She opened her eyes to see Jenna’s “whatever” expression on her face.
“Great, Joanna,” Jenna said rolling her eyes again. “Now, I am really convinced.”
Joanna could not ignore the thick layer of sarcasm in her friend’s voice. She sat back down and took out her smart phone. She opened up a video and maximized it on the screen.
“Here. Watch this,” she said, handing her phone to Jenna.
Jenna sighed and took it from her hand.
“This better be good,” she said.
The video started playing. The screen filled with the larger-than-life image of Shelley Lionheart, wearing a neon-white suit, seated at her glass desk in her white high-back leather office chair in her fifteen-foot windowed penthouse office. The picture jittered slightly—Joanna had done her best to keep her phone steady.
“You’re doing an exceptional job filling in for Harry and Cristal,” Shelley was saying.
“Thanks, I’m just doing my job,” she heard herself say.
Shelley leaned forward, crossing her hands on the desk. Her two-inch nails were painted the shade of blood red. It took a lot for Joanna to be intimidated, but she had to admit that being in the presence of Shelley Lionheart made her a bit squeamish.
“This information must stay in this room,” Lionheart said, lowering her voice. “Can I trust you to keep confidential information?”
“Umm, yes, of course. I’m a professional,” Joanna replied, a little too fast.
“We both know that George Beaver is an incompetent programmer and senior manager,” Shelley continued. “I need someone like you at my side to keep me abreast of what is happening in our IT systems—from current software installations, to development roadmaps and security concerns.”
Shelley smiled, if you could call it a smile. It appeared more like a sneer.
Joanna remembered how excited she should have felt. Finally, someone from the top was recognizing her potential. But part of her felt weird—like she was just about to sell her soul to the devil. She shivered at the thought. Now where did that crazy idea come from?
The picture shifted slightly as Shelley rose from her chair. The word rose was the best way to describe it. Her body seemed to glide upwards as she stood. It could have been the resolution of the video, but Shelley seemed to become transparent just for a second before she walked (glided) around the desk to stand in front of her.
The picture shifted abruptly and the screen was filled with a blurred image. The sound was clearer now with Shelley’s voice closer to the phone.
“We have some information about illicit activity from one of our professors at the GN University. His name is Dr. Nariman, but students refer to him as Dr. Saeed. It seems he accessed encrypted files in our restricted server with the help of some of your colleagues. I want you to find any trace of suspicious activity in the logs, and see if you can track its sources to identify the hackers. This will be done under the guise of a “scheduled overhaul” of our developer systems to update our server software and rebuild our databases. You will be in charge. This is high-level priority, and I’ll make sure Beaver stays out of your way. We’ll call this project “System overhaul.” I don’t want you to let anyone know what the real purpose of this project is. Do you understand, Ms. Chan?”
The video shook slightly as Joanna shifted her weight.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good. If I am pleased with your report, we’ll see about giving you a promotion. Maybe you can take Beaver’s job.”
The video shook again as she stood up.
“Thank you, Shelley. I really appreciate it,” she heard herself saying.
Ugh, it almost sounded like she was gushing all over her.
The video ended abruptly.
Jenna looked up from the phone and stared at her, a smile stretching across her face.
“Okay, Joanna, I’m down with corporate espionage. You may have something. Not sure what it is yet, but I am going to start digging.”
Joanna pursed her lips together while her fingers fidgeted with a strand of her hair. “Do you need anything from me?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jenna said, almost gleefully. “You’re going to give me everything you know about Harry, Cristal, and Kerim. Every time Shelley talks to you, you’re going to let me know a.s.a.p.”
“Sounds fine,” Joanna replied. She should have been happy, but something was nagging at her—telling her to stop.
“And before I forget, I need two things from you,” Jenna added. “One, before you tell me about Cristal causing an earthquake and shining lights, you need to show me some proof. And two, I want you to get me into the Truth Seekers.”