His eyes bulged like in a cartoon, and he scrambled into the coat closet to hide. Coop yanked him out. Rafe held onto a trench coat. Of course Kelvin would own one.
“Let go, Rafe.”
Coop whooshed back to the kitchen table. “How are we doing, Akash? What was on that flash drive?”
“A lot of code that I would need more time to look through.”
Coop sighed.
“But.”
Coop raised his head.
“I did decipher one command:obstruction, obstruction.” Akash pointed to the piece of code that contained those words.
You fucker.
Akash seemed happier than he should have been.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because I’ve spent the rest of the time searching through his email. I don’t know your feelings on the Second Amendment, but we got ourselves a smoking gun here.”
Akash showed him the screen, and Coop’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. “Holy shit.”
Coop’s phone buzzed with a text from Tim.
I tried to stall with smalltalk. He’s an asshole. Headed 4 elevators.
“We gotta go,” Coop said.
Akash copied the emails onto a fresh flash drive.
“He’s on his way up?” Rafe asked.
He was, but Coop had to remain calm. He couldn’t let them fail. This had to work. They were so close. He owed it to Matty.
Coop watched the status bar on the computer, willing it to move to 100%. He motioned for it to hurry up.
“Done!” Akash pulled the flash drive from the computer and shut the laptop. Coop ran it back to the bedroom and tossed it on his bed.
On elevator, Tim texted. Rafe read over Coop’s shoulder.
“Oh shit. The stairwell door is right next to the elevator. Kelvin’s going to see us when he gets out!” Rafe shook out his hands. “We’re going to jail. Or prison. I don’t know the difference!”
Coop grabbed him by the collar. “Rafe. Shut up. If you don’t calm down…I have muscles, and I know how to use them.”
Tom peeked his head in the hall. He nodded that it was clear. For now. Coop prayed that Kelvin was in a full elevator, but that was doubtful this time of night.
They tiptoed like expert cat burglars down the hall, past each quiet apartment. At the end of this corridor, they just had to turn right and bolt into the stairwell, which was across from the elevators. A few more steps, and then they were clear. Coop’s heart pounded in his ears.
Ding
“Fuck!” Coop mouthed to himself. The hallway was a dead end, so they couldn’t run in the opposite direction. They had no way out. Coop’s mind scrambled with adrenaline.
Akash and Tom’s eyes were white with panic.
The elevator doors slid open.
