AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There came the sound of typing and clicking over the PA. “Apollo’s in an external meeting according to this. In Los Angeles.”
“Perfect. So all you need to do is get into his office, then release the drone.”
Jenni made a ‘thinking’ noise. “What about security?”
Good question. “All our evidence indicates that Apollo and Helli are close, so I would imagine she has access to all floors. You can check her access on the system, probably. The only thing you’ll need to do is get into Apollo’s office. The drone can help with that, but security will be a problem.”
“Hmm. I’ve got an idea. Leave it with me. I’m going to head up now.”
Jenni really was the perfect woman for the job. She had no qualms with any of this. I had severely underestimated the nervous receptionist. When it came down to it, she was a woman of action.
There was silence for a while, apart from the sound of the elevator, and footsteps.
Then we heard crying.
Then a man’s voice. “Excuse me, are you... okay?”
Then Jenni shrieked. “No, I’mNOT OKAY!”
The crying continued.
Then the drone was activated. We suddenly had a visual of Apollo’s office door, and Jenni stood next to it, grinning, her face streaked with tears.
I was gobsmacked. “What did you just...”
Ria was also shocked. “Can you cry on command?!”
Jenni was beaming. “Praise my acting skills later. And my insight into the psyche of security guards. Get the drone to bust this door open for me, will you?”
“No problem. Looking at it, I don’t think we’re going to be able to break the lock or crack the code... it’s too secure. We’re going to have to use brute force. I hope your crying was scary enough to keep the security away for some time.”
Then the footage went dead.
Ria stood up. “Jenni?”
I hammered the drone controls, trying to bring it back online. But it was dead. And though Ria continued to call for Jenni, the audio had gone completely, too.
I slumped at my desk. “Shit. Shit. I hope there was just some kind of... signal failure.”
Ria and I waited. But there was nothing. Ria even tried Jenni’s phone, which went to voicemail.
Then the drone video footage reactivated, and we were treated to the sight of Apollo’s gigantic smug face projected onto each wall in the meeting room.
He clapped his hands. “Bravo! What a splendidly elaborate plan. But you do know the thing about elaborate plans, right? They have so many points of failure. And this all fell apart based on a slight calendar error.” He tutted. “Shame. I’d hoped you’d get far enough to trigger the delightful traps I’ve set on the entrance to the safe containing the... documents you’d hoped to find. Ah well. Better luck next time. Maybe I’ll get to see you, brother, getting impaled through the neck with an automatic crossbow, or tripping an electrified wire.”
Ria’s voice was cold and terrifying. “Where’s Jenni?”
“Ah, Ms Moon. So sad our alliance has to come to an end. I’d hoped to be treated to one of your famous card readings before we had to part ways. I do hope your mom and Grandmother remain well. I know you’d be heartbroken if anything were to happen to either of them. Farewell, goodbye, sayonara, and so on. Oh, and do send me an invite to the baby shower. Ba-bye!”
The drone footage clicked back off again.
There was so much that had gone wrong here, but for some reason my brain was malfunctioning over those two words:baby shower.
My breathing grew heavy and ragged. In the background I could dimly perceive Ria asking me what we should do, if I was okay, saying she hoped Jenni was okay...
When I finally spoke, I echoed the two words that had caused me to shut down. “Baby shower.” It came out like a growl. I stared at the surface of the meeting room table.
“What?”
