Ellie visited NXT Systems at an early hour the following morning, her heart racing with worry and resolve. The sparkling glass front, which had once been so familiar and inviting, now seemed formidable and impersonal. Bracing herself, she breathed in deeply and walked through the sliding doors and into the busy lobby.
She moved gingerly, keeping her eyes averted from the people she recognized, and settled into her station in a matter of moments. Her computer powered up with a beep, the company logo glaring mockingly at her on the screen. An earpiece discreetly connected her to Nicholas.
"You there, Ellie?" Nicholas's voice crackled gently in her ear.
"Yes," she breathed, looking around furtively. "Where do we begin?"
Check the internal transaction logs for discrepancies, something minor that would not raise an alarm right away," Nicholas instructed softly. "Investigate executive authorizations. We must determine who approved the setup."
Ellie's hands were trembling a little as she began to work, navigating slowly through layers of electronic red tape. Time was dragging by with torturous slowness, each second stretching into what felt like minutes.
It was nearly an hour of diligent looking. Ellie's face brightened. "I've got something. An authorization signature of Samantha Blythe. It looks normal, but it has a weird timestamp."
"Great," Nicholas replied in a hurry. "Now compare it with e-mail traffic or any meetings that were recorded around the same general time. We need concrete proof."
Ellie worked furiously, her heart racing faster with each click. A series of encrypted messages soon appeared, dating from some time around that and passing between Samantha Blythe and some unknown address, cleverly disguised in a deluge of administrative messages.
"Got it," Ellie gasped, her words trembling with excitement and terror. "There are encrypted messages from then. I can't decode them here."
"Send them to me immediately. I'll take it from there," Nicholas urged.
As Ellie quickly forwarded the files, a familiar voice cut through her fragile feeling of security.
"Ellie," Gregory's icy tone sent her jumping, her heart barely beating as she spun around.
"Yes, Gregory?" she wrestled, voice tightly controlled.
"Have you talked to Max since he was fired?" Gregory's gaze was icy, questioning.
"No," she invented suavely, standing to his glare. "Why?"
Gregory eyed her warily, suspicion gleaming in his eyes. "Be careful about the friends you choose, Ellie. I don't want to see another talented career ruined by poor choices."
He turned and walked away, leaving Ellie shaken. Her heart racing, she whispered urgently into her earpiece.
"Nicholas, move fast. I think they suspect me."
"We're almost there," Nicholas replied calmly. "Just hold on. We're going to get out of there."
Ellie steeled herself, determination burning fresh within her. She knew what was at risk, but to turn back now was not possible. She was too deep in, and the truth was finally within reach.