Final Encounter: A Leine Basso Thriller by D.V. Berkom

Author:D.V. Berkom [Berkom, D.V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Duct Tape Press
Published: 2024-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

25

Sebastian strode along the hallway, headed for the back stairs leading to his office. He tapped his watch. “Ginger, what’s happening? Report.”

Ginger didn’t respond. Ginger always responded. Had someone breached his security? That didn’t seem possible. Besides, everyone who was at the party had been vetted, even the catering crew.

Except for Desi’s friend, Leine. Shit. He’d given her name to his security team late, not thinking anything of it. Could she be a problem? Corporate espionage was always a concern. He tapped his watch once more. “Ron, come in. I think we have a security breach, over.”

Ron’s image materialized beside him.

“What’s the problem, boss?”

“Have you been monitoring the feeds?”

“Yes, sir. Of course. What happened?”

“Ginger sent me a message asking about a woman in my office.”

“That’s news to me. I’m looking at the feed right now and there’s no one in the room.”

“I’m on my way up there to find out.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir. What if someone is up there? Wait for me, all right?”

Sebastian slowed his pace. “All right. But get over here, pronto.”

“Copy that.”

With a sigh, Sebastian stopped to wait for Ron to catch up with him. He stared at the painting on the wall of the landing. It was by Jackson Pollock and, like most of his abstract pieces, evoked a feeling of chaos, a congruence of energy into one, collapsible whole. Much like his company. He took another deep breath in an effort to clamp down his anxiety, but the attempt fell short.

What if someone had breached his inner sanctum? He’d installed more than enough security protocols to thwart someone trying to steal his intellectual property. At least, he thought he had. His security vetted the caterers, their employees, even had them pass through a magnetometer and RF detectors in case someone attempted to smuggle in a cell phone or tried to transmit information from the house and grounds. Short of conducting a strip search on each employee, there wasn’t much more he could do.

Ron came up the stairs at a run, slowing as he caught sight of Sebastian. In his hand was a semiauto with a suppressor threaded onto the barrel, so as not to alarm the guests should he need to shoot.

“Did the drones pick up anything?” Sebastian asked.

Ron shook his head. “Not a thing. I’ve alerted the team and doubled our perimeter check in case someone makes a break for it.”

Sebastian nodded. “Let’s go.”

Ron took the lead, with Sebastian close behind. They ascended the stairs at a good clip until they reached the second-floor landing, where they slowed and followed the hallway the rest of the distance to his office door.

Sebastian stepped up and presented his left eye to the retinal scanner. The red light turned green. Then he placed his thumb on the fingerprint reader. That too, turned green, and the door clicked open. Before he walked inside, he tapped his watch, deactivating the lasers.

“Lights.”

A floor lamp and a lamp on the desk blinked on, illuminating the space. No one was there.

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