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“Convince me.”
So she did. “All we need to do is trigger Apollo’s ‘code red’. It’s only for the most dramatic of scenarios, like someone threatening Apollo’s life, or one of his brothers showing up. It’ll shut the main doors, but it’ll open the safe. I think I can figure out how to set off ‘code red’. I’m the first point of contact for anyone arriving into reception, so I can call the alarm and it’ll take a few minutes at least for anyone to realize it’s false. The problem is, the person getting the evidence from the safe would need to be in Apollo’s office at the time the alarm goes off. Otherwise, only he has the emergency code to the office door.”
“Okay, so you somehow get me into his office in advance, then set off code red. Then what? If the main doors are sealed, how am I supposed to get out before he realizes the evidence is gone?”
“Well, there’s two options. I hide you in the building and hope that he doesn’t realize the safe has been emptied and send a search team out. Or... there’s the roof exit.”
Neither of those sounded fun. “The roof exit?”
“Traditionally for helicopters. Any good at abseiling?”
I scoffed. “Absolutely not. And I’m fairly certain someone in your office will notice me abseiling down past their windows and raise the alarm.”
“Actually, above the ground floor, all the windows are blacked out.”
“I thought that was just Apollo’s office. All of them? No one can look outside?” I shook my head. “And what about Jenni?”
“I’ve got the code for where she’s being kept. That one won’t be a problem.”
I sighed. I wasn’t going to abseil. But there might be another way off the roof... “I might know someone who can help.”
Helli was suddenly jubilant. “Yes, Ria!”
I stared at her. She looked mildly embarrassed. Her enthusiasm in that moment was so Jenni-like that I wondered if they’d swapped places. But she quickly returned to her customary scowl.
It was agreed.
That was how I found myself walking to Sylvester’s offices to try and get in contact with him.
Sylvester’s receptionist was apologetic. “Sorry. Mr Brock isn’t in yet.”
I was just glad she wasn’t a triplet of Jenni and Helli. “Can you get a message to him? Tell him Ria Moon wants to see him?”
I waited. Eventually, the receptionist – who looked more like a rockstar or an alternative model – returned with a message for me. It was Sylvester’s personal address. I was to go there if I wanted to see him.
When I arrived, Sylvester was groggy and wearing a silk dressing gown, which I was to assume was his way of appearing decent for my visit. “Long night?”
“Every night is a long night.” He winked. “Can I get you some coffee?”
“Please.”
When we sat down, he elegantly crossed one leg over the opposite knee and raised an eyebrow at me, holding his coffee close to his chest. “I thought you were in the safe house.”
I was surprised. “Oh, so Forest came clean then, did he?”
Sylvester was giving nothing away. “He did.”
I had to remember the brothers were close, and protective of each other. “Are you going to tell him I visited?”
He sighed. “I don’t think that would do him much good right now. But it depends what you’re here for.”
I told him the plan. He agreed to help. And he wasn’t going to let Forest know.
With Sylvester’s offer of assistance secured, I couldn’tnotget in on Helli’s plan. I wanted to go back to my family home. I wanted to repay my debt to Forest. The plan, if it went well, which by all odds it would not, would solve these problems. I had to try one last time.
The only thing left to figure out was how to get me in past security. Helli could fake an appointment easily to get me a guest pass, but the security knew what I looked like and had been primed to capture me on arrival – to take me to the authorities, apparently.
Helli was of little use. “I don’t know. I’ll carry you in a suitcase. Or a catering trolley. Whatever they normally do in the movies.”
