“I’m feeling a little better.” Why was I explaining myself to Kyle? I didn’t owe him explanations.
“Maybe you’d be up for going out and getting something to eat,” he offered with a note of challenge. I felt as if I had to tiptoe very carefully. I wasn’t sure why.
Kyle was looking around my house, his eyes flitting over everything. Almost as if he were cataloging. Remembering.
“No, I just need to rest,” I replied sharply, hoping he’d get the point. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I wasn’t above kicking him out if need be.
“Sure. Yeah, I get that.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was a ball of nervous energy. Like a cat ready to pounce. It set my teeth on edge. “I guess I should get out of your hair, then.”
“I don’t want you to get what I have,” I explained in relief.
Kyle raised an eyebrow. “You wanna know about the email probe I made to read Patty’s email? I used file protectors to get past the antivirus and everything.”
I widened my eyes in surprise. “That sounds pretty complex. How’d you figure out all that?”
Kyle shrugged. “It was easy. Holt’s security really is shit. Todd should be fired.”
I smiled grimly. “I won’t argue with you there.” I had a sinking feeling in my gut. “You need to be careful poking around the system right now. Particularly with everything going on with the hacker—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He waved away my concern. “It’s crazy the things people send emails about on their work account. There are some really stupid people in our office.”
His attitude was bothering me. “Reading people’s emails will get you fired, Kyle.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Hey, you were the one who showed me how to script a phishing campaign.”
“I didn’t expect you to use it on our coworkers,” I argued. “Don’t make me throttle your bandwidth usage.”
“Yeah, well, because I was monitoring the emails I got a front-row seat as Chuck freaked the fuck out over the latest network hack.”
I sat up straight. Kyle had my attention. “What?”
“Yeah, he’s pissed. And Todd is freaking out,” Kyle said with amusement.
“When did this happen?” I demanded.
“Last night. Like you said, it was just poking around. Nothing major. But it’s obvious Todd’s job is on the line because he can’t seem to keep this person out.” Kyle laughed, clearly enjoying it.
To him it was exciting.
To me it was further proof of violation.
I felt the target on my back. The noose tightening.
“They want you to know they’re watching,” Kyle remarked offhandedly. His words chilled me.
“What do you mean by that?” My voice was high-pitched. A little shrieky.
“I meant they want all of us to know they’re watching. Not you specifically. Chill out, Hannah.” Kyle gave me a strange look. “Why would anyone be watching you anyway? Do you have something to hide?” He grinned, his eyes narrowed. “I bet I can figure it out,” he taunted. He took a step toward me. Kyle stood close, our feet touching, toe to toe. Kyle wasn’t that tall but I had to look up at him, which I didn’t like. “I can figure you out. It wouldn’t be that hard. You try to hide, but there’s no point with me. I can always find you.”
My innate paranoia had me scrambling. Did my low-tech work buddy know something? Rose had said my name was being thrown around in open forums. Had Kyle stumbled onto something?
Shit.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My throat felt tight. I didn’t like how close he was. He was in my personal space. Kyle loomed over me.
“I think you do, Hannah.” His eyes drifted down to my mouth, his lips parting. He leaned in even closer, his cheeks flushed.
Was Kyle going to kiss me?
