Page 28 of Code Name: Atticus
I checked. The message was from Luke.
Coffee tomorrow? 0600 at Blue Bottle in Tiburon? Still an early riser like academy days.
I stared at the message, remembering our brief encounter at the restaurant.Yeah, see you there.
Perfect. Looking forward to actually catching up properly this time.
I set the phone aside and stared up at the ceiling, then shifted on the floor, trying to find a position that didn’t feel like medieval torture. The hardwood under the rug was unforgiving, and every time I moved, it creaked loud enough to potentially wake Brenna. Though that was doubtful. I was sure she was snuggled under the covers, maybe in the middle of the bed, since the pillow wall of separation wasn’t needed tonight.
At least one of us was getting some use out of the six-million-dollar taxpayer investment in luxury accommodations. Me? I was getting acquainted with what had to be the least comfortable place to sleep in Northern California. Apparently, crypto billionaires don’t factor floor-sleeping into their architectural plans. Shocking oversight, really.
Minutes crawled by. Then hours. The floor got harder, my back started cramping, and my brain wouldn’t shut off.
Around zero three hundred, I gave up on sleep and just lay there.
At zero five hundred, I gave up completely and dragged myself off the floor. Every muscle in my back was screaming, but I moved quietly around the main level, checking the security system and scanning the perimeter cameras. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Meeting Luke for coffee. Back by 0730. - A
I scribbled the quick note, left it on the kitchen counter, then slipped out into the predawn darkness, closing the door as quietly as possible.
Morning traffic made the drive to Tiburon take longer than I’d expended. When I arrived, Blue Bottle Coffee was already busy with the tech crowd grabbing their caffeine fix before heading to their startups.
I spotted Luke right away, sitting at a corner table, sipping on a latte. He looked more relaxed than he had at the restaurant,dressed in jeans and a polo shirt that had his company’s logo on it.
“Thanks for making time,” he said as I approached with my own coffee.
“Of course. Good to be able to catch up.” I took the seat across from him. “So you mentioned you’re here on business?”
“Yeah, funny story actually. I came out for a quick meeting, expecting to be here a few days at the most. Then Trevor gets us a last-minute invite to an AI summit.”
“Trevor?”
“Collins. My business partner. We own Redpoint together.”
“Right. So, AI?”
“Yep. We use it for federal grant management.” Luke took a sip of his coffee. “Trevor’s been running everything on the West Coast for about a year now, and he’s killing it.”
“That’s good, right?”
Luke shrugged. “He wants me to spend more time out here. Not really my thing, ya know?”
I chuckled. “I remember our days at the academy. Even Colorado was too far west for you.”
“Only positive thing is how much good climbing there is to do out here. Not that I’ll have time to do any, with this conference.”
“How long does it go on for?” I asked, even though I already knew.
“A week or two, I think. It doesn’t actually start until Monday, so I don’t have the whole schedule yet. All I know for now is there’s a party tonight I’m expected to attend.”
“Party doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
He shrugged for the second time. “Some high roller’s hosting it on his megayacht. But from what I understand, we aren’t even leaving the docks.”
When he laughed, I did too while, at the same time, processing what this meant for Brenna and me. There was noway we could be at the party tonight if Luke would be. Not only that, but we’d need to rethink how much time we’d be able to spend at the regular conference events.
“So when’s the last time you actually climbed?” I asked.
