Page 17 of Savage Little War

Even if this should be clean, nothing is clean anymore.

Our van trails Andrei before parking across the street from the apartment building. We watch him walk inside and disappear from sight. Whether or not this is successful depends on how loyal Erica is to her boyfriend.

“Hopefully, your guy is right about Aldo’s devices being stored here,” I tell Sean as he sits on the bench across from me in the back of the van.

“Would you keep your secrets at your office where anyone can find them?” Sean points out.

“If I had a safe there,” I reply.

“Well, we know where to look next if we can’t find anything here,” Sean replies.

I check the time on my watch, my knee threatening to bounce in anticipation. If Andrei can’t pull this off, I don’t know how we’re going to approach it. We might have to break in with masks on and tie her up so that Aldo can find her later.

That complicates things more than they already are, though. As if we need that. After seeing Cara as a captive, I don’t wish that on my worst enemy, or Aldo’s girlfriend.

“Look!” Mark says from the front seat.

We crowd around his seat so that we can look through the side window. Sure enough, Andrei walks out of the apartment building with Erica holding his arm and laughing.

“That son of a bitch,” I mutter with a crooked grin on my face.

Cara smiles in amusement. “He pulled it off. Let’s go.”

Our team quickly crosses the street and heads into the building, going up to Unit 302 on the third floor. Mark steps up and picks the lock on the door with ease before we go inside, carefully sweeping the area to make sure no one else is around and that there are no cameras.

We don’t need any surprises.

“Look for laptops, desktops, extra phones, flash drives,” I say as we all split up to check every room in the apartment.

Cara heads down a hallway with Mark to check the bedrooms.

Sean and I check each room in search of an office.

“Bathroom. Laundry room,” Sean mutters as he throws open doors around the apartment.

“Pantry,” I say before shouting across the apartment. “You guys find anything?”

“Not yet!”

I share a frustrated look with Sean before pausing at the sight of a closed door connected to the living room. “Have you checked that one yet?”

Sean shakes his head before crossing the living room with me. He tries the door handle, only for it to not budge. “Why would he lock a random door in his apartment unless there was something to hide?”

“Even from his girlfriend,” I point out.

“I have a lockpick somewhere,” Sean says as he digs into the pockets of his slacks. He pulls one out of his wallet and works on the lock until it clicks open.

I push open the door, and my eyes widen. “Holy shit.”

It isn’t some modern, clean office. This guy has stuff everywhere. Maps of the city on the walls. Blueprints of different buildings. Photos of people caught on security footage. Multiple file cabinets behind his desk, which has documents spread across it.

“All he’s missing is some thumbtacks and string,” I mutter.

“No kidding,” Sean replies as he inspects the maps.

I start opening filing cabinets, seeing a variety of names and places written on the tabs of the folders. My brow furrows in concentration as I flip through them, looking for anything that jumps out at me.

“Where did that shooting take place that almost killed you? The Wynn, yeah?” Sean asks as I move to another filing cabinet.