A Matter of Trust Read Online Free
Author: Radclyffe
to lose her famous temper. He’d been on the other end of that enough times not to want to provoke her.
“Okay, I yield,” he said. “No more business talk. Are you coming to the show tomorrow night?”
“Of course I’m coming. You know I love to watch Jasmine perform.”
After almost five years, Sloan still found it hard to believe that the buttoned-up, straightlaced man she had first met in the esteemed halls of Justice in D.C. was actually the sultry, sexy siren he became onstage. His transition was so complete that she sometimes wondered how he managed to keep Jasmine under wraps as successfully as he did. She was one of the few people who knew them both, and, secretly, she had to admit to a slight bit of sexual titillation when Jasmine flirted with her. It was bad enough that Jason was a guy; the fact that he was straight made it even more confusing.
She grinned. By now she should know better than to try to sort out her own conflicting reactions. “Besides, I haven’t seen Jasmine in weeks.”
“Good”—he rose and carefully shook out the perfect creases in his trousers—“because she just bought a new dress.” He winked and for a second, Jasmine’s beautiful face flickered beneath the surface of his good-looking male countenance. “And I just know you’ll like it.”
Sloan laughed again. “Why don’t you go pretend to work for a while and give me a break? Don’t we have something—a background check on someone, a network to hack into— something that needs your attention?”
“I suppose I could start the file on Lassiter,” he admitted, and finally left her in peace.
She sat staring after him, her mind returning once again to the interview with Michael Lassiter. It wasn’t the most difficult job she had ever undertaken. With all the major corporations and most small businesses dependent on computers, calls concerning hacking, software piracy, and network disruptions were daily occurrences. Corporate espionage was one of the largest financial drains on most international organizations, mostly because it went unreported for fear of undermining public confidence in the company.
It never ceased to amaze Sloan that most people who were critically dependent upon computer networks knew almost nothing about them, and even those who did rarely took the time to ensure that they were totally tamperproof. She had recognized the need for Internet security services well ahead of the pack. Now that there were almost daily news reports detailing the ease with which systems could be entered and altered, computer security was a hot area. She had foreseen the need, and her previous experience made her perfect for the work.
What she found both intriguing and troubling about this particular assignment was her employer. Michael Lassiter struck her as a woman who was completely capable of living with the consequences of her decisions. But once or twice, Sloan thought she had seen a flicker of fear in the other woman’s eyes. For no reason she cared to explore, that bothered her.
Chapter Two
Michael swiveled her chair to look out the window of her twenty-first floor office. It was after 7:00 on a Friday night and just getting dark. Her Center City offices overlooked the financial district with a view beyond the skyline to the river. Had she been looking, she would have been able to see for miles across the broad expanse of water as commuters crossed the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin bridges heading home. But her gaze was unfocused, and what she saw was only the ghost of an image in her mind.
Usually what occupied her mind were visions of the future; what excited her were concepts—possibilities—the ideas she formulated for others to implement. More and more companies were looking outside their own spheres for advice on product development, market trends, and emerging technologies. It paid to be the first on the block with the newest creation, items to facilitate how humans worked and played and
“Okay, I yield,” he said. “No more business talk. Are you coming to the show tomorrow night?”
“Of course I’m coming. You know I love to watch Jasmine perform.”
After almost five years, Sloan still found it hard to believe that the buttoned-up, straightlaced man she had first met in the esteemed halls of Justice in D.C. was actually the sultry, sexy siren he became onstage. His transition was so complete that she sometimes wondered how he managed to keep Jasmine under wraps as successfully as he did. She was one of the few people who knew them both, and, secretly, she had to admit to a slight bit of sexual titillation when Jasmine flirted with her. It was bad enough that Jason was a guy; the fact that he was straight made it even more confusing.
She grinned. By now she should know better than to try to sort out her own conflicting reactions. “Besides, I haven’t seen Jasmine in weeks.”
“Good”—he rose and carefully shook out the perfect creases in his trousers—“because she just bought a new dress.” He winked and for a second, Jasmine’s beautiful face flickered beneath the surface of his good-looking male countenance. “And I just know you’ll like it.”
Sloan laughed again. “Why don’t you go pretend to work for a while and give me a break? Don’t we have something—a background check on someone, a network to hack into— something that needs your attention?”
“I suppose I could start the file on Lassiter,” he admitted, and finally left her in peace.
She sat staring after him, her mind returning once again to the interview with Michael Lassiter. It wasn’t the most difficult job she had ever undertaken. With all the major corporations and most small businesses dependent on computers, calls concerning hacking, software piracy, and network disruptions were daily occurrences. Corporate espionage was one of the largest financial drains on most international organizations, mostly because it went unreported for fear of undermining public confidence in the company.
It never ceased to amaze Sloan that most people who were critically dependent upon computer networks knew almost nothing about them, and even those who did rarely took the time to ensure that they were totally tamperproof. She had recognized the need for Internet security services well ahead of the pack. Now that there were almost daily news reports detailing the ease with which systems could be entered and altered, computer security was a hot area. She had foreseen the need, and her previous experience made her perfect for the work.
What she found both intriguing and troubling about this particular assignment was her employer. Michael Lassiter struck her as a woman who was completely capable of living with the consequences of her decisions. But once or twice, Sloan thought she had seen a flicker of fear in the other woman’s eyes. For no reason she cared to explore, that bothered her.
Chapter Two
Michael swiveled her chair to look out the window of her twenty-first floor office. It was after 7:00 on a Friday night and just getting dark. Her Center City offices overlooked the financial district with a view beyond the skyline to the river. Had she been looking, she would have been able to see for miles across the broad expanse of water as commuters crossed the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin bridges heading home. But her gaze was unfocused, and what she saw was only the ghost of an image in her mind.
Usually what occupied her mind were visions of the future; what excited her were concepts—possibilities—the ideas she formulated for others to implement. More and more companies were looking outside their own spheres for advice on product development, market trends, and emerging technologies. It paid to be the first on the block with the newest creation, items to facilitate how humans worked and played and
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