Page 21 of Líadan's Code

“I’ll let the tech guy explain what he found. I’m not the best when it comes to this shit,” Seán mutters. “I have all the family businesses properly monitored with cameras and…”

“Firewalls, Sir,” the man says softly.

“Yes! That shit,” Seán says with a nod. “Attacks from our enemies can come from anywhere. There’s a lot of digital information everywhere. We need to protect ourselves.”

He’s always believed that people were out to get him, but in the last year it’s gotten worse.

“And we are,” the man in front of us says.

“Who are you?” I ask, crossing my arms across my chest. The man pales, but I don’t care. I’m scary, it’s part of my damn charm.

“I’m Skyler O’Brien,” he says meekly. “I do all of the communication media protection. Mainly, I watch for any hint of people attempting to hack into our networks.”

“He’s worth his weight in gold!” Seán crows. Instead of blushing with the praise, Skyler attempts to make himself smaller.

He’s smart, because no one is exempt from the boss’ anger if someone fucks up. Better to be ignored.

“Ah, well,” Skyler mutters. “There was some activity on our servers yesterday, so I looked into it. Someone was sitting at the O’Malley bar hacking into our camera system. We caught him though.”

“Well, what was he doing?” I ask, confused. “Did he not know whose bar it was?”

“His niece sang two nights ago at the bar during open mic night,” Seán grunts, jerking his head at Skyler to pull something up. “She’s a damn songbird. She’d sell very well at an auction.”

Swallowing hard as I keep my face impassive, I lean forward to watch the video Skyler has for me. The woman with blonde hair is on the shorter side, and singing her heart out.

At one point, Mila who is the coordinator for these open mic nights and related in some way to Seán, comes over to whisper in her ear. The woman pales before rallying, and I wonder what she said.

“What happened there?” I ask, pointing at the camera. Thankfully, Seán has the footage memorized and knows what I’m talking about without looking.

“There was an issue and Mila and her brothers exterminated it,” Seán says smugly. “They needed to make sure they’d have the time to be able to drag his ass out to clean up their mess. Unfortunately, this chit found herself slightly involved while it happened.”

“Okay…” I drawl, knowing my boss doesn’t like to leave loose ends alive. It would be a shame if he killed her, the girl can really sing. “So what are we doing with her?”

“Not her, her uncle,” Seán says, a gleam in his eye. “He’s the one who was tinkering around in our computer networks, searching for God knows what. He was real smooth too, Skyler says. Almost didn’t catch him.”

“But I did,” he insists before pressing his lips together.

Did Seán call me in to kill the nerd?

“Yes, yes,” my boss says, waving a hand. “I had him brought in because I’m curious about the man who risked himself to make sure his niece would be safe. He won’t succeed, I’ll still find a way to get my hands on her, but I want him to shore up my intellectual defenses.”

I don’t understand, so I blink in confusion.

“He wants him to help hack into our enemies’ computers and networks,” Skyler explains. “I’m good, but this guy works in a way I’ve never seen before. The only reason I caught him is because he tripped a silent alarm in the system. He’s fucking ballsy, too. Ordered a drink, opened his computer, and started working.”

“Not only that, as you know, we had to kill Kellen, because he was stealing money from me. He was our money laundering man, but I don’t trust anyone to do it now,” Seán grumbles.

“Huh. So he’s in Chicago now?” I ask. “What are my orders?”

“He’s a valued guest for the foreseeable future,” Seán grunts. “Rough him up a bit, make him see the error of his ways, but don’t fuck up his hands. I want him to know where he stands. I want him to overhaul our security systems and then hack into our enemies networks along with money laundering for me. Things have been too damn quiet and we are getting closer to Líadan’s debut to the family as my heir. I need to know if anyone is planning to fuck something up.”

Skyler ’s eyes get large, and I can tell he’s worried about his continued health. He hasn’t fucked up, so I think he’s fine.

“Good work, Skyler. Keep it up. Jordan isn’t taking over your job, so rest assured. I need someone to work for me that I can trust and isn’t being tortured into doing it,” Seán says. “Say hello to your mother for me. You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you, Sir,” he whispers, closing up his laptop and scurrying off.

“I think he may have wet himself,” I say with a small chuckle. “Is there anything else you want me to do with this Jordan fellow?”

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