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Parting Shot

Page 123

by Mary Calmes

“As soon as we get out of this giant thermos,” I said wryly, taking hold of his hips and easing him close.

He loved me. And I loved him back, so fiercely, so completely. I had been blindsided from the start. People would say it was too sudden, but I knew my heart just as well as I knew my mind, and it was as true for me as it was for him. I had wanted to be his from the moment the man had first taken hold of my hand to lead me toward the cab the night we’d met.

I was a sucker for handholding—that fast, I had been a goner.

“Oh shit!” he gasped.

“What?” I asked, just a bit annoyed. We were supposed to be having a moment.

He was staring at me with wide eyes. “I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re really not.”

He made a noise like the jury was still out. “Yes, I am. I’m an idiot because I just now figured out a way to get us out of here.”

“Good,” I grumbled. “Because I was thinking you were focused on me, you unromantic piece of crap.”

He snorted out a laugh, kissed my forehead, and then got up and walked to the computer.

“What’s your idea?”

“Have you ever had a subscription to an antivirus software site that runs on your computer and has live updates?”

“Sure.”

He nodded. “Well, that’s the same way Keystone works, with web support, so technically, if I put this interface offline, someone should check.”

“But there’s no internet on the grounds. Clay explained that to us.”

“No, he said there was none for guests to use. But think about it, he checks people in just like at a regular hotel, and he has to have internet access to do that. More importantly, this system could be hacked, just like any other program, if he didn’t have help.”

“I hate to tell you this, but it’s Saturday, no, now Sunday morning,” I said, noting the time on the monitor. “Nobody gives a crap.”

“Unless they’re paid to care,” he explained. “If you bought the special upgrade that included twenty-four/seven support, like Clay Wells probably did to make sure the surveillance at this resort never went down, then maybe someone is monitoring it as we speak.”

“That’s a big gamble.”

“Yes, it is.”

I got up and sat down beside him. “Okay, take it offline.”

He turned to me. “If I take it down and no one’s there … our situation goes from bad to worse very quickly. We won’t be able to see anything at all while the system’s down. We’ll be blind here, and the words sitting ducks come to mind.”

“It’s okay,” I comforted him. “Do it.”

It took only minutes for him to pull the system down, and it was really strange to see the usual blue screen of death on every monitor on three walls at once.

We sat together in the darkened room with the cerulean glow, and after a minute, I felt his hand slide into mine.

“I have a villa, remember? The one on the Amalfi Coast?”

“Yeah.”

“I really want us to go there after this. Can you do that?”

“Is it nice there now, in April?”

“It’s nice year-round.”