Free Blast From The Past 1 by Faith Winslow Page A

Secret App revealed,” and “rEcore is about to change music forever.” I also noticed other keywords, like “leak,” “this just in,” and “breaking news.”
    I looked at J.R., dumbfounded.
    “Still no idea what I’m talking about?” J.R. asked. His steely gray eyes looked all the more steely, and he appeared to be waiting for a response from me, though I surely didn’t have one coming.
    “Okay, Patricia Williams,” J.R. said, taking a seat again. “Let me tell you about these things then… That first image—of the ridiculous smiley face—that’s what happens whenever someone tries to open the app file you uploaded into the system an hour earlier. And that garbled up mess of symbols in the document file I opened? That’s the code file you uploaded.”
    “As for the webpage,” he added with a look of disdain. “I guess you might not know about that one—but I’m sure your friend Julie Benson does. She’s a reporter, right? And, as soon as this story went live a couple hours ago, we checked up on everyone’s recent device activity. Our records show a Julie Benson using your tablet, and the music app installed on it, on Monday night… I hope she got paid well for leaking the info, ‘cause the cost on your career is gonna be pretty hefty.”
    I stared at J.R., unable to speak for a moment—and, when I was able to say something, the first thing I said was something in defense of Julie, rather than of myself.
    “Julie wouldn’t do that,” I said. My eyes were beginning to swell, and I could feel tears pooling in them.
    “Are you sure about that?” J.R. inquired. “She is outspoken, isn’t she?”
    Today was the first day in seven years that this man and I sat and talked about my friend, and, now, he was repeating words to me that we’d both said back then.
    “You mean you remember me?” I asked, struggling to believe that fact almost as much as I was struggling to believe everything else that was going on with me.
    “Of course I do,” J.R. replied. “I recognized you the second I saw you in Burger Bistro. You may have a different haircut and go by a different name these days, but you’re still Patty, and I’d know you anywhere. After I talked to you that night, I wasn’t sure if you remembered me, though—but, now that all this shit has gone down, I guess that answers my question.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked, folding my arms and laying them on the table. I needed something to support me and keep me from losing more ground in this conversation.
    “You were the one to walk out on me that morning, Patty,” J.R. shouted, pounding his fist on the table. “You were the one to use me and leave me behind like a piece of garbage… And, now you come back here, seven years later, looking to settle a score with me—and what do you do? You try to fuck up things with my company. You destroy one of my programs and let our secrets leak. How long have you been planning this move? When is it that you started plotting your revenge?”
    “Listen, Joe, I know this all looks bad, but, you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with any of it,” I shouted back at him. “You said it yourself—I was the one to leave you. So why would I take revenge on you when I had no reason? Why would I do this to you? I swear, it wasn’t me.”
    “Then who the hell was it?” J.R. demanded me to tell him, as if I had the answer. “None of this shit started happening until you got here—and, when I look around at all my employees, you stand out as the one with the most motive and incentive.”
    “But think about it, please,” I begged. “Why would I come here and work for you if I thought there was any chance you’d remember me? Why would I try to fuck up your company if I knew that you could figure things out and pin it on me? Doesn’t it all seem a little too easy of an explanation?”
    J.R. looked at me and snarled, showing his teeth. “Get out of my conference room, and get out of my