Page 43 of No Time Off

I sighed as I typed my response.

“I wish I were kidding. Somehow, we’re up to our necks in an extremely tense situation. Slash unexpectedly prevented an assassination attempt on the legit prime minister and now the coup leaders think we’re on her side. So, by default, we are.”

A full two minutes passed before I got a response.“THIS HAPPENED ON YOUR HONEYMOON? Seriously? The odds of this are…crazy astronomical. You know that, right?

The fact that Elvis was expressing his feelings in capital letters—which he never did—indicated he was completely freaking out. Plus, he was talking about the odds, and that exercise seemed counterproductive to my current situation. Now my anxiety was going through the roof when I needed to be calm and focused.

“You don’t have to quote the odds to me,”I typed.“I’m fully aware of them. Is Xavier there with you?”

“He’s looking over my shoulder. Sorry, I got off track there. It’s just a bit of a shock if you know what I mean. A coup on a remote island where you just happen to be honeymooning. That’s just kismet to the extreme. But enough on that. What can we do to help?”

Wasn’t that the question of the hour? His response pulled me back from the edge. I took a minute to gather my thoughts about how to best outline the plan of action so they could adequately support us. But first I had to give them the overview.

“Here’s the situation. We’re in the Cook Islands, on the run from the coup leaders, and holed up with the prime minister. The leader of the coup is the commissioner of police for the islands, a Liko Maivia. It’s doubtful the US government or New Zealand will intercede in any way if it’s just a local change of power. However, the prime minister believes the coup is being sponsored and supported by China, using Maivia as a manipulated front man. We’re seeking evidence to prove that and encourage support to the ousted government, thereby thwarting the Chinese. We need proof that Maivia is on the Chinese payroll or emails that confirm financial or other kinds of agreements between them.”

There was a long pause between the time I sent the message and I responded. I wasn’t sure if it was due to bandwidth issues or Elvis and Xavier needed time to process what I’d just unloaded on them. Probably both. Finally, Elvis responded.

“TheCook Islands? Guess you guys really did go remote. Unfortunately, it looks like you didn’t get two tickets to paradise. Sigh. So, China is up to something again? Why am I not surprised? Let us know the plan—we’re ready.”

A wave of relief swept over me. I hadn’t doubted they would help—it was just a comfort to know they had our backs. There was no one in the world I trusted more to do what Slash and I needed them to do. I exhaled a deep breath and outlined the initial plan.

“I need you two to follow the money. The Chinese have a compound on Rarotonga that houses the Chinese police and officials stationed here. The compound was purchased by a company that we believe is a front for the Chinese, called Signet Investments. We think it’s the command center for orchestrating the coup. I’m sending now what information I’ve found so far on the compound. We need to go as deep as we can on this.”

I attached the file containing the information I’d compiled so far and sent it to them. It would likely take several minutes to arrive, so I continued the discussion.

“While you do that, I’m going after Maivia’s social media, email accounts, and whatever I can find. Hopefully, between all of us, we can find the connection that shows their hand in the coup. I have limited bandwidth and am reluctant to tackle the higher-end security at the Chinese front company. If you can get in, you’ll need someone who can read and write Mandarin. I believe Angel’s friend Frankie is fluent, so you might reach out to her. Please be careful, we don’t want the Chinese to know we’re on to them and trace the probes back to us.”

“Got it,”Elvis responded.“We’ll reach out to Angel and Frankie. And we’ll cover our tracks. We know how to handle the Chinese.

“You certainly do,”I typed.“I almost envy you the hack. But we are pressed for time. Slash and I are being actively hunted by coup forces. The island is small, and we can’t hide for long, so we need everything you can get us as quickly as you can.”

“Understood. What’s Slash doing?”

“Surveilling the compound and seeing what he can do from that end.”I glanced again at the stained wallpaper, worrying about Slash. I hated when we had to work apart.

Rough activity for a honeymoon,”Elvis replied.“Anything else?

My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I went through the steps in my head one more time to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Nothing else, just that the situation is very dynamic. Please have someone always monitoring communications. I have no idea what other help we may need, but when we do, we’ll need it immediately. I’m sorry to put such demands on you all.”

It took a bit longer before Elvis answered, so I stood up and paced the room while I waited. Finally, I heard the incoming chime of his response.“Don’t be sorry for even a second. We haven’t had this much fun since your wedding. A whole three weeks of a boring, quiet existence. We should have known.

I wasn’t sure if I should roll my eyes or laugh. I laughed because it was better than crying.

“Thanks, guys. If you find anything relevant, also take it to NSA as soon as possible. I’ll give you an email where you can send the stuff. An accumulation of materials is key. The government needs proof, so we are going to give it to them. We will expose this.”

“Damn right, we will,” Elvis replied. “Just check in when you can. And, Lexi, stay safe, okay?”

Like he had to tell me that. Of course staying safe was paramount at the moment, it just wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded. Still, I wanted to sound confident.“Trust me, guys, that’s the plan. No worries on that front.

“ALL the worries on that front. We know you.”

He had a point, but no sense in getting everyone any more worried or riled up than they already were. After a moment, I typed back.

“I’ll be extra careful. Talk to you soon.”

I logged off and sat for a moment in the stillness of the room. I could make all the promises I wanted, but there was no way I could predict what would happen next. The clock was ticking toward midnight, and Slash and I were betting our lives we could live to fight another day.

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