“Coffee and a drug? No, that’s PCP. What’s PHP?”
“Python, Java and PHP are all types of coding languages. Java has been around forever, Bec.”
“I grew up isolated from electricity, much less computers,” Bec reminded her. “By the time I started public school, I was so far behind that the only way to graduate was to concentrate on the core classes. It wasn’t me, Iris. Why would I call you in to help me secure the labs if I was the one who wrote the malware? That doesn’t make sense.”
“But you said Walter doesn’t know anything about computers, either.”
“He always acted like he didn’t,” Bec confirmed.
“Who takes care of your technology needs then?” Iris asked as Bec pulled on clothes.
“An IT firm, as far as I know. That information should be in Walter’s files. Let’s go look.”
Iris waited while Bec used the bathroom and brushed her teeth, which gave her a few minutes to calm her breathing and try not to be hurt that Iris thought she was capable of this kind of deception. Once she got Iris to calm down, she could see in her eyes that she was scared and confused, but Iris didn’t really believe she had anything to do with writing the code.
“How did you figure out the code was written in the facility?” she called from where she put her socks and shoes on.
“I found a suspicious line of code and sent it to Mina.”
She grabbed her phone, slipping it into her pocket just in case one of the investors called her. “You said you were going to look for a signature. Is that what you meant?” she asked as they hurried upstairs. Bec wouldhave preferred to start the day with a kiss and a cup of coffee instead of accusations and attempted confinement, but this was not a normal day.
“I’m sorry for trying to tie you up and making accusations that weren’t true,” Iris said as they stood in the elevator. “I shouldn’t have let the anxiety take over the way it did. You’ve been here the whole time helping me, so I should have known you weren’t behind it because that doesn’t even make sense, but—”
Bec put her finger to Iris’s lips before she hit the stop button on the elevator panel. “But you are under a lot of stress, and fighting the anxiety is hard minute to minute in a situation like this. Suddenly discovering that the code was written in the facility made it easy to jump to conclusions.”
“Yes, but I shouldn’t have. Not after last night. I know you on a level that…”
She paused and Bec waited, but she didn’t finish the thought. She slipped her arms around Iris’s waist and snugged them belly to belly. “You know me on a soul-deep level that strips away everything but the truth, even if we’ve only known each other for a few days?”
“Yes,” Iris whispered, lowering her forehead to touch hers. “You said I can’t say I’m sorry, but I truly am.”
“I’m not upset, sweetheart,” she promised, lifting her face to kiss her lips. “I understand that you’re stressed and tired, not to mention scared. We can get through this if we trust each other, okay?”
Iris didn’t answer with words. She lowered her head and kissed Bec deeply, reminding Bec of the passion and desire they had shared last night when they bared their souls to each other. Bec smiled at the woman when thekiss ended, gazing deeply into her eyes. Her heart melted, knowing she trusted her enough to do that without fear.
“What do you say we get to the bottom of this nightmare so we can get on with living?” When Iris nodded, Bec hit the start button for the elevator.
“I find it difficult to believe that an IT firm would be behind this,” Iris said as they left the elevator and walked toward Walter’s office.
“Unless it’s one bad apple that they don’t know is in their midst,” Bec answered, skirting the glass still on the floor as they walked into the office. “I sure wish we had access to the security videos.”
Iris leaned on the desk and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why? There’s no way to know when the code was written, so it’s a needle in a haystack situation.”
“No, not for the coder,” Bec said, pulling out the drawer marked operations and rifling through the files. “For the kidnapper. Something is bugging me about the person, but I can’t put my finger on it. The flash-bang disoriented me and blurred my vision, but I feel like they were familiar.”
Iris pushed herself up and grabbed the walkie-talkie off her belt. “Secure Watch, India.”
“Secure One, Charlie.”
“Cal? Are you here?”
“Just arrived with Selina,” he answered when she released the button.
“Would you come to the lab? We have a question.”
“Ten-four.”
“Oh great, he brought the torture nurse with him,” Bec muttered with a grimace.
