Chapter 9

The four of us trooped out of the building to the company car. We ended up at a local steak house where we met Myron and Christine Thomas, another lawyer at the firm that we had on retainer. The six of us sat down at a round table, Maureen on one side of me, Christine on the other. Christine was quite attractive if you could get past the severe makeup, hairdo and generally unflattering clothing and glasses she wore. She stood about five foot six with her heels on and I gauged them at two inches.

However, there was no question that she had a sharp mind. We sat down and ordered lunch and Myron started discussing the issues with HR. We tossed the subject back and forth for a while. I stayed on the periphery of the discussion. I added my two cents when it was asked for and helped out with some technical points, but generally I let the lawyers lawyer and be directed by the CEO.

For his part, Craig did not let on that I was even following the complexities of the conversation. Patricia smiled my way on occasion and was generally looking better than she had and Maureen was playing footsie with me which kept me entertained throughout the meeting meal. I enjoyed my steak and wine and played my part. In the end, the company picked up the tab.

After lunch, Christine was to come back and work with Maureen on some issues so it was very cozy on the ride back to the office. Christine was smaller than either Maureen or I, so she wound up sandwiched between us while Patricia sat next to Craig. We were dropped at the front of the building. Craig had decided to take the rest of the day off and Patricia had decided to join him. While everyone was extracting themselves from the car Craig pulled me aside.

"Thank you again for all your help today, Gary. I cannot imagine it has been an easy day for you or the IT staff. Please let them know I appreciate all their hard work."

"That is what you pay us for Craig. But on a personal note, no one is going to steamroll Patricia, we both know that." He smiled and shook my hand. I waved to Patricia and went inside to where Maureen and Christine were waiting.

"We still have things to cover, Gary," Maureen said to me as I walked up to her and Christine.

"More than a few things," I said in agreement. "As well as a few things to uncover," I followed with a straight face. She looked at me a minute then smiled.

"You are a dangerous man. I am going to have to remember that."

"What are you talking about?" Christine was not following the thread of our conversation at all.

"My office was vandalized last night so I need to go and uncover the floor and the various other horizontal surfaces so I can actually do some work," I said with a smile. Maureen just linked her arm in mine and directed us to the elevator, pulling Christine along in our wake.

"Come up when you have found your floor all right Gary?" Maureen asked. "We still need to nail down your new office."

"I think I will wait until the HR problems are resolved before I start packing," I said in reply as we reached my floor. "Have a good afternoon ladies," I said stepping off and heading for my office.

I arrived to a closed door with crime scene tape on it. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?" I asked to no one in particular. Luci came around the corner as I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

"No, no joke," she said, reaching around me to hug me. I looped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her back.

"I've missed you today," she said quietly.

"I know," I replied. "It has been a very different sort of day and it isn't even close to being over yet."

She hugged me again. "Jerry wants to see you, Louise is looking for you, Janice needs to talk to you and Mike wants to see you. Not in that order. Also, Jason needs a few minutes of your time. Sir." The last added with a crooked smile.

"Are you applying for the position of assistant?" I asked swinging her into my arms.

"I prefer the title Office Bimbo," she replied, trying to be vapid.

"Won't happen, you have too much in here," I said tapping her head and then kissing it. "Come on, let's go see Janice. Maybe she can find you something to do." We walked down the hall to Janice's office.

"You wished to converse, oh maven of the applications?" I asked, as I stuck my head into Janice's office.

"You are a nut case, you know that Gary?" she said.

"Well, I have been accused of being nutty once or twice," that got me a pinch from Luci.

"Oh, can I have a go," Janice said.

"Of course," Luci said stepping back and motioning for Janice to take her place.

"Hey, don't I get a say?" I asked.

"No," the ladies said in unison and then started laughing.

"Luci, I need to molest Gary for a few minutes, please," Janice said as the laughter died down. She stood up and walked around her desk. "Don't worry, I won't bite," whether she said that to me or Luci, I don't know but Luci started laughing again.

"I don't know about that," I replied. Luci smiled and headed out as Janice closed the door behind her. Janice turned and looked at me for a moment.

"If you are going to molest me," I said, "now is a good time. The door is closed and I cannot get away." She walked up to me and put her arms around me and looked up at me.

"You know, Gary. Half the women in this company want you as a lover. The other half are gay. And three want to see you ruined," she said.

"Ah. And you are one of the three? So, that means I only have to find one more?" I replied putting my arms around her.

"One more?" her eyes took on a shocked look. "No, I am not one of the ones who what to see you ruined. I was sort of kidding about that, but I don't think you are."

"No, and it is a very long story Janice darling."

"How long have we known each other Gary?" she asked.

"Beats me, I can't count that high." I replied stroking her back.

"Kiss me, Gary. Kiss me like you used to," she pleaded. Who was I to turn down a request from a pretty lady? Our lips met and we kissed, our tongues gliding across each other like the old friends they where. Janice sighed deep inside and pulled herself tighter against me. I stroked her hair and back. It was not a long kiss, but it was satisfying.

