“Sorry, I lost track of time. You must be Ms. Mowers. My name is Lennie. I am the team lead for the Hive.” She stretched out her hand and shook Evelyn’s hand.
“Pleased to meet you! And please call me Evelyn,” Evelyn responded.
“It’s all good, Len, though I am sorry to get in the way of your lunch. I know better than to get in the way of a woman and their food.”
Evelyn chuckled at my joke, as did the rest of the team, who had come over for introductions.
I motioned for everyone to sit at the big conference table so we could begin the final portion of the interview.
FIVE
EVELYN
The Hive was not what I thought it would be, nor were the team members what I envisioned. With RSS's prestigious reputation, I figured I would walk into a stuffy, black-tie office with everything in pristine order. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming room and casually dressed people.
A short, curvy blonde with black-rimmed glasses named Lennie was the first to say hello. Her face had been priceless when she was caught with a piece of pizza hanging from her mouth.
Once seated, Lennie explained the purpose of the Hive and went on introducing the rest of the team.
Jax was a tall, skinny male with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes who stared at me with a blank expression as he sat across from me. His faded band t-shirt and jeans looked wrinkled as if he had been wearing them for days.
Next to him was a tall redhead with delicate features. She was naturally beautiful, her peaches-and-cream complexion accentuated with a dusting of freckles along her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her beaming smile andbright-green eyes brightened the room. She was a stark contrast to the brooding man sitting next to her.
On the opposite side of the beautiful redhead was a dark-haired, tan-skinned beauty. She wore a simple black blouse and dark jeans, looking more put together than the rest of the team.
Lennie pointed to each person, explaining their role on the team and introducing them.
The man was Jax Conroy. He maintained the firewalls and protections for the clients and employees.
The redhead was Gwen Sampson, in charge of data analytics. And last but not least was the dark-haired beauty, Ollie Grimaldi, who specialized in complex data breaches and security systems.
In preparation for this undercover mission, I had concluded that RSS had a solid cyber security team. What I wasn’t expecting was the wide range of qualifications and skill sets that all the team members had. I now understood why they called it the Hive and not just because of the honeycomb lights that took up one wall. The team worked together to make sure the hive stayed safe while also remaining productive. Instead of producing honey, they produced secure, stable security systems, and databases.
After introductions were made, Lennie began her questions. “So, Evelyn, how do you think you would be an asset to the Hive?”
“I currently work with a high-profile clientele. I have extensive knowledge of coding, security systems, and data analytics. Because I am a one-stop shop for my team at my current job, I believe that I would be able to satisfy more than one need for your team.” I kept my head held high. I knew I needed to impress them, however, I wanted toensure they understood that my skill set was more than desired.
Before Lennie could ask another question, Jax interjected with one of his own. “It’s imperative that we work as a team. You mentioned you are a ‘one-stop shop’ in your current position. Do you think you can work cohesively with a team?” He folded his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow.
Gwen gave Jax a dirty look.
He was baiting me, which I’d anticipated. I was new, and the team was the root of the success at RSS. I needed to tread carefully. I couldn’t give too much away, like the fact that I primarily worked with a special operations team.
I smiled at him, showing no fear. “Absolutely. What I was trying to express was that I am versatile in my skill set, which would allow me to help the team be successful. I currently work with a group of people with different skill sets. The key is knowing how to blend them all.”
He grunted and gave a quick nod of his head.
The interview lasted longer than I expected. After the team finished their questions, Kade had me sit in his office while he spoke to Lennie.
I took in my surroundings, noticing places where hidden cameras and bugs could be placed. If this were to work, I needed to be extra careful.
Kade’s office was simple and masculine. The floor-to-ceiling windows framed the city’s skyline. It reminded me of how a king would look upon their kingdom. On his desk, a sleek silver laptop lay closed. Off to the side were two large monitors that highlighted the RSS logo bouncing across the screen, showing that the system was in sleep mode. It would be so easy to hack into his computer, however the risk at the moment was too great.
Kade strode into his office followed by a behemoth of a man dressed in dark jeans and a black dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Bulging muscles and tattoos lined the man’s forearms. His brown hair was cut into a military-esque hairstyle. When he turned to face me, his features took me by surprise. On one of his eyebrows was a jagged scar. He had a sharp jaw and dark eyes, giving him a lethal look. The man was a machine. No doubt he was second in command. Our research showed Kade had taken the role of Don when his father died, but the intel we received did not disclose who his second would be. I stood up to greet this mountain of a man.
“Evelyn, I’d like you to meet Evan Amaro. He is my right hand here at RSS.”
Evan extended his hand to shake mine. His grip was firm, but not overbearing.
