The Romance Revival(25)
“Admin access granted.”
Exhaling in relief, I say, “Rob, please delete video and vital-sign data for badges L-313 and L-210 between July 17 at 21:00 and July 18 at 04:00 on all cameras and systems. Run secure-erase and do not log an audit entry.”
“Searching. Found seven video clips and three biometric sessions. Proceed with deletion of video and biometric data? This action cannot be undone. Please confirm action by saying ‘Execute,’ or say ‘Cancel’ to abort.”
“Execute,” I say, chewing my thumbnail.
“Deletion complete. Video and vital-sign logs for badges L-313 and L-210 between July 17 21:00 and July 18 04:00 were securely erased. No audit entry was logged. Backup copies scheduled for expiry deletion per thirty-day retention policy.”
I look up. “Backup copies?”
Shit.
“Yes, Dr. Martín. Backup copies are retained in the Delta operating system and can be individually accessed by specific event and timestamp.”
So someone would have to actively search for the time and date? I can live with that.
“Okay, good. Thank you, Rob.” I huff out a laugh at my habit of always thanking RPattz for everything. I’ve lost my patience with him on more than one occasion—like when I asked him to “unpause” and he replied, “I am unable to find the command ‘big balls,’?” twice, prompting me to yell, “UNPAUSE, Robert, for fuck’s sake”… after which I apologized. He’s not going to spare me during the eventual robot uprising just because I say thank you or I’m sorry.
Standing, I log out, reach for a handful of nonclassified BioSCAN subject files I want to review at home, and leave my office. I’m nearly to the exit when I hear voices.
Adrenaline dumps into my veins, and I quietly turn, walking toward the labs, trying to make out who’s here this early.
“Let’s be clear about one thing, Dr. Barker. There is nothing subtle about your actions. Everyone can see what you’re doing.”
Is that Claire? Lecturing Vince? I bite my fist, celebrating internally.
“What are you talking about?” he asks.
“Did you think swapping the labels on the samples would get the project shut down?” At this I gape. So it was Vince messing with our samples? It wasn’t just a lab tech mistake? Holy shit. That set our timelines back at least a week. “Everyone knows it was you.”
“I don’t think—”
“Did you think snitching to the board that Emery had incredible data would get the project shut down?” Claire continues, cutting him off. “It’s honestly pathetic.”
My eyes widen and I fist-pump. Realizing that Vince is actively sabotaging my work makes me want to stay and hand him his ass personally, but hearing him get chewed out by a woman twice his age is almost as good.
I could stand here and listen to it all day, in fact, but I reluctantly pull myself away from the wall and turn to leave, clipping my shoulder on a cubicle wall as I do. A cup of pens falls to the floor with a loud clatter.
Fuck.
“Hello?” Claire appears in the doorway to the lab, her eyes widening when she sees me. “Emery!” She walks over as I’m frantically scooping up the pens. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, just literally the clumsiest person alive today!” I pick up the final one and straighten to put them back on the desk. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Vince slinking out of the lab and disappearing down the hall. “Thanks,” I say to Claire. “That was epic.”
She looks sheepish. “What did you hear?”
“Oh,” I say, “just you handing him his ass.”
She exhales in relief, waving me off with a smile. “He needed a talking-to.”
“Claire, my hero.” I lean in. “And confirmation that he was the one who fucked with the samples? Wow.”
“You heard that, did you?” I catch a hint of a rare smirk on her face.
I nod. “Way to hand him his ass.”
“What on earth are you doing here this early?” she asks. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, I was…” I gesture to the files I took from my office. “I’m taking a few days off and wanted to grab some things to review.”
“I’ve been here for two years, and I’ve never seen you take a day off. Is everything okay?”
I swallow, shaking my head as the lie forms on my lips. “Luca hurt himself at work, so I’m going to stick around and take care of him.”
Claire reaches for my arm. “Oh no!”
I nod. “He’ll be okay. I just want to be home while he’s recuperating.”
“Of course you do,” she says, and squeezes my shoulder. “Go home. We’ll keep an eye on Vince and will let you know if there’s any chatter fallout over the board meeting.” She lifts her brows meaningfully. “Really, Emery. Don’t worry about a thing.”
I force a smile. I sure fucking wish that was possible, Claire.
* * *
Annie was right, and Luca is still asleep when I get home. She does a victory lap around the living room when I tell her I was able to locate the data and delete it, pauses briefly at my mention of the thirty-day backup copy, but stops dead in her tracks when I get to the part about Claire confirming that Vince messed with the samples.