Page 37 of Death Wish

“Simone, how are you?”

“I’m fine. Jesse made sure of it.”

“That’s what he’s being paid to do. How’s the work?”

“Boring as dirt. I finished everything they gave me yesterday and today, and asked for more. They obliged. I think this is the only way to get the attention of the special projects supervisor. I’m pretty sure a person who works in that division will have the skills to create the program. No one in the cubicle farm has the skills necessary.”

“You do.”

“Maybe.” Probably. She’d see if they offered her a job in that division. If not, she’d have to convince Jesse to come in to work overnight when things were quiet so she could poke around in the computers in that division.

But would the programmer they wanted work on the specialized program on his work computer? If so, he figured out a way to keep the program from being detected by Zane which was quite a feat. She needed to get into the special projects area. Perhaps each worker had a dedicated computer without Internet access for programs such as the one they were hunting for.

“Anything I can help you with, Simone?”

“Not yet. I may have to ask for an assist later, though.”

“Anytime. Watch yourself at DA. They’re well known for having a back door to their employee computers.”

“I’ve already installed a program to prevent them from tracking my keyboard work.”

“Not enough. Find the back door and close it, Simone. Installing the program will only pique their curiosity.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Jesse, anything else I can do to help?”

He glanced at Simone, then said, “A background check on Mateo Ortega, a Sayulita police officer. He’s showing interest in our friend, Joy Walters.”

“You got it. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Later.” Zane ended the call.

“You’re checking out Ortega.” Simone smiled. “Worried about the cute cop?”

Jesse’s head whipped toward her. “Cute? You think Ortega is cute?”

“Well, sure. He’s not in your class, but he’s attractive enough. I think he’ll be perfect for Joy. He seems to be a good man.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

She squeezed his forearm. “Thanks for asking Z to check Mateo’s background. I’ll feel better about his interest in Joy if you clear him.”

“Pretty fast work on the cop’s part,” he said.

Jesse drove them toward the safe house along a circuitous route, frequently checking mirrors, and making sudden turns to see if someone was tailing them.

Although Simone was no expert in the art of following a suspect, she didn’t see anyone tailing them all over the countryside.

Finally, they arrived in the neighborhood of the safe house. Instead of pulling into the driveway, though, Jesse circled the area twice. “I think we’re clear.” On the next pass, he parked at the back of the house. “Stay here while I check inside.” He exited the vehicle and disappeared inside the house.

Simone scanned the area, looking for anything that didn’t fit or pinged on her trouble radar. Everything looked the same as it did when they left for work this morning. Hopefully, no one had invaded the house in their absence. Someone from the Artemis team should have noticed if someone was nosing around their place and either intervened or notified Jesse of the breach in security. As far as she knew, the women hadn’t been in contact with Jesse.

The medic returned and opened her door to help her to the ground. “We’re clear. No bugs or cameras added in our absence.”

They entered the house together, and Jesse locked the door behind him. “Since Zane is checking out the cop, what do you want to work on tonight?”

“Deeper background search of the people in the special projects division. What about you? What are you going to work on?”

“Finding your ex-boyfriend.”

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