Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Chapter 55

Sunday, 13 March 2022 – 9:00 a.m. MST

Valerie walked quickly toward Bryan’s office. She knew he would be in there. She had a good idea what he would be doing. She stopped at the door and gathered herself then knocked. If the door was closed, it would be locked; there was no sense in trying the handle. From behind the door, she heard the crashing of clutter as Bryan reacted to the surprise visit. She stifled a smile.

Bryan opened the door. A rush of foul, stale air assaulted Valerie. She swallowed back her initial reaction.

“I need your help,” she said as she entered the pit that was their best engineer’s office.

“Okay?”

“We think that someone inside the company is sending out proprietary information to our competitors. There may also be a leak in our security. We believe that it has something to do with our current situation.”

Bryan felt his heart collapse. He wondered if they suspected him.

“We believe that it may be one of the junior engineers,” Valerie continued. She had seen the immediate reaction to her comments in Bryan’s face. “I need you to scour our logs for the past week. We need any outgoing communications related to Ramesh Kapoor, the visitor that Quinn had on-site this past week.”

“What about the current problem? The message? I’m still not...”

“Quinn feels that if we find the source of the leak, we’ll be able to more quickly identify the purpose of this attack,” Valerie interrupted.

“Understood,” Bryan replied. He felt a wave a relief. He would be able to spend a great deal of time scouring the log files while avoiding the subject of the message he had found.

“Bryan, I need to make sure that you understand that this is your top priority. We know there has been an information leak. We need you to track it down.” Valerie paused for a moment. She wondered how to best motivate Bryan. He was certainly overpaid. More money probably wouldn’t mean much. He had every perk and incentive the company could offer. She smiled. She leaned against his desk, partially sitting on its edge.

“Bryan,” she said in a very personal, very concerned tone. She looked at him. It was difficult for her to focus. His hair was stuck against his forehead and face in several places. There was a spot of dried food on his neck just below his chin. The perspiration marks on his shirt had yellowed the fabric.

“There are some people here that have suggested that you might be involved in the information leak.” She spoke quietly and looked behind her at the door. Bryan felt the perspiration bead on his face.

“But I have had my eye on our security for a while. I haven’t mentioned it because I would like to have some hard evidence before I go to Quinn. He doesn’t react well to supposition and gut feelings. I have a pretty good idea about who you are and I trust you. Right now, Bryan, you’re one of the few people I feel that I can fully trust.” She smiled at him. Her stomach churned as he smiled back. His teeth were as foul as his office.

“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer if you perform the scan from the NOC. I’ll let them know you’re down there to run some tests. I’m worried that someone may be watching your office terminals.” She held her breath for a response. She knew that it would be difficult to get Bryan to concede to work outside of his office, even for a short time.

“I’d know if there was a problem with my office,” Bryan responded defensively.

“Please.” Valerie drew on every feminine persuasive power. “Just for this. Just for today. I’m really concerned about who may be involved in this.”

“I’m more effective here. It will take me twice as long down there.”

Valerie just looked at him. Her eyes continued to plead.

“Okay,” he relented. “But you realize that I won’t be able to do anything else from down there. I’ll be putting everything else on hold.”

“I understand,” she smiled. “I think what you find down there will help you in your investigation later.”

Bryan completely disagreed, but he was unable to disappoint her. She was there, sitting in his office, asking for his help. He was powerless to refuse.

“Thanks, Bryan. And please don’t mention this to anyone. Just get back to me when you find something.” She stood and put out her hand to him. He reached up and shook it. It was clammy and cold, but Valerie forced herself to hold it warmly. “Thanks.” She winked.

“You’re problem ... I mean ... You’re welcome ... No problem. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”

Valerie walked confidently out of the office, smiling to herself. Bryan was effectively a non-issue for the rest of the day. She could focus on her next task.