The woman who brought us coffee earlier appears. “Hi, ladies. I’m Stella Dupont. I’ve ordered some lunch downstairs, and I’m serving it buffet style in Jim’s apartment. Would you like to join us?”
I squeeze Claire’s hand. “We can do this.”
Claire stands and looks around. “This is beautiful up here.”
Stella nods. “My girls love it. Jim had it built to keep them occupied and busy while their dad and I work. Their favorites are the ducks and rabbits Jim put up here. But the gardener hates the rabbits because they’re getting into his vegetable garden.”
I laugh. “Is that why our code names are from Peter Rabbit?”
She smiles. “Probably. It’s been a topic of conversation recently.”
Claire turns to me. “How do you know our code names?”
“I heard Yolanda refer to Landon as Rabbit, and his apartment as the rabbit hole.”
“I love it!” Claire laughs. “That was one of his favorite books as a child.”
We walk downstairs to Jim’s apartment, and a crowd has gathered around the counter in the kitchen, which is packed with a feast of fajitas and all the fixings.
“Here they are,” Landon announces. “How are you doing?” he asks Claire.
She nods.
“You were fast,” I say. “Did you figure anything out?”
Landon gets behind me in the line for food. “Gage and I left a team there. I think he’ll have an update in a few minutes.”
We fill our plates and move over to a large table. When we introduce ourselves, and I learn that Cameron Newhouse with SHN, our investor, is among those here for lunch.
Claire and I take seats on either side of Landon. Once everyone is settled, our unplanned meeting begins.
“We did find spyware on both the company’s and The Adams’ routers. They were buried, and it seems logical to assume they were put there by former Head of IT Mattis Yung,” Gage shares.
“Do you know how long they’ve been there?” Claire asks.
“Not exactly, but we’re finding that packets of information were sent each evening.” Gage wipes his mouth with his napkin. “The reboot that kept Tinsley’s computer from working also kept her code from being transferred. When she worked from The Adams, the router was collecting packets of her work. But The Adams’ router couldn’t transmit the data, so it kept storing it, which in turn caused the lag.”
“But I only began to notice a lag yesterday when I was on The Adams’ network.”
“Well, we can’t find any record of the information being moved, so perhaps it finally reached the tipping point and built up into a noticeable delay.”
Claire and I breathe easier. Landon doesn’t, though, and I quickly see there’s another shoe to drop.
“I understand from Landon that there’s a rush to market with what you’re working on,” Cameron says.
I nod. “No pressure there.”
“I’ve looked at what you’ve done.” Cameron puts a napkin in his lap. “I can see why you’re having some challenges with the slang and some dialects. I have some ideas—that is, if you’re open to hearing them. I don’t want to step on your toes.”
Cameron Newhouse is a genius developer. He’s helped several of SHN’s investments be successful. If he has ideas, I’m in. “I’m definitely open to hearing what you think—unless you tell me to scrap it all.”
“Not exactly, but it could mean a lot of work ahead of us.”
My palms start sweating, and I itch everywhere. Not exactly means I’m scrapping everything I’ve done.
“We can meet at The Adams tomorrow morning, if that works?” he says.
I look at Landon. “Are you okay with that?”
“If he’s not, I’ll whip his ass into shape,” Claire interjects.
I look at Landon, and we both smile. Our Claire is back. Fuck you, Morgan Bennett.
We spend the next two hours planning our next steps. Gage’s team is replacing the routers with newer and better models that have heavier encryption.
Before we break, Jim pulls me, Landon, and Claire aside. “We ran bug detectors through Landon and Claire’s homes,” he says. “Landon’s had one that came in with a piece of mail, and Claire, you had several in the wiring at your house that’s being renovated.”
Claire gasps, suddenly white as a sheet.
“We caught them,” Jim assures her. “You’re fine, and we’re changing some things around. We’ll be more vigilant about checking your homes.”
Jim looks at me. “We’d like to go through your place. Are you okay with that?”
“Of course.”
“May I have a key to your apartment?”
I stand and dig my keys out of my backpack, handing them to Jim.
“I’m sending Yolanda,” he says. “She’s also going to pack up a few outfits for you for the next few days.”
“Where will I stay?”
“Landon and I were talking, and he has his parents coming, but there’s still a guest room where you can stay.”
“I don’t want to be underfoot with his parents visiting.”
“You won’t.” Landon looks at Claire, waiting for her to object. When she doesn’t, he continues. “I have five different guest rooms, plus you can work out in the pool each morning.”
“How long do you think I’ll need to do this?” I start calculating what needs to be done.
“I’m not sure right now,” Jim says.
My mind is going a thousand miles a minute. “What if I stay with my best friend, Christine Matthews? Or at a hotel?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer you stay with Landon,” Jim says. “We’ll have a team inside the apartment in the house manager’s quarters, and it’s a little less intrusive that way than having a team sitting on someone’s couch, or accommodating them at a hotel.”
“Where are the house manager’s
