Stefanie nodded, trying not to look at Fredrick, who was still focused on his phone. Her own phone buzzed and she fumbled it. She looked down at the dot on her screen and gestured to the cheerful yellow buoy in the distance. “We’re here. This is where we dropped one of our research platforms. If all goes well, we’ll show you the data in real-time.” She pressed a button, entered the platform number, and a small circle spun on her phone. Pretty charts of data slowly began to load, and soon she was surrounded by the team, explaining what each one meant. Now, she had their full attention.
“And you have security features so that you can limit access to the data, say, if you had multiple platforms in the same area?” Fredrick leaned in for a closer look
“Yes.” Stefanie touched the buoy icon and a unique number displayed on the screen. “It’s extremely unlikely we would pick up the wrong signal due to the short range of our transmitters. We also require a unique code to find and access each platform.” The words nearly caught in her throat when she realized why Cole had very likely made sure the company incorporated that particular “security” update to the app. Missing transmitter, her foot. It was out here. Probably somewhere close by. However, the app update meant that without the code, she now had no way to find Cole’s mysterious research platform.
“Very good.” Fredrick nodded his approval. “It shows you don’t have anything else in the area, then?”
“Nope. Just this one device.” A warning tickled at the back of her neck. “And now that we have the data, we’ve got to get back to the office. I hope you don’t mind?”
The team agreed and they had an amiable ride back, though Stefanie kept waiting for something to happen. Joey stayed close after the call but didn’t speak with her much, except through the earpiece. It wasn’t until she got off the boat that she began to shake.
21
When Stefanie arrived at the building the following morning, she couldn’t suppress a yawn, even though she was already two cups of coffee into the morning. When she’d gotten home from the boat trip, she’d checked her security system at least a dozen times before deciding to work the punching bag. Even though she was fully exhausted, she didn’t fall into a fitful sleep until far too late at night.
Nash spotted her and gave her a knowing look. She waved at Peggy and barely resisted grabbing Nash by the arm to signal that he needed to be more subtle. It was already uncomfortable that they’d had to bring Nash in. They didn’t need to bring Peggy in when she was still on their suspect list. Once they were out of earshot, Nash hissed, “I called my brother. He’d never heard of Joey but was going to check. Be careful, Stefanie. He may not be telling us the full truth. Oh, hey, Joey.”
Stefanie greeted Joey as if they hadn’t been texting for the past hour. What had started as professional check-in had morphed into funny banter and GIFs. And despite her brain reminding her of the inconvenience of the whole thing, she was starting to get a tightness in her chest whenever Joey was around. The twinkle in his eyes when he looked at her definitely didn’t help calm her racing heart.
“Morning, Joey. Any news for us?” Stefanie plastered on a professional smile.
“No, not yet.” Joey set his mouth in a line. “I sent the information to my superiors and they want us to continue as planned. Cole has arranged for a ship to drop their platform on Saturday.”
Nash rubbed his neck. “Did you notice anything funny yesterday?”
Joey shook his head. “Nope. To me, it seems that they just enjoyed the ride. Maybe we don’t have anything to worry about after all.”
Nash gave Stefanie an ‘I told you so’ look. “When are they sending their parts to us?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Stefanie asked them to deliver the parts no later than the night before, but no guarantees.” Joey shrugged.
Behind her, Cole’s voice made Stefanie jump. “No guarantees on what? Are our newest VIP customers giving you trouble?”
How long had he been standing there? Stefanie cleared her throat. She was the boss, after all. Or at least the boss of deploying whatever their customers had cooked up. “No, sir. Just no guarantees on when our customers will deliver their parts. They’re custom, and we’re building a bracket for their system. It’d be nice to have everything set up at least twenty-four hours in advance, in case we need to modify our system.”
“Oh, I see.” Cole rubbed his chin. “I’ll do what I can, but they may not be able to meet our timeline. They operate on their own schedule sometimes.”
Stefanie nodded ruefully. “Understood. There’s a potential for more technical problems if they deliver it on the day of the trip. Can you communicate that as well? I don’t mind taking the risk, but they need to know about it.”
Cole crossed his arms. He was wearing a suit again. Different than the last one she’d seen him in but still expensive. Cole eyed her carefully. For a moment, she wondered if he could read her mind. “I can do that. Also, I trust that you’ll make sure it goes well, Stefanie. This is a critical job for us and will be a good test of your leadership.”
There was something about his tone that rubbed her the wrong way. “Of course, sir. I won’t let you down. The legal team is handling the permits, so everything should be all set.”
“Great. This will really help us prove we made the right decision when we hired you.” Cole pointed to Nash. “This will be great for you too. Will you
