Grinning, I bring her to our notes section. “The one and only.”
Her voice gains a far off quality as she becomes immersed scanning the cursory notes of the problems we’ve currently identified that need resolving before we can even touch on improvements. “Okay, this isn’t as bad as Eric made it out to be.” Reaching over her, I open up the next page, knowing the exact moment she sees it as she whips her head to face me in disbelief.
“Yep. So every time we run a check on a system loop, it shuts down.” Gesturing to the two giant stacks of papers in the center of the table, I watch her face morph with horror. “We get a two second flash of source code claiming it pinpointed the error, but it’s never the same section twice.”
“Can you bring up the main file without running the activation sequence and comb over the lines one at a time?” she asks with a pitiful attempt at optimism, already seeing the answer written on my face.
“Crashes within ten minutes. We don’t have the time to start over from scratch, and it’s too corrupted at this point.”
She catches on, nodding to herself. “So we’re taking the base of Revenant Nine, improving and expanding?”
Grinning, I grab the binder I put together for her with the smaller stack of printed source code, with the errors we’ve identified so far circled. “We isolated the pattern; it’s Jenna’s work. If I had to guess, she arranged herself an amazing contract by agreeing to sabotage the project before jumping ship to Mal Tech.”
Sighing in relief, she flips it open to the first page. “So I need to learn her syntax preference, then comb over Rev Nine line by line and isolate her work, confirm or correct where necessary?”
Jonathan is eyeing her appreciatively, but I can’t even scowl at the man; I get it. Boy do I fucking get it.
“I think it’ll be faster to put you on that rather than make you learn the entire system from square one to start adding in the improvements. So while you’re doing that, Jonathan and I are going to be creating the modifications on a separate server so we don’t touch anything you’re doing in case she embedded the same self-destruct trigger in Rev Nine assuming that’s how we’d salvage the situation, or if we do, have a better idea of where exactly the problem lies. Then when you’re finished, we’ll merge in our new code and make any adjustments necessary to support it.”
“As good of a plan as any,” she declares in support, pulling a pen out of her purse. “How long do we have?”
Jonathan and I share a look before I reluctantly answer, “Eight weeks.”
Her pen clatters to the table. “You have got to be shitting me. We don’t even have a finalized system yet, let alone have it in beta testing!”
“Revenant went through beta,” I point out with a shrug. “Just think of this as an update.”
“An update in a trench coat with a mustache,” she mocks, scrubbing her palm down her face as the pressure we’re under falls onto her shoulders, settling in for the long haul.
Jonathan cracks his neck, reaches into his backpack, and rolls an energy drink can across the table at her. “Yeah, but now that twenty-five thousand dollar bonus for our department is only being split three ways.”
She sets the can upright. “Ifwe hit the deadline. Twenty-five K split six ways is better than zero for three.”
He smirks. “Saying you’re not up for the challenge, new chick?”
Narrowing her eyes, Sabrina cracks open the can, scooting her computer out of the way and replacing it with the open binder. “Like I’m going to embarrass myself by having my name tied to a failed Revenant launch.”
Rounding the table, I take my seat across from her again. “Brutal, but fair, and exactly what inspired the new program.”
Furrowing her brow, she waits for me to continue. The corner of my mouth twists in half a smile as I bring up my screen to pick up where I left off when she came in.
“Redemption.”
***
“That’s it, I’m callingit,” Jonathan decrees, snapping his laptop shut and groaning, hauling his backpack off of the floor. “If I don’t get some sleep, I’m going to be useless in the morning.”
“Seven?” Distracted, I finish off my train of thought before I lose it, fingers flying across the keyboard.
He slings his bag over his shoulder, heading for the door. “Aiming for six.”
“So, seven.”
He chuckles. “Probably.” My fingers still as he passes by Sabrina. “Need a ride home? You said you walk, right?”
Having my full attention now, I glance up from my computer. It’s not like I have any concerns if she were to take him up on it; Jonathan’s a decent guy. But aside from the fact that I’ve already claimed her as mine, even if she doesn’t realize it yet, Carter is still out there. I trust Jonathan not to hurt her, but I don’t trust him with her safety.
Carter Stonewood may not be able to shift, but there are enough members of his pack that can. They still haven’t turned him over, which means they have no intention of doing so. If they’re willing to be that bold on a matter every neighboring pack is aware of and rightly pissed over, they’re confident in their ability to hold their own when it comes to a head. I could understand if it were merely us, a dying pack they knew they could snuff out if we showed up demanding retribution, but with the other families on our side, they’re vastly outnumbered.
