Page 49 of No Time Off

“I hope so. See if you can combine what you know about Signet Investments’ emails and Frankie sprinkling a few Chinese words in the title to produce an email he can’t resist. Once he clicks the link, we’ll have access to his account.”

Elvis responded with several clapping emojis.“You’ve just made some kids here very happy.”

“I bet,”I typed, smiling.“Just didn’t want them to get bored without me.”

“Ha, not anymore. BTW, the additional ensigns working on the holodeck are having some success and estimate they’ll have full control by early tomorrow.”

He referred to Piper and Brandon, my other two interns, who were working with Wally on breaching the Cook Islands’ official government website and social media accounts so we could take them back from the plotters. Once they broke in, they would await my command to execute the next steps of our plan at a moment’s notice. While I was digesting that, Elvis sent another message.

“Spock and I have been researching Signet,”he continued.“Quite frankly, it’s been easier than we expected. There’s more information on them publicly available than you might imagine, and their systems show only ordinary commercial security, and not the signs of a state-sponsored intelligence front. Our assessment is their connection to the Cook Islands is first and foremost commercial. They invest in import/export business that transits to China. My guess is they are more of a front for businesses smuggling or whitewashing commercial products from China to avoid tariffs or sanctions. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t being used to support Chinese foreign policy in the region, but only that they started out as a commercial enterprise whose interests and resources have been co-opted.”

This was interesting information, but it didn’t necessarily connect Maivia or the coup to China.

“Have you been able to get into their system?”I asked.

“Not yet. Their security may be commercial, but it’s good. We’re avoiding any sort of brute-force attacks, as that would be impossible to hide. I’m convinced we can get in, but not on your timeline. We think you’ll have better luck trying to track the money and the connection directly through Maivia and the local Chinese officials. Sorry.”

It was disappointing news, but not a deal breaker. It also helped me focus on what might now be a better plan of attack.

“It’s okay. Thanks for the update. Let me talk to Slash and we’ll let you know whether to investigate further. Meanwhile, I’m going to need your and Frankie’s help tomorrow. We have about an hour starting at 0600 local time to crack a secure Wi-Fi network and take control of their security system. When I send the malicious link for the email, I’ll also send you the information on the wireless router and what I observed today. Use the time to research known vulnerabilities and plan attack options, and I’ll do the same here. We’ll connect 30 minutes prior to discuss strategy.”

“How will we connect to attack the system?”Elvis asked when his text finally came through.

“Slash will use his laptop to remote network with me so I can get access to their Wi-Fi and start the penetration. Between us, I propose we use high-side screen sharing so that you can see my screen. NinjaGhost is the only program I have on my laptop here. I didn’t come fully prepared, obviously. We’ll connect first and then I’ll sync to hubby’s laptop at the compound. Once we’re in, we’ll need Frankie to help us navigate the network to the cameras, as everything will undoubtedly be in Chinese.”

There was a pause, probably the twins discussing the plan with Angel, Wally, and Frankie and figuring out exactly what they needed for the plan to work. After another several minutes, Elvis responded.

“Gotcha. We’ll solidify our plan of attack. The kids are onboard—they’ve already been excused from school tomorrow. Everyone will be ready to go at 0530 your time. That will be before lunchtime here, so we should have plenty of time to do our research and be ready.”

“Thanks, team. Appreciate the assist.”

“Live long and prosper. Literally and figuratively.”

Smiling, I closed the VPN and my laptop. I was confident we could hack into the cameras within an hour if Slash decided there was no other option than to break in to plant the recording devices. But was that good enough? What if I failed and he was hurt, captured, or killed? Could I live with that? Did he really need to do this…alone?

I’d just stood to get some water and stretch when Slash entered the room. He quickly crossed to meet me and pulled me into his arms.

“How’s my girl?” he asked. His presence was a comforting anchor amid the intense stress of the afternoon.

“Worried,” I said. “And not fully onboard with you breaking into the compound.”

“So I was told,” he said, and then sighed. “Manny could hear it in your voice that you were upset with me. I’m sorry. I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that a lot until I figure out how this marriage thing works. I do want to make important life decisions with you. But it’s hard, because many of my decisions revolve around keeping you safe, and that skews my outlook and prevents me from either hearing you or taking your input into account if I think it runs counter to that outcome.”

“You do realize I have exactly the same problem, right?” I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I do, but the truth is I feel like your life is more important than mine.”

I looked straight into his serious eyes. “You couldn’t be more wrong, Slash. This is an equal partnership with equal importance, and we must worktogetherto protect ourselves in unison. It will likely be a bit more intense for us than other couples simply because of the nature of our work. It’s not going to be an easy adjustment for either of us. But wecando this if we talk things out and respect each other’s perspectives.”

“You’re right. It won’t be easy to change my mindset, but I’m willing to try.”

“Good,” I said. “Because that’s where we need to start. Now, let’s talk over this breaking and entering plan of yours.” I took a step back and blew out a breath. “I know why you think you should do it, and I’m not against it…completely. I just need to know why you feel risking your life is the only option in this case. What’s your logic? For example, what if I’m able to get the evidence we need by hacking into Maivia’s email? Do you still feel it’s necessary to break into the compound?”

He nodded. “I really do. What if we find nothing incriminating in Maivia’s email? What if Elvis and Xavier’s hack into Signet comes up empty? We don’t have time to try all avenues in sequence. We’re going to have to run some in parallel, and that includes planting some recording devices in the hopes of picking up some critical information.”

I considered. “Okay, but once I’m able to access those security cameras, why do you still have to go in? We could just use the cameras to collect all the evidence we need without the risk being caught.”

“Two reasons. Manny reports that his cousin—who has been inside the compound on the bottom floor—has not seen any internal cameras. So, the only cameras we know of are the external ones, which won’t provide us with the evidence we need. Second, even if they had cameras in the halls, they’d be unlikely to pick up the very specific and private conversations we need to hear unless we were to get exceptionally lucky. It’s rudimentary, old-fashioned, and dangerous to physically plant recording devices, but it’s what we have to work with here.”

---