by Love, L. J.
“We found something in his office.”
Aurora went over to the desk and retrieved the flash drive. She showed it to Will.
“I tried to see what was on it, but all the files are encrypted and password protected. Just as Rebecca said.”
“You couldn’t get into any of them?”
“Not one and believe me when I tell you that I tried. I have a guy up in Tucker’s Beach who does this type of stuff. I contacted him and told him I’d bring the drive to him tonight.”
“Wow, this is getting interesting. Any chance I could tag along with you? We could have some coffee and maybe even dessert there while he looks at the files.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door and someone called out ‘room service.’ Aurora answered it and let the porter in. He laid out the meal on the dining table and set the bucket with the sparkling wine on the side table. At the door, Will tipped the man and shut the door behind him. Aurora picked the conversation back up seamlessly.
“Despite all the underlying connotations of that offer, I am inclined to accept. If we move on to Tucker’s Beach now, it’s possible we could get the information from Milo and get back with plenty of time for me to check out and we could head straight to the airport to get back to Alpharetta. Then we could spend tomorrow briefing Rebecca and getting ready for Lu Wei.”
“This is getting rather exciting,” he quipped.
The meal was delicious but light and hardly filling. They decided against opening the bottle of wine and drank Pellegrino instead. It didn’t take Aurora long to put all her things together in preparation to leave and she placed the cold bottle of Prosecco into a traveling cooler bag she always had in her suitcase.
“I’m going to grab a shower and change for the drive. You should go back to the estate and get a few things together yourself, right?”
“What things, Aurora? I’m going home, remember? I have everything I need in Atlanta.” He smiled as if she had been caught making a weak attempt to get him out of her hotel room.
“Sure, you would have everything there. And of course you had a driver bring you over here.”
He nodded with a broad smile on his face, but she just rolled her eyes and locked the bedroom door behind her. When Aurora came out of the shower, she could hear Will on the phone in the living room. He seemed to be talking heatedly to someone before hanging up suddenly. She tiptoed to the door to listen. He was placing another call.
“Hey Robin, has Dad gone to bed yet? Okay, great. When he gets up in the morning could you just let him know that I’ve already left for Georgia? Yeah, Aurora too. We really need to get this stuff with Zach squared away and then move on to the Lu Wei thing. It’s been so tense these last few days. I just want everything to be perfect when I meet with him Okay, bro. Oh, and could you have Liz sort out my luggage? Yeah, just bring it back with you on Monday. Thanks. See you soon.”
There was a long pause as he seemed to be listening for the sound of the shower.
“Aurora, are you almost ready to go?”
“I’m getting dressed, Will. Why don’t you go on ahead?”
“Okay, lets meet at Tucker’s Point Club; it’s the perfect place to hang out if we end up having a long wait for your hacker. We can hang out at my apartment at the club until we decide our next definitive move.”
“That sounds great, Will. See you in about a half hour then.”
“Really, Aurora? I doubt it’s gonna take you that long in that dragster you’ve been driving. Bye.”
She listened for the sound of the door closing before opening the bedroom door to have a look around. The flash drive was still in her laptop on the table and her handbag hadn’t moved. She just couldn’t help feeling suspicious. That initial telephone call he had made didn’t sound like it went very well on either end. Who had he decided to call before he even called his brother to let him know he was leaving the island? She decided that staying one step ahead of him could prove useful and packed in readiness to check out of the room.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a trendy, long sleeve tunic top over her black lace underwear, then gathered her toiletries from the bathroom and packed them neatly into her beauty bag. She made one last look around the bedroom, then the living room, gathered her things and walked out the door. The valet brought her car around while she spoke briefly with the concierge. Aurora couldn’t help but notice the young man’s broad smile as he handed her the car key and held the door open for her to get in.
As he closed her door he said, “Great car, Miss Aldridge. You have a really great car.”
***
Tucker’s Town, Bermuda.
Will was waiting at a dark back table in the dining room at Tucker’s Point Club when Aurora arrived fifteen minutes later. He smiled and took a look at his Omega wristwatch. He stood to greet her as she approached the table.
“I knew you’d be here in less than twenty minutes. You and that Audi are a dangerous combination, I think.”
“What can I say? German engineering speaks to me... in English, too.”
They laughed at her quip and Will raised his hand to the waiter for attention.
“We’ll both be having dinner and would you include the wine pairing for us please?”
“Certainly, sir.”
“Mr. G. loves this place. Whenever he comes to Bermuda, he always has me try to squeeze it in though I’ve never had him request to indulge in the wine pairing. It’s always been for a business meeting or client entertaining.”
“From what I’ve heard, it’s a remarkable experience. The wine is always incredibly spot on with the meal. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Of course; that drive shook all the sushi out of me,” Aurora laughed.
As they waited for dinner, Aurora placed the call to her hacker contact, a guy called Milo Svensson. He agreed to meet them at the restaurant in five minutes which would probably mean they could conclude their meeting even before the appetizers hit the table.
Exactly five minutes later, a man who looked to be about twenty two dressed in a plain work shirt and tie walked into the restaurant. He asked for Aurora and the waiter showed him to the table. Aurora handed him the flash drive and an envelope.
“That’s half of what we agreed to. As requested, it’s a temporary prepaid debit card. The other half you’ll get when you deliver the files. Be careful with this information, Milo. I have a feeling there’s something on this that people will kill to keep secret, okay?”
Milo nodded and slipped the flash drive and the envelope into his shirt pocket, stood up from the table and walked out of the restaurant. After dinner, Aurora followed Will through the well-appointed club grounds to his holiday home. How dare he call it an apartment? The villa was spectacular; but she wouldn’t have expected anything less from a Guyton. Seventeenth century plantation living in all its splendor, it had three floors and a facade of timber and red brick. Will disarmed the alarm system as they entered through the patio door.
“There are four bedrooms so if we have to stay here, you don’t have to worry about me trying to shack up with you. You can have either of the two guest rooms on the second floor. I occupy the master suite on the same floor. The upper floor is never opened unless the rest of the family comes to stay. Would you like a tour?”
She certainly would have, but only obliged him to show her to one of the bathrooms. She couldn’t take her mind off Milo and those files. He left her to freshen up and when she got back downstairs, Will had lit a fire in the fireplace and the whole room was warm with its glow. It seemed a little too romantic for Aurora’s taste, but she decided to just hang loose and enjoy the experience. It wasn’t every day she got to be a guest in a fantastic villa with one of her boss’s sons. Opening the cooler bag carefully, she set the still cold bottle of Prosecco on the kitchen counter and searched for an ice bucket. There was a stainless steel one in a cabinet in the island. She filled it with ice from the fridge and a little water, then sank the bottle into it.
<
br /> “Should I open that?” Will asked from over her shoulder.
“Sure go ahead,” she replied and went to take a seat on the luxurious sofa in front of the fireplace. Soon, Will joined her and they began to talk and laugh about their childhood and school days. He told her about going to college at Princeton, how much he wanted to have attended Georgia Tech and how much he envied her for being able to stay so close to home. She admitted not really having time to think much about anything but schoolwork during her time at GSU. The degree program had been so competitive there and the space extremely limited.
She paused to check her phone. Nothing yet. When she turned back to face Will, he placed his hand on the delicate curve of her cheek and traced his finger down into the soft crook of her neck. Aurora held her breath as he leaned in and kissed her there, nuzzling her and taking in the scent of her Bulgari perfume. Aurora forgot herself for a moment as he trailed soft kisses from her collarbone to her earlobe, but when he moaned her name breathily into her ear, she woke from the spell. She firmly placed both her hands on his shoulders and pushed hard.
“Will, stop it. We can’t do this; you’re my boss now. Technically.”
“Technically, I’m not your boss yet. Not until Monday morning actually. There’s no need for us to stop, unless you really want me to, of course.”
She cocked her head to one side as if she was thinking about it for a bit, but she was really just admiring his face. The same handsome face she had seen in the mirror of the powder room at Guyton Estate as she was sinking into her darkest hour. When Will moved in to kiss her, Aurora did not protest. She surrendered to his hungry lips on hers and pressed her body against his in earnest. His hands found their way under her tunic and cupped the round shape of her breast, sending a gasp up her throat and into his waiting mouth. Will’s’ hand went around her back and began picking at the clasp of her bra when suddenly the phone rang.
“Oh my God! It must be Milo.”
She grabbed the cell phone from the side table and answered it.
“Aurora? It’s Milo. I found something in your files.”
“Did you manage to crack them? What’s on the drive?”
“Hey. One sec, Aurora. There’s someone at the door.”
“Okay.”
There was a short pause and then Aurora heard Milo come back on the line, whispering urgently.
“Aurora, there’s two armed men with guns at my door.”
“Get out of there Milo; get out of there right now.”
There was an immense amount of shuffling and Aurora heard a toilet flush followed by more rustling.
“I’ll send the files to your phone as soon as I can, Aurora. I’ve destroyed the flash drive and I’ll get in touch as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, listen. If this attack is about your info, I’ve got to tell you. Get off this island ASAP. What little I saw on that flash drive was heavy shit. Go back to Georgia, Aurora, and be very careful.”
Then Aurora heard the sound of a window opening and the explosion of gunshots before the phone went dead in her hands. She turned to Will is what felt to her like slow motion and told him what had happened. He was shocked and asked if she thought Milo was okay.
“I don’t know if he got away.”
She didn’t tell him anything else because as she ran through the possibilities in her mind, Aurora couldn’t forget about the phone call that Will had made in her hotel room.
“You didn’t tell anyone where you were going, did you?” she asked.
“Not at all. No one knows we’re here.”
“I only hope he got out with my stuff; it didn’t seem like he had gotten anywhere with it yet and we have no way of knowing if that’s what they were after or if Milo is mixed up in something else. He said he’ll contact me later tonight to tell me what’s happening.”
“We should call the police in the meantime.”
“And tell them what, Will? That some hacker we know named Milo just got his home broken into and shot at by gunmen? Maybe that he has a device of ours with secret messages on it that could be highly dangerous information? We don’t even know where he lives.”
“Point taken, Aurora. We can leave it alone and wait for the call. In the meantime, don’t worry about him.”
“In any case, I think that was our clue to get a move on. Let’s head back south and get to the airport.”
“Good idea,” he called after her as she gathered her things.
“Would you call Fitz and see if he’s up for a last minute flight home?”
“Sure.”
Chapter Eight
Tucker’s Town, Bermuda.
Milo ducked into a dark alleyway and backed right up against the wall. He held his breath as he watched the two Asian men sprint past in pursuit, looking for him. As soon as he was sure they were long gone, he took out his cell phone and called a local taxi service. It wasn’t long before the cab was pulling around the corner and heading toward him. Milo ran from the alley and practically leapt into the cab’s back seat, yelling at the driver to keep driving.
“Airport! Quickly, please,” Milo said.
As he stood at the leader board scanning through the next departing flights, Milo’s mind was racing. Where could he go? What would he do when he got there? He scanned through his contact list of fellow techies and hackers and paused at the name of a girl he had met at the Apple Forum the year before. Anastasia Ivanovich, St. Petersburg, Russia. Hurriedly he sent her an email to let her know he’d be coming to town unexpectedly and needed a place to crash. Then Milo went to the Lufthansa reservation desk, booked the ticket and checked in at the same time. He didn’t feel safe on that side of the airport security checkpoints.
“Can I just go ahead and make my way through?”
“Certainly, sir.”
As Milo approached the first security check, he took out his cell phone and scrolled up to Aurora’s number. He handed the security guard his passport and ticket, then pressed the SEND button.
“Aurora, its Milo.”
She and Will were just stepping through the door of her hotel room at Carraway Club to wait while Fitz got the jet ready.
“Hey, are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Listen, I’m sure all my stuff has been trashed by now but as I said, I broke the drive and flushed it down the toilet. Did you get the email yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“It should be coming through any second now.”
Just then the phone buzzed in her ear.
“Well, I’m going to leave the country for a bit. If I’m not mistaken, that was yakuza that were chasing after me and that scares me shitless. Thanks for the deposit; the card’s untraceable so it’s what I’ve got to use while I lay low. Don’t worry about the rest of the money; I didn’t finish the job and I wrecked your material. I’ll send you a contact soon but I won’t say anything over the phone right now. Take care ,Aurora. And for heaven’s sake, be very careful.”
The phone call ended and Aurora was left wondering what was happening.
“Hey, was that Milo?”
She hated having to lie to Will but she immediately decided that she was going to play some things a whole lot closer to her chest than she had before.
“Yes, he says he’s fine and he’ll get back to me with some more information soon. That I shouldn’t wait around in Bermuda.”
“Why, hasn’t he figured out the files yet?”
“It seems it’s a lot more complicated than any of us thought.”
Aurora stood up and stretched as if to punctuate the conversation. She’d had enough for one night and made her way to the bedroom door, but then she paused and turned back to Will.
“Could you pour me a glass of that wine, Will? I’ll be in here.”
***
Carraway Club, Hamilton, Bermuda.
Aurora went straight into the bathroom that adjoined her bedroom. The room was opulent with an enormous walk-through closet be
tween the sleeping area and the bathroom. The bedroom boasted a sitting area that was generously furnished and encompassed the fireplace. A real tiger skin rug lay under a modern glass coffee table and was surrounded by wing chairs and a sofa. She left the bedroom door open and went through to the bathroom.
Hurriedly, Aurora turned on the water in the shower and sat on the toilet. She opened the first file that Milo had sent her. It was a series of documents that seemed to be pertaining to several bank transactions; large ones. She closed it and opened the second one. There were lists in it. Names, addresses, telephone numbers and amounts of money. At a glance, it seemed that Zach had possibly unearthed a cache of unauthorized transactions. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions before actually reviewing the information properly.
“Aurora?” Will called as he entered her bedroom.
“I’m just taking a quick shower, Will. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right out,” she replied.
Aurora forwarded the files to Rebecca with a note that she should start to research the names on the list and their possible connections to Zach, Xaoping and Guyton Industries. Then she forwarded the files to her private email address and deleted Milo’s email. There was no way she could be sure who was spying on her or where the leak about the flash drive and Milo had originated from, so she couldn’t afford to take any chances. She also couldn’t help wondering if Will was involved in what was clearly going wrong at Guyton Industries.
She showered quickly and wrapped her body in one of the plush, white terry robes that were in the bathroom. She pinned up her curly hair seductively and dabbed on a little more of her delicious Bulgari perfume. When she entered the bedroom, Will was also a little more comfortably dressed. He had shed his jacket and pulled the shirt from his pants; looking ready to relax... or for something else.
He stood and beckoned for her to join him on the sofa in the little sitting area. He handed her a glass of the effervescent white wine and clinked her glass with his.
“To us beating a hasty retreat from paradise,” he announced.