Page 96 of The Honeymoon Hack

Think about this logically, Will.

Dr. Haddad, Greek Fire, research hidden in Mnemis. None of it connected to why we were actually here, but they thought it did.

“I’m telling you, I don’t?—”

“Everything you’ve done tells me you’re after his research.” She slid the tablet toward Claire and stood. “So let’s stop wasting time. This research is too dangerous to let slide because youhave a cute cover story and good operational security.” Her voice took on an edge. “If you can’t tell me who’s paying you and what they’re after, this conversation moves to a different level entirely.”

Claire leaned forward. “Black site level.”

“Black site?” I blurted.

Holy shit. They weren’t accusing us of a random corporate security breach. This was international intelligence. The kind of thing that made people disappear without a trace.

“Unless I can break Brie first,” said Claire. “She was about to spill everything to me before Tremblay intercepted her.”

There were only so many ways I could tell them I didn’t have the answers. And they obviously weren’t going to believe anything I said.

But admitting our real purpose would end our opportunity to free Joseph. Would Gideon have any other options? Would he agree to hand over data from one of his clients, potentially damaging his reputation in the process?

Will, you should have let Brie download everything when she had the chance.

Chapter 37

Brie

I satzip tied to a rolling chair in a small break room off the data center security checkpoint. Two armed men in tactical gear flanked the door, their faces hidden behind masks, weapons at the ready. I’d been asking questions for the past ten minutes—who they were, what they wanted, why I was here—but they remained silent.

Their gear was professional, as were the people: suppressed weapons, precise movements, military bearing.

But which military?

Or which agency?

The lack of identifying patches or insignia was deliberate. Contractors? Mercenaries?

Were they with Fenix? Was Claire stationed here to protect their server and call these men in for anyone coming after them? That didn’t make sense. If she was with Fenix, she should have recognized Will, me, or Rav.

One of the masked men stepped out. I strained to listen for sounds outside the room—voices, movement, anything that might tell me what was going on.

Are you okay, Will?

My phone sat on a table nearby. If I could grab it, maybe I could send him a message. Except he was in custody, too. Could I send a message out through the Wi-Fi to inform the team about this?

Why bother? There wasn’t anything they could do anyway.

The armed man returned, closing the door behind himself with a soft click. He pointed to the camera on the ceiling, near the corner. “Bobcat wants that off.”

His partner nodded and climbed onto a side table, allowing him to break the camera at its stem.

“Why do they want the camera off?” I asked, as thoughthatwould be the question they’d answer. “What are you going to do to me?”

“So long as you behave yourself,” said the armed man on the ground, “you’ll be fine.”

As his partner hopped down from the table, the armed man moved with sudden, fluid violence. A knife appeared in his hand as if from nowhere. His partner’s eyes went wide with shock as he realized what was happening.

“Lark,” he whispered in disbelief, the name escaping his lips just before the blade sliced across his throat. Blood poured from the wound as he dropped his gun on its strap, frantically trying to stop the inevitable.

He fell onto the man with the knife, who lowered him to the ground.