Page 25 of How to Get Even

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Bella

Is it illegal to use computer password spyware and where might one get hold of it?

Sienna

Why do you need it?

Bella

The less I say the better.

Every single part of Bella ached. It had been two days and she still hadn’t recovered from her run in Central Park on Saturday. Which was why she’d decided that no matter what the time was she was wholly justified in eating the red velvet cake she’d bought from the bakery that offered gorgeous cakes but disgusting coffee.

As she swallowed the sweet deliciousness, she glared at Chase as he walked from his office to the kitchenette. He’dknownabout the diversion and had specifically decided not to tell her about it.

What wasn’t his fault was the alcohol-fuelled headache she’d incurred while helping Astrid pick out the most suitable clothing to seduce Aiden Carter with. But as it was her muscles that hurt the most, from visiting four of the galleries she’d identified as Nayak’s closest competition for research purposesafterthe unnecessarily long run she’d taken, Bella had absolutely no qualms about holding Chase wholly responsible for her agonies.

‘You’re growling,’ Maurice observed.

‘I am not,’ Bella flatly denied.

‘Well, youwere. It’s only 10a.m. on a Monday morning. Who put sand in your panties?’

‘No one,’ she said, shooting another glare at Chase as returned to his office.

She’d arrived early, in the hope to snoop around a bit, but Chase was already here. And because she’d already looked over the briefing document for her meeting with Magenta later that afternoonandprepared for the meeting with Maurice to discuss the plans for Nayak’s quarterly magazine later that morning, she had turned her attention to the gallery’s computer files, hoping that somewhere someone had documented each user’s passwords.

Of course, ifshe’dbeen office manager, she would have put everyone’s passwords somewhere safe, but easy to hand in case someone was taken ill, or was out of reach and the team needed access to information in their emails.

Bella assumed that if therewasa list of passwords, it would have been given to Ali, as gallery assistant. And having read through the pack Ali put together for her, and been pleasantly surprised by the level of information and organisation, Bella knew it wouldn’t simply be in a folder markedpasswords.

She flicked from one folder to another, in the admin folder. Contact lists, addresses, copies of identification.

‘If you’re not in the middle of something, we could meet now?’ Maurice asked, peering over the top of his computer at her.

Bella bit her lip. It was quite clear by her demeanour that shewasin the middle of something – something that Good Bella would never be caught doing in a million years.

‘Not at all, Maurice. I just need a minute,’ she hedged, hoping that ‘CRIMINAL’ wasn’t written in a painful red blush across her forehead for him to see. She clicked through another folder titledimportant, thendocuments, thensick days.

Maurice stood.

Bella knew she could come back to it, but she’d come so far. And, after all, Ali was an Alpha Phi who would absolutely be so organised as to keep passwords located within reach of when she would be documenting sick days.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Maurice check his watch, his right eye twitching in warning.

Bella clicked on the Excel spreadsheet, skimmed a glance over the bottom tabs.

Notes.

A shadow cast down over her keyboard.

‘If now isn’t a good time?’

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