"Are you taking care of Luci?" she asked me when we broke the kiss.

"Yes." I replied. "Fay has made her one of the family."

"That's good," she said wistfully. Fay did not like Janice. I do not know why and I was not going to reopen a closed subject. Janice and I had been friends for too long though for me to simply cut her off. So when she said she was looking for work, I put in a good word for her. She was a skilled technician and manager and we agreed to hide anything else.

"I'm sorry, Gary," she said, "it has been a very stressful couple of days and I needed..."

"Shh," I hushed her and held her against me. "I know. It has been tough on all of us." I kissed the top of her head.

"Now, do you need me for anything else?" I asked gently.

"Well, I really could use a good fucking, but I suspect you have a backlog of people wanting your body, so I will wait until things are quieter and settle for another kiss and send you on your way. Mike has every device we could find, about 30 in all," she said and then kissed me again.

"At about $80 a piece, that is a fair chunk of change," I said later. "I will see Mike after I see Jason. You take care of yourself, OK? And my door is always open for you."

"Thank you," she said giving me another hug and letting me go. "Off with you now, back to work."

"Ay, Captain," I said and saluted and let myself out of the office and down to Jason's.

"Jason, you needed to see me?" I asked as I walked into his office. Alex was fielding a call.

"I am getting static from Accounting," he said looking exasperated. "They cannot understand why they cannot get in to do their work and why all their passwords have been changed."

"Etcetera, ad nauseam," I replied. "I understand. I have to go and see Jerry and then I will try and see Bob on my way to see a dozen other people. At this point in time, tell them it is for their own good, otherwise they would be out of work." I shrugged.

"Yeah, like that's going to work. Thanks," he said as he returned to his screen and I headed over to Jerry's office.

"You wanted a pound of flesh?" I asked as I stuck my head into Jerry's office. Bob was already there. Well, this would work.

"Come in Gary, I have been briefing Bob," he said.

"Jason was telling me he is getting some static," I said.

Bob actually looked chagrined. "Sorry about that. Some of our less sophisticated users are not happy."

"Better not happy than the alternative at this point in time," I replied.

"I agree," Bob said nodding his head.

"Where are we at Gary?" Jerry asked me.

"Well, Janice says the sweep is done, and Mike has custody of 30 odd devices. I seem to have lost access to my office and the toys there too. Good thing my laptop is in with Luci and Nikki. Half of 15 wants 10 minutes of my time and security is demanding some as well. I think that's it. Oh, and I believe HR would rather put a dagger in my back then see me promoted."

"That is a bit dramatic, don't you thing?" Bob asked, not knowing the whole story. I just shrugged. I did not want to get into a contest with him at the moment, I had enough to do.

"Anything else Jerry? Mike is holding the ball."

"No, go, keep me posted. Have you seen Patricia this afternoon?"

"Yes, she and Craig are taking the afternoon off," I left it at that.

"OK, that explains why I can't find her." He turned back to Bob and I headed for Mike's office at the other end of the floor.

Like IT, Security was behind a locked door. I rang the bell and waited. A few seconds later, the door buzzed and I pulled it open and walked into an outer office.

"Hello Linda!" I said. Linda Weston was Mike's able assistant and a real crack investigator.

"Hello yourself. What brings you back to the dark side of the building?"

"You want the whole list?" I asked with a grin. I suspect she knew exactly what was going on.

"No, I have it here," she said tapping the side of her head. "Mike!?" Her voice was almost as strong as mine.

Mike walked around a corner and saw me standing there. "Gary! Thanks for coming by," he said directing me back and around some corners to his lab area, which was basically an office without windows.

"What can I do for you, Mike?" I asked.

"Well, to start, what the heck are these things?" he asked picking up a slightly dusty connector.

"They are a little microchip designed to capture the electronic pulses of a keyboard. Essentially anything that is typed on the keyboard is recorded in the device and you can then "replay" it later.

"Like what?" he asked. I suspect he was playing dumb.

"Like your user name and password," I replied.

"That is what I thought. Do you know how to retrieve it?"

"I think so. Is that one ready for inspection?"

"The police dusted it and the others after they finished with your office, which by the way is off-limits for the next week. Sorry."

"I will let you tell Craig that. I had an experiment running in there and if I cannot get in, then I can't finish it."

"It's in the report."

I took the key catcher from him and hooked it up to the PC he had in the lab. It did not take much to get it to reveal its secrets. This particular one had come from Bob's PC and it had his user ID, password and other good stuff. Most of it pretty tame, but if you could get into his account with it, it would not matter much beyond that. Mike looked at me.

"It is enough for a warrant if you have a fingerprint match," I said unplugging it and tossing it back to him. "Anything else?"

"No, I think that is enough. I will walk you out," he said.

I said good-bye to Linda and headed for the elevators. Nikki was coming the other way and smiled at me as she approached.