Page 81 of Peak’s Code

Captain would've appreciated the irony. An outlaw biker club was about to raid one of the most sophisticated cybercrime facilities on the East Coast. Peak looked over the assembled brothers. Warden checked the action on his shotgun. Ruin slid a fresh magazine into his rifle as Diesel and Hawk adjusted their body armor. Six more patched Grave Prowlers lined the narrow maintenance tunnel behind them, every face hard with purpose. Nobody spoke because nobody had to. Captain was still missing, and that was enough to make them all focus.”

Maeve knelt beside Peak, securing her suppressor. She caught him looking at her again. "What?"

"You sure you're ready?" he asked.

She answered by chambering a round. "I've been ready for eighteen months."

He smiled faintly. "I figured that would be your answer."

Warden stepped closer. "You find us a door?"

Peak pulled the ruggedized tablet from his backpack. "Oh, I've got better than a door." He plugged a fiber optic cable into the hidden junction box they'd uncovered beneath the navigation tower. The tablet immediately came alive. Peak's grin widened. "They're using Wren's architecture."

Maeve leaned over his shoulder. "They never changed it."

"No." Peak's fingers danced across the keyboard. "They thought nobody else understood it."

She smiled. "They underestimated siblings."

Peak looked at her. "And mechanics." She laughed softly, and the sound settled some of the tension sitting in his chest.

The first firewall collapsed in under thirty seconds. The second took less than ten. Peak frowned. "Too easy."

Maeve's smile disappeared. "They're letting us in."

"I know." He disconnected immediately. "They want us using the network."

Ruin frowned. "Is that a problem?”

"Maybe,” Peak said. He reached into his backpack again and pulled out something that looked like a cheap plastic flash drive.

Warden raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Peak nodded. "Grandma's recipe box."

Maeve blinked. "What?"

"My grandmother stored every family recipe on this."

"You hacked a trafficking network with a cookbook?" Maeve asked.

Peak smirked. "No, I hid my operating system inside one."

Warden stared at him. "I have absolutely no idea if you're joking."

"I'm not." Peak plugged the drive into the tablet, and a completely different operating system booted.

Maeve looked impressed. "You built this?"

"Took about four years,” he said.

"You've been preparing for something like this."

"I've been preparing for everything,” he insisted.

She smiled. "I like that answer." Within moments, a new map appeared on the screen showing hidden maintenance corridors, security camera routes, power feeds, and emergency exits.

Peak's smile faded. "There."