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“There’s no harm done. Be more careful in the future.” Her tone was an icy reception that made me feel like I was frozen to the spot. Thankfully, she did not look directly at me and must have thought of me as a nuisance. “Make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Miss Niles doesn’t take kindly to anybody touching me inappropriately.” That might have stood true in the office, but outside without Susan to police her actions, it was another story altogether. They soon vacated the building. The janitor staff was not going to arrive for another couple of hours and Susan disappeared like she was part of some magic act.
I went over to that bar and I was nursing a drink with everybody getting a little buzzed. I could tell that they were uncomfortable with Lillian sitting there with Tina. They didn’t know what was going on and felt a little blindsided by the intrusion. Nobody seemed to notice me and that was exactly the point. I casually stepped over to the door, not even looking to see if anybody noticed and went back across to the darkened alleyway.
Chapter three
“I’ve patched into the Security System, but there’s no way that I can circumvent it. I can only tell you where the guards are going to be. I admit that I had my reservations when we came up with this plan. I know that I initially proposed that you go undercover, but I really didn’t think that it was going to work. I thought that she would see right through you, but you definitely don’t look like the same woman that either she or I recognize. I have to tell you that I was blown away by how easily you changed not only your look but the confidence in which you exude.” Marshall was in my ear and I was taking a hold of that first brick and grabbing onto the drainpipe.
“I told you that I was good at disguises. I’ve never had to resort to these methods. Most of my work has been outside with a camera to catch those that were doing something particularly naughty.” I was having withdrawals. My body was craving more of what he had given me in that chalet. There was something nagging at me. I had this desire boiling within me that needed an outlet.
“I would ask if you really think that this is safe what you’re doing, but I know what the answer will be. You have certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty. It was a good thing that you took a bit of a sabbatical from your job. I’ve heard that Lillian has been in several times looking for you. She apparently let slip that she has a private security company digging into your whereabouts. They trashed your place, turned it upside down and left with nothing to warrant that kind of invasion of your privacy.” I had a nondescript one-bedroom flat. It was part of the façade. I hated the place. It was dirty and had me scratching my head like I had fleas.
“I will be glad when this is finally over. I want to get back to my life. We just need to find some incriminating evidence. I need something that will hurt her and give us a way to turn the tables. I have no idea what that will be, but I’m sure that I will recognize it when I see it.” I didn’t dare look down. It was only a few feet to the ground, but it still made me feel like I should be paralyzed with fear.
I managed to get to the second floor, but I was still 30 feet away from the window to her office. I’d noticed that she liked to keep it open a crack. I didn’t know the reason why, until that one night that I stayed late and found her smoking. It was a nasty habit and one that she felt embarrassed enough to open a window to make sure that the tobacco did not permeate into the furniture or the walls.
I was plastered up against the brick wall with both hands on either side like I was waiting for some kind of spotlight to zero in on my location. I was wearing all black including smudges of shoe polish on my face to mimic that of a cat burglar. The knit cap over my head did nothing to convince anyone that I was a longshoreman.
“Don’t move one single muscle. A guard is patrolling right underneath you.” I didn’t have to look to know that he was there. The squawk of his radio told me where he was. I had learned that people don’t look up or down unless given a reason to.
“Angela, I don’t care what your sister said. I did not sleep with her and never would. She’s not even my type. I don’t even know why you are giving this any credence. She lies considerably and her drug habit has made her lash out with hurtful words. You know that she wouldn’t say that had you given her the money that she requested. This is just her way of trying to put a wedge in between us.” The other guard, a young Hispanic came around the corner and stood with him with the man on the phone using his hand like he was miming that his girl talked too much.
“I would suggest that you don’t breathe or make any sudden movements. They may not be able to see you, but an errant pebble or even a grain of sand might be too much for them to ignore. It’s obvious that Susan doesn’t let them get away with anything including slacking off on their duties.” Marshall was giving me the benefit of his eyes and I had to say that he was pretty good at this kind of work.
“I don’t want to hear about this anymore. She’s a liar and we both know that she can’t be trusted as far as we can throw her. Of course, I’m telling you the truth and what would give you the impression that I would ever lie to the one that I love? I know and you had to ask. I don’t want to do anything to ruin what we have together.” He disconnected the connection and turned to his friend. He punched him in a jovial manner against his arm.
“I told you that you were messing with the natural order of things by going after her sister. I’m a little surprised that Angela didn’t believe her. You have been with the both of them these last couple of months. You still talk about it like she did things that other women can’t or won’t do.” His inflection when he was talking to Angela was that of someone that could never lie to save his life. It was obvious that wasn’t true.
There could be only two reasons why he could sound that plausible. The one that came to mind was that he was someone that didn’t know the difference between right and wrong. The other was that he couldn’t be monogamous. It was against his basic nature, but I was inclined to believe that he liked to play the injured party.
