Page 49 of Scorned

I side eyed him while reciting his words from memory. “It’s better to have a stupid plan than no plan at all.”

“Exactly.”

“You guys done?” Peach asked. “We need to get going before it gets too late.”

Marcus looked around me, locking gazes with her. “I’ll miss you, Peaches and Cream.”

Peach smirked, but behind her blueish-green eyes was a glimmer of passion. “Get out of the car, Marcus.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“You can sit in the front, Peach,” Lyric said, opening the rear door and sliding in.

“You ladies have fun.” Marcus had pure adoration plastered on his face as he held the door for Peach, and my heart melted. His smile was wide when he shut it.

“Listen, I know it’s not my business, but Marcus is a great guy.”

Peach’s head turned toward me. “I know. And it’s literally impossible to ignore how amazing he is.”

Lyric leaned in between me and Peach, her excitement contagious. “For the record, I think you guys would make a perfect couple.”

Peach nodded before turning her gaze away from me, and I pulled out of the parking lot, heading toward the other campground.

Chapter 15

Winnie

The alarms were still sounding as we hastily went down the hall. A few people ran past us in a panic, none of them even making eye contact. Naomi’s plan worked exactly like she said it would. Now we could roam the building for a few minutes without being noticed.

After rounding a corner, we stopped at a door and Naomi placed her fingerprint on the scanner. Even though she planned everything to make sure the room was empty, she peeked her head in to check before stepping inside.

It felt like Christmas when I entered the room and fixed my eyes on the row of computer monitors lining the back wall. Each of them running programs like access control, intruder alert, and a couple I didn’t recognize, but could easily figure out their function. The left wall held over a dozen screens with CCTV monitoring, which seemed to cover almost every square inch of the compound. To my right more screens displayed maps with hundreds of flickering dots, each pinpointing the whereabouts of every Venom member, some of them in residential neighborhoods. Below the screens was one of the biggest server racks I had ever seen.

Naomi tapped her tablet again and the alarm quieted before a man’s voice came over her watch. “What’s the status?”

She held her wrist up and clicked the button on the side. “I had the Ultra Mech Program I designed running when I wasn’t here. I’m trying to work out these kinks and hit a snag. Sorry.”

“That’s the third time this week, Naomi. You need to get those bugs fixed asap before President Argent gets pissed.”

“I will, Daniel.”

“The ceremony is about to start. Hurry up and get down here.”

“Copy. Over.”

Naomi turned toward us with an arrogant smile on her face. “The other times were also on purpose. Just making sure my lies are solid.”

“Can we talk in here?” I asked in a hushed voice.

“Yep. I activated a blocker that will scramble the audio in the building for the next fifteen minutes, so when it’s played back, you’ll only hear static. They’ll assume it’s a glitch from my fake failed program.”

I narrowed my eyes on Naomi. “I don’t understand how you can do all of this amazing shit, but can’t get through a few security steps.”

“I’m trained on this equipment. I know how it works and what messes it up. I’m not good with things I don’t know. I’m a security specialist, not a hacker.” She took a deep breath, a small bit of self disappointment lining her face. “We have to hurry. Follow me.”

She headed to the back right of the room and went to the last computer in the row. “This is the one. I’ll grab the other things while you set up.”

After removing my hood and mask, I pulled out some USBs from my pocket, then took a seat.

---