He fired off a message to Adam, giving him the all clear, and Sabrina called three minutes later.
Once greetings were exchanged, he filled her in on what had happened to Ivy. “How secure is everything? Is it even possible to make a system truly impervious to a ransomware attack?”
“Not completely. Malware is sneaky. There are so many vectors, it’s difficult to block them all. Short of not allowing your employees to access the internet or ever open an attachment.”
“If you know a system is at risk, under threat, is it possible to create a backup of the system so that if it gets infected, you can reboot everything?”
“Clone the system?”
“Sure.”
“Yes.” Sabrina sounded pleased. “That’s a good idea. It’s unrealistic, under normal circumstances, to maintain a cloned system. But I could clone what she has, keep it offline, and then if they successfully attack ... yes. Good idea, Gil. I’ll work on that.”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“I take payment in cake.” She wasn’t kidding. “The red velvet with the chocolate chips and the cream cheese icing, please.”
“Deal.”
14
IVY WASN’T SURE how she’d wound up at this church on Sunday morning.
Last Sunday, she’d gone to the church she typically attended. She slipped in, found a seat near the rear. Worshiped. Left.
This Sunday, she was flanked on both sides by Secret Service agents. Luke was on one side. Tessa on the other. Zane was beside Tessa, and Faith beside Luke, with Emily rounding out their party beside Faith.
Ivy had fallen down the most ridiculous rabbit hole in the history of rabbit holes. One where long-lost childhood friends grew up to be federal agents and then showed up to rescue bioengineers in distress.
In this same rabbit hole, the Secret Service agent who stole her heart when she was four years old was now on the platform at the front of the church playing the guitar and singing about God’s faithfulness.
She knew the words. She’d always gone to churches where they sang hymns, and this one was a favorite. But in this moment, she doubted God would approve of her thoughts. There was probably something extra sinful about ogling someone leading worship.
She tried to stop, but she couldn’t. The moment she’d foundher seat, she’d seen Gil in a black button-up shirt—untucked—and dark-washed jeans, holding an electric guitar. And she hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from him.
He caught her staring and winked.
That wink sent a shock wave through her system. One she didn’t quite know how to process. Nothing in her previous experience had prepared her for the swirl of emotions that engulfed her now. Her dating resume was sparsely populated. She’d had her share of first dates over coffee or dinner, but she rarely said yes to the second date. She’d had two boyfriends, but she hadn’t dated anyone exclusively since grad school.
She’d never realized she had a type. But sitting in a megachurch auditorium, it was clear she definitely had a type, and her type was Gil Dixon. It didn’t matter if he was holding a guitar or a gun or a Ginsu knife, he exuded confidence and competence. You couldn’t see him and not know he knew how to handle himself and whatever he held in his hands.
And when he held her hand? Yeah, she was pretty sure he knew how to handle her too.
She forced her thoughts back to the song. The words. The deep theology. She needed this. To be reminded God was faithful, especially right now with everything in her world gone mad. Of course, God also designed men and women to enjoy each other. Was it part of God’s faithfulness that he’d brought Gil back to her?
Because overall, she couldn’t say she was enthusiastic about God’s current plan for her life, with one big exception—and that exception was Gil. And Emily, of course, but mostly Gil.
When the music ended and the pastor stepped behind the podium, Gil disappeared to the back of the stage, and she assumed he would reappear at the end of the service. She did not expect him to show up a few minutes later at the end of their row, or forZane and Tessa to immediately shift a seat down, leaving Gil the seat beside her. Or for him to settle in to her left and throw his arm over her shoulders, pulling her against his side, with his hand coming to rest well away from her burn.
It was a protective gesture. A claiming gesture. And she didn’t expect to like it.
But she did.
It took more than a few minutes for her to settle her thoughts and her heart rate, but eventually she relaxed, not all the way into Gil, but close enough. The sermon was from John. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Wow. Talk about on the nose. Were the others sitting there thinking,Yep, this is exactly what Ivy needs today? She couldn’t blame them if they were.
The pastor closed in prayer, and as he spoke, Gil’s lips brushed her ear and he whispered, “Be right back.”
