Page 46 of The CEO's Revenge

“Thanks,” I said, as she slipped out of my office.

The afternoon ran off, and before I knew it Gerald was sitting in my office, shedding his coat and jacket.

“I’m not cut out for this cloak and dagger stuff. Sure, I can build it into an app, but man, the drive over here was nerve-wracking!”

Gerald and I used to work together as the top programmers at Robert’s. He knew I was innocent. Through him, I had direct access to Robert’s operations. We very rarely met in person.

“So, what’s so urgent you had to see me, Gerry?”

“I have some information that I think will be useful to you.” He took a folder out of his shirt and slid it across to me. “I stayed back last night and took pictures of the originals and printed them at home. I haven’t been to work today: I called in sick. I get the feeling I’m being watched.”

I opened the folder and scanned the information. My eyebrows rose at intervals.

“Well, well, well. Robert is getting a little smart isn’t he.” Before me lay bits and pieces of the fake software I’d been planting. Somehow, Robert had found someone to work out the errors I had built into them and was in the process of using the remnants to build legitimate software. I was duly impressed.

“I think we need to step up the heat a bit. This cannot go on indefinitely. Right now, he’s hanging by a thread. But if the jackass figures out this software it could put him back into a fighting position. If you’re going to ruin him, you have to strike soon, like within the next few weeks. I’m trying to delay the test runs as much as possible, but there’s going to come a time when it’s completed and I won’t be able to delay it any longer.”

I nodded. “Got it.” I tapped the folder. “It’s vital information. Good job, Gerry.”

He smiled and nodded. “Anything I can do to help. He did you wrong, Max. If only there was some way to prove it.”

“Or someone who would confess. He had to have had help. Still it’s okay if I never get to the bottom of that. Everything crashing down around his ears will be revenge enough for me.”

“And I, for one, will be glad when it happens. Things were so much better when you were around. I can’t wait to see the back of him.”

He stood and began to put his jacket on, then nodded towards the folder. “That’s yours to keep by the way. If anything else pops up I’ll pass it on.”

“Sure thing. Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

I walked him to the lift through the empty offices, and waited until the doors swished shut. Then I got back to my seat, picked up the folder and carefully went through it. So the bastard had wised up and hired experts to figure it out for him. Whether this was the work of one person or a group, they were good. Very good, but little did Robert know that I’d been waiting for this moment when his people would crack the code built into the bait. Now I had to change my strategy, and, as Gerald had advised, fast. My brain was already beginning to turn at a mile a minute and I soon had my notepad filled with a new code of glitches and errors to keep them busy for weeks. I smiled. Nothing I enjoyed more than a stimulating challenge from professionals on my level. Perhaps when this was over I would hunt them down and hire them.

I put my pen down and picked up my phone. This would be the next bait I set for Savannah. Maybe this time I’ll give her enough time to take a photo.

“Hello, Max?”

“Do you have plans for this evening?”

She paused. “Well, I was supposed to hang out with Tracey, but it’s not set in stone or anything.”

“Take a rain check?”

“Okay.”

“I’m still in the office. Meet me atFriction?”

“Sure. What time?”

“Eight-thirty?”

“Okay.”

“See you then.” I disconnected the call, a ball of anger in my gut. She was willing to give up a night with Tracey for Robert. How fucking wrong I’d been about her.

My eyes went to the papers I was working on. I would have to find a creative way to leave this whole folder lying around and make sure to give it an incriminating title.

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