Wire (Pierce Securities Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

those deep brown eyes that spoke of untold delights, she’d be good.
    “Pleasure.” She could see him extend his hand to them out of her peripheral vision. “Do you mind giving me a run-down on how far you’ve gotten?”
    Oh God, that voice…
    Goose bumps popped up across her skin at the memories of his voice that night. Stupid.
    Dan, the mouthpiece of the dynamic duo in front of her, started speaking, thankfully bringing Paige back to the present.
    “Sure.” He tapped the screen of his tablet in front of him. “We’ve found a website where she seems to interact with the kids outside the game. She makes initial contact with them in the game, then sends them here for apparent culling. We haven’t gotten too far into the site, yet. It’s got some sick encryption, but this seems to be where she gets them to do her bidding.”
    “How does she pick which kids will do what she wants?” Paige had to stifle the gasp threatening to escape. She knew Evan was in his element on a computer, but this… This was a side she never knew he had. It fit with the computer coding thing. Evan liked puzzles, solving mysteries, and it became obvious. The interest she saw in his eyes was unparalleled. He was in the zone, ready to get to the bottom of this.
    “That’s the thing. Whoever is behind her must have access to their social media and school records or something. The thing all these kids have in common is they are social outcasts. Like school shooters waiting to crack. She’s very careful to choose kids who seem to have nothing to lose.”
    “How do you know that?” Evan leaned forward, his chin in his hand, making notes on his tablet as he listened intently. It was as if she was forgotten, and the pang that hit her at the thought made her feel guilty. This was why he was here. She really needed to get a grip.
    Dan blushed proudly. “I hacked into their schools. Of course, it was all done after the fact. I have no way of knowing at this point who she’s going to pick next. Only the ones who’ve already done stuff.”
    “Send me that site.” Evan was all business. Paige risked a look at him, and he was focused intently on Dan. “Use this email.” He slid a card across the table to Dan, and Paige focused on his hands—long fingers, elegantly tapered into neatly manicured nails. He was definitely exuding the aura of the confident, professional, corporate type. But she knew he could be so very different.
    Stop it, Paige.
    “What’s your take on her coding?” He tapped on his tablet as he took notes, and Dan was like the kid showing off to his parents—trying to act cool, but secretly tickled at the attention.
    “It’s pretty sophisticated stuff. If it’s a kid, it’s a savant, which is possible, I guess. But my hunch is whoever is behind her has years of experience. And she’s studied you. There’s a lot of your stuff in there.”
    “Yeah, I noticed that. What have you tried to get her out?” Evan blushed a little, seeming embarrassed that this entity was using his tricks.
    “The usual.” As Dan explained what he’d done to remove The Crimson Lady, Paige’s mind wandered. She was at a brick wall with this woman. Everything she’d known to do had been done, aside from taking the game offline completely. Whoever was behind The Crimson Lady knew her board wouldn’t go for that, implying they had working knowledge of Boards of Directors and their penchant for the bottom line. The Crimson Lady had been around a while, but the attacks had started shortly after the takeover. Even so, she didn’t think Roger was behind it.
    The truth was, Paige wasn’t a coder. That had always been Roger and Dale’s thing. She was the persona behind it all, they were the brains. She just had the business sense it took to build a great company, only knowing the basics behind the programming, and The Crimson Lady knew this.
    She watched Dan as he gleefully explained what he had done to stop The Crimson Lady, with little