Page 50 of Savage Beauty

Is HR in a different building? I think they are. If only I’d paid closer attention to colleagues’ names and functions.

“What is it?” We agreed to not talk in the building, but here Max is talking, breaking his own rule.

“I need to go into the building next door.”

“No.”

He’s being assertive. But his response is logical. They haven’t hijacked the security cameras for the other buildings. Although it’s quite possible there are no security cameras in that building. It houses offices and maybe storage rooms. What would someone steal? Paper. No, they have computers in the other building. People steal computers.

“Ready?” Again, he’s violating the stated rules.

This space has been cleaned, but maybe not the others. And what about Dr. Kallio?

I leave Max behind. We’re clearly the only people in the building. We pass the lab with the stacked guinea pig and rat cages, and Dr. Kallio’s office is next. My breaths pick up, and I’m sure my heartrate hits the eighty percent zone, but none of that matters. I need to find out — and turn the knob.

Her stuff is here. Dr. Kallio’s stuff is here. Or at least, someone is using the space.

There’s a laptop on a desk. Plugged in. I flip it open and pull up a stool.

The screensaver asks for a username and password.

I’ll never figure this out. There’s movement in the doorway. Max.

I pull open the long, flat drawer that runs along the desk. It’s identical to my lab desk. Huzzah!

This is still Dr. Kallio’s space. Taped to the bottom of the drawer is a list of passwords in her crisp, easily deciphered handwriting. She once told me she keeps a laminated list of passwords in case something happened to her unexpectedly. I always thought it was a rather morbid way of looking at life.

The question is… are any of these passwords for her laptop?

I scan the list, looking for something easy. Something a person wouldn’t mind typing in repeatedly all day.

There’s one password combo that fits. Her email and the password newday321.

Huzzah! I am in.

Max raises his handgun. The movement catches my eye.

The screen before me lights.

I search her app bar. Find the icon for the Origins server. Click.

“We gotta go.” Max’s voice is hushed, but he’s supposed to use a hand signal.

I hold up a finger to silence him. I follow rules.

Think. What can I do so Arrow can access this server after we leave? The gun wielding muscle man probably won’t let me sit here long.

I can’t, can I? You can’t just save access.

A tiny green light glows on the zip drive I’ve stuck in the laptop's side.

The data is too extensive to transfer.

“Sloane. We’ve got to go.”

He grips my arm.

I yank it back.That’s not the plan.

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