Chapter 7
Will
“We absolutely cannot say we had a beach wedding in the Maldives, Malcolm,” I said over the hum of the Reynolds private jet engines. The idea wasn’t even worth my looking up from my tablet. “If anyone at Mnemis has actually been there, we’d be caught in a lie immediately.”
I sat in one of the rearmost seats at our work table. Facing me, Malcolm and Scarlett had an array of paperwork spread out in front of them, reviewing and tweaking the undercover dossiers to work with the new mission parameters.
“Fine, but you need something romantic.” Malcolm pushed up the sleeves of his light gray sweater. “A civil ceremony doesn’t sell the love story.”
“It sells practicality,” I countered, glancing up briefly. “Which is exactly what two career-focused network technicians would prioritize.”
Brie had been pacing the length of the main cabin, muttering more to herself than anyone, for the past half hour.
Without pausing in her step, she said, “The Mnemis HR policy explicitly states married couples get priority for shared residential quarters. We can just say we got married quickly after we got the job offers.”
“Good point.” A surge of relief flowed through me. Despite her initial panic about going undercover, she was now fully immersed in preparations, her brain active enough that she couldn’t focus on her worries. “Occam’s razor. The simplest explanation is usually the best one.”
“Also harder to trip up on details,” Brie said as she passed Emmett.
He lounged on the divan in the mid-cabin, his attention fixed on the flat-screen television mounted on the opposite wall.
“Looks like Tropical Depression Fifteen has strengthened to a tropical storm. Lorenzo.” He gestured toward the weather map on screen.
“And Sixteen isn’t far behind, though they’re saying it should stay out to sea. ”
Scarlett turned in her seat to see the screen. “Lorenzo’s heading for the Leeward Islands. That puts it well south of us for now, but we’ll need to monitor it.”
The jet hummed steadily around us as we continued our flight toward Miami.
Two months of meticulous planning for this mission, and in the span of a few hours, everything had changed.
After twelve months working remotely from London, this wasn’t how I’d imagined my first direct action job would go—paired with Brie instead of Ashley, thrust into an operation I’d been nervous about even before the personnel change.
Yet somehow, I felt calmer than I had during yesterday’s conversations. Having Brie beside me made all the difference. I knew every one of her expressions, could anticipate her thoughts, and understood her methods. If I had to pretend to be married to someone, who better than her?
If she were going in with anyone else, I would have spent every second pacing the floors—like she was doing—worrying about her until she got back.
This way, I could keep her safe.
“I don’t have the updated resumes, Brie,” said Scarlett.
“I sent the final versions to Gideon before we lifted off,” Brie said, still pacing.
“They’re on the shared server. I changed to Redoubt Systems as our previous employer—it’s the shell company we used for the Houston and Brisbane jobs.
Will and I set it up together, so we both know the details inside out.
The website and credentials are all active and verified, plus they’re supposedly a data security company, so it’s better than the one we had on Ashley’s resume. ”
“Perfect.” Scarlett tapped her stylus against her tablet. “I see them now. But we still need to work on the relationship cover. You need to be absolutely consistent about how you met and when your relationship changed from friendship to romance.”
“That part’s easy,” Brie said, finally stopping to lean against the doorframe into the VIP cabin next to the worktable.
“We keep our actual history. We met when we were seven, when our mothers introduced us. We built half a Tie Fighter Lego set that day, and he begged to come back the next day to finish it.”
“I was very invested in the Tie Fighter,” I said with mock gravity.
That afternoon had marked the beginning of something that endured for over twenty years, through high school and college, various relationships, and my year away.
“The fiction is how things turned romantic five years ago after we’d both dated other people off and on and realized the only one who really fit was each other. ”
“Easy, believable, and close enough to the truth you won’t slip up,” Scarlett nodded. “The most effective covers always contain as much truth as possible.”
“Let me see your ring,” I said, looking up at Brie. “A good husband would know exactly what his wife’s wedding band looks like.”
Brie extended her left hand for inspection.
She’d texted me while shopping, complaining about the engagement rings Scarlett had her try on, but Brie had won in the end.
A simple yellow gold band encircled her ring finger, matching the simple one I wore.
I gently took her hand to examine the ring, noticing her slight tremor as I did.
