Controlling Vulnerable

Chapter 25

Lara went back to work the next day. Joe drove them both to drop the girls at school as they had the OBGYN appointment at one. As they exited the elevator carrying coffees, he took Lara's small hand, taking her towards his office. Linda stood up beaming and opened her arms saying, "Are you sure you're okay honey?" Lara squeezed her gratefully and nodded as Dean approached. They went into Joe's office and Dean followed them in, holding a hand out to Lara. She took it with a smile and said, "I'm okay, honestly."

She took a deep breath, "I'm guessing I need to move up what we'd planned to present in the March Investor session. Joe nodded as they all sat down at the meeting table. Joe took her laptop from his drawer and passed it over, "Mason was sympathetic when I spoke to him yesterday." He smiled at Lara, "He's a big Lara fan so he was pretty concerned when I told him you were in the hospital and it stopped him from getting too worked up." He sighed and looked at the others, "I don't like washing our dirty linen in public, but I thought it was best to come completely clean with him." He took a deep breath, "So now we have to convince him and the others that we have enough going in to stop anything like this from ever happening again." Lara nodded and said, "We have got enough Joe. Ben and I were testing controls around external E-mails when this all kicked off. Basically, the proposal is to quarantine anything going external with an attachment, or over a certain size even without an attachment. They can be reviewed and anything that shouldn't be going out will be stopped before it ever left." Dean looked worried, "Lara that sounds good, but what about all the stuff that goes out legitimately? She bit her lip and nodded, "We can have a list of trusted E mail addresses for the people who regularly need to send stuff. Think about it, how many employees really need to send stuff externally? The majority of the staff here are coders and tech experts. Anyway, the user access controls that went live last month will limit the number of people who have access to anything sensitive." Joe sighed, "Thank god you got that in when you did. Are there any other areas we need to tighten?" Lara smiled, "I'm afraid there are, but unlike the things we've done so far they're going to cost money." She stood up, "Let me go and work on the presentation. I'll build in an outline of the next phase and put TBD next to the investment required for now."

Joe glanced at her, "Okay, I'll see you at twelve-thirty for lunch." Dean cleared his throat, "Joe, I'd put an hour in for us at twelve to go through the Ops Director job spec. Can you go for lunch a little later?" Joe glanced at Lara as she reached the door to leave with Linda and waited until it was closed before he said, "Sorry Dean. I'll have Linda find us another slot today. I'll move anything else around, but it's not just lunch. I have to take Lara to a doc's appointment. Just don't say anything because no-one else knows, not even Linda." Dean looked alarmed, "Christ no, I won't breathe a word, but is she okay?" Joe sighed, "Yeah, I just need to get her checked over so we've got peace of mind." Dean stood up to leave, "God I'm sorry Joe. Mason Williams isn't the only one who's a Lara fan. She's brought so much to this business and she didn't deserve what happened to her the other day. Joe clapped his head of HR on the back, "Thanks Dean, I appreciate you saying that."

Across town, Scott entered the shabby single-story house in a run-down part of town. Despite the relatively early hour, he was sweating profusely, and he realised the air-con wasn't functioning particularly well in this unit. He was taken by a burly, dark-haired guy with a limp into the kitchen area at the back of the house, where a powerfully built Hispanic man was sitting accompanied by three other men. They all looked up when he entered and the guy sitting down said, "You must be Scotty. Carlos here tells me you can't clear your balance with me, which means we have a problem." Scott wiped his forehead, "I came to tell you, you don't have to worry. I just need a few days to organise the funds and I can pay it all Griggs." Griggs leaned forward, "So you owed us ten, but that's doubled to twenty with interest and to cover my management time." Scott nodded vigorously, "It's not a problem. You'll have the full twenty." Griggs grabbed a slice of bacon from the table and chewed while Scott grew increasingly nervy. Swallowing the last of the bacon he smirked, "Thing is Scotty, my patience is just about done. If you don't deliver I'll be forced to recoup my funds in an alternative way." He paused and picked up another piece of bacon, "You might think I'll threaten to rough you up, but experience has told me that isn't as great a motivator as you'd expect. Now the folks that are important to you, that's motivation." He smirked again, "Have you got a wife, kids Scotty?" He laughed at Scott's sweaty pale face, "You don't have to tell me, I'll find out." He threw the remnants of his breakfast on the table, "But then if you bring me what you owe me I won't care. Now get out and don't waste any more of my time or the twenty will be forty." When he arrived home, Scott splashed water on his clammy face at the kitchen sink. He threw a cup at the wall and replaying Griggs' threat and the events of the last few days, he suddenly began to see a way out of his problem.