“You can’t be serious,” Brian said. “No. Absolutely not.”

Rachel had trailed behind Lisa and was now standing in the hallway, glaring at Evie before turning her attention to the conversation.

Alec snickered from the couch, while Lisa rolled her eyes. “At least give me a chance to make my argument?”

“What’s there to argue?” Brian asked. “Horrible idea, end of story.”

Lisa took a deep breath, clearly prepared for this reaction. “I know, it sounds insane. But hear me out. You think about Umbrella Corporation, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

Brian crossed his arms, his expression skeptical. “Drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical research. Big money, big security. And a lot of risk.”

“Not wrong,” Lisa said. “But that’s just the surface. Umbrella’s much, much more than just a pharma giant. They’ve got their hands in all sorts of pies – experimental tech, cutting-edge bio augments, and some very shady dealings indeed. The kind of stuff that doesn’t make it to the public eye.”

Evie swallowed. Her dad had always said he was under strict NDA when she asked about his work, but she figured that was just because of some corporate bullshit, or something. She never figured he’d be doing anything unethical.

She leaned forward, now very invested in this conversation. “Stuff like?”

“Let’s just say they’ve been dabbling in some very questionable research. Stuff that would not only be very valuable to some interested parties, but that could also make them a lot of enemies if it ever got out.” Lisa grinned. “You follow where I’m going with this?”

Brian’s frown deepened. “You’re talking about blackmailing one of the biggest corporations in the world. That’s fucking insane, Lisa.”

“Us? Blackmail? Of course not,” she refuted dramatically, placing a hand over her heart as if she’d been wounded. “No, we’re going to get in, steal some rather sensitive data, and get out. All we do then is hand it over to the boss, and he sells it to the highest bidder. We get our cut of what will no doubt be a multimillion-dollar payout, and our hands stay clean.”

“I like multimillions,” Alec chimed in.

“I like staying out of prison,” Brian countered. “We’d be looking at top of the line surveillance systems, world-class security personnel. I wouldn’t put it past them to have a few capes on retainer. This is suicidal.”

Lisa shook her head. “Nuh-uh. See, all the fucked-up shit, the top-secret experiments and tech? All of that’s on the lower levels, so they consolidate most of their security down there. If someone were to break into, say, the Level 5 offices to get access to the facility’s intranet, the most they’d run into would be a couple of rent-a-cops.”

“I think this would be a good time to mention that my dad works at Umbrella,” Evie interjected.

That got the crew’s attention. Brian looked at her with an unreadable expression – sympathy, maybe – while Lisa’s eyes were more analytical. Alec raised a brow. “The fuck are you a career criminal for, then? Your family must be loaded.”

Evie shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “We’re not. I mean, my dad doesn’t even have a doctorate, he’s a mid-level researcher. He gets paid well enough that we moved to Brockton Bay, but not well enough that we’re rolling in dough.”

“No shit, huh,” Alec mused. “Where from?”

“Hamilton. It’s maybe an hour south from Toronto.”

“Back on topic,” Brian said, turning to Lisa. “Let me get this straight. Your plan is for us to break into a secure Umbrella facility, hack into their intranet, steal sensitive data, and hand it over to the boss to sell. All of this while avoiding any security systems and personnel.”

Lisa nodded. “That’s the gist of it, yeah. I know it sounds risky, but trust me, I’ve done my homework on these guys. The bulk of their security is in the lower levels. As long as we stick to the first few floors, we should be able to get in and out without a hitch.”

Evie raised a hand, concerned. “What prevents them from just moving the security up from the basement as soon as they spot us? No way they just let that slide.”

“If they spot us, which they ideally aren’t,” Lisa said, “they can’t. Not without opening up the bottom floors to a whole bunch of risk. For all they know, we could be a diversion for a ‘real’ heist that hits their lower labs.”

Brian sighed, weighing the risks and rewards in his head. After a moment, he spoke again. “I don’t like it. Too risky, and the fact that Evie’s dad works there makes it even more complicated. What if he gets caught up in this?”

“We’re hitting the offices, not the labs,” Lisa said. “The chances of her dad being there are slim to none. Even if he was, we’re not there to hurt anyone. We get in, we get the data, we get out. Clean and simple.”

