Chapter 49
“Portia, I can’t just hack into any computer system. Not with a snap of my fingers. Or your fingers,” Ash said darkly on the other end of the call.
“Of course, you can, Ash. You told me that you’re the best. Was it all a lie?” She gasped dramatically.
“Portia.” He dragged her name out. Her heart twinged. Aleks had said her name just like that several times last night. And again this morning, when they’d had their first fight. She understood his point, but she still believed that the memory removal procedure was the best option for everyone. Why couldn’t he see that?
“Portia. Are you still there?” Ash’s tone turned concerned.
“Yes, sorry. Got distracted.”
“By Mr. Tall, Hot, and Blond? At least that’s what the newsies are calling him.”
Portia stifled a sigh. She couldn’t be too upset about the newsies’ reports. After all, they’d brought her father right to her door, setting in motion the plan to turn him over to the Solveigs. Ash’s teasing, on the other hand...
She ignored his question and returned to the matter at hand. “You said you and Mendez had already hacked into the Solveig Consortium’s system. So a repeat performance should be no problem. Right?”
Ash’s sigh came through the phone like he was standing right next to her. “Yes, but why?”
“Did Taryn tell you about the favor I requested?”
“The one that starts with your father locked in one of her cells downstairs?”
Portia pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes. That one.”
“Hmm.” His tone turned speculative. “What systems do you need to access?”
“Security cameras, surveillance, that kind of thing. Air traffic control access would probably be useful.”
“What?” That one had surprised him.
She held the phone away from her ear. “I said ‘useful.’ Not that I was definitely going to use it.”
“When do you need it?”
Portia stopped in front of Tremaine headquarters. She’d walked again today, needing the distraction from her fight with Aleks. She didn’t want to have this conversation in the lobby. Or really, anywhere inside headquarters.
“Two days from now.”
“You realize this could be a total shitshow.”
“Yep.” She was going to do her damnedest to prevent that.
“I love shitshows! Count me in! I’ll let you know when I’m into their system.”
“Thanks, Ash,” she said, but she was talking to a dead connection.
The pieces were all coming together. Dizzie and Killian would arrange for the plane and coordinate the timing with the Jack. Ash would get them into the system. And Aleks would set the meeting with Solveigs.
Fingers crossed they could make this work.