Page 30 of Misdirection

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

If anyone could come up with a plan, it was Duncan. The man was brilliant.

He’d started this company after developing a new email encryption service that had been sold to the government. Last Olive had heard, they were still using it.

The company had continued to grow and flourish under Duncan’s leadership.

Even though Duncan had hired her, that didn’t mean he was innocent. However, she had no idea what his motive might be. For most, it would be money. But Duncan was already filthy rich.

However, she had to keep an open mind.

Someone stood to gain a lot of money by selling this technology that could destroy so many lives if it got into the wrong hands.

This was the most high-stakes investigation Olive had ever been a part of. She was honored Rex thought she could handle it, especially considering the fact other agents had so much more experience than she did.

She shifted in her seat before leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “Duncan, is there any reason in particular you stopped by?”

His gaze met hers. “I know I hired you to find the mole. But I need you to be careful. You’re poking around, and I fear the person who killed Beau might target you next.”

CHAPTER 12

Olive’s thoughts continued to race after Duncan left. He’d stayed a few minutes longer—enough to express his concerns and make sure she was okay.

His visit left her feeling perplexed. She couldn’t believe he’d come all the way to her apartment just to warn her to be careful.

But he’d clearly thought this was important.

The man was obviously spooked and shaken. Did he know more than he let on?

Olive’s guess would be yes. He’d lied about not knowing why someone would target Beau. But why? Maybe he didn’t want to own up to what he knew and cause alarm.

Or maybe he’d come to her apartment to throw Olive off the trail.

Was Duncan suspicious of her?

She wasn’t sure.

One thing felt certain. He’d been one of her suspects when she started this assignment.

Now Olive was almost convinced he was innocent. His fear had been real. However, hehadjust lied to her.

This deal the CIA had caught wind of was supposed to go down in only a few days. She didn’t have much time.

Thankfully, she had a team behind her helping her to find answers.

She felt wide awake now. She’d never needed much sleep—four hours would usually satisfy her. She knew people said the human body needed more. But she did just fine operating on those four hours.

She sat on her couch and pulled out her laptop to see if there were any updates from the company.

There weren’t.

Others at Aegis were doing digital surveillance and monitoring. They were reviewing internal network logs to track who accessed sensitive files, setting up alerts for unusual data transfers or after-hours system access, monitoring company email patterns, especially communications with external domains.

They were also checking which employees frequently use VPNs or encryption tools, taking note of employees who lived beyond their means, and watching for people who routinely met off-site during work hours.

Another team was cross-referencing travel records with dates of known technology leaks, reviewing expense reports for unexplained meetings or purchases, checking badge access logs for unusual patterns, and examining which employees have requested access to certain restricted areas.

Olive’s job was to be in the thick of things. To get a feel for the employees. To keep an eye on them.

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