Detectives

52

Noah pushed the button for the elevator. "They expect trouble," he told them. "There's a guard at the double doors. He doesn't work for the hotel. Brett must have hired him."

Allison was shocked, but Liam wasn't surprised. "There's a lot of money at stake."

"He's going to extremes," Allison said. "What must his guests think?"

"Brett's hoping they'll think he's important," Noah suggested.

"You can watch the presentation from the security room," Liam said to her.

She shook her head. "No, I want to walk into the ballroom. I want him to see me."

The doors opened and they stepped inside. Allison assumed they had agreed with her plan to confront Brett, and it wasn't until Noah pressed the UP button that she realized they were ignoring her wishes.

"The ballrooms are on the lower level," she reminded him.

"Security is just above reception," Noah explained. As they ascended, he remarked, "We have to be cautious. We don't yet know who's involved with his scheme. I understand your wanting to be there to stop him from profiting from your work-"

She interrupted. "Oh, he won't be successful."

"You said the program wasn't complete, but couldn't he have finished it on his own?" Liam asked.

"No," she replied. She thought for a second to come up with an analogy that was simple to understand. "Think of it like a giant jigsaw puzzle made up of thousands of tiny pieces," she said. "When you put the puzzle together you have a picture of a beautiful flower garden. Anyone who looks at it sees the entire picture, but you know one of the many pieces that make up a petal on a rose has no backing underneath it. Since you're the one who removed the backing, only you know where it is and how to replace it. Even if someone studies the puzzle with a magnifying glass, the garden will look complete and perfect, but that weak piece will disintegrate very quickly."

"Couldn't someone with enough time and knowledge figure out how to add what's missing?" Noah wondered.

She shook her head. "Not likely," she answered. "They won't be able to find it."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't on the computer." She smiled and tapped her finger on her head. "It's here." The doors parted, and she stepped into the hallway. "Besides, it won't get to that point."

"How do you know?" Liam asked.

"Let's just say it's possible that my computer recently made a visit to his computer."

"How recently?" he asked as he followed close behind.

She shrugged and increased her pace.

"Then you did in fact hack into-," he began.

"You should have more faith in me. Don't you know me at all?"

Liam caught up with her at the door to the security room. "Yeah, that's the problem. I do know you."

Ordinarily guests wouldn't have access to the security center, but Noah had notified the manager. He hadn't asked for clearance. He'd simply told him they were coming.

Allison felt as though she had just walked into one of the rooms at the cyber unit. There were monitors along two walls with security personnel watching each area of the hotel.

"I want to confront Brett," she reiterated. "I want him to see me."

"That's not a good idea," Noah said.