Another Lifetime

Chapter 30

DeAnna Kastell

"So why are we in a server room?" Harry asked me as I plugged the clean rig into the system.

"Because I'm going to hide behind the massive amount of digital traffic that this building has," I told him and got comfy in the chair I'd got Hartley to get for me. Harry was eating doughnuts from Leske's and on an inflatable chair that they'd found somewhere in the building.

"Okay but why am I here?" He asked me.

"Because you're my alibi," I told him, "we were here talking to my dad about you coming to work for him in the summer," I informed him.

"Like actually?" He asked me.

"Yeah, we can totally sort it out for you, and you can live with me," I told him as I loaded up all the software I'd need from my rig, brought in on a scrubbed drive.

"Thanks Dea," He said and I shrugged.

"It's no biggie, you work really hard, just like we do, and I'm sure my dad can find something for you to do here," I said and now the hard part started. I had 'acquired' Aron's router number and I'd use it to access his computer, praying I could find what I needed on it and if I couldn't, hoping that he kept it in his cloud account.

"I know you've been contributing to my dad's medical bills," he said and I looked up from the screen.

"I don't expect you to pay me back," I told him and Harry was stubborn like me.

"I'll pay you back, Dea," he told me adamantly.

"Consider it payment for services rendered," I suggested and he seemed confused. "You're being my fake fiancé and for helping Jessie with getting even with Brian," I told him and he thought about it.

"Do the doughnuts count as expenses?" He asked me.

"All costs of this trip will be absorbed by Kastell Trading and Shipping," I assured him and the software was running perfectly, almost as if I'd designed it.

"So what are you doing?" Harry asked me.

"Using the wireless internet signal being broadcast by Aron's router to sneak into his computer," I said and set the search programming running; it was looking for my tattoos as search parameters. "This could take a while," I said and stood up, putting the laptop down on the chair. "Let's go see Dad," I told him and I would get an alert if the programme found anything with me in it in the form of a text to my phone.

I swiped us into the executive elevator and we rode it to the top floor, eating some more doughnuts. I walked past dad's secretary and straight into his office like it was nothing. He was on the phone so we sat at his desk and kept quiet, still eating doughnuts. Harry had gotten a big box and they were so delicious, I'd missed Leske's.

"Ciao," and Dad put down the phone, "is everything okay?" He asked us.

"Search programming is running," I told him.

"Parameters?" He asked me.

"The tattoos I had at the time," I told him, "pictorial search is so much more fun," I added and twisted my ring. "Are you still looking for paid summer interns?" I asked him.

"A few, why?" He asked me and I looked to Harry. "I'll look into it," he told me. "I have a meeting over lunch but fancy something from Carlo's for dinner?" He asked us.

"Sure, as long as we don't go anywhere near Ben," I said and I checked my phone. Ben's ID card had been used to access the building twenty minutes ago. I'd had the security log open too just to see if I needed to avoid any cabal members whilst I was here.