Chapter 40
Sean
My inner Marine craves action. The forensic accountant demands more details. The lovesick puppy wants to move her someplace secure and never let her out of my sight.
Ignoring the turbulence, Daedalus launches into some technical mumbo-jumbo. My ears don’t perk up until he mentions a fail-safe. “Are you saying programmers always build back doors in case something goes wrong?”
“Uh-huh. Also for testing.” When a lock of blond hair falls into his eyes, he brushes it back with a quick rake of his hand. “Give me a team of hackers. I’ll breach the code in a couple of days.”
“Wait.” Face flushed and smiling, Lillian leans forward. I know the look well. She’s planning something risky. “If we… if I… could find out who my father hired, would that help?”
Daed nods. “Sure, but—”
“How?” As my gaze locks onto my woman, now bouncing in her seat, the realization hits me. I am such a fucking idiot. Jeff Pearson was wrong. I never put her at risk. Ever. It’s the other way around.
Her hazel eyes, almost brown in this light, meet mine as if we were the only two people on the jet. “I will find the air-gapped laptop. I’m telling you, the PC will hold the answers to everything we need.”
Sounds like a unicorn. A thought I keep to myself.
Dante frowns, skepticism written all over his face. “If this computer is so critical, wouldn’t he keep it on his person?”
“You’d think so, but no. It’s one of the reasons he’s avoided jail for so many years…,” she bites her lower lip, “that and having witnesses murdered.”
“Do we know where he’s at?” Not wanting her anywhere near the crime boss, I half-hope the answer is no.
“San Antonio.” Daed tilts his head at me. “Sorry.”
“The warehouse! Now I’m sure I can find it.” As Lillian smacks a fist into her palm, Dante studies my face.
“You okay with this?”
“Sure.” Hell no. But if I want my relationship to work, I need to let her take charge of this operation.
“Check your screens.” His mouse doing the pointing, Daed shares his blueprints. “The office is on the second floor. We enter on the south side, cross the manufacturing area, then head up the stairs. You’ll want to grab the laptop and get out. If it isn’t there, we leave.”
“What about security?” My fists clench under the table.
As a soft hand reaches into my lap, the monitor switches to an infrared satellite view of the building. “Most of the guards stay near the trucks or the loading dock.”
I count at least a dozen. Jesus, are we really going to do this?