The Tremaine Corporation was under nearly constant cyberattack every minute of every day. The majority of the attempted breaches were stopped by the company’s firewall and automated defenses. Ash and the rest of this crew weren’t called in until those measures failed. Then it was a race to prevent the attacks from making it all the way through to the juicy data at the center of the company.
Right now, a few of his team were busy blocking attacks. That was the thing about this job: there was always another attack incoming.
“Here’s the rules,” Mendez announced. “As soon as we’re in our chairs, Ash and I will go head-to-head on the next ping. If I beat Ash, I get to hear about the girl.”
Boos nearly drowned Mendez out.
“Fine. If I win, weallget to hear about Ash’s new girlfriend.”
Cheers echoed around the room.
Ash waved his hands to get them to quiet down. “What happens when I win?”
Mendez grinned and the rest of their team laughed. “Then you don’t have to tell us.”
Ash chuckled. “That hardly seems like a prize worthy of my skills.”
Mendez rolled his eyes. “Fine,ifyou win—and that’s a big if—I’ll buy the beers tonight.”
“Deal. But I’m going to make it cost you.”
Ash would rather spend another evening with the Jack, but until he could figure out how to get unbanned, that wasn’t an option. Spending time with his team was an almost worthy replacement. They usually grabbed drinks at least once a week and he couldn’t afford to change his schedule too much. His work with Portia was already gaining unwanted attention.
Settling into his chair, Ash shifted so he could see Mendez out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t know the other man’s story. That was an unspoken rule among the hackers the Tremaine Corporation had captured and put to work: Don’t talk about your past. Ash had worked with him for nearly the entire time he’d been at Tremaine Corporation and knew that Mendez had mad hacking skills and a wicked sense of humor. But the other man had been careful not to drop any other details about where he came from.
It didn’t matter, though. Ash was better than anyone here.
“You ready?” Another hacker stood next to his chair. Someone else was next to Mendez.
“Always.” More than ready. The competition with Mendez was a good distraction from Portia’s assignment and his utter failure to convince the Jack to help him out.
Ava, one of the two female hackers on the team, stepped into the space between Ash and Mendez so they both could see her. “Okay, boys. You know the terms. Whoever stops the next ping wins.”
The room was quiet, something that rarely happened on shift.
Ash played his fingers lightly over the keyboard, keeping them loose, keeping them flexible. The big map on the wall should be his focus, but he spared a moment to glance at Mendez. Bundled into a padded chair like Ash’s, the other man had strapped on his preferred goggles. Mendez turned his head and raised his fingers to his forehead in salute. Ash nodded back.
His gaze flicked over the map, watching the dots of light as they flared and died when they hit the firewalls.
Shouldn’t be long now until one slipped through.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the wall flared red and the screech of an alarm echoed through the room.
Showtime!
Information flashed on his monitor. Attack origination, suspected target, and bits and pieces of code that the hacker was throwing at the system. Ash’s focus narrowed to the screen in front of him and the outside world faded away.
“All right, Takata Corp. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Ash murmured. He recognized the technique on the other end, knew they were part of the Takata Corp. They’d met before, multiple times, usually battling to a draw. The other hacker hadn’t gotten in, but they’d made Ash work for the block.
Ash’s fingers danced over the keyboard, faster than he’d even been during his pre-Tremaine days.
His moves were unconscious, motor memory and years of experience guiding him. The other hacker thrust, Ash parried. Ash attacked, they countered. Ash smiled, enjoying the routine. “You act like you’re giving me something, but you take it away.”
Cut the move off there.
“Ooh, a fancy misdirect. Still not fancy enough.”
Then, suddenly, code on the other end got more interesting. More complicated. “That’s new.”
