Three Weeks Last Spring (23 page)

Before she had chance to formulate a reply, John
gave a slow handclap
that
broke the silence.

"Well, that was a pretty s
peech, but words come cheap."

Walker glared angrily at Ridge.
"Butt out!
This is purely between me and Skye and has nothing to do with you."
He focused his attention on Skye.
"When this is over you have my promise that I will do everything in my power t
o put things right between us."

"Do you really think I'm going to let Skye hang around long enough for your grand gestures?"
John tighten
ed his grip on Skye's shoulder.

Walker ignored Ridge and looked directly at Skye once more.
"Skye?"

Skye dropped her eyes before his steady gaze lest he should see her confusion, torn as she was by conflicting emotions.
Was John right?
Should she walk away and let Walker solve his own problems, or should she stay and help the man she loved?

Walker was halfway to the door, before she found the strength to speak, her
voice
cool and clear as ice water.

"We'll help, but only provided you agree to our terms.
"

Walker stopped in
midstride and turned to listen.

"Firstly, your company or the US Government undertakes to pay for our time and expertise, and I should warn you we don't come cheap.
Secondly, any software we install on your system will remain our property and be removed when we successfully locate the hackers.
And finally, there will be no further contact between you and me once the hacker i
s located.
Do we have a deal?"

Walker glared at her.
"I'll agree to the first two, but I'll be damned if I'll agree to the third!"

Skye lifted her chin and met
his gaze.
"Well, good luck.
I hope you can find someone with the necessary expertise to help you.
C
lose the door on your way out."

Walker's expression darkened with an unreadable emotion.
He retraced his steps and jerked her to her feet.
"
Sweet Pea
, this is one conversation you and I are having in private."
He gripped Skye's elbow, he ushered her out the door and down the path to the shore, completely impervious to her
objections and those of Ridge.

"W
hat the hell did you mean back there?
And don't look to Ridge for support. I've had about as much of his interference as I can take.
If he so much as moves a muscle in this direction I'll take the greatest pleasure in putting him flat on his back."

Skye flattened her palms against his chest.
Over Walker's shoulder she could see John standing in the doorway of the cabin.
She shook her head indi
cating that he should stay put.

"I meant exactly what I said.
Once this is over, there will be no further contact between us."

Walker searched her face for a trace of emotion and found none.
"Do you mean to tell me, that what we shared mean
t
nothing?"

All the anger Skye had felt over the last few days welled to the surface.
She wanted to lash out and hur
t him as much as he
ha
d hurt her.

"What exactly did we share?
Three days of mediocre sex.
Sorry to disappo
int you, but it meant nothing
."
She struggled to free herself from his arms.

Walker tightened his grip on her waist.
"You're lying. It wasn't
mediocre sex
and you know it.
It was fantastic and if I kissed you now you'd want me as much as I want you."

Skye found her body responding to his.
Fear and anger overcame the desire, giving her
the strength to push him away.

"Don't flatter yourself.
This isn't the dark ages.
Haven't you
realize
d
that women are just as capable of having meaningless affairs as men?
We don't have to be attracted to or be in love with every man who takes us to bed."
She could see from the look in his eyes that her arrow had hit its mark.
"Now, are you
going accept my terms or not?"

Walker was wounded beyond comprehension.
He took a deep breath.
Skye could deny it for as long as she liked but they both knew what they'd shared was real.
But, he needed her help, and if it meant abiding by her rules to get it, then so be it.
Releasing his grip
on her waist, he stepped back.

"
You’ve got a deal. But
when this is over, I'll
prove what we shared is real
.
Don't say you haven't had fair warning.
In the meantime, I assume you'll
need
your laptop?"
Without waiting to hear her answer, he spun on his heel, and
strode
back up th
e path to the cabin.

Skye didn't follow immediately.
She gazed at Walker's retreating figure and pressed both hands over her eyes
in despair
.
Weariness enveloped her, but she knew she had to concentrate.
There was no doubt in her mind that Walker would carry out his threat.
She pushed aside her worries
, and walked back to the cabin.

John had already set up her laptop next to his on the table, and was examining the new code she had written.
Skye sat down next to him and said nothing.

