After G pointed down the hall, Markus gave her a head nod and squeezed her hand. He turned to G and said, “Give me all your marriage advice. I’m all ears.”
G started ominously, “In the beginning—”
Gabby took a deep breath like she was jumping off the boat for a scuba dive, not that she’d ever done that. She was a sunhat, SPF 50, and a book-on-the-beach kind of girl, not that she had the attention span to read a book these days.
Her whole being was vibrating with fear and excitement. Her brain was useless and panicking, leaving her body to walk down the hall of its own accord. Normally, she wouldn’t even go to a dinner party without a hostess gift, and here she was breaking into G’s office.
Like Markus had said, the office was just past the bathroom. Noise from the party dimmed as she went farther down the corridor. Just the high notes of clinking glasses and a peal of laughter that carried above the conversation like a flute solo.
At the office, obvious from its furniture, she slipped in and pulled the door shut behind her. It was dark, only lit by the screensaver and moonlight filtering in from the windows. In the center of the room, there was a huge desk that looked like it was made from a reclaimed redwood tree, chunks of bark still attached and root structure still visible along the base. A fancy monitor sat atop the tree desk. When Gabby wiggled the mouse, the light from the monitor spotlit her face and the wall behind her like a high beam police light.
She paused before continuing, but there was no sign she was caught. The sounds of the party carried on uninterrupted, no one the wiser to her snooping. No steps in the hall or jiggling doorknob. So far, so good.
She typed in the password using a password decoder from the gadget department. It took a couple of minutes. While she waited, she couldn’t help but think about Sheridan’s prediction. She felt like the most likely candidate to die at the moment. Not likely, just most likely.
She didn’t have time to sort through and analyze the data in the office, so she was copying the entire hard drive. With the USB inserted, the download bar popped up on the screen. Estimated time: ten minutes.
What was she going to do for ten minutes? Wordle? A quick nap?
She spoke into her watch. “Ten minutes to download.” Just to let Markus know how long she needed. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, come looking.”
Maybe she should go to the bathroom. After tapping her foot, she decided, why not. Might as well pee. It would be weird if, after spending fifteen minutes “in the bathroom,” she had to leave topee again. Jasmine would probably prescribe her some herbs for a UTI.
After peeing, washing her hands, and inspecting the skin on her nose, she walked back to the computer. Inner Beauty hadn’t shrunk her pores yet, and there were still eight minutes remaining.
Before she started yoga, the doorknob jiggled. Gabby made for the closet and threw herself in. Her fingernails dug into her palms. If they were coming in to do something with the computer, they’d know what she was up to. She’d have to use that taser in her purse.
Please, please, please.
A couple spilled into the room, all giggles and rustling of fabric and frantic hands. Someone plopped on the desk, and a woman said, “You are driving me wild in that dress.”
Gabby couldn’t place the voice.
“The way it’s riding up.”
There were more giggling-kissing noises.
“We need to talk, though. I moan—”
“Stop talking.”
I moan? Gabby couldn’t follow this. Were they using “moan” like a verb? I moan. You grunt. He gasps. It was probably some kind of cult-speak.
They moved closer to the closet. “What do you think of Gia and George? Who gets an invite to dinner this fast?”
“G loooves him some George.”
“Hmm. I don’t get it. Seems suspicious.”
“Agreed.”
Hmmm. Guess they weren’t totally in the clear. Gabby couldn’t get a glimpse of whoever was talking. She’d only heard one voice and giggling and nonverbal sounds from the other, but bothsounded feminine. Was there a lesbian couple? Gabby couldn’t recall.
“Gia!” Someone called her name from down the hall.
“Oh shit.” Gabby heard the couple scrambling to put themselves together.
Someone else opened the door and said, “We’re looking for Gia. Genesis won’t start dinner without her.”
