I glanced up at the two. Weston still sat, but Lawrence was on his feet, lingering near the glass door. He wanted us to stay with him for the night. According to him, it would provide the privacy the three of us needed.
“You’ve already been seen on campus,” Weston reminded him. “With the guys. With me at the party. Discretion isn’t a luxury we have anymore.”
“You live in a dormitory, kid,” Lawrence said. “Both of you do. You think you’re going to be able to talk freely with people milling about? What about her research? Leave a printed article lying around on the kitchen counter. Accidentally say something about one of the coaches. Adding unnecessary fuel to the fire. Besides…”
Weston raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve got some catching up to do.” Lawrence gave him a crooked grin. “I want to show you something.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Weston said with a sigh. His eyes turned to me. “What do you think?”
“If you want to,” I told him with a shrug. “I’m fine with it.”
Weston planned to leave campus Wednesday night. Indefinitely. If my last days with him were in a quiet house at the edge of town, I was down.
“Wait fifteen minutes after me,” Lawrence instructed as he put his hand on the doorknob. “Take her back to her dorm first to make sure the cameras see her. And maybe her roommate. She’ll be able to lean on that if someone asks about her whereabouts.”
“Got it.” Weston nodded. “See you soon.”
I leftthe beer that had been placed in front of me untouched. Meanwhile, Lawrence’s side of the table was a junkyard in the making. Weston lounged a few feet away on the couch, browsing through plane tickets. I casted a disapproving gaze in his direction for a few moments. His stubbornness infuriated me. Lawrence seemed amused at my anger, as if I were a kitten frustrated with a ball of yarn.
“How long have you been hacking?” Lawrence asked as he cracked open another drink. His own laptop was open in front of him. He’d been reading over the things Ari found. I made sure not to mention her name to him. Since we wouldn’t be using her as a back-up, there was no need to rope her in.
“For-” I started and abruptly paused when Lawrence let out a loud belch.
Weston’s laptop slammed shut. He pushed himself off the couch to join us at the table. “Acting civilized for a few days won’t kill you.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Lawrence joked with a chuckle. “Go on, Covee. Where does a sweet girl like you learn how to penetrate systems?”
“Hey,” Weston interrupted.
“What? It’s a technical term,” Lawrence defended. A smug smile spread across his lips. “Ask her.”
My cheeks were warm, but I still nodded my head. “I’m not a penetration tester. But, yes, it’s an actual term.”
Weston didn’t seem to care either way. He pointed his finger at Lawrence. “Don’t test me. We’re not kids anymore.”
“Couldn’t beat me then. What makes you think you can now?” Lawrence challenged with a wiggle of his brow.
“Want to step outside and find out?” Weston rolled up his sleeve.
“I thought we were here to work,” I reminded them.
“The girl’s right,” Lawrence agreed while clicking his mouse pad. “Let’s settle old bets later.”
Weston mumbled something inaudible under his breath. I gave him a look before starting another email to them. Lawrence printed off the research he found useful. He didn’t keep my emails for more than a few seconds. He believed going analog would clean up every paper trail.
“The cloud can’t monitor the paper I burn in a fire,” he said to me when I first asked for his email address.
He wasn’t wrong but the added caution felt unnecessary to me. And a waste of perfectly good printing paper. If someone wanted to gather clues in the digital age, they could. With or without ashes in a fire pit. Printing out an email wouldn’t help someone hide, it’d only slow pursuers down.
“How are we getting into the third floor without your badge proving you were there?” Lawrence dove back into their walkthrough.
The guys had a workout session with the coaches on the restricted third floor of the student athlete gym. They would have to badge in and out to get access to the floor. Weston planned on sneaking Lawrence in after his teammates left. He’d get Axe and Bill to stay behind by asking to talk to them privately after practice. One hole in their plan - and trust me, there were many - was that Weston wouldn’t badge out. Thus, putting him in the line of fire if the coaches pressed charges. There would be no denying what the computer said.
“I’m going to get one of the guys to swipe my badge after his. Maybe David. He’ll leave with a pack of people so no one will notice. Dakota agreed to be last. The weight room door can be jammed open if you don’t close it right,” Weston explained to us calmly. “Lawrence, you’ll have about ten seconds to slip through it before the alarm buzzes about the opening.”
“How am I getting past the front desk?” Lawrence questioned. He took a sip of beer and swished it back and forth in his mouth before swallowing. I wrinkled my nose. He noticed the movement and gave me a smirk.
