Page 85 of Hard Wired

He plugged the drive into the USB port on the side of Sylvie’s machine. She had told him the screen would come to life, and a small window would appear with code.

So far, so good.

He’d asked Sylvie if she should handle the install herself in case anything went wrong. But she was worried the slightest misstep could alert the Syndicate that something was amiss. If anything strange had happened when he plugged in that drive, Dominic would have no idea what to do about it. Sylvie would, but if she immediately reacted with her computer skills, those hackers might somehow see the evidence of it, once they had access to her system.

As he waited for the code to stop scrolling, the only sound he could hear was his own breathing.

When the little window on the screen disappeared, he removed the drive and shut the lid on the computer. The last thing he had to do was use his phone—the regular one the Syndicate knew about—to notify Sandford.

It’s done, he texted.

He stared at the screen, waiting for a response. But none came. He had to assume everything was fine. Sandford would let him know what to do next.

He went back downstairs to meet Sylvie in the kitchen.

“Did it go okay?” she whispered, her eyes wide.

“It was exactly what you said. Plugged it in, the window did its scrolly thing, then I pulled it out. That was it.”

She nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I guess now all we can do is wait.”

“When will we know it’s working?”

“When I get back to the office and access the data that should be coming back from the Russian hackers.”

“You can’t check on the laptop upstairs?”

Sylvie smiled at him patiently. “I can’t do that because then they’d see it. They have access to everything on that machine, but it’s just a decoy. A copy of my real laptop. The malware I wrote is going to send the Syndicate data directly back to Bennett Security.”

He stood behind her and kissed the side of her neck until Maureen and Tanner started to complain.

Then Dominic’s phone chimed with an incoming text. He checked the message.

It was from Sandford.

We need to talk. Urgently. Get somewhere you won’t be overheard and call me.

Dominic cursed. “It’s him. Sandford needs something and says it’s urgent. What if it’s the program? What if something’s wrong?”

Sylvie’s face gave away her anxiety. It was the same thing he felt.

The four of them went upstairs to the game room. Maureen, Sylvie, and Tanner sat out of sight on one side of the room. Dominic lowered himself onto the couch and dialed Sandford’s number. The lawyer switched the call to video. His face appeared, eyes glittering with animosity.

Dominic forced himself to act calm. “What do you want now?” he whispered, as if he feared being overheard. “I did what you asked.”

“I know. It’s a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, that’s no longer good enough. Charles wants to see you in person. You need to deliver your endorsement to the captains, and besides that, Charles is tired of having to guess about what you’re really doing.”

Dominic’s stomach lurched. “You want me to leave my house? Did you forget the ankle monitor?”

“So get rid of it. You’ve been giving far too much credence to those rules. It’s really making Charles have doubts about you. He heard you were going soft, and your tendency to hide in that house is only confirming those rumors.”

Dominic could feel Sylvie and Maureen reacting on the other side of the room, but he didn’t dare raise his eyes from the screen.

“But consider this an opportunity,” the lawyer said. “You’ll finally get out of that house, just like you wanted. Don’t worry, Charles will keep you hidden. He’s very anxious to keep you close.”

Dominic tried to think fast. “All right, I’ll make it happen. Just tell me when and where to meet Charles, and I’ll be there. But I’ll need at least a week. I have to wrap some things up here, pack, make excuses to Sylvie and Maureen…”

“That’s not possible. We’re sending a car for you tomorrow.”

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