The Tin Man (Inner Circle #1) - Kailin Gow Page 0,3

was all part of the game now. Dead was Dante Black. Long live Parker James.

But in the end, the need to break into the storage building became unnecessary as I got the call asking me to come to ‘fix a problem’.

“Hey,” I said casually to the pretty receptionist behind the desk. “I’m Parker. Parker James.” I handed her a business card with my name and TechUp printed on it.

She took the card and smiled flirtatiously at me. “How can I help you, Mr. James?”

“I got a call about a problem with your computer system,” I said, pointing to my black cap that also had the TechUp name embroidered on it. “I came to fix it.”

Glancing at the computer screen in front of her, she frowned. “It seems to be working fine.” She moved her mouse around and clicked here and there. “Yeah,” she added looking up at me. “It’s seems fine. Everything is working perfectly.”

I sat on the edge of the desk and smiled sweetly at her. “Are you using the same program as Mr. Roski? He’s the one who put in the call to get this thing fixed. I think he was working on the GHN program and it was bugging up.”

“Um,” she murmured. “No. I don’t really use that program. He has clearance that I don’t.”

That’s what I thought, I told myself.

“Would you like to ask Mr. Roski for permission to let me in?”

“Well,” the pretty girl said. “I do believe that Mr. Roski is out of the country at the moment.”

Yes, I know.

I shrugged. “Well…” I said with a warm and engaging grin. “I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble, but if you tell me I can’t go in there and do my job, it’s up to you. I fully respect that.”

“Well.”

She stood, giving me the full view of her voluptuous body. She was a looker, all right. And by the way she looked at me, she knew it.

“I certainly wouldn’t want Mr. Roski to come back and find that his computer system is still not working.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a key. “Come with me,” she said as she came around the desk. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

I walked behind her, admiring the sway of her generous hips as she sashayed down the corridor.

She stopped at an unmarked door and unlocked it.

“You must be quite important here to have access to this room,” I said.

Beaming with pride, she opened the door wide and gestured for me to go inside.

“Thank you very much,” I said as I entered.

To my surprise, she followed me in. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”

I knew she had no desire or perhaps ability to help me with anything, but I turned sweetly to her and smiled. “You know, I think I have things under control here.”

Her optimistic smile faded.

“But how about giving me a hand, let’s say… later tonight.”

The beaming grin returned, and she looked at me with a flirtatious gleam. “Sure thing.”

She walked out and quietly closed the door behind her.

“Good,” I let out softly. “Now, time to get to work.”

I got deep into the system and found what I wanted. Then, one by one, I eliminated the security clearance needed to get in, leaving a few accounts wide open.

Satisfied, I walked out of the computer room and headed back to the receptionist.

“All done,” I said. “You might not notice anything if you don’t use certain programs, but all looks good now. Mr. Roski should be happy when he returns.”

“Thank you,” she said as she stood and looked me up and down. She handed me a small slip of paper. “Call me.”

“I will.”

I hurried out and headed to the parked car around the corner.

*****

That night, as I sipped on a nice Chardonnay, I sat in front of my laptop checking out a few websites.

I looked at the short list I had and checked out the first one.

Sorry. The website you are attempting to obtain is temporarily closed. Please try again later.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s try number two.

We are presently experiencing a temporary shutdown. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later.

“Good. Now how about number three.”

Our website is closed for re-construction. If you have an emergency, please contact one of the following numbers. Our deepest apologies.

“Re-construction, my foot,” I said to the screen. “Why not just come out and admit that you’ve had a security breach? Afraid of what that would do to your image?”

I put away the