Page 26 of Tempt Me

“That’s unacceptable,” Jamila snarled. “I want all hands on deck to fix this.”

“We’re already operating in all-hands mode. A week was my optimistic estimate.”

“One week. No more. We can’t let Moo-Lah beat us to market.”

I didn’t understand everything Rhiannon had said about the security problem with the app, but a chilling thought struck me: had Rhiannon herself introduced the flaw? Was she sabotaging the app, delaying the release so Moo-Lah had the advantage? She was supremely positioned to do it. No. Jamila trusted her. Rhiannon had to have earned that trust. As little as I liked Rhiannon, I had no reason to doubt her loyalty.

Jamila was at the threshold before I registered that she was walking out.

“Wait! We’re not done here,” I said.

“Yes, we are. I have more important things to deal with.”

“No, you don’t. If we don’t turn the message around, no one is going to buy the app regardless of if you release on time.”

“Turning the message around is your job,” Jamila said. “Mine is to launch this product.” She strode out the door. Rhiannon shot me a smug look before she followed her boss and slammed the door.

Winslow carefully stood, shooting a resentful glare at the backless chair. “I’ve been asking her to focus more on strategy for years. But in times of crisis, she can’t resist the call of the code.”

Jamila said her job was the products, and mine was PR. I had to focus on that. “Hannah, do you think we could direct some attention to Jamila’s charitable activities?”

“I think that’s a fantastic idea,” she said.

“Winslow, can you tell me more about this camp?”

“She started it when she made her first million. It’s a foundation that runs coding camps for girls in Austin, her hometown. They’re so popular they fill up within hours of opening registration.”

“Is there information on the Jamilow website?” Hannah asked.

“It has a separate website. She wants to keep the focus on the kids, not on herself.” He rattled off the address, and Hannah typed it into her phone.

Yet, I couldn’t let go of my new suspicion. It roiled in my gut like bad sushi. I checked that the door was shut. “One more thing. How long has Rhiannon worked here?”

He blew out a breath. “Almost since the beginning. We hired her after our second round of funding. She was a senior developer then. Now she leads the development team.”

“Has there always been this much…friction between her and Jamila?”

He chuckled. “Always. They both have strong opinions.”

“Do you think she’d do anything to hurt Jamila?”

He shot me a sharp look. “Like sabotage the development?”

“Exactly.”

“Maybe.” He brushed at a wrinkle on his preppy pants. “She’s been complaining a lot lately about being overworked.”

Had Moo-Lah offered her money? Early retirement must sound nice to someone like Rhiannon after over a decade working at a startup’s pace. I hated to jump to conclusions, but Jamila had suspected corporate espionage when she hired the PI.

“Thanks for your honesty,” I said.

“Sure. I should follow her lead and get my hands dirty.” He cracked his knuckles.

“You code too?” He gave off more of an MBA vibe than a coder vibe. I’d never met a programmer with his taste in fashion.

He chuckled. “Jamila and I met in the computer science program at Stanford. I was a couple of years behind her, and we partnered up on the first app.”

“You were her first hire?”

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