I skipped lunch, and by early afternoon, my eyes were burning and my back was sore, but I kept at it. As soon as this was done, the sooner I could focus on the next step in my life. I wasn’t sure what that would be especially since I failed to keep Andi at an emotional distance last night at dinner. She’d known something was up with me and called me on it. Just like that, we were back to the way we were before, and the erotic bantering led to us having sex on my couch. I knew that whatever my next step was that she would have to be in my life. So, the next question was did she mean it when she said she'd come with me if I went up north?
I pulled up a series of emails that had come from Chen's company to my Gran through Andi when my brothers came into Gran's office.
“The acquisition of Chen’s company is done. Have you identified how Chen got in?" Ryan asked.
"I'm getting close I can feel it," I said, my hands flying across the screen and then stopping as I studied the email from Chen to Andi.
My heart stuttered a little bit, as I read his words.
As we agreed upon, Ms. Walker, you'll find everything you need attached.
I studied the subject line which made it look like it was some sort of spreadsheet. I got up from my chair and went back out to Andi's computer sitting down and deep into the recesses of the machine's hard drive.
My brothers filed out behind me. "You found something. What is it?" Hunter asked.
"I'm not sure, give me a minute."
It took me a few minutes but then I found it. The spreadsheet had indeed been a real document with information about the distribution of Strong shoes, but attached to it had been a little worm that burrowed into Andi's computer and opened the back door for Chen to get in.
I reviewed the email again.
As we agreed upon, Ms. Walker, you'll find everything you need attached.
What did that mean? Was it possible that Andi had been a part of this the whole time? My first instinct was to say no. She adored my grandmother. And while for a long time, she didn't think much of me, I knew she liked my brothers. She would never do this.
I went back to look at some of the emails surrounding the one that had had the virus. All of them had messages similar to the one Chen had sent the virus in. They didn't say anything outright to suggest she'd betrayed the family, but they were also vague enough to be incriminating.
"What is it Noah?" Carter asked.
I looked up my three brothers leaning over Andi's desk waiting for me to tell them what I found. "It came into Andi's computer."
"What does that mean?" Ryan asked.
"It means Chen emailed her the worm that got in and created all the static,” I said, feeling unsettled by it while at the same time feeling guilty that I was suspicious.
"She wouldn’t have done it on purpose. Chen must have duped her," Carter said, although his tone lacked some conviction. Hunter came around the desk and looked at the computer where I had all of the emails from Chen to Andi from the time period opened.
He pointed to the screen. "The hell she didn't. Look at that."
I shook my head. "This doesn't mean she was in on it. Chen is wily."
"Andi isn’t stupid, Noah." Hunter said, glaring down at me. "Just because you're sleeping with her doesn't mean—”
"Hunter, that's enough." Ryan said.
In my mind I was wondering how any of them knew what I was doing with Andi. Maybe she'd told their wives after all. Of course, at this point it didn't matter.
“Did she give you any indication that something was up in China?” Ryan asked.
I closed my eyes knowing she did. “She went to dinner with him alone a couple of times.”
“See,” Hunter said, overly eager to believe she backstabbed all of us.
“Did she give a reason?” Carter asked.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Once was to have a tour of the city and the other was to investigate if he was involved.” I know both of those reasons could have been lies.
“Gran sent Andi because she trusts her,” I pointed out.