Despite her composed demeanor, she was still panicking inside.
How can you fix that for her?
“Simple, elegant, practical.” I steadied her trembling hand, my thumb brushing across the band. “Suits you perfectly.”
“You two are going to be a lot more convincing than you and Ashley would have been,” chuckled Emmett.
Brie let out her signature snort-laugh. “Let’s hope so, considering we have less than twenty-four hours until we’re in the thick of it.”
“Then I should show you my special gear,” I said, reaching into my backpack tucked under the table. I pulled out a brushed-metal pen and two wireless earbud cases.
“I’ve designed the pen to test the security screenings between the residential and working areas,” I explained, picking it up first. “The shell is a titanium alloy to minimize detection on standard X-rays, and the internal components are distributed to resemble an ordinary writing instrument. It contains a one-way transmitter that can send pre-programmed text signals using a modified Morse code protocol.”
Malcolm’s brows drew down, clearly not impressed. “Morse code?”
“Not particularly useful on its own, but it’s difficult to distinguish from a normal penlight.
” I blew out a deep breath, shaking my head.
“It was the best thing I could find in my clutter of boxes. Something small with good shielding, that I didn’t actually need, so I could determine how sensitive their X-ray machines are. ”
“And these?” Malcolm snapped open one of the small white cases. “I’m assuming these aren’t actually AirPods?”
“They’re not.” I set down the pen and picked up the other case.
“Our normal earpieces are nearly invisible to anyone not looking directly into our ear canals. These look like the sorts of wireless earbuds half the staff will likely use, but they have encryption capabilities when connected to our phones. They can also piggyback on a wireless network while masking the signal as calibration noise. Given the AI monitoring the Wi-Fi, I expect they’ll be limited to casual use, but we’ll see what happens once we’re inside. ”
“You seem less confident about these than usual,” said Emmett.
“They’re all prototypes.” I’d been designing them in London, and when I couldn’t sleep last night, I’d wrapped up enough changes to bring them. “If they find them, I can claim they’re everyday items I didn’t think about. Worst case, they confiscate them. Best case, they give us a slight edge.”
Brie took one of the earbuds out of its case, inspecting it from every angle. “You’ve minimized the electronic signature?”
“As much as possible. Each component operates on a different frequency range to avoid creating a recognizable pattern.”
“Do you need me to check the firmware? If I overwrite the signature pattern with—”
“—a sequence that brings them more in line with commercial earbuds?” I finished for her. “I was thinking about it, but didn’t have time. I still have some work to do on the batteries.”
Malcolm leaned forward, snapping the case open and closed. “How long have you two been working together?”
“Mum hired us part-time while we were still in school, once she formally opened Reynolds,” Brie said, while letting the earbud pop back into its case with a satisfying magnetic snap. “But we’ve been building things together since—”
“—that Tie Fighter,” I added automatically.
“I think they started finishing each other’s sentences around eleven years old,” said Emmett.
I glanced at the latest weather models he was watching.
The vibrant swirls of the developing tropical systems stood out against the blue of the Atlantic on the map.
If Lorenzo began tracking north, we could be in for another last-minute change of plans.
The resort would evacuate, which meant Scarlett, Malcolm, Emmett, and Jayce—most of our on-site support—would be gone.
We’d effectively be trapped under the island.
As though giving words to my thoughts, Brie said, “I’m glad Rav’s already there. If things go sideways, he’ll get us out.”
“I also have this,” I said, pulling out my backup phone and showing her the custom case. “This is the satellite phone modification. It’s in beta like everything else, though.”
“Will a sat phone work underground?” asked Emmett.
“No.” Brie took it, eyes lighting up as she examined the case. “But it will work when we go up to Little Haven.”
“Exactly,” I said. “We just need to go outside for a few minutes each day to check in, and the earbuds are compatible.”
“That’s brilliant,” said Scarlett. “I knew there was a reason Mum wanted you to come home.”
“Speaking of mothers,” Malcolm said, “how’s Northwind Place?”
“The staff are excellent so far, but it’s still new for both of us.” My mother had been perfectly lucid when I had visited her prior to departure. One of her good days. “Evelyn promised to visit every day while I’m gone.”