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Click! Clack!

Click! Clack!

Elsa was glad she hadn't taken off her war shoes because she knew this was going to be interesting.

She followed her head of cybersecurity to the secure room where her head of the actual security was holding Fiske with his men.

She smiled to herself but it quickly turned into a frown as the sound of another heels clicking against the floor threw off the rhythm of her walk.

Her head of PR appeared out of the next corner, joining them as they walked. "Elsa." She nodded.

"What's it?" Elsa asked.

"We found traces of Fiske speaking to certain reporters on his devices and since we don't know exactly what he's told them, how do we address his involvement if it goes public?"

"We don't." Elsa answered immediately. "This company will not be defined by the actions of one rogue employee. If the media gets wind of him, we spin it as an isolated incident. WireFrame's integrity is non-negotiable. Understand?"

"Yes." She nodded and at the next corner, separated from them, going to make sure their PR machine was working smoothly.

Just as they'd been able to sway public opinions about others, they'd done the same to themselves. It hadn't been as easy but it had been done.

Fortunately, they'd been able to spin it as a net win, using WireFrame as an example for all companies on how to handle breaches.

It had been a bit of a struggle to keep Walk Shop out of the whole thing as the negative publicity would impact both company's parent company, Imperial Holdings but she'd managed. This was after all, what she thrived at.

"Here we are, ma'am." Her head of cybersecurity gestured to the door of the secure room.

"Thank you." She nodded to him. "You may leave."

He gave her a final respectful nod before leaving. The things that happened inside the secure room are things he shouldn't be involved in.

She crouched and placed her face near the retinal scanner and after the scanner scanned her eyes, the door unlocked. She pulled the door open and entered to see exactly what she'd been expecting.

"Sitting in the middle of the room on a metal chair was Fiske. Unlike what he'd probably been expecting, nobody had roughed him up. His suit and tie was still neat but he glanced around the room, swallowing in fear.

The moment she entered the room, his eyes went to her and widened. "Ma'am! Ma'am! I don't know what's going on." He said immediately, as if in a rush to get out his story before anyone shut him up.

"I don't know anything about the breach. Believe me!" He wanted to stand but a hand came on his shoulder and pushed him down on the chair. He looked up into the face of Dominic, Elsa's head of security, opened his mouth and promptly shut it.

Dominic tended to have that effect on people. Standing at a modest six foot four, he was all pure muscle. Adding the tattoos covering his arms and the way his security uniform molded around the body, he looked like he belonged in the kind of secret force made up of soldiers sent for only the most dangerous and outrageous missions.

Scattered around the room were some of his subordinates, most of them outside, performing their jobs.

"Ma'am." Dominic nodded at her as she entered.

One of his subordinates brought forward another metal chair and placed it in front of Fiske's and stepped back.

Elsa nodded to herself as she sat on the chair and leaned back. "So, Mr. Fiske." Her eyes took in the man's appearance and mannerisms. "You were saying?"

"I- I- I'm not the one, ma'am." He stammered. "I didn't do anything. I really didn't. I was just sitting at my desk, doing my job and next thing I know, data breach."

As he rambled on, she watched him. He kept nervously glancing around at the guards and adjusting his tie. One of his legs kept bouncing as if he couldn't sit still for a single second.

Just before entering, she'd been able to confirm that it had all started with Fiske's administrative privileges. Which meant that either someone had access to his details or he himself did it. Whichever one it was, there was only one way she was willing to play this."

She sat and watched him, a blank expression on her face. As his explanation went on, he grew more uncomfortable as she just sat there staring at him.

After a few minutes, his explanation faded to fearful silence.

"Fiske." She finally said, sitting up straight. The man mirrored her posture. "There's no need to deny it anymore. We know it's you."

"W- Wha?" The man opened his mouth to declare his innocence but Elsa didn't let him finish, continuing with her words.

"We know you're behind this leak. The only thing we don't know is why and that's what we're here to find out. Not your supposed innocence or your sob story."

"I don't care if you have a large family to feed, you're in gambling debt or are just plain greedy. If you were, you would've sold the data you stole I stead of leaking it. This means there's someone behind your actions. So, who is it?"

The man opened his mouth to speak but Elsa wasn't done.

"Now, you have two options here. First, you tell us who it is and we hand you to the authorities for your crimes. That's the easy way. For the hard way, I make you disappear. The security cameras will show someone that looks just like you exit the building but you'd never reach your home. You'll disappear."

"But in reality, you'll be in the tender loving care of Dominic here. He'll extract every secret you're hiding until you're dry and begging for death. After that, you can't be allowed back into the public, so you'd be placed in the only place safe for you. Six feet under the ground." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"So," she leaned back in her chair and smiled, this time, a full one in which she'd been told, always unnerved people, "what will it be, Fiske? The easy way or the hard way?"

"It's all up to you." Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire