Page 102 of A Hard Fit

“That’ll only work if they have good service here, and right now…” Finn held his phone up searching for a signal. “One bar, off and on.”

Rory nodded and continued typing. “I still see the Wi-Fi network, so the access points must be fine. There’s got to be some sort of problem in the server room.”

“Can we do another ride, Uncle Finn?” Cali asked.

“You bet, we just need a minute… Why don’t you guys go check out the fountain?”

“Let’s make a wish!” Steffie said, herding the kids over to the burbling water. “I have some coins.”

Finn furrowed his brow. “So, if people can’t use the app, they can’t use the line skipper or order food or anything, right?”

“I knew we should have done a soft open.” Rory raked their fingers through their hair.

A beleaguered family rolled up and stopped next to them. The mom had her phone out while children circled her legs, whining about rides and demanding food at full volume. The dad had a toddler on his back and appeared ready to give up on life.

“Hang on,” the mom muttered. “This stupid app…”

“I want to go on the fairy wheel!” a small girl cried.

“I’m hungry!” a boy about Bryson’s age whined.

“Yeah, I know, I’m trying to order some food, but…urgh! Nothing will load.” The mom groaned, tucking her phone into her pocket and picking up the girl. “Guess we’d better go get in line.”

The husband sighed as they trudged away.

Finn grimaced and checked his phone again. Now he had no bars. He didn’t want to throw the word ‘disaster’ around, but…

A large shadow loomed in Finn’s vision. “There you are!” Markos lumbered up to them. “This is a fucking disaster! I think the load on the cell tower has bogged everything down and now no one can do anything. What the fuck went wrong?”

“I’m not sure… What have you tried for fixes so far?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. It’s all beyond me now.” Markos ran a hand over his head, leaving the few stray hairs on top sticking straight up. “If people can’t order lunch, they’ll leave. Fuck! An absolutedisaster.”

“It’s okay,” Rory said. “We can help. Just give us a second.”

The kids were lined up along the cement wall of the fountain tossing coins into the spray.

Finn hunched down to talk to Cali and Bryson. “Rory and I need to go help out for a bit. Are you okay staying with Mikala and Steffie?”

“Yup,” Bryson said absentmindedly, going right back to Leo and Troy to see who could get a coin to land in the middle of the diamond mosaic on the bottom.

Cali nodded. “You’ll be back soon, though, right?”

“As soon as I can.” Finn was a little surprised when she hugged him, and even more surprised when his instinct was to kiss the top of her head.

“Okay,” Finn said to Markos. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hot Dog Heist

The three of them strode through the park, Markos’ bulk cutting a swath through the crowd. “The customer service line is swamped with people complaining. They can’t access the wait times or line skippers, but the biggest problem is they can’t order food,” Markos explained. “There’s a lineup a mile long at the grill because we don’t have the capacity for everyone to order in person anymore.”

When they arrived at the covered outdoor eating area, they confirmed that the lineup had spilled from the appointed lanes and was twice as long again, winding through tables and nearly out into the park itself. And the people looked…hungry.

As they stood and gaped at the crowd, another family stopped next to them and did the same.

“This is ridiculous. We are not getting in that line!” one of the grown-ups said.

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