Page 57 of False Flag

The idea that she’d be able to collect intel on Gerard Campbell or Casper Osborne was ludicrous given the amount of security on this island and what Freya had already told her about it being a SIGINT dead zone.

It had to be a combination of signal blockers combined with Casper having an in-house tech team who locked everything on the network down tight. The island’s servers must be in Orca House. Why else would two or three guys need an entire mansion?

This reminded her to find out how many techbros there were. Names would be a good idea too. But she had the strangest feeling that information was locked down tight.

And covered by the NDA she signed.

However, if Osborne’s team was doing anything illegal—and she had no doubt they were—she didn’t need to worry about the NDA. The thought of the techbro facing more than a sexual harassment charge gave her a small reason to smile.

Finding dirt on him and the others moved higher on her to-do list.

She grabbed the sandwich from her pack and ate while she walked. Maybe she was just hangry. Well, except for the fact that she had every reason to be pissed off.

Still, she felt calmer after eating.

She’d circled the boundaries of her prison three times and was passing Blue Heron House again. It was the largest of the four two-story bungalows. It was also the oldest, dating back to the 1920s. When Gerard was in residence on the island, that’s where he lived and worked. He had an office on the ground floor and his bedroom was on one of the upper floors.

Dahlia, Gerard’s assistant and the producer of the Lost Civilizations podcast, had told Staci the recording studio was in the basement. She had an office there, but when Gerard was away, she preferred daylight and working in her bedroom at Geoduck House.

As Staci studied the house, she saw movement in one of the front windows. Was that Gerard’s office? Was he here?

No. Surely someone would have said something. Well, except Lloyd liked being in the know and keeping her in the dark.

She glanced at her watch. She’d been gone nearly an hour. She should go back to work. If it was Gerard, he’d want to know she was keeping to a structured workday. Plus, Lloyd wanted to talk about dive locations, and he was always at his most likable when he talked about scuba. This was good considering she’d be trusting him with her life—and vice versa—when they worked as dive partners.

She paused on the parking pad adjacent to Heron House and debated. Go back to work or see if Gerard was here?

She studied the front window. Had she really seen movement?

Fuck it. There was no time like the present to tell Gerard he was wasting her time without internet access. She marched up the walkway and climbed the porch steps.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She stopped, fear shooting down her spine. She slowly turned to see Beau right behind her. He’d moved silently, making her wonder exactly what he’d done in the Army to be able to sneak up on her so easily on an open path.

She’d faced down one asshole in the last hour. Why not two?

She could do this. Even though this particular man terrified her.

She put her hands on her hips, thinking of the Wonder Woman pose that instilled confidence. “I want to talk to Gerard.”

“What makes you think Gerard is here?”

“I saw him through the window.”

“Liar. Were you planning to break in?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“It would be just like you. You were never that bright. All tits, no brain.”

The phrase was a slap, bringing back a sharp pain from high school. The mean girls had called her that because they didn’t like the attention she received from boys. Hell, even the attention she received from male teachers. Classmates claimed her 3.8 grade point average was only because teachers wanted to fuck her. Then the rumors morphed into speculation that she exchanged blowjobs for As.

Beau had rescued her from that. He’d been her white knight. A senior and a jock, he was so popular that when he started dating her, the rumors ended. No one dared say anything negative about Beau Sommerville’s girl. Not after he beat the crap out of a guy who’d started one of the nastier rumors about paying Staci for sex.

It had been a dozen years since she’d heard that particular line, and she’d thought it had lost its power over her. And maybe it had, except Beau was the person saying it.

“I can’t believe I ever thought I loved you.”