‘Ask him.’
‘Ros has already threatened to go round and have it out with him but I persuaded her to bide her time. As if he’d tell her anything anyway. I’ve already interviewed him for the Chronicle piece, and he didn’t give anything away.’
‘He wouldn’t. Not unless he had to,’ replied Nick, not taking his eyes off hers.
‘But how am I going to make him? Wheel out the thumbscrews?’
‘Flush him out.’
‘Flush him out?’
‘Don’t you ever watch spy movies?’ he grinned.
‘No, I was always upstairs in the bath.’
The waiter came over to clear away their plates, and Nick ordered a coffee.
‘Speak to him again. Accuse him of everything you’ve just told me. He’ll deny it. Then you wait, watch, listen. See what he does next.’
‘Wait, watch, listen . . . What are you suggesting, Nick? That I put on a flasher mac and follow him?’
‘You’d look good in a flasher mac.’
‘Nick, please . . .’
‘I could help you.’
He said it slowly, as if he wasn’t sure what her reaction would be.
‘Abby, what do you think I do for a living?’
‘You’re in IT.’
She felt a pang of guilt that she didn’t know the specifics. She didn’t really understand IT and Nick didn’t talk about it much. Who would? It wasn’t a job like Elliot Hall’s, where you flew around the world, met celebrities and attended international summits about important global issues, and then wrote about it.
Nick gave a wry smile.
‘You think I spend all day playing computer games, don’t you?’
‘You’re an IT consultant. A hi-tech troubleshooter. You fix people’s servers. You are the technology fairy.’
She smiled, but Nick remained serious.
‘Abby, I break into companies’ computer and telecommunication systems.’
Her expression faded as she took it in.
‘You’re a hacker?’ she said incredulously.
‘No. I am not a hacker or a criminal. I am an IT security consultant.’
‘I thought you had a legitimate business,’ said Abby, aghast.
‘Of course it’s bloody legitimate,’ he said fiercely. ‘Cyber-crime is big business. Every company in the world wants secure technology. To test out how safe their systems are, I get people to try and hack into them. It’s
proactive security.’
‘It’s hacking, Nick. You’re a hacker!’