"But for what purpose?" I asked. "I mean, I suppose impacting our distribution is a hassle, but what does a competitor really get out of it?"
For the first time since I met him, Phil's eyes narrowed a little bit and he leaned forward. "Well, perhaps it has less to do with the endgame of getting shoes to our consumers and more about impacting the value of the company."
Noah stopped eating and stared at Phil. "Are you saying someone's trying to devalue the company?"
"It's a possibility. It's not like it hasn't been done to other companies before."
Noah’s expression hardened. "You think someone's trying to set up a hostile takeover."
I understood enough about business to know that that was the logical path that Phil had been hinting at, but it wasn't something that he had said to Margaret, and while Margaret was shrewd, I couldn't be sure that it was what she was thinking about as well.
Then again, maybe she was and hadn't said anything as a way to make sure staff didn't get wind of it. If people in the company thought the business was in trouble that could cause more problems. And if someone from inside the company was part of the problem, she didn't want anyone to know we were on to them.
"I think it's a possibility to consider. But certainly not the only possibility," Phil said.
Noah nodded and went back to eating. But I had the sense he was thinking more than feeding himself.
Finally he said, "I'm going to put in some additional security features and some patches, but it's likely your hacker will find them and know that were onto him. We need to work fast to figure out who has the knowledge and resources to do this, and why they would want to."
"Sounds like we have quite a mystery on our hands. I’ll spend the rest of the day doing a deeper dive into our suppliers, as well as the other staff,” I said as I packed up the remnants of my lunch.
"I'll keep plugging away at the technical issues and see if I can't hunt this mother fucker down."
I looked down to hide my hint of a smile because admittedly sometimes Noah had the right thing to say at the right time, even if it seemed inappropriate.
Phil nodded. "Well, that's why your grandmother sent you. She knew you'd be the one to do it."
7
Noah
I enjoyed computers, but not for hours and hours on end. Now at the end of the day, my eyes felt blurry and my shoulders were tight. If this was going to go on much longer, I would have to bring in better furniture because if the eyestrain didn't kill me, the back strain would.
The good news I’d have to report to my grandmother was that Phil did seem to be on the up and up. He was doing everything he needed to do to give me access to everything me and Andi needed.
Andi too, was being thorough yet discrete in her research. I tried to tell her that at one point, but was afraid how she might take it. Knowing her, she’d think I was being condescending or somehow making reference to how I’d called her unprofessional before. So, I didn’t say anything.
Andi had returned to the suite earlier that afternoon, making the argument that investigating the people that worked in the office while they were there didn't seem like a good idea. She was right, of course, and I suppose that's why she had booked us a suite. I’d never really had concerns about her doing her job though. My grandmother wouldn’t have hired her and given her so much responsibility if she wasn’t good at what she did.
When I arrived back, she was dressed sitting at the table with piles of folders in front of her. She was still wearing that sexy little skirt and silk shirt outfit. I was about to make a comment that she was welcome to dress more casually when working here in the suite, when I noticed a large basket of fruit on the table in front of her.
She looked up at me, her eyes looking as tired as mine felt.
I nodded to the basket. "Who sent that?"
"It came with a card. It's for you."
I approached the table and picked up the card.
A little bird told me you were in town. How about dinner tomorrow night? I'll send a car at seven. Please bring Ms. Walker along, as well.
Marcus Chen
I tossed the card down on the table. "I'm not going out and schmoozing with one of our partners," I said, feeling so fucking tired. "We have a job to do here and it's my intention to dedicate all our waking hours to getting it done."
Andi frowned at me. "I think that's a mistake. Mr. Chen is very important to Strong Incorporated here in Hong Kong. His network, his factories, his distributors are all very necessary to the work we do here. We can't afford to blow him off. Plus, he could be a source of information about who might be trying to sabotage our success here."
"I didn't come here to be wined and dined, or make good with our partners. I was sent here to find the hack and stop it."