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Married Before Midnight - Married Before Midnight by Sienna Quinn - Chapter 44
Author: Novels Audio
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Married Before Midnight
Chapter 44: Encrypted Data
The dim glow of Hannah’s laptop screen cast shadows across the kitchen table as Lucas leaned over her shoulder, his brow furrowed in concentration. Eleanor stood beside them, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her gaze flickering between the screen and the USB drive plugged into the side of the computer. “It’s encrypted,” Lucas muttered, tapping a frustrated rhythm against the table.
“Not just password-protected—this is an old internal encryption from the university’s data system. Leigh didn’t want just anyone opening this.” Hannah exhaled sharply, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. “So how do we crack it?” Eleanor’s voice was quiet but firm. “This software was only used by research assistants in the Data Science department. Leigh must have had help—or she found someone who had access.” Lucas straightened, rubbing his jaw. “Or she was one of them. If she worked closely with the department, she’d know how to lock this down.” Hannah scrolled through the corrupted file names, her pulse quickening. “There has to be something here. A clue, a backdoor—” Then Lucas froze. “Wait.” He reached over and clicked into the file properties.
A small note was embedded in the metadata, barely visible unless you knew where to look. “Carter, don’t trust the shortlist.” Hannah’s breath hitched. Below the cryptic message, a supplementary file name appeared—List_Seven.enc. Lucas worked quickly, isolating the metadata and forcing a partial decryption. The screen flickered, and then— Seven names appeared. Hannah’s stomach dropped. Caleb Mercer. Isobel Whitaker. Five others she didn’t recognize. “Isobel?” Hannah’s voice was barely above a whisper. “But she’s been helping me. She’s the one who told me about Leigh in the first place.” Lucas’s expression darkened. “Or she was sent to make sure you didn’t dig too deep.” Eleanor placed a steadying hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “We don’t know what this means yet. Maybe she was on the list before and left. Maybe she’s being forced.” Hannah swallowed hard, her mind racing. Isobel had been too eager, too convenient. Had she been playing her this whole time? “I need to test her,” Hannah said finally, her voice low. “If she’s working with Dawson, she’ll slip up.” Lucas nodded. “We’ll set a trap. Feed her false information and see if it gets back to him.” Eleanor hesitated. “Be careful, Hannah. If she’s involved, she’s dangerous.” Hannah’s jaw tightened. “I know.” --- The house was silent that night, the only sound the faint hum of the refrigerator and the occasional creak of settling wood. Hannah lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, Leigh’s notebook open beside her. Then— A soft ping from her phone. She grabbed it, her heart pounding.
The home security alert blinked on the screen: “Unrecognized device detected. Data transfer in progress.” Hannah bolted upright. Down the hall, Lucas’s door swung open, his silhouette tense in the dim light. “Hannah?” She didn’t answer, already scrambling to her laptop. She opened the folder where the encrypted file had been stored— It was gone. Her blood ran cold. Lucas appeared in her doorway, his voice a growl. “We’re being watched.” Hannah’s fingers trembled as she flipped open Leigh’s notebook, as if the answers might still be there. But the truth was worse. Someone had been inside their circle. Someone had just stolen the only evidence they had.