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“Yeah.” Lauren turned to him. “I think that could be it.”
I pushed my anger and anxiety to the side for a moment to appreciate something: my sister and Gabe really were perfect for each other. In the not-too-distant past, Lauren had operated completely solo, neither seeking the opinions of others nor tolerating them. She and Gabe needed to pick a wedding date, for the love of God. I couldn’t plan the wedding of the decade with Li Na hacking us and murdering our friends.
This is it. I’m DONE.
“Have we ever hacked her?” I asked Leo.
He nodded. “Dave and I have been able to get into her system, but Lauren had us back out after the closing didn’t go through. We thought we were done with her.”
“Can they go back into Jiàn Innovations’ system?” I asked Lauren.
“Why would we do that? What do we have to gain?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but Fiona Pace called me on our way in. Li Na gave her a week to give her an answer about selling the company.”
Gabe cursed, and Lauren wrapped her arms around herself.
“I’m seeing Fiona later,” I said. “I feel like we need to help. We need to do something.”
“What do you want to do?” Gabe asked Lauren.
“I know what I want to do.” I jumped up before Lauren could respond. “I want to take this bitch down, once and for all!”
Gabe grinned. “You are so my favorite sister-in-law.”
But Lauren didn’t look happy. “Hannah, I’m not sure what you have in mind.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t think we’ve ever even talked about going after Li Na before. We’ve just been reacting to whatever she’s throwing at us, and I’m done with that.”
“You want to send me to Shenzhen to take care of her?” Wes asked, perking up.
I put my hand on my hip. “No. As in absolutely not.”
“Then what?” Ash asked. “I’m not opposed to sending a team to take Li Na out—quite frankly, I think it’s time. But if you have some other ideas, I’m open to hearing them.”
“I’ve been thinking about what Gabe said. About ‘face,’” I said. “I have some ideas about what to do.”
“What’s ‘face’?” Ash asked.
“It’s is a Chinese sociological concept—it’s your social rank in Chinese business,” I explained. “Gabe thinks it’s the driving force behind Li Na’s push to illegally acquire new technology. He thinks she wants to build her reputation, which in essence is her standing in the business community.”
“She doesn’t just care about the money,” Gabe told Ash. “Li Na wants to be recognized and esteemed in her country. She’s made big promises about what she’s going to do for the technology industry in Shenzhen, but she’s lost her chance at Paragon—twice—and failed to deliver. She’s looking for a big hit.”
“Paragon got away, so now she’s after Protocol,” I said. “She’s skipping over kidnapping and blackmail, going straight to murder. She needs to close this deal fast—she must have some sort of clock ticking, something hanging over her head that’s making her desperate.”
“And she’s back to trying to hack Paragon to see if there are any fresh ideas she can steal,” Wesley added.
I stared out the windows, at the acres of neatly manicured grounds surrounding the building. “We need to make sure there’s something sparkly in there so she goes for it.”
“What?” Lauren asked.
I turned to my sister. “If she’s looking for new technology to steal, let’s give her something good.”
She shook her head. “I’m not following you.”
“What she cares about is her public appearance—right? She wants everyone in Shenzhen to worship her. So…what if we let her steal something from us and run with it?”
Lauren looked as if she might put her hand on my forehead to check for a fever.
