Page 15 of Mountain Security

Alex

The last few days had given Alex the chance to confirm several things. Top on the list was the fact that he much preferred his real job over this pretend consultant role.

He was drinking so much coffee, eating so many rich meals, and moving so little during the day, he was having to run twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, to make up for it.

Otherwise, he’d be fat as an old hamster by the time he got back to the team.

Thinking of the team made him feel homesick. He missed them. He still saw two of them, Ry and Hugo, at home every day, but it wasn’t the same thing. He missed going out with them on missions. He missed feeling that he was helping people.

He wasn’t sure he was helping, here.

It’d taken him less than a day to install the cameras. He’d also put in a few checks in place to make sure he was alerted if anybody tried to access information from the network, and he’d run checks for ransomware, spyware, rootkits … you name it, he’d looked for it, but he hadn’t found anything.

All they could do was wait for whoever had put those keyloggers there to come back for them.

Yvette had introduced him to the team as a consultant, and as her boyfriend, even though he could see it’d rankled her to do so. From the team’s shocked expressions, it was clear this had never happened before. Either she hadn’t had a serious boyfriend before—doubtful, given how beautiful she was—or, more likely, she’d always kept her relationships separate from the team.

She could see how much they all trusted and respected her. In fact, that was one of the things he’d enjoyed the most over the last few days—watching her work, and watching her interact with her team. She reminded him a little of Beau—though she was better looking. Like Beau, Yvette was the kind of boss who expected a lot from her team, but who also worked harder than any of them.

He’d seen the patient way in which she spoke with the two interns. Jenny, an American young woman, and Tom, a Belgian young man, both looked at Yvette with hero worship in their eyes. Even Celine, the older lady in charge of Protocol, seemed to ask for Yvette’s opinion all the time.

“I’m going out to get a sandwich. Would anybody like anything?” Théo Lambert said. Though older than Yvette by at least a decade, the communications expert seemed happy to defer to Yvette when it came to important matters.

The last member of their team was a young woman who held the role of Communications Business Partner, who reported directly to Théo. As far as Alex could tell, the poor young woman spent most of her time on the phone, talking to journalists.

“No. Thank you, Théo,” Alex said. “Yvette and I are going to have lunch in the park.”

“In the park?” Celine asked, her high-pitched voice even higher than usual. “That’s so romantic!” Though older than anybody else in the office, the woman wore her heart on her sleeve.

Yvette looked up from where she was sitting.

“The park,” she said, like he’d suggested bathing naked in an aquarium full of piranhas. He smiled. He was liking the idea more and more.

Several minutes later, he saw her open one of the drawers beside her desk. She brought out a pair of trainers, and quickly changed into them, sticking her high heels back in the drawer.

“What?” she asked, arching her eyebrow. “I’m not about to ruin my heels.”

Alex laughed. “Come on. We’re just going to the park opposite the office. I’m not taking you camping.”

He led her across the road, holding on to her elbow. “Relax,” he whispered. “Try to look like you want to be out here with me.”

She made a small sound in her throat, but allowed her body to relax against his side. He held on to her, arguably for show, but also because it felt so damn good to touch her.

He passed the park entrance and kept walking. “I thought we were going to the park.”

“We are, but first we need to get some lunch,” he said, pointing to the food truck at the end of the street. “Come on. We’re lucky. There’s no queue.”

She blinked, looking at him, then at the gray, laden sky, as if he were crazy.

“I wonder why,” she muttered, but he could see the small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“What would you like? It’s my treat,” he said grandly.

Yvette focused on the menu printed on the white wall. “I’ll have the falafel sandwich, please.”

He ordered two, and some french fries, and together they headed into the park with their paper bags.

Yvette took a healthy bite of her sandwich. Her eyes closed for a moment. “This is amazing. I can’t believe I never knew about this.”

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