The Desperate Game Read Free Page B

Security?"
    He hesitated, then shrugged. The small movement emphasized the width of his shoulders. "You will have the distinction of being my first employee. I just got started a few months ago, and until now I've been a one-man operation. A small business, just like your own."
    Guinevere stared at him and then seized on the most puzzling element in his explanation. "Your employee?"
    "Ummm."
    "I don't understand."
    "Of course not. That's where the blackmail comes in." He lifted the snifter to his mouth and took a healthy swallow.
    Guinevere placed her glass down very carefully on the table beside the small sofa. "Let me get this straight. You're not planning on impressing your client by dragging me in chains into StarrTech headquarters?"
    "The image is intriguing, but frankly I've got bigger fish to fry. Your bit of finagling with StarrTech's computerized benefits program is not what I'm investigating."
    Guinevere closed her eyes briefly. Hearing it put into words made it suddenly very, very real. This man knew what she had done during her short stint as a clerk in the computer department of StarrTech. "How did you find out?" she asked bleakly.
    "Russ Elfstrom is a friend of mine." Zac was calm, almost placid. A man in control. "He came across your little maneuvers a couple of weeks ago. Just about the same time that management began to worry about bigger problems it had discovered."
    Russ Elfstrom, Guinevere remembered, had been in charge of all computer systems at StarrTech. She hadn't liked the man. No one in the department did. The programmers had called him the Elf behind his back. He wasn't particularly short, but there was a kind of highstrung quality about the man. He smoked incessantly, and occasionally, while she was at StarrTech, Guinevere had seen him furtively pop a couple of small pills. Wiry and balding, with restless, pale eyes, the Elf had ruled the department with little regard for the delicate egos of programmers and even less for the hopeful computer operators who had dreams of using the machines as a way out of the clerical pool.
    On the other hand, Russ Elfstrom was a good company man. He got things done. Management liked him, and as long as he was content to run a department that had a high turnover in personnel, management was content to leave him alone. Management didn't really understand computers, anyway, let alone computer personnel. Results were all that mattered.
    "So the Elf tossed me into your clutches," Guinevere murmured. "Why?"
    "He was simply going through every detail he could think of that might be helpful to me in my examination of the missing shipments. In the process he uncovered your manipulation of the benefits plan. He was on the verge of mentioning you to management. I persuaded him to let me have you instead. I think you might prove useful, Gwen."
    "I sound like an odd little tool you've discovered and aren't quite certain how to use," she snapped bitterly.
    "Oh, I think I know how to use you. I'm offering to keep your name clear at StarrTech if you'll give me a hand on this other problem." Something a little fierce flared in his eyes for an instant. "Keeping your name clean should be important to you, Gwen. After all, independent businesspeople have to maintain spotless reputations, don't they? It wouldn't do at all to have potential clients thinking that you use your services as a cover for theft and other assorted activities, would it?"
    In spite of her resolve to stay absolutely cool, that stung. Guinevere sat upright, her hazel eyes narrowed, her mouth tight. "Camelot Services is utterly reliable, Mr. Justis. There has never been a complaint or a doubt about the ethics of my company!"
    "Until your venture into StarrTech?" He leaned back in the black steelmesh chair, apparently satisfied with the results of his accusation.
    Guinevere fought a short, violent battle for control and surprised herself by winning. "My venture into StarrTech was a different matter. A private matter."