My eyes narrowed. Was she smart enough to actually figure it out? This little snoop had no idea what she was delving into too deeply.
Curiosity, as they say, wasn’t a sin. But it also killed the cat.
Hours passed by, and this busybody still wouldn’t let it go. She sat at her desk, fingers rattling across her keyboard as she worked on her laptop. I watched her type, scribble down stuff on her sticky notes, and then hold up the paper in front of her face.
She was hellbent on solving this puzzle, oblivious to the dangers that lurked in the shadows. Some knowledge was meant to be hidden, and digging into it would only land one in trouble.
“Careful, girl,” I murmured to myself. “You’re delving into something bigger than you.”
She paced the length of her room, absently chewing on the bottom of her pen. Her fingers scratched the back of her head as she studied the paper in her hand. The fatigue in her eyes hinted that her body was already starting to crash.
She yawned and stretched, then sat back in her chair. I knew it was only a matter of time before nature took its course. So I waited, watching in the silence of my car’s cabin.
As expected, a few minutes later, her head slumped forward onto the table. This was my chance to retrieve the book; however, I didn’t act instantly. I let another ten minutes slip by. The plan was to wait until she was fast asleep before making my move.
Once I was convinced it was time for action, I opened the door and stepped out under the cold and distant stars. I walked over to the tree near the dorm buildings, my eyes lifted up to her lit window.
In a heartbeat, I sprinted with explosive speed, adrenaline pumping through my blood. I leaped forward, feet hitting the brick ledge, one push after the other. My breath came in short gasps as I launched upward like a parkour runner.
I was trained for times like this, although it had been ages since I climbed up walls ninja-style. A few grunts escaped my lips, and my shoes hissed against the walls lightly. From one foothold to the next, I leaped with precision, fast and energetic, my black outfit blending into the night.
One last launch, and I reached the window within seconds. I pulled myself up with my fingertips, then unsheathed a blade from my waist. With practiced ease, I worked the window latch as quietly as I could until it gave a softclick.
I slipped inside without making a sound.
The faint glow of her table lamp blended with that of her laptop in sleep mode. She lay slumped over the desk, her hands tucked under her head. Her breathing was slow, and strands of her hair lingered over her face.
She looked so harmless, beautiful, and innocent in her sleep. For a moment there, I was tempted to tuck her hair behind her ear to get a better look at her. But I didn’t have that luxury—plus, no matter what else I was, I wasn’t a creep.
I reached for the book lying beside her head and picked it up with careful hands. I froze when she let out a quiet groan, and her body shifted as if she were about to wake. But luckily, she was still sound asleep.
My eyes flicked over the open notebook on her table and the sticky notes beside it. I raised my brows in astonishment,seeing that she’d already translated some of the Russian words and even decoded the location and time of the next operation.
What the hell?
She was clearly a lot smarter than I’d given her credit for, but as fascinating as that was, it would only drag her down the rabbit hole.
I lingered a little longer, taking one last look at her before heading out the way I came in. No fingerprints left behind. No unnecessary movements.
With the book secured, I leaped onto a metal drainpipe running along the side of the building. My movements were calculated and fluid as I slid down the pipe in one swift motion.
Seconds later, I landed on the grass below and walked straight to my car as if nothing had happened.
Mission accomplished.
Chapter 5 —Eva
How do I explain to the librarian that I lost the book I borrowed just yesterday?
I stood in front of the tall building, my heart racing in my chest as I thought of the best possible ways to present my ordeal. My feet tapped against the pavement, eyes fixed on the entrance before me.
A thousand thoughts were tugging at my mind at the same time, and I felt like I was going insane. It didn’t make any sense to me that a book would vanish from my room without a trace.
I’d been thinking about this all day, trying to figure out how likely it was. However, the more I thought about it, the more my head hurt. To prove someone had broken into my room, I asked my buddy, Mark, to help me review the CCTV footage of my dormitory building.
Ten minutes ago, we sat together on the grass under an oak tree, reviewing the tape from last night. To my shock, we found nothing. Even after replaying the footage over and over, we still didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
What was even crazier was that we checked all the cameras around the dorm, and not a single one captured anything useful.
