Her Texas Renegade by Joanne Rock

Author:Joanne Rock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-02-04T16:34:25+00:00

* * *

“You should head home,” Kai told his brother, Dane, eight hours later. “You look like roadkill.”

Dane had just walked into the tech lab, his thick brown hair standing on end, his focus going straight to the overhead screen that broadcast the progress made on installing the new security software for Blackwood Bank. They’d wanted to test it further before rolling out the installation, but the breach had robbed them of that chance. They didn’t have the luxury of time anymore.

Setting aside a fresh cup of black coffee, Kai swiveled in the ergonomic leather office chair at the center of the room, pushing back from his workstation. Three other systems analysts remained in the area with him, overseeing their own responsibilities in the implementation process, but the installation had all gone smoothly so far.

“You’re just jealous you can’t rock a beard like mine,” Dane said absently, stroking a hand over the facial hair while he glanced at one of the other analysts’ monitors on his way to the center of the room.

“Dude, you’ve been here so long there are probably small life forms setting up colonies in that thing,” Kai returned, relaxing a bit at Dane’s easy demeanor. It reinforced Kai’s own sense that the crisis was abating.

If Dane was still worried about Blackwood Bank’s system, he would be wired, no matter how little sleep he’d had. The zombie-like trudge of his brother’s steps was reassuring as Dane reached the chair beside Kai’s and lowered himself into it.

“Possibly. But if looking like roadkill keeps me out of the media, I’ll take it.” Dane tapped the screen to life at the workstation in front of him, refreshing a tab tracking the day’s business news. “We’re going to have to give in and get more aggressive about defending the Madtec image though, so someone will have to start speaking on behalf of the company.”

A bad feeling crept up the back of his neck.

“What do you mean?” Kai asked.

“I mean we should have sent someone to the bank’s press conference instead of just issuing a statement, because Vaughn Blackwood wasn’t prepared for the technical questions about the breach.” Dane hit a button to fast-forward a clip from the local network news, stopping when it reached the last third of the video.

The camera captured a weary-looking Vaughn looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he fielded detailed inquiries from journalists about the nature of the breach, the party responsible and the kinds of measures being taken to address the problem. He kept returning to his note cards, reiterating talking points that only partially answered the questions.

“Shit,” Kai muttered as he stared down at Dane’s screen, wondering if he should have encouraged Miranda to be there for the press conference. No doubt she would have done a better job holding her own. “I had our lone press relations expert working with Miranda on the statement. That mistake is on me.”

Before Dane could respond, the news coverage swapped to footage of the Madtec

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