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The place that interested her most were Panem’s rooms. While Finch’s private quarters didn’t produce anything of interest, she had high hopes for his servant’s rooms. Although it was difficult to snoop when the sneaky man could pop up at any time.
Her breakthrough was unexpected and offered by the head of security. She didn’t know his name, but her first impression of him was that he was like one of the mercenaries portrayed on TV shows, a man you could hire to do anything if you put enough money on it. Not much taller than her, he was solid muscle that he wore like a shield. And Ellie didn’t think that with his neck disappearing into his oversize shoulders, he could turn his gleaming skull right or left. He was a scary-looking guy. Not that he ever gave her a second glance when she worked in the employees’ section, which made up most of her day as Finch deemed it would be more humiliating for her.
One afternoon, she’d just finished scrubbing the floors near the back entrance when the scary chief stormed in, cursing and snarling. From what she could see through the windows, several of the guards were trying to repair one of Finch’s cars. Something must have gone wrong as his front was covered with oil from his stomach to below his knees.
Ellie winced imagining the extra work as he stormed in, leaving a trail of oil behind him. Her thoughts were sidetracked when the man started shedding his clothes. He undid his boots before kicking them aside, throwing his utility shirt in a corner and undoing his pants. Down to his boxers, he stepped out of the room, muttering something foul.
Ellie, still on her knees, didn’t know what to think of it or if she should remove his clothes when her eyes landed on his key chain. It held several keys, but only one fob. Could it be the one that accessed the basement?
Unsure, but guessing it could be her only chance, she crawled over and grabbed the blue plastic piece and twisted it. As she’d hoped, or maybe she had extra strength due to her desperation, but the little plastic hoop snapped. In the palm of her hand and covered in motor oil lay hers and Sam’s potential freedom.
Before she could think what to do next, she heard a door slamming shut and booted feet coming over. In a panic, she slung the fob under the bench, and it disappeared into a pile of old boots when the head of security came back.
“Don’t sit there like a statue.” He snatched his pants out of her hands, removing his belt, the keys attached to it, and his wallet before shoving them into her hands again. “Throw those away and clean my boots. You can leave them here when you’re done.”
And on that dismissive tone, the man left again, but Ellie still felt as if she’d run a marathon, and was glad she was still on her knees. Trembling threatened to overcome her, so she gathered the soiled clothes and threw them away before starting on the boots and the floor.
Every few seconds, her eyes went to the hidden fob, her brain not quite realizing what she’d done.
At some point, the men returned with a change of shift happening, and Ellie had to leave the area.
Paranoia assailed her. Had anyone noticed what she’d done? Was it the correct fob? Would the head of security notice the fob was missing? How much time did she have before he did?
With a litany of questions clouding her mind, finishing her tasks for the day was a challenge, but moving helped.
The temptation to return to the vestibule and retrieve the fob was strong, but maybe leaving it there was wiser. If anyone looked for it, it would appear as if it had broken and would be found again, exonerating her and Sam from any wrongdoing.
Before she could change her mind, Ellie made her way back to their rooms. Sam would soon be released from Finch’s clutches for the day.
In the small hallway, the basement door beckoned to her and she slowed. Maybe she could work out if the fob and panel were linked. Her hand trailed over the door and the movement under her fingers made her jump. The door hadn’t been clicked shut. She could get inside. Was it a trick? Sam had told her that apart from the outside area, he hadn’t detected any cameras inside the mansion, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. On the other hand, could she let the opportunity pass? If she could go downstairs and see for herself what was there without using the fob, it meant she could use it later.
Faced with this now-or-never opportunity, Ellie pushed the door. When she saw it wasn’t completely dark, her second thought was that maybe someone was already down there. The staircase didn’t allow her to see past a certain point, and she had to move. Carefully, she closed the door so it wasn’t completely shut and as silently as she could, made her way down the stairs.
The light wasn’t as bright as she’d first thought, but a low humming noise increased as she approached. When she turned the corner it made sense. The area was vast, she estimated the room was about a third of the mansion in size, and from where she stood, Ellie wasn’t certain what she was seeing. Row after row of shelves that were taller than she was contained small, square machines that emitted a whirring noise. Each one had a steady blue light to show it was working. As she moved in a circle, the air moved, propelled from small fans within the cubes. To the side, bigger industrial fans moved the air between the rows.
The setup was impressive, but Ellie was clueless as to what it was. The impressive amount of wiring was artfully arranged into bundles as thick as her thigh and led to another machine at the end of each row.
The more she walked, the more perplexed Ellie became. What she was seeing didn’t make sense. If only she could take a picture to show Sam.
The heat intensified as she went down the row, and so did the sound. Her ears buzzed from the fans, but as she was already there, she wanted to know if there were more doors or anything she could identify.
Her plan came to a screeching halt when a metallic sound came from a few rows over. Ellie dropped into a crouch, trying to detect where it came from and if she could see anything through the thin spaces in-between the multitude of boxes. It was impossible for her to be entirely certain, but she swore she saw someone moving.
Swallowing hard, hanging onto her nerves by her fingertips, it would be so easy to collapse into a puddle of fear and despair, but she reminded herself how far she had come. And deep down inside, Ellie knew what was down there would be of interest to Sam, and maybe hold the key to getting out alive.
Now, as a stranger moved through the rows, she had to face her greatest challenge, for Sam’s sake.
Chapter Twenty
It was increasinglydifficult not to look at the clock and curse at how slow time was moving. In this mad situation, Sam found incredible strength in the routine, with the expectation of returning to their room.Their room. The concept brought him incredible warmth and strength and for the first time, even in this God-forsaken house, he looked forward to what came next, which gave him something to fight for and conquer.
Finch paced behind him on the phone again. Most of the time they were together he was on the phone, trying with a tone bordering on desperation to forge an alliance or renew his network of contacts that wanted nothing to do with him.
Sam always kept an ear out for useful information and could piece together identities even if he didn’t know if that knowledge would be worthwhile. With each passing day, he tried to find a way to contact Lazarus, but he only had access to such tools when his father was around, and he watched him like a hawk.
What was even more frustrating was everything he touched, everything he looked at was inconsequential information. The more he saw, the more he suspected that it was trickery, a veil of lies and deceit. Jamieson Finch was grasping at straws, with only the appearance of power—not that he wasn’t dangerous still. It was the money that made him so. If only he could dig deeper and see where all that money came from. Sam feared their time was almost up, and his mind was itching to escape.
Loud curses brought him back to the present, as Finch kicked a side table in anger. He was becoming more volatile, and that worried Sam as it could impact Ellie’s safety.
