Page 19 of A Simple Mistake
Jack ran through the details.“Unless Julian and the exploration guys come up with a different idea, our best guess is cash flow sabotage.”
“I can see that,” Janet said.“What’s our exposure level?”
“If we lose all the projects, Julian has to borrow funds or lay off staff.”
“That sucks.”The expression on Frazer’s face mirrored Jack’s feelings to perfection.
Lunch arrived, and they suspended work talk in favour of refuelling.
“We have three objectives,” Jack said once their server had removed the empty plates, and they’d ordered dessert.“Identify the competition and any additional financial backers.Find out how they knew which projects to target.And make sure we have no rats in the network.”
“A day ending in Y, then.”Frazer stabbed his fork into his wedge of chocolate fudge cake as if it had done him an injury.“You think the family is causing havoc again, don’t you?If it was up to me, I’d boot them out, lock the door, and toss the key.Maybe Julian will do just that if we give him enough ammunition.”
“Now, wouldn’t that be nice?”The large helping of bread and butter pudding hadn’t mellowed Janet’s mood.“I suppose you want me to follow the money?”
“Yes,” Jack, who’d opted for cheese and biscuits to end his meal, agreed with her.“They’re all new companies, which isn’t shady at all, right?”
“And, I guess, they’re offshore?”
“British Virgin Islands—at least the two I looked at.I’m hoping you’ll see more than I do.”
“They’re all miners?”
“No.Mix of mining services and investment providers.”
“Oh, joy.”Janet smiled at the server topping up her coffee cup.“That’s me off the boredom list for the month, then…”
“Me, too,” Frazer said.“I assume you want me to run any names Janet finds?”
“Me, three.And if you would?Since you’re the walking who’s who of the mining industry.”
“You’ll comb the network?”
“Yep.Staring at code until my eyes bleed.”He raised his glass of Armagnac and grinned.“Here’s to good hunting.”
To get the most out of people—Gareth had learned long ago—he first needed to know what they valued.Offering share options to someone who thrived on public recognition wouldn’t motivate them, nor would awarding a fancy plaque to someone struggling to pay the bills.
He never objected to Jack holding team meetings over lunch at Simpson’s because Jack, Janet, and Frazer didn’t count the hours they worked, and all three were prone to skip meals when caught up in their work.Separating them from their screens for a couple of hours was practically a public service.
Gareth waved them off, then spent the afternoon meeting with the security team, the head of exploration, and finally with Julian.When he made it back to his floor, only four people remained in the large open-plan office.
“How goes it, Harry?”Gareth stopped beside the duty officer, who’d been on shift since six that morning.“Ready to call it a day?”
“Yeah.Rush is on the way up to relieve me.”Harry Taylor, ex-navy and married to the wonderful woman running the Nancarrow creche, shot him a grin.“The code miners over there are looking settled in for the night.”
“We’ll see about that,” Gareth said.“Anything new this afternoon I need to be aware of?”
Harry shook his head.“No smuggling.No break-ins.Only the usual visitors.Core store’s due a delivery of gas tonight.Quiet day.”
“Just how we like it.Thanks, Harry.Hand over to Rush and head home.”
“Will do.”
Gareth continued to his office and spent a few minutes reviewing his meetings.The guys in exploration hated anyone muscling in on their patch.They guarded their data like the crown jewels and access to it like the entrance to the Tower.Outright betrayal from those quarters wasn’t likely, and even casual slips were becoming less and less common.
Frazer’s presentation a year earlier, and his regular refreshers on the latest phishing and social engineering techniques, were yielding results.Nancarrow staff were aware of the danger and no longer felt uncomfortable asking for help from the IT team.The number of affectionate nicknames for the trio kicking around the company made that ease all too apparent.Gareth had heard them referred to as bug busters, cyber prospectors, and the white-hat trio.He’d even caught himself calling the team the code miners once or twice, and admitted he liked the moniker.
What he didn’t like was seeing Frazer, Janet, and Jack determined to pull an all-nighter with neither preparation nor thoughts for dinner.While identifying their attackers was a top priority, it wasn’t an emergency.
