didn't know. But, I was a professional and I'd do what needed to be done. Besides, he hadn't given me a reason not to trust him.
“You said you had a security issue.” I pushed my chair to the edge of where I needed to be and hoped I didn't offend him. “But you didn't mention specifics.”
Rylan nodded and leaned closer to pull up a program on the center monitor. I managed not to flinch or pull away, then mentally scolded myself for being so jumpy. It wasn't like I hadn't worked with men before or even good-looking men. And while he was definitely hot, that wasn't the reason I felt more nervous than usual. Not that I knew what the real reason was.
“I didn't mention specifics,” Rylan said. “Because it's a security issue with a prototype of brand new software I'm beta testing on our servers.”
Oh. That made sense. No one in their right might would tell someone like me that their servers weren't secure. Even a company with a long-established reputation shouldn't be trusted with information like that. With a company like this, stolen information could be sold to the highest bidder for millions. Now I really understood why Rylan didn't plan to leave me here alone. This was practically the most vulnerable position a business like this could be in. In fact, that was usually why jobs like this were done from the inside.
“Why me?” I asked. “Why doesn't your security tech handle this himself? Or herself?”
A flash of anger went across Rylan's face. “He's no longer employed here.” The tone of his voice told me the matter wasn't going to be discussed any further. “So, what can you do to fix this?” He gestured toward the screen.
There was no attitude in his question, so I didn't snap off some smart-ass reply. Instead, I focused on the screen and let myself fall into the safety of ones and zeros, the cyber-world where I was in control and a single keystroke could change everything. That was one of the reasons I'd gone into a technological field. As an expert, I had power in a place where things were straightforward, even if I was using a backdoor. There were other reasons I'd chosen computers, but this wasn't the time or place to rehash any of them.
The program Rylan had opened was an impressive one. It was a multi-level operating system designed to exponentially increase speed and efficiency while offering a new, attractive appearance. Once all of the beta tests were done and this hit the market, it'd be huge.
If I could fix one, teeny-tiny, glaring error.
As I continued to read the code, I began to frown. Something wasn't right here.
“What is it?” Rylan asked. “You see something.”
I nodded. “I do.” I didn't expound, but kept reading instead. I half-expected him to interrupt and insist that I share, but he didn't. Instead, he let me keep going until I'd finished. Only then did I look away from the monitor and face Rylan.
“What did you see?” Rylan asked, almost holding his breath. This is the first time I saw a crack in his professional surface.
His face was carefully masked and I knew he was testing me.
“The security breach in the software was intentional.” I paused, and then made an intuitive guess. “Which is why your security tech got fired.” I glanced at the monitor nearest me again. “Do you know who he sold the information to?”
“No one,” Rylan admitted.
I was surprised. I hadn't expected him to admit the breach. I thought he'd just brush aside the question and move on.
“The day we installed the software to start beta testing, one of my other security personnel found an incriminating note that made me check the program. My former employee didn't have any time to let his contact know he'd opened a window for them. We had him arrested and a friend at the police station promised to keep him away from a phone for twenty-four hours.”
“Which is why you needed me to come in right away,” I connected the dots. “You need me to fix the problem before this guy calls his contact and lets them know it's open season on Archer Enterprises.”
Rylan nodded. “Exactly.”
“Question. Why don't you just uninstall the software?”
He grimaced. “It's not that easy. It'd take a complete system wipe and reboot. And while the old software was re-installing...”
“You'd be vulnerable,” I finished. A question popped into my head, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea for