I sighed. “Sure, but girls make plans. Right? Hair appointments. Doctors’ appointments. How do you account for that so you don’t plan a surprise and have it ruined by a mani-pedi she didn’t tell you about?”
If I had written this out in code, he would have understood better.
“See,” I tried to explain. “I’m trying to do this crazy surprise for AJ, that’s my boyfriend, but he’s so busy, I’m afraid I’m going to screw the whole thing up.”
He hesitated and then it was as if the lightbulb went off. “Oh shit. I know exactly how I would do it for Dina.” He turned around and opened a private VPN on my screen. I watched over his shoulder, recording every move he made. It was perfect. It was brilliant.
“Wow.” I blinked. “That was amazing, Billy. Thank you.”
He nodded. “He’ll be surprised I think if you can coordinate with his schedule like this.”
I blushed. “I don’t want him to know what it is. You get it. I knew you would.”
“I do. I love surprising Dina.”
“Where does he work?”
I froze. I hadn’t given up that piece of information. If Billy knew he had just helped me figure out how to create a backdoor into the FBI he would freak out.
“Oh, I think that’s my phone. Probably him.” I tried to shoo Billy out. “Thank you. I appreciate it. And with the Clarkson Labs virus. You saved me hours,” I lied.
He loped out of the cubicle. “I’m headed back to the match. Just shout if you need me.”
I pretended to answer my phone.
I waited until he picked up the paddle before I faced my computer. I swallowed hard.
It was the stupidest thing I could have done. The most reckless. I should have trusted AJ. I should have trusted our relationship. I should have trusted that he loved me. That we had something I was never going to find with anyone else. I knew that in my blood. I knew it in my bones. He was it. The man I wanted. The man who could be a partner. Someone who respected me. Worshipped me. Loved me.
&n
bsp; So why I breached all that trust for meaningless curiosity, I didn’t know. All I could tell myself was that the fear of losing him drove me to it. The idea that he could slip away from me terrified me.
It wasn’t going to be something I could hide. I couldn’t pretend or lie. I had to take control of this before it controlled me. Billy had just given me the keys and I was about to dive.
It was the first time I hacked.
Chapter Twenty-One
There was something significant about the false sense of safety hiding behind a computer screen. It was easier to be brave. It was easier to be brazen and bold. What AJ wanted me to do now took me away from the one super power I had. Without the internet I had been crippled.
I listened while he explained the setup for how I was going to give him a cover so he could go below to the cargo area under the passenger level. There were flaws in the plan. The flight crew knew who I was. They knew I was the package that had to be delivered. Deceiving them seemed impossible. I was their focus. I was the cash cow.
“Are you sure this is the way we should play it?” I questioned AJ.
His eyes bore into mine. “Can you trust me on this, Syd? If I thought we had another option, I’d use it. I don’t want to show our hand, but the longer we’re up here, the worse off things are for you. We’re out of choices.”
I bit back the bile rising in my throat. “I do trust you on this.”
“Good. Because up here, we’re all we can rely on. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
I saw his determination. I could feel his confidence. I wanted it to wash over me. To seep into my pores. To steel my resolve that we had made the right call.
I nodded. “All right. When?”
“Now.”
“Now?” I squealed.