Page 52 of No Time Off

“Good morning,” I said, kissing her on the cheek. “How’d you sleep?”

“Not enough,” she said, rolling her neck. “Is it time?”

“It’s time,” I confirmed.

“So, what’s the plan?” She stretched and then walked over to her laptop. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just like yesterday, I’ll set up my laptop so you can connect through it to the Wi-Fi. I’ll give you that hour I promised to get in. Once you’re in, let me know.”

“One hour?”

“One hour,” I confirmed. “Our communications will be phones only, since that’s what we have at hand except for texting via the laptop. Though once I head into the compound, the laptop stays with Manny. I’ll call Manny on my phone, and Manny will loop you in, muting his end unless one of you needs to talk to me. That way any noise from your end won’t inadvertently reveal my presence. You’ll take down the cameras on my signal, and I’ll let you know to put them back up once I’m in. I’ll plant the devices and let you know when I’m ready to exit. You take everything down again until I’m in the clear. Straightforward and simple. No fancy moves.”

“Do you know where you’re going to plant the devices?” she asked. “How many do you have?”

“Two devices, and, yes, I know where I’m going to plant them. One will be in the chief of staff’s office and the other in a conference room where Manny took photos of Maivia speaking to various Chinese officials. Unfortunately, the devices are not the bugs like you might expect. Manny doesn’t have any actual bugs in his arsenal. They’re just mini recorders. Which means I’ll have to go back in again and retrieve them.”

“You have to break in twice?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, but Manny has a plan for that,” I assured her. “We may not even have to be involved in the recovery. That is yet to be determined.”

She didn’t look convinced, but there was no further time for discussion.

“Why can’t it ever be the easy button for us?” she asked with a sigh.

“It’s not a difficult assignment,cara,” I assured her. “With you handling the cameras, itwillbe easy.”

“Sure, and this is supposed to be a remote island where nothing exciting ever happens.”

Ouch. “Point taken. Let’s just consider this a small blip on the honeymoon radar. We’ll get through it. We always do.”

She nodded. “We always do.”

I gently cupped the sides of her face with my hands. “One hour for that hack, ten minutes to plant the devices, and another hour before I’m back. We’ve got this.”

“We better.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Be careful with my husband, okay?”

“Only if you keep my wife safe.”

“Deal,” she murmured against my lips as she gave me a kiss.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Slash

Manny and I were in position at the compound. We’d moved quickly in the dark under a waxing moon that provided excellent visibility. Once we’d arrived in the bushes near where we had hidden yesterday, I set up my laptop, giving Lexi access to the Wi-Fi network where she was currently hacking away. I sipped coffee from a thermos Manny had provided while mentally walking through the steps of the operation. I didn’t look at the time. I knew I didn’t need to.

Fifty-two minutes after I set up the laptop, my phone vibrated. “Yes?” I answered.

“I’m in,” Lexi said.

I felt a surge of pride and relief. “Good work,cara. You did it.”

“Wedid it,” she said. “I got critical help from Wally, Frankie, and Angel. They are unbelievably talented. Well, Xavier and Elvis helped, too, but you knew that.”

“I knew that.” I smiled.

“By the way, there are a couple of things you should be aware of,” Lexi said. “The compound has its door alarms tied into the network. I’ve got control of those, too.”

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