Page 65 of Final Sins

“We could use the tech as bait,” Jason said, stealing the words right out of her mouth.

Alex whipped her head around to stare at him. He stared back, looking as surprised as she felt.

“Great minds,” she said dryly.

“Or fools’,” he shot back with a grin.

Suddenly, the energy in the room shifted. Alex and Jason locked eyes, a spark of understanding passing between them.

“If we create a believable breakthrough—” Alex started.

“Seven-Five won’t be able to resist,” Jason finished.

“And my dad’s their contact. Sweet.” Gravy rubbed his hands together. “You guys are thinking they’ll have to let the old man contact Gabe here.”

Jason cocked a finger at Gravy. “Bingo.”

Their rapid-fire exchange continued, ideas bouncing back and forth. Alex found herself leaning in, caught up in the excitement of a plan coming together.

Jason tapped a finger on the table. “We’ll need to leak the information strategically.”

Alex nodded. “Mac, you still have those Stanford Lab contacts?”

“You know it, boss,” Mac replied. “Anything we need to leak will go out to the biggest players in tech. They’ll get the info to their press contacts in minutes.”

As they continued to flesh out the details, Alex became acutely aware of the speculative looks her teammates were giving her. Mac’s eyebrows were raised so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline, while Liv wore a knowing smirk that made Alex want to squirm.

Even Gravy had a curious gleam in his dark eyes.

Realizing how close she was standing to Jason, their shoulders almost touching, Alex took a deliberate step back. Theloss of his warmth was immediate, and she stubbornly ignored the pang of regret that followed.

“Right,” she said, clearing her throat. “So we have the bones of a plan. Let’s break it down step by step and identify any potential weak spots.”

As the teams dove into the nitty-gritty details, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just revealed more than she intended. And judging by the amused glances being exchanged around the room, she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

“Paige should help Gabriel with the ‘breakthrough’,” Tai suggested.

From the corner of her eye, Alex caught sight of Cody’s face darkening. He straightened up, his jaw set in a hard line. “I think I should join them,” he said, his voice tight. “Three heads are better than two, right?”

Interesting. Alex filed that information away for later. “Makes sense, Cody. You’re the resident Seven-Five expert.”

Jason squinted up at the ceiling. “Assuming Seven-Five takes the bait, where do we set up the meet?”

“It needs to be somewhere contained, with limited ingress and egress and some overhead cover for me and Graham to set up shop,” Mason, the team’s best sniper, chimed in.

Mac nodded in agreement. “But not so controlled that it raises suspicion.”

“What about a university lab?” Tai suggested. “It would lend credibility to Gabriel’s ‘breakthrough’.”

Alex shook her head. “Too many innocent bystanders.”

Gravy cleared his throat. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the meeting, but now all eyes turned to him. “What about the old Seaside Palace? We’re within helo range of the Coast, right?”

The room fell silent. Alex blinked, certain she’d misheard. Could he really be talking about the abandoned amusement park just north of San Diego? “Come again?”

Gravy leaned forward, his eyes bright with excitement. “Think about it. It’s isolated, and fenced off, so no civies to worry about. Lots of open space for surveillance, but also plenty of cover. And the best part? We can totally use Gabe’s hologram stuff to blow their minds.” He spread his hands, getting into full storyteller mode. “Picture his holographic tech mixed with funhouse mirrors and structures from the old rides. Super creepy, right? It’ll weird them completely out.”

The silence stretched on as everyone processed Gravy’s suggestion. Alex glanced at Jason, seeing her own surprise mirrored in his expression.

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