She saw Drake reach into his pocket, pull out Lance’s badge, and wave it towards the distracted guards. He then veered off towards the secured door and Jamie had to move fast to keep herself unseen.
She slid around to his side, folding her arms in while Drake slightly angled himself to keep her hidden even in profile. He reached the door and held the badge up to the scanner in a fluid motion. The little light turned green and she heard the door unlock.
And then they were in.
“Quick,” he said, pulling her from behind him. “I want to get in Cargraves office before they decide to start watching the feeds again.”
The feeds.Jamie swallowed. “What if they decide to watch the feeds later? They’ll see us.”
Drake nodded. “It’s a risk we have to take. As long as we leave everything the way we found it, there should be no reason to go back over the footage. It will be erased in the next few days as there isn’t enough storage space to keep 24-7 surveillance records.”
His dark gaze locked onto hers. “You didn’t have to come along. You insisted.”
She had. Although she trusted Drake, she still felt single-handedly responsible for Sylvie’s return. That meant she had to be here, to leave no stone unturned.
As long as we turn those stones back over after digging beneath them, it should be ok. At least that was what she told herself.
“Lead the way,” Drake said, sweeping his arm out in front of him. Jamie gave a quick nod and took off in the direction of Lance’s office. She grabbed the door handle and tugged, then frowned.
“It’s locked.” She’d always been brought back into the secured area by functionaries or by Lance himself. She hadn’t even thought about encountering an obstacle as simple, or as frustrating, as a locked door.
“Move,” Drake said, shouldering his way to the locked door and trying the handle himself. He then pulled out a tool that resembled a pocket knife, but when she saw that what should be a blade looked more like a long key, she realized it was a lock pick.
It only took him a moment to unlock the door and then they were inside. The lights were set on motion detection and came on automatically when they entered. The office wasn’t large, but it was orderly.
Drake pulled out Lance’s chair and seated himself in front of the computer. Jamie cautiously picked her way through the shelves and drawers, being careful not to noticeably disturb anything.
The clacking sound coming from the computer console made Jamie turn her head to watch. Drake’s fingers were a blur on the keyboard, and the screens were shifting so fast as he maneuvered through them that she couldn’t keep up.
The man has skills, she thought.And he keeps revealing new ones. Physical strength and stamina. Lock-picking. Computer hacking.
And let’s not forget the ability to seduce you into a mind-blowing orgasm, her inner voice reminded.
As if she could forget that little fact.
While she watched, Drake pulled out a small device from his pocket and plugged it into the USB port. The device didn’t resemble anything she’d seen before. It was small, oblong, with a row of flashing lights in red, green, blue and yellow.
Once the device was activated, windows began popping up and disappearing at light speed. She’d never seen anything like it. Although she was by no means a technology expert, Jamie was certain this device wasn’t available at her local retailer. It must be some kind of spy tech.
Drake continued to hack his way through the classified data while Jamie did her best to snoop. The problem was, she had no idea what she was looking for. There were dozens of memos and schematics and spreadsheets, but nothing seemed to hint at a conspiracy.
Jamie pulled open the top drawer of the filing cabinet and proceeded to scan the folders found there. Each folder had a name and an initial. Personnel files.
The next drawer held binders labeled with years, 2010 through 2015. The drawer below that had binders starting at 2016, but she noticed the one for this year was missing.
She bent to open the bottom drawer, hoping to find the binder for the current year. Unfortunately, there were no binders and no folders in the drawer. It seemed to be filled with random parts and tools. Making a half-hearted effort to dig through the pile, she sighed, wishing she had a least a rudimentary understanding of spacecraft engineering.
The clacking at the keyboard stopped, and when she looked over her shoulder, Drake was standing behind her, staring down. The look on his face was anything but subtle. His eyes blazed with a desire to which she’d become acquainted with last night.
Jamie slid the drawer closed and stood up, a strange tingle working its way up her spine.
