Page 117 of The Honeymoon Hack
“Someone already pulled down the research,” I said, staring at the screen. “They didn’t grab my virus, though.”
Probably left it as proof they knew what it was.
As we watched, another file appeared in the directory. The filename made my blood run cold: thanks_for_the_help_brie.txt.
Chapter 44
Brie
Monday.Eleven a.m. team meeting. I sat cross-legged on our bed, with Will and Rav taking the desk chairs. My laptop sat on the desk, angled so all three of us could see the screen. The meeting started with flight questions: How soon could they get the three of us out of Mnemis, and where could our private jet land to take us home?
Blue Haven Cay’s airstrip wouldn’t be available for days. The hurricane had moved on, but the winds were still at tropical storm levels, so the cleanup crew hadn’t arrived yet.
Will, Rav, and I were still trapped underground. The door to Little Haven remained locked, but we’d been given access to a secure Wi-Fi channel based on our relationship with Gideon.
My head still ached. Not the sharp pain from last night, but a dull throb no painkiller had been able to touch. Every time I moved too quickly, the headache flared. But I was still alive.
Mnemis leadership had put out a message about the Code Silver last night, advised of the lone gunman, and we all had a moment of silence for the guards who were killed. A statement was made apologizing to Ken and Ronnie for sweeping them up in the chaos, but there was no mention of me, Will, or Rav.
At breakfast this morning, people had stared. Either the techs who saw Lark and me, or some of the Mnemis guards who were on duty last night, likely shared their stories, and the rumor mill had ensured that people knew far more than the official statement said. Many side-eye looks and whispered conversations stopped when we walked past. Will had positioned himself between me and most of the room without making it obvious, but I’d noticed.
I noticed everything he did now.
Like how he’d shifted his chair closer to the bed where I was sitting. It wasn’t just about our new relationship status. Will kept catching my eye all morning, that subtle check-in he did when he was assessing whether I was okay. The way he’d insisted on getting me extra coffee this morning. How he’d suggested we use my laptop instead of his, giving me something familiar to focus on.
He wasn’t wrong to be concerned. Someone had dropped their tray in the cafeteria, and I’d almost screamed. The light reflected off someone else’s butter knife, and for a split second, they were Lark brandishing his knife.
But I was holding it together. I had to.
The Halifax boardroom looked the same as always—Mum at the head of the conference table, Scarlett to her left, Malcolm beside her, Emmett across from them. Drew called in from Washington, where he’d been monitoring everything with Gideon.
“The Pendragon team is still here,” Rav was saying. “Based on my conversations with them, it sounds as though Fenix has been after the Greek Fire formula for some time. Several of the hackers and other researchers Pendragon has found may have been connected with Fenix.”
Lark had told me the universe was predictable. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should have expected Fenix to show up here, after all.
“I’ve also been working with them to clear the building. Explosives sweep first, then body recovery.” Rav provided updates like this after plenty of missions, but there was something different this time. I’d seen the part of him most of us never had. The man he’d become when he left after high school, and before he returned as a brooding veteran. “Mnemis has protocols for staff deaths, but this has been excessive. They and Pendragon are coordinating with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, who should be arriving in a few hours to review footage and take over the investigation.”
Scarlett nodded. “How extensive was the damage?”
“Significant,” I said. “Half the server cluster where Lark planted the explosives was destroyed. The blast also damaged some adjacent racks and took out a significant amount of networking equipment. A lot of power was out, too.”
“But you got what we needed before that happened.” For the first time in months, maybe years, Mum smiled. Not the controlled mask she usually wore, but a genuine sign of happiness.
After our job to rescue Emmett in the spring, something had changed in her. But after the job in Monaco, when we learned the truth about Dad, it was as if the floodgates had opened. We were getting our mother back—a version of her we hadn’t seen since Dad’s arrest.
I nodded, organizing my thoughts in the way she’d taught me. Facts first, analysis second, emotional reactions buried until I was alone later. “I prioritized the files about Dad so everything I found was uploaded successfully.”
“I’ve only started going through them,” said Mum, “but from what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to fill in a lot of gaps. I’m hopefulwe can withdraw Joseph’s guilty plea. If we can prove he made it under duress…” She trailed off, but the wheels were turning. Twenty years of careful investigation, and we’d finally given her the missing pieces.
“And I successfully deleted the blackmail photos they have of Scarlett.”
“Thanks for that,” my sister said.
“What about the Fenix intelligence?” Emmett had also changed since his kidnapping and beatings. But when it came to Fenix, his voice carried more of an edge since August, when they’d taken his girlfriend.
Emmett wouldn’t ever forget that.
And maybe I wouldn’t ever forget what happened to me last night, either. “We only recovered part of the Meridian server data before the explosion knocked it out. Ashley’s working on resolving the corruption and solving the encryption. I’ll be able to help more once we’re out of here. But we did chat long enough this morning to conclude the email about the money transfer into Dad’s account was from Enzo. That gives us an email address to tie to him, which may help piece more things together.”
