Page 13 of The Honeymoon Hack

“We have underwater cabling for both power and internet feed that runs to the mainland,” Gideon explained, “but we have backup generators that can support the facility for thirty days. If either weather system heads in the island’s direction, we may evacuate the resort, but the data center would operate normally.”

I glanced around the table. Mum sat at the head, Emmett to her right, and Scarlett to her left. Will was across from me, looking more rested than he had at the party last night. I’d hardly slept, my mind replaying his mother’s embarrassing revelation.

She’d known all along.

Heat climbed up my cheeks. One time. We… we didthat… one freaking time, and the morning after, Diane walked into Will’s workshop offering us breakfast. I should have known she would, because she always did when I stayed over.

We were only supposed to be working on a computer. Not…

Focus, Brie.

Scarlett’s phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at it, frowned, and muttered, “Shit.”

“What’s the matter?” asked Evelyn.

“One sec.” She started a call, waited for a ring, and Zac picked up. “You’re on speaker.”

“Hey, everyone,” Zac’s voice filled the room, tense and slightly breathless. “We’ve got a problem. Ashley took a fall on our stairs this morning. I’m taking her to the hospital now.”

My stomach dropped. She was supposed to be flying out this afternoon.

“How bad?” Scarlett asked.

“I’m pretty sure her arm’s broken. She hit her head too, but her pupils are dilating properly, so I don’t think she has a concussion. Either way, she can’t fly today.”

“Which arm?” I asked.

“Her right.”

Ashley cursed in the background of the call. “Watch the road, Zac!”

“I’ve got to go,” he said. “I’ll update you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Zac,” Scarlett said. “Keep us posted.”

The call ended, and all eyes turned to Scarlett.

“We fly out in four hours.” My older sister was always so calm. Despite this last-minute news, she was still in control. “Options?”

“Could we fly Ashley out tomorrow?” Emmett suggested. “If it’s just a fracture?—”

“It won’t work.” I tapped my stylus on the conference table. “Even if it’s a minor break, she wouldn’t be able to do her cover job. In software support, she’ll need to do a lot of typing, not to mention the extra work we need her to do.”

Gideon added, “The two-week shift rotation for the technicians starts tomorrow. If she can’t go today, we’ll postpone for two weeks until the next one.”

On the screen, Drew turned to Gideon. “Would it be possible to swap team members at this point?”

“Possible.” Gideon nodded slowly. “I could tell my head of HR that the security consultants need to switch their pen testers. But I’d need to approve whoever goes.”

“What about Talia?” Scarlett asked, turning to me.

“Maybe.” I mentally reviewed her last five jobs. Solid work, professional, but required too much guidance. “She’s a whiz with the dark web; that’s her specialty. But the skills required for customer support, while also attempting to hack into the Tremaine systems? That’s different. I’m not sure she could pull them both off.”

“There’s no room formaybein this operation.” Mum’s eyebrow was already up. So was Scarlett’s. The eyebrows were a challenge to come up with another idea.

Was postponing for two weeks an option? “If we fit her with an earpiece and somehow sneak it into the data center, I can walk her through things, but?—”

“You can’t do that,” said Gideon. “I can get your employees into Mnemis, but I can’t order the security team to forgo the X-ray or bag searches. It would raise too many questions, and if word got out that I interfered with security, I may as well shut the place down. I’m willing to help you find those bastards, but I’m not risking my reputation—let alone my entire company—for it.”