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“Hm?” My plate of barely touched breakfast sitting across from the crumbs left on hers tells me I’ve been lost in my head for a while.
“You’ve hardly said anything all morning. It was just me singing in the showers, and you know I hate singing alone.” She grins. She’s trying to get me to open up, so I smile back. My reassurance sets her at ease, and she leans in as though we’re sharing secrets, then whispers, “So, what’s the plan?”
“What plan?” I try my best to paste on my poker face, hoping she can’t read me that well.
“The plan to escape, of course. You always get that look before you and Zane work on something big. It’s like you’re running code through your brain or something.” She snorts to herself and reaches across the table to grab a strip of bacon off my plate.
“Ah. No plan yet, but you’ll be the first to know.” I grab my fork and shovel some cold scrambled eggs in my mouth, cutting off my need to fill the silence with more words.
“Okay. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Hunter was looking for you earlier. I think it’s his turn to watch us soon.” She picks up her yogurt, and I stiffen.
Dana tilts her head, silently sizing me up. She has no idea what is happening, and I’m going to keep her out of it. I slowly tilt my head to the side to stretch out some of the tension building in my neck.
“Oh, I was working on something for Link. Some additional security suggestions. Hunter probably wants to get the information to him. Give me a second to add to it, then I need to go find him.”
Pulling my scrap of paper out of my pocket, I review my writing to make sure I have everything I’ll need written down.
It’s a short list, but with Jack and Logan looking for their mole, it won’t be easy to get without raising suspicion. Then I have a list of questions that need answers before I can get into base servers and move forward.
My eggs sit heavy in my stomach as it twists.
Jack and Logan are not bad people. No one here is—with the exception of Hunter.
They’ve become trusting, and Jack has put himself on the line to vouch for me. Tomorrow, I’ll be destroying all of that goodwill, piece by piece.
I read the last line, positive I listed everything I’ll need.
“I can come with you. Then maybe we can walk up to the falls again,” Dana offers, but as much as I would love to spend time with her, I need to temporarily ditch her and complete this first step on my own.
The perfect distraction walks in, and I take full advantage. “I see Grizz is here for breakfast. Logan mentioned some of the guys are heading out on a mission today. Is he going with them?”
“I don’t think he knows yet.” Her coy glance over her shoulder is a dead giveaway.
“Hm. You know what? I’ll be quick. Why don’t you spend some time with him in case he’s going? You never know if we’ll be released, so…” I leave my suggestion open, and she takes it as her cue to go over and say hi, leaving me to make a hasty retreat before Tex notices I’m gone.
Moving quickly down the halls, I pass the door to the comms room and the common area, and I almost give up on finding Hunter when I run into him down the hall from Logan’s office.
He glances past me for stragglers, and there is no time for small talk. “I heard from Maxwell this morning. He wants to move this along.”
Every fiber of my being wants to scream at him.
I want to drag his ass into Logan’s office and tell them everything, then let Jack and Logan take care of him.
But I can’t.
In the grand scheme of things, Hunter is no more than an errand boy. Maxwell wouldn’t miss him, and my deception would cost me dearly.
Hunter is just a replaceable cog in the wheel of Maxwell’s organization. He means more to Jack and Logan than he ever would to Maxwell, and his misplaced loyalties will just get him buried in an unmarked grave at the end of the day.
Pasting on a compliant mask, I play my part. “Here’s a list of what I need. It’s specific. I need exactly those things.” Then, looking at him to show my urgency, I continue. “I needmyphone. Notaphone.Myphone, and I need Dana’s phone too. If they aren’t ours, then nothing will work. I need two laptops, and they must already have complete access to the servers on base. I need any usernames and passwords necessary to access the mainframe. Tape them to the top corner of the screen.”
Reality sets in, and Hunter pales. He’s been with these guys for years. Once this begins, they will know exactly who the mole is, and I need him to focus. I need him to think it’s him and me on our own team now.
“Once I start this, they’ll know it was you, but I’ve planned it out for both of us. You will be with me in the comms room. I can lock it down, but I need every single one of these questions answered completely to do this.” I tap the piece of paper he’s holding in his hand.
“But if we’re locked in the comms room, how do we get away once it’s done?” His question is legitimate.
Hunter is in self-preservation mode now.
