Checkmate — Mary Jane Forbes

Brenda Kittles has just left her rookie job with Homeland Security for Daytona Beach, Florida, to head up computer security for Stone & Associates, a prestigious architectural firm that recently won a coveted contract for an oceanfront multiplex development. S&A's long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the development abruptly ends when a group of demonstrators interrupt the festivities and a storage shed explodes. A short time later, S&A's employees learn that a body has been discovered behind a dumpster near their building. S&A's President, Russell Stone, is a tough businessman still reeling from his wife's murder a few months earlier. In a meeting with firm partner Catherine Hainsworth, he reveals his plans to retire and hand her the reigns of his firm. Destined to be a force in the business world, Catherine immediately seizes an opportunity to develop a cybercafé franchise. The turmoil reaches a fevered pitch when a computer hacker obsessed with the game of chess succeeds in gaining access to the firm's network. Now Brenda Kittles must determine the hacker's identity, his intentions, and why millions of dollars are being deposited into the corporate bank account earmarked for the multiplex-all before the hacker finishes his dirty deeds.