Page 77 of The Honeymoon Hack

She hung up, returning her attention to the server configuration. “You’re all set. They’ll be watching for you.”

Perfect. And terrifying.

It was almost too easy.

I headed toward the entrance and pulled out my phone as soon as I was out of Claire’s line of sight. I typed a quick message to Will:I’m working with Claire in the Atlantic!

The message was a good start. Nothing anyone would blink at in case someone monitored the traffic on the app. But he wouldn’t know I needed him to cut the cameras. Now. Right now!

I followed up with:But it’s cold, so I’m going back to our room for a sweater. Do you have a break soon?

Would that get the point across?

I stared at the screen, waiting for the delivery notification and then for a response. Nothing came back.

Come on, Will. Where are you?

Instead of continuing toward the exit, I doubled back through a parallel corridor between the racks. If someone were watching, it would look like I’d taken a wrong turn. The serverroom was a maze of identical-looking rows, making it easy for someone unfamiliar with the layout to get lost if they didn’t follow the signs.

Near row forty-six, I encountered two hardware techs wheeling a cart loaded with hard drives.

One of them nodded a hello. “You lost?”

“Just trying to find my way around.” If I were Scarlett, I’d be able to charm them or convince them I had no idea what I was doing. But I wasn’t Scarlett. “I’m working with Claire Lawson today.”

Both men’s expressions shifted immediately. The first tech grimaced while the second actually winced.

Had I said something wrong? Or was it about Claire’s reputation?

“Claire, huh?” The first one shook his head. “Good luck with that.”

“She’s… thorough,” the second added diplomatically.

They continued past me, and I heard the first one muttering something aboutmicromanagementas they disappeared around the corner.

Interesting. So it wasn’t just The Bridge staff who thought she was intense. Maybe she wasn’t suspicious of us at all, and that was simply her personality.

I continued toward row fifty-seven. Six days ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d be capable of this. Going undercover, sneaking around a data center, lying to people? Without laughing?

A few minutes later, I stood in the narrow aisle between towering racks, staring at Meridian’s server.

Fenix’s server.

Surveillance cameras were watching everything. So what could I possibly do?

My phone remained stubbornly silent. No response from Will. No coordination. No backup plan.

How long could I wait?

This is Fenix’s server. It has everything you need.

If I got in and started transmitting data back to the team, getting caught afterward wouldn’t matter. I moved to the end of the row and pulled out the KVM drawer. As it unfolded, the monitor came to life, displaying a simple startup screen:Please scan credentials.

One more check of my phone.

C’mon, Will! Where are you?

Chapter 30