Page 93 of The Honeymoon Hack

Jesus, what was going on?

Claire’s mouth tightened. “Fine. We need to keep them isolated for now. Will’s the mastermind.” She pointed at me. “Take him to one of the holding rooms, and put Tremblay in the other. Where can we put her and the others?”

“Claire, please.” Brie’s voice was shaky. She’d handled herself well through everything we did here, but that wasn’t fake. “Whatever you think we’ve done?—”

She cut off with a sob, and I turned to see Moss forcing her to her feet.

He said, “We have enough security break rooms to house them, and my security team can act as guards.”

“Thank you, but we’ll post our own guards on them until we’re ready.” Claire gestured for me to stand, which I did. “Percival?”

One of the armed men responded, not taking his eyes or his sights off Brie. “Bag their tech. Sweep the room.”

“Will do.” He shifted his rifle so it hung from its strap and pulled a few plastic bags from his tactical vest. He moved toward my desk, dropping my phone into the first bag.

We’d been caught.

Wait, Will. If we’d been discovered by Mnemis security, why was Moss the only one here? Why the men with guns? Where the hell had they come from?

The man with the gun trained on me stepped to the side and jerked his head toward the door. “After you.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I said.

“Spare me.” Claire’s tone turned sharp, and she stepped out of the way as well. “Out.”

The automated voice continued from the hallway, reminding us that we were under a Code Blue. Voices came from somewhere down the hallway, and a sharp voice ordered them to their rooms. There must have been more of this crew waiting for us.

The one collecting our things, whom she’d called Percival, said to her, “The team’s setting up in Moss’s office. I’ll bring these things when I’m done.”

Brie headed for the door, pausing before she passed me.

Our eyes met.

Two decades of friendship, all those late nights together, missions we’d supported from a safe distance—none of it hadprepared us for this. I tried to tell her without words:Stay calm. Don’t panic. Trust the plan.

But which plan?

We didn’t have the intel we needed. Was it time to pull our pen tester card? Confess we were under Tremaine’s orders?

Confess the lie, you mean?

Or could we talk our way out of whatever the hell was going on and then keep our heads down long enough to get what we needed?

That’s it, Will. Don’t cave unless you have to.

“We’re innocent of whatever’s going on,” I said to Claire.

But before I could say more, Claire grabbed Brie and hauled her forward.

“Get your fucking hands off her!” I lunged toward them and was immediately slammed against the wall.

Percival’s arm pressed across my throat—not quite cutting off air, but making the threat clear. His voice was disturbingly calm. “If you’re innocent, I’d recommend the vocal approach instead of the physical one.”

“All right.” The words came out roughly. I couldn’t turn my head to see Brie, so I raised my voice as much as possible. “Just— Stay calm, Bug. We’ll sort this out.”

Moss took over from Percival, gripping my upper arm. “You remember where security is?”

I nodded.