Page 45 of Peak’s Code

Maeve felt the room tilt. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“He said she was taken because of what she could do,” Captain said.

Peak looked toward the encoded strip on the dresser. “The Director needed a programmer.” Captain nodded, and Maeve’s heart twisted painfully in her chest.

For eighteen months, she’d imagined every possible horror Wren might have faced. Now a new one formed of Wren chained to a desk and forced to work. Writing code that helped her captors move women, hide money, and erase lives.

“She wouldn’t help them,” Maeve whispered.

Peak moved closer. “She would if refusing meant dying.”

Maeve turned on him. “My sister isn’t a criminal.”

“I didn’t say she was,” Peak said.

“You implied⁠—”

“I implied she’s a survivor.” Peak’s voice remained calm. “If Wren is anything like you, she did whatever she had to do while finding a way to fight back.”

His gaze moved to the bloodstained message. “Maybe this is how.” Maeve looked at the coded strip again. Tide before dawn. The phrase was meant for her. Maybe Wren had known Mercer would carry it. Maybe she’d hidden the code in a place he wouldn’t recognize. Or maybe she’d simply needed to put something familiar into the world to remind herself who she was.

“She’s alive,” Maeve said.

Captain paused. “Mercer didn’t confirm that.”

“He didn’t have to.” She pointed toward the evidence bag. “Wren created that code. If Mercer had it sewn into his jacket, then he’d been close enough to get it from her.”

Peak nodded slowly. “And if the message refers to the Virginia station, she was alive at least three months ago.” The problem was—three months wasn’t today. But it was more than Maeve had possessed yesterday.

Captain opened the door an inch and scanned the parking lot. “I’ll contact you before dawn with the coordinates for my mother’s old cabin.”

“Use the burner,” Peak said.

“I know how this works,” Captain mumbled.

“Then stop tracking my bike,” Peak spat.

Captain looked back at him. “Stay alive long enough to complain about it later.” Then his gaze settled on Maeve. “We’ll find your sister.” She wanted to believe him. Instead of believing a promise that Captain might not be able to keep, she simply nodded. Captain slipped outside and closed the door behind him. Peak locked it again, replacing the chain before checking the window.

Maeve stood near the dresser, staring at the coded strip inside the plastic bag. “She left that for me.”

Peak came to stand beside her. “Looks that way.”

“What if we can’t decode it?” she asked.

“We will,” he promised. “We’re the two best hackers I’ve ever met, honey.”

Despite herself, she smiled faintly. “I’m betting that I’m the only other hacker you know, Peak.”

He shrugged. “Yep, and you’re the second-best hacker I’ve ever met.”

“Who’s the best?” she questioned, already knowing the answer.

“Um, me,” he said, puffing out his chest, making her giggle.

“There’s the ego again,” she grumbled.

“It’s not ego, it’s confidence,” he insisted.