Walker paced up and down in front of the fireplace.
His temper almost uncontrollable, as he watched Skye and Ridge get to work, their heads bent in concentration as they gazed at first one screen and then the other.
Left alone with his thoughts he decided that he couldn't let the only woman who had ever meant anything to him walk away without a fight.
And if he was going to convince her that what they had was something worth fighting for, he needed to get Skye alone and that wouldn’t be easy with Ridge hovering over her all the time, like the proverbial British bulldog
.

Skye's silken voice broke into his thoughts.
"Although we can run a trace from here we will need access to your company's mainframe and server."

"Sure.
Whatever you need, just ask.
I can make arrangements for us to go over to Seattle whenever you’re ready.
Just say the word."

"Perhaps later today, when John and I have finished checking the amendments I've made to the code.
Do you have any information about the case that might be of interest to our cyber thieves…
something that would tempt them to
hack
into your systems again?"

Walker gave a brief nod.
"I
’ll
ask my friend in the State Department to put out a press release to the effect that a prosecution is imminent.
That ought to grab their attention.
Want me to make the call?"

Skye looked at John.

"As far as I can tell without thorough testing, the code looks all right.
Do it, make the call
,
" Ridge said.
"And while you're on the phone, book three seats on the evening flight to Seattle.
I absolutely detest boats
.
"

"No need, I'll fly us over.
You've no aversion to small planes have you?" Walker
asked.

"I don't," replied Skye.
"What about you, John?"

"I daresay I'll cope.
Now can we get on with this before you two start discussing such nicetie
s as in-flight service?"

Two hours later they walked into Walker
’s
office.

"I’ve seen bigger coffins than that plane," John said.

Skye laughed.
"You should see your face—it's green
.
"

"If you'd
seen
the way the wing
almost
kissed the sea as we took off, you might not be so cocky!"

"Quit complaining.
Let's
get to work setting things up."

Twenty minutes later, the virus program Skye was running finished checking Walker's laptop for signs of infection.
The tracking program had been loaded into the ma
inframe.

"We’re all set," John said.
"It's just a case of sitting back and waiting to see if anyone
takes the bait and
tries to hack into the system.
Are you sure that press release and the evidence will stand up to close scrutiny?"

"Positive.
McCabe doesn’t make mistakes," Walker replied.
"Do you have any idea how
they are accessing the system?"

"There are a number of methods
they could use
.
The simplest would be to have someone working on the inside.
Someone who has access to all your files—say a secretary or a lab technician.
If that's not feasible then they'd have to gain access via the back door."

Walker shook his head.
"No one gets employed here without criminal, reference and credit checks."

"Ever heard of false IDs?"
John asked.

Walker didn't dignify his insulting question with a response.
Instead he turned to Skye.

"The back door?
As in climbing up the fire escape and breaking in?"

Skye laughed.
"Most operating systems have vulnerabilities and hackers take advantage of these ‘back doors’ to gain access.
Alternatively
,
they could have sent an e-mail, with an innocent-looking attachment containing a small self-executing file."
Skye's face became animated as she warmed to her subject
. Her mouth curved
into an unconscious smile.
"A few extra lines added to a screen saver or a picture file or even hidden in a virus
,
is all it takes.
Th
ey’re known as a Trojan horse."

Thoroughly bewildered by the jargon, Walker ra
ised an eyebrow questioningly.

"A Trojan horse?"

Skye sighed.
"A Trojan horse is simply a computer program that claims to be one thing, such as a game, but is something else entirely.
When activated, it causes damage such as erasing
data on
your hard disk.
Once downloaded, a Trojan horse can lurk undetected in your operating system's files until as something triggers it.
Or it could be a small program set to search for certain key words, such as
pollution
or
fish.
When you open a document containing those words, the program sends the information through your server to the hacker.
You wouldn't be aware the program had been activated.
Once inside your system a hacker's second goal is to get root access—"

"Root access?
Isn't that something
you have done at the dentist?"

Skye smiled, enjoying the gentle sparring against her better
judgment
.
"Root access is every dedicated hacker's ultimate goal.
It means that the hacker has unrestricted access to the inner working of your system.
Once he's gained that he has the ability to copy, delete or even change files,
authorize
new users, and install a back door to allow regular access, not to mention a whole host of other things."