Why had Nora called her into her office? Unease crept up Mackenzie’s spine as she lowered into a chair.

Nora ended the call, clearly on edge.

“How long will searching for hackers take? Per your request, I haven’t alerted our cybersecurity team about possible intrusions. It seems to me you would want to work with them.”

“I do at some point. Without their help, it could definitely take too long.”

“Then why not ask for the help?”

“Though Hanstech isn’t connected to the Internet, there are a few other ways someone can get into your system, but it’s usually always someone on the inside or someone who gets to someone on the inside to facilitate the breach. It could even be one of your cybersecurity people. I want to rule that out before we bring them on, if it comes to that.” Mackenzie scooted to the edge of her seat and leaned forward, putting on her experienced professional face in case Nora only saw her as a lost, confused little girl. “I have the skills to do this, and I won’t let you down. But I need to know the real stakes here.” At the moment, she could only guess.

“What have you learned so far?”

Ah. Avoid the question by asking one of your own. Good one, Nora. “I doubt you would understand half of what I told you.”

“Talk to me like you would talk to a client.” Nora was on edge. She was a stressed-out CEO today. Not Mackenzie’s sister. Make that a scared, stressed-out CEO.

Mackenzie hadn’t been working on it long enough to say for certain there was no evidence of an attack. But she knew enough to tread carefully. She sighed. “You’re wasting my time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You asked for my help, but you’re not letting me in. You haven’t told me everything I need to know so that I can help. I can save Hanstech.” And protect you from facing the same fate Rowan suffered. “Please.”

“I’ve told you all I can tell you.”

Mackenzie rubbed her forehead and bit back her frustration. Letting her this far into Hanstech had been a big step for Nora, especially if she was afraid because she believed someone was monitoring her actions. Or perhaps even controlling her? Blackmailing her? How did Mackenzie help Nora beyond what she was trying to do here?

She studied Nora’s expression. What are you thinking?

Fear sparked in Nora’s gaze before she narrowed it. There it was. She still didn’t trust Mackenzie. “Please, learn what you can with what I’ve given you.” Nora held her gaze, her eyes filled with an emotion Mackenzie couldn’t read.

Is there a hidden message in her words? Or was Mackenzie reading too much into her expression? She was seeing cryptic messages everywhere and having weird dreams to top them off.