He wavered. Jeff stepped to the side as I approached him. I laid my hand on the computer Jeff had been working on. “I think this Andy is very talented. He might find a way in.”
“Could it not happen with your solution?”
I sat down. “Can I show you? It will only take a moment.”
Jeff nodded, not looking happy. He obviously didn’t like the fact that we had discovered the weakness, but I was grateful he was setting aside his pride.
My fingers flew over the keyboard, moving so fast that no one could keep up—even Egan. Screens appeared and disappeared. I double-checked and nodded. “They have tightened it well,” I admitted. “But I think I could get in with a few more moments.” I hit some more keys. “Ours would stop them the first time it was attempted. Lock them down completely.”
Jeff peered at the screen from a safe distance. “Send me the parameters. I will look them over… shortly.”
His unspoken words were clear. Once we were gone. I sensed his uneasiness growing. The sweat was beading on his forehead, and he dabbed at the dampness several times with a handkerchief he took from his pocket. His dislike of being close to strangers was evident, and I knew we had to leave before he decided not to help us at all.
I stood. “I will.”
Jeff shifted, clearly uncomfortable.
“Thank you for your time,” I said.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help your friend. But we will keep searching,” he assured us, opening the door and walking ahead of us.
I could smell his cologne, the scent hitting me again. Less concentrated, I realized I had smelled it before. I wasn’t sure when, but there was something familiar about it. Jeff offered us a tight smile then waited until we left the building. He hurried away, at least as quickly as he could hurry. His shuffle was more obvious the quicker he tried to move.
In the car, Egan shook his head. “That man has some major personal boundary issues.”
“Big-time. I wonder how his wife got past them.”
“Maybe she has the same ones. Perhaps they somehow are comfortable with each other.”
I shrugged.
“That Andy bastard is smart.”
“Or knows more than Jeff thinks.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jeff writes code and developed the software, but he has a team, so he isn’t proficient in every area. He hired out for security. How big a staff does he have?”
“The website employs quite a few frontline people. Customer service, help lines, and all that.”
“We need to check into the employees. Jeff can’t be the only one with access to the software.”
“You think it’s an inside job?”
“Yes. But we have an insider now.”
“What did you do?”
“Put a tracking program in. I could only plant it, not activate it with him watching. Next time Jeff uses that machine, it will start, and we can access the system and delve as deep as we want. But it has to be that machine. I didn’t have time for anything else. Not with him watching.”
“Brilliant.”
We were quiet for a moment. “Anything bother you about him?”
He shrugged. “He’s odd. Many computer geniuses are.”
“His anxiety was evident.”