Page 50 of Death Wish

“I hope so. I don’t want to break into houses. If we’re discovered, they’ll know why we’re at DA.”

“Let us know if we can help.” Iona smiled. “We rock at B & E.”

Jesse chuckled.

“Come on,” Tegan said to Iona. “We’d better go so no one notices us leaving the house. Let us know if you need anything, Jesse.”

“Appreciate it.”

“Need help with the cleanup since Simone cooked?”

“I’ve got it.”

“Thanks again, Simone,” Iona said. “We owe you and Jesse breakfast.” She and Tegan left by the back door.

Simone rose. “Let’s clean the kitchen, then we’ll head out. We need to get to the cubicle farm to check for bugs and cameras before anyone else shows up and asks what we’re doing.”

They washed and dried the dishes before gathering their gear. Jesse stopped Simone before she stepped outside. “Wait here while I check the vehicle.”

Soon, he returned. “We’re clear.”

They drove to Dragon Alley without incident. From what Simone could see on the drive, no one paid attention to them. Just the way she liked it.

Inside the lobby of DA, she and Jesse signed in and rode the elevator to her floor. The cubicle farm was quiet. No one else had arrived yet. Perfect.

Jesse motioned for her to log in and start on her work while he used his electronic sniffer to hunt for any surprises.

His soft growl told her he’d discovered more unwanted electronics. Boy, looked like Dragon Alley was going to waste a lot of money on these little gadgets. Jesse dropped each one into a small bag, then rechecked for bugs or cameras. One more bug and a tiny camera later, he declared her workspace clean.

If the upper echelon had spent so much time trying to figure out what she was doing, Simone wondered if they were doing the same thing to Joy. She rose and hugged him. “Thanks. Do you have time to check Joy’s station, too?” she whispered.

“Sure.” He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth and straightened. “Take care today, baby. You’re drawing attention like you wanted.”

She grimaced. “I hope it’s the right kind. We’re running out of time.”

He rounded the edge of the cubicle wall and disappeared from sight. Two minutes later, Jesse returned, holding a small bag filled with black discs. “Tell Joy to watch her back.”

“I will. Thanks, Jesse.”

After another quick kiss, Jesse left the cubicle farm to dispose of the unwanted electronics.

Simone ran a diagnostic test on her computer and scowled at the results. Some yahoo had tried to hack into her computer and failed. Good to know her program worked. Ticked her off that someone was doing their best to spy on her, though.

She double checked the results and found them the same. Well, that meant she needed to add a couple of layers to her protection.

Simone glanced at the clock. She should have enough time to set up the extra protection before anyone arrived for work. Her colleagues had dragged in just before starting time yesterday and the day before.

She downloaded two more programs to beef up her security. No one to this point had broken through the firewalls. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be the first time that happened.

With that finished, she logged into her work email and culled through the assignments waiting for her. Her eyebrows rose. Nice. Definitely more her speed. This batch of assignments might keep her busy until lunch.

When Joy arrived at her station an hour later, Simone had already finished a quarter of her assignments for the day. These, however, were at least more interesting than some others. More in line with a programmer rather than grunt work.

Joy stored her stuff and walked into Simone’s space. “You’re here early again.”

“I was hoping for more interesting tasks today.”

“Did you get any?”

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