Page 67 of Tides of Discovery
The security monitor dashboard loaded in seconds. The alert flashed with alarming clarity:
Remote Admin Access Attempt: Wi-Fi Router
My mouth flattened into a grim line. Someone was trying to access the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi as an administrator. My thumbs flew across the screen with muscle memory born from years of crisis management. I executed the emergency protocol: closed the vulnerability, disabled all remote-access capabilities, changed every router credential, and reset the firewall protocols to their most aggressive settings. The actions were instinctive. Adrenaline sharpened my focus to a razor’s edge as I worked. I locked down the router.
I exhaled a shaky breath, and the air left my lungs in a rush that made my head swim momentarily. My muscles remained locked tight with residual fear, and tension coiled through my body like a compressed spring. That had been close. Too close. A few seconds more, and whoever had tried to breach the security would have had access to the back end of the free Wi-Fi in the shop. They could have planted malware that would have uploaded onto every laptop, every phone, every tablet that accessed the network.
There was no signature left behind—no cocky initials or flashy calling card—but the method was hauntingly familiar. Sloppy in a way that should have been professional. Aggressive to the point of recklessness. Crude yet effective.
Exactly the kind of attack my former contractor, Hayden Shaw, would perpetrate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jack
I raised my gaze and sought Cooper. He worked the espresso machine with practiced motions, steam rising around him like morning mist. Jessica manned the register while Marco restocked the sandwich case, their easy banter mixing with the buzz of conversation from the lunch customers. It was such a normal scene, so perfectly ordinary, that for a moment I almost convinced myself I’d imagined the attack.
But the evidence was still there in my system logs. Someone had tried to infiltrate Cooper’s network, and they’d come dangerously close to succeeding.
I caught Cooper’s eye across the shop and jerked my head toward his office, my expression grim enough that his smile immediately faded. He said something to Jessica, who nodded and moved toward the espresso machine while Marco stepped up to the POS.
“What’s wrong?” Cooper asked the moment we were in his office, the door clicking shut behind us. The small space felt even more cramped with both of us in it, but I welcomed the privacy. Cooper’s familiar scent of coffee and vanilla should havebeen comforting, but my nerves were too frayed to find peace in anything.
“Someone just tried to breach your Wi-Fi network,” I said. “I caught it in time and shut it down, but Cooper…” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to organize my thoughts. “This wasn’t some random script kiddie. This was professional.”
Cooper’s face paled. “What does that mean? Could they have?—”
“If I hadn’t been monitoring your network, they could have uploaded malware that would have been downloaded to every device on the free Wi-Fi network your customers use.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth.
“Who would do something like that?” Cooper’s voice was barely above a whisper, and fear crept into his eyes.
“I believe it’s Hayden Shaw.”
Cooper blinked. “Who?”
“A former contractor. And friend.” My voice was tight. “I fired him about six months before I moved here. He was stealing client data, selling it on the dark web. When I found out, I terminated his contract immediately. He threatened me when I fired him. Told me to watch my back, that he’d make me pay.”
Cooper sank into his desk chair, looking stunned. “And you think he’s doing this to get back at you?”
I paced the small space, my frustration building. “I’m almost untouchable, though. My network is like a vault. But…”
“But what?” Cooper prompted when I trailed off.
“When Shaw and I were friends, back when I trusted him, I used to talk about you all the time. I had pictures of you in my office.” The admission felt raw, vulnerable. “He knew how much you meant to me.”
Understanding dawned in Cooper’s eyes, followed quickly by anger. “So he’s trying to hurt me—hurt my business—to hurt you.”
“That’s exactly what he’s doing.” My hands clenched into fists. “He knows the best way to destroy me is to destroy the person I—” I stopped myself before I said too much, but Cooper was looking at me with such intensity that I wondered if he’d heard the word I hadn’t spoken anyway.
“But why now?” Cooper asked. “You said you fired him eighteen months ago.”
“I heard through the grapevine that he was let go from another job recently. Probably blames me for ruining his reputation in the industry.” I stopped pacing and met Cooper’s gaze. “He’s desperate, angry, and he has nothing left to lose. That makes him extremely dangerous.”
Cooper was quiet for a long moment, processing everything I’d told him. When he finally spoke, his voice was steady but strained. “I have to get back out there. Jessica and Marco can’t handle the Friday lunch rush alone.”
“Cooper—”
“Stop him,” Cooper said, standing up. “Find Shaw and stop him before he destroys everything I’ve built.” His gaze softened. “Please.”
