I'm scanning the crowd for Sage when Daniella appears at my elbow like a corporate ninja.
"Have a nice chat?"she asks dryly.
"Very productive."
"Your shirt's untucked in the back."
I fix it quickly."Better?"
"Marginally."She pulls out her tablet again."Now can I finish what I was trying to tell you?"
"Daniella, I already know about the financial situation.We can work something out?—"
"It's not just the finances."Her voice drops."I was reviewing the SafeStay system logs for the quarterly report, and I found something.Luke, someone accessed your SecureMatch profile repeatedly from the same IP address.Fifteen times in the two weeks before you met."
The warmth from the terrace starts to fade."So?Lots of people probably looked at my profile."
"From Alder Ridge?From the Cascade View Inn's IP address?"She turns the tablet toward me."Look at the timestamps.Look at the pattern.She studied you, Luke.Your interests, your preferences, your schedule?—"
"Stop."
But I take the tablet, staring at the evidence.
Time stamps.IP addresses.
A clear pattern of someone—Sage—studying my profile obsessively before I ever arrived at her inn.
"There's a logical explanation," I say, but my voice sounds wooden even to me.
"Luke..."Daniella's voice is gentle now."I ran a deeper analysis.The SecureMatch algorithm was tampered with.Someone used a fairly sophisticated SQL injection to modify the matching parameters.Want to guess where those modifications originated?"
I hand back the tablet, my mind racing.The repeated matches.
Her surprise that wasn't quite surprise when I showed up.
How quickly she agreed to the SafeStay partnership.
Everything suddenly looks different through this lens.
"She targeted you," Daniella says quietly."Saw your profile, knew about SafeStay, knew about your resources, and then manipulated the system to ensure you'd match.Repeatedly.Until you noticed."
I think about Sage on the terrace, warm and willing and saying my name like a prayer.
Was that calculated too?
"Maybe there's an explanation?—"
"Luke."Daniella's voice is firm."She hacked a dating app to trick you into coming to her failing inn.What explanation makes that okay?"
I don't have an answer.
Because fifteen minutes ago, I was inside Sage Winters on a terrace, feeling like everything in my life had finally clicked into place.
And now I'm standing in a ballroom realizing I've been played.
Again.
"Do you want me to handle this?"Daniella asks."I can have legal?—"
