Page 64 of The B-Team

Rochelle’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she spoke. “Elle searches Callum’s office for passwords? Wait. Callum really does write them down?”

Isobel shrugged like it was nothing. “He’s old-fashioned. He likes having things on pieces of paper.”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “Usually, Post-its that he sticks to his computer.”

“And this is the crack team that people fall over themselves to hire,” Beast drawled.

“Hey,” Isobel snapped. “You’re part of this crack team too.”

He just grinned.

“Where did he put the code, Isobel?” Ryan had to fight the urge to shake the information out of her.

She looked sheepish again. “We bought a special lamp with a false bottom for my desk in reception. You turn it upside down and twist it, and it swings out. The code’s on a slip of paper inside the little cavity.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Claire spoke. “I’m not sure whether to hug you or smack you upside the head. We talked about how it might come down to deleting all of Benson Security’s data. You were there when we worried about getting the codes when everyone who has access to them is in jail. And you were sitting on it all this time. This from the woman who was offended that we kept asking about Callum’s hidden passwords!”

“To be fair,” Isobel said, sticking her nose in the air, “this isn’t a password; it’s a self-destruct code.”

Claire looked like she might launch herself at Isobel any second and start pulling her hair. And judging by the looks on faces around the room, she wasn’t the only one. Somebody needed to defuse the situation fast.

Guess that somebody was him. “Look, there’s no point in getting upset. We know where the code is now, and that’s the main thing.”

From the way Claire and Isobel were glaring at each other, he wasn’t sure they agreed.

“Deleting all of Benson Security’s files must be our last resort.” Rochelle, thankfully, was still focused on their problem instead of on making Isobel pay. “The business needs those files, and we’ll have to start from scratch if they disappear. We’ll lose clients, not to mention all the data we’ve gathered on organized crime, cartels, and human trafficking. Doing something that extreme could end our company. We might never recover from it.”

There was a heavy silence while Rochelle’s stark warning sank in.

“Claire,” Ryan said. “Can you call Katy to see if she’s found anything useful on Darian Fitzwater? If she can help narrow down our search, we might not have to wipe the server.Instead, we can take what we find to Commander Fitzwater and negotiate.”

Reluctantly, Claire dragged her gaze from Isobel. “I’ll call her now.” She pulled out her phone, set it on the kitchen counter, and put the call on speaker.

“Hey, Aunt C,” Katy said, sounding far too awake for the time of night. “Is there something else you need me to do?”

“No, what we need is an update on your background check into Darian Fitzwater.” She glanced around the room. “You’re on speaker with everyone.”

“Hey, guys,” Katy said cheerfully.

Rochelle got up from her chair at the dining table and came over to Ryan. “How old is Katy?” she asked quietly.

Inwardly, he grimaced. “Sixteen. She’s the only other hacker we know.”

Rochelle’s jaw tightened, and for a second, Ryan thought she’d pull rank and shut everything down.

“Please tell me you don’t have her trying to hack the police,” she said.

“No.” Ryan shook his head fervently. “We were very specific about telling her not to hack. Or go on the dark web.”

“Uh-huh.” Rochelle didn’t sound convinced.

“Okay,” Katy said. “So, I’ve been digging around, and most of the stuff I can find on this guy is already public knowledge. There’s, like, a ton of gossip blogs about his exploits. It’s all rich-kid stuff—sleeping around, partying hard, drugs, fast cars, and boats. All soooo cliché. You’d think rich people would have more imagination. Whatevs. Anyway, I asked my hacker friends to help me find the real goss.”

Rochelle shot Ryan a look of censure, and he stifled a groan.

“They came up empty,” Katy said. “The dude cleaned up his act a couple of years ago, and now he’s all into his girlfriend.Oops,fiancée. She’s one of those rich, horsey types. Anyways, we weren’t getting anywhere fast, so I searched the dark web.”

Ryan groaned again, and Rochelle glared at him.