Rachel finally broke her silence. “I don’t give a fuck about her dad. If Lisa says we can do this, we should do it.”

Reassuring, Evie thought to herself.

Alec shrugged, a lazy grin on his face. “I’m with Rache on this one. High risk, but high reward, right? And with our new ghost girl,” he jerked a thumb in Evie’s direction, “we’ve got an even better chance of pulling this off.”

Brian sighed, clearly still wrestling with the decision. He looked at Evie before speaking. “You’ve got a personal stake here – how do you feel about this? It’s a lot to ask with your dad working there. You’re allowed to say no.”

Evie considered her answer carefully. One the one hand, the thought of putting her father at risk, no matter how remote the odds, was unsettling. On the other hand, this was some serious money they were talking about. Life-changing amounts of money.

Perhaps more important was her curiosity. Just what in the hell was going on over there, and what had her dad gotten himself into?

“Let’s do it,” she responded, meeting Brian’s gaze. “Lisa’s right. The chances we’ll run into my dad are minimal. Plus,” she smiled, “I wouldn’t mind a six-figure payday.”

Brian nodded slowly, a look of resignation setting in on his face. “Alright. If everyone’s on board, then I guess we’re doing this. But we plan this out carefully, Lisa,” he said, turning to face her. “I don’t want anyone to end up in prison, or worse.”

“When have you ever known me not to be careful?” Lisa teased, hands on her hips in a faux-angry pose. She giggled, then relaxed her posture. “Give me a few days to cook something up. I’ll need to go through blueprints, floor plans, security rotations, the whole works.”

“That about settles that,” Alec concluded, before pressing a button on the TV remote to resume their movie. “Now, back to the real business: making fun of this edgy Dark Knight bullshit. Can you imagine calling yourself Batman? That’s like if we called Rachel Dog Girl.”

“Dumb name,” Rachel agreed.

---

You have got to be fucking kidding.

This had to be some kind of karma. The universe’s way of getting back at Evie for what she and her team were plotting to do. Cosmic justice.

It was the only possible explanation for what her father was telling her.

“Look, kiddo, I can see from the look on your face that you’re worried, but I can promise you that Case 53s—”

“N-No,” she interrupted him, trying to regain her composure. “Nothing like that. I guess I’m just… surprised? You’re talking about inviting a cape over for dinner like it’s nothing. A cape who also happens to be an executive at one of the biggest companies in the country. She kinda sounds like a big deal, dad.”

Her father waved a hand dismissively, but he was smiling. “Just because my boss is a C-suite cape, doesn’t mean she’s above the realm of us mortal men,” he said. “I think you’ll see that she’s pretty nice, actually.”

“Maybe,” was the best Evie could think to say.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Dinner’s on Tuesday at 6,” her dad said. “I know you’ve been… busy, but try to keep your schedule open.”

“I’ll be there,” she confirmed, and her dad closed the door to her room behind her.

Evie wasted little time in fishing out her burner.

You – sent at 7:12 PM
so
slight issue

tt – sent at 7:12 PM
lay it on me

You – sent at 7:13 PM
their rnd head is coming over for dinner
as in at my house

tt – sent at 7:14 PM
u r joking
o wow ur not

You – sent at 7:14 PM
nope
tuesday

tt – sent at 7:15 PM
ok
so
this might b ok actually
ur phone does voice rcrdings?

You – sent at 7:17 PM
yeah

tt – sent at 7:17 PM
do that when shes over
gives me smthing 2 work with

You – sent at 7:19 PM
what the fuck
if any of them figure that out
i will die

tt – sent at 7:21 PM
drama queen
jst keep it in ur pocket
if the sound is a bit muffled
thats fine

You – sent at 7:23 PM
as if just dinner with her wasn't bad enough
i’m supposed to be cool as a cucumber
while spying on this chick
the chick we are actively plotting against

tt – sent at 7:25 PM
ideally yes

You – sent at 7:26 PM
this is fucking bonkers

tt – sent at 7:27 PM
just play along w/ the small talk
chat abt school if she asks etc
dont say any weird shit, play it safe, n ull be fine
tt guarantee
;)

You – sent at 7:30 PM
christ
fuck me
ok