“There’s no reason to look at me like I am some kind of monster. It’s not like I’m doing your daughter or your sister for that matter. If I wanted to, I’m sure that I could have my way with both of them. I would never betray you. That’s something that you can take to the bank. Angela has always been possessive. She doesn’t know how to rein it in. I sometimes use that against her to make her look petty and vindictive. What she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her. It was wrong to sleep with her sister, but that was the only way that I was going to give her money for drugs.” They sauntered away from the area, laughing and having a bit of fun at his girlfriend’s expense. I didn’t know if they had any children, but I was relatively sure that if I had asked Marshall to find out that he would’ve been able to.
“Wait for a moment longer until the coast is clear.” I took my time, slipping once on what constituted as bird excrement. I had to wipe my shoe. There was no way that I was going to go in there and leave behind the proof of my breach.
It would’ve been nice to be able to see Lillian inside that bar, but I was on the other side of the building away from the street.
“I should have told you to go to hell when you came up with this harebrained scheme. I knew that it was going to be risky, but I didn’t think that I was literally putting my life in your hands. Don’t worry; I’ve come too far to go back now.” There was a bit of a gust blowing that I didn’t take into consideration. I had to hold onto the wall and wa
it for it to pass. I finally made it to the window that was cracked open about an inch.
I took a deep breath, grabbed onto the edge of the window and pulled it up hoping not to bring about the piercing wail of an alarm going off. I held my breath until I put my foot inside and then the other followed suit. I was tempted to get down on the floor and kiss it, but I had other fish to fry than my own personal safety.
I took out a small penlight, moving it from one corner of the room to the other until I was sitting at her desk. There was a moment that I wanted get up and scream at someone. I felt like I was taking a few tentative steps in her shoes.
“I’m not that proficient with computers. I know my way around to do e-mail and check my Facebook status.” I did as he requested by first using the card that I had creatively borrowed. I was soon typing down the Internet address and then sending to him so that he could get his hacker friend to make a mirror image of this computer with his own.
“Jeffrey has gotten into the computer and I’m sure that you have noticed that he is perusing the contents as we speak.” It was kind of eerie to see the mouse move on its own with the cursor going from one file to another to copy its contents and put it into a file of his making. “He won’t look at anything. He’ll send me all the files intact. This guy knows what he’s doing and the money that I’m giving him makes his discretion bought and paid for.” I watched as the files were copied and that folder that he had made virtually disappeared leaving no trace behind that something was amiss.
“It looks like my job is done here. We’re going to need some time to look over all of those files. We should meet at the safe house.” I’d always wanted to say that, but the safe house in question was his home away from home. His mother was on vacation and had given him a key to make sure that the place was taken care of in her absence. It was apparent that she wanted to get some distance away from him and the tart that he was seeing…namely me. I didn’t leave her with a good first impression.
“It would be a good idea that you get out of there. The longer that you stay, the more likely that somebody’s going to catch you and have questions that you can’t answer.” I searched the drawers, listening to him speak with a chatter in my ear while I was doing it. I found nothing and I mean literally nothing. She had no hard copies and even the file cabinets were barren. She had no use to put something on paper. They were mostly for show to give the illusion that there were folders overflowing with contracts.
“I shouldn’t be surprised. In this day and age, everything is digital and backed up on servers that seem to be impenetrable. I want a reason to celebrate. I think that I can come up with some way to use a bottle of champagne, strawberries, and whipped cream in a deliciously naughty way. I’ll be there soon. Don’t start without me.” I was at the window when I heard two voices approaching.
“I don’t know what you are doing here at this time of night, but you can’t go in there without authorization.” The guard’s voice was shrill and quite strict for somebody that was playing at being a rented cop. “I don’t know you and I’ve never seen you in my life. You claim to be the boss, but there’s no way that I can allow you to go in there without proof.” He was being a loyal soldier and he was following his training to the letter.
“I don’t have time for this nonsense. I was across the street enjoying a drink with a colleague when I realized that I forgot something. You followed me up here like a bloodhound. I’m trying hard to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m through playing with kid gloves. This is my authorization. Don’t make me show you it again or I will have you walking the unemployment line before morning.” Lillian had her hand on the door and I could see through the glass that she was about to enter. I looked around for some place to hide. I thought about going under the desk, but that would be like playing with fire expecting not to get burned.
“Oh… I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t know it was you and I only heard your name in passing. I don’t want to beg for my job, but I need this to support my family. I’m not going to give you some kind of sob story, but I’m going to ask for your forgiveness. I was told when I started a month ago that anybody that came up here would have to be either insane or in desperate need of a death wish. Nobody is here at this time. Even the janitors are not going to show up for about another hour.” The guard was backpedaling. The authority in his voice now turned to the cracked tone of some kid that was trying to get to first base.
