Missed. His aim was lousy these days, in more ways than one. He’d created the new program, now what did he do with it?
Stellar.
Vance had always prided himself on seeing things as either black or white. Something was either right or it was wrong. But he’d entered a situation—partly of his own making—in which things were blurred, morphing into a dull gray. If a parallel system were running a rogue version of Vance’s algorithm, then he had to know about it, he had to stop it. There was only one way to find out and that was by logging on to Peter’s account. If said system existed, then Peter was certainly in on it. Vance should have done this to begin with. But he’d put it off, not wanting to face reality.
But D-day was upon him. With a heavy heart Vance released a long, slow breath.
Several weeks ago while in Peter’s office, Vance had noticed Peter’s last password. It had been written on a Post-it note and stuck on the inside edge of the desk. Vance hadn’t intended to see it, but he couldn’t miss it, and once he’d seen, it was forever written in his memory. The guy had changed it by now—but it told Vance everything he needed to know. If he’d learned anything about his former college roommate, he knew how he selected passwords. The sticky pad told Vance he hadn’t changed his method.
Peter used acronyms based on activities he enjoyed. That, plus four numbers tacked on the end. They were always the same four numbers—5624. That was the problem with passwords. They had to be something a person could remember, so switching the numbers around made no sense. But add them to a new word and you had a strong password. At least against cyber attacks.
Vance made a list of Peter’s activities and from those created acronyms, then tagged Peter’s four numbers at the end. Like any fail-safe system, ANND allowed three attempts. Satisfied that he’d included as many acronyms as possible, Vance sat back and closed his eyes, relaxing. He wanted to pray for God’s help, but he didn’t feel right about asking God in on his somewhat uncouth activity. That thought alone should tell him to stop.
Vance pulled up the login for ANND Systems and with nervous fingers entered in his first attempt.
Unsuccessful.
A rush of moisture slammed his palms.
He entered the second password.
Unsuccessful.
Heart pounding, he slumped against the sofa back. He wasn’t wired for covert activities.
Closing his eyes, he remembered his last conversation with Peter in the boardroom, with Carolyn hanging close to Peter, practically clinging to him. Peter had dated several women in the office—ANND had no policy against interoffice romance, resulting in at least two married couples. Carolyn was his latest. No one seemed concerned about harassment. Natasha, Sybil, Angela, Vespa, and Carolyn. NSAVC. Vance sat up. Could that be it?
He wondered, though, if Carolyn’s initial should be included or not. The guess was as good as any. He typed in NSAVC5624. Almost too many letters. He swallowed and, despite his hesitation, sent up a silent prayer, then pressed the login button.
Welcome, Peter Lundgren.
“Yes.” Vance pumped his arm.
Because he was after only one thing, he avoided looking at anything else on Peter’s account. He scrolled through files to systems manager and opened it. Two systems appeared. Vance opened the one he’d been unaware of, searching for his algorithm.
There. A sick feeling hit the middle of his stomach. He ignored it, putting his mind to quickly creating a new username and password that would give him access to the parallel system. He then logged out of Peter’s account. The less time he spent on Peter’s account the less likely someone would notice the unauthorized access.
Using his newly created account, Vance logged in again. What he was about to do would eventually be discovered. He hoped his plan worked.
The phone rang. Vance kept his eyes on the screen while the program loaded, watching for any glitches. “Vance here.”
“It’s Andi.”
The nervous edge in her voice put Vance on alert. “What is it?”
“Elisa’s gone.”