All Chapters of Love on Thin Ice: Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

ChloeThe weight of the black flash drive in my blazer pocket felt like a thermal detonator. I slipped away from the bar, the ambient hum of the Soho lounge fading into background static as my mind mapped out the layout of The Foundry.Most people in our graduating class thought of me as the creative director, the designer, the girl who made things look pretty. They forgot that to package and edit raw media files for a high-tier agency, you had to understand the pipeline. You had to know how networks talked to servers, and more importantly, how local venue hardware connected to the cloud.I bypassed the main floor and headed up the narrow, carpeted stairs leading toward the mezzanine. The venue's tech booth sat directly above the main bar, behind a pane of one-way glass that overlooked the entire alumni gala. The door was locked with a standard digital keypad, but the venue was old and the staff was distracted by a room full of high profile, free drinking corporate clients.I pul

Summer"Are you completely out of your mind?"I stood in the middle of our cramped Brooklyn living room, my coat still damp from the sleet, staring at Chloe. She was pacing the worn hardwood floor, her blazer slung over the back of a chair, looking like a brilliant defense attorney who had just won a high-profile case and was still riding the adrenaline high."Technically, the venue's router was public domain," Chloe said, waving a hand dismissively as she reached for a half-empty bottle of wine on the counter. “And the administrative database was practically begging to be bypassed. A high schooler with a basic script could have done it.""Chloe. You hacked a private metropolitan gala," I said, though the anger in my voice was rapidly losing its foundation, replaced by a deep, bone-weary exhaustion. “You could have been arrested. Your job, your portfolio, your entire creative design career—you put all of it on the chopping block.""They were doing it again, Summer," Chloe said, her