With a huff, Nix pushed his face against the glass panel by the door to peer inside. I rocked back on my heels, glancing up and down the deserted street, deciding that this had to be the worst fucking plan in the whole of history.
I jumped as Phoenix banged on the glass with his fist and then waved. With a frown, I stepped towards him and squinted a look over his shoulder.
The man from earlier was standing in the lobby next to the mail pigeonholes. He clasped a pile of letters in his hand. Luckily, Nix had caught his attention, and he walked over to the door and released it, pulling it wide.
“Thanks, man. I can never remember the code.”
“You live here?” the guy replied, his face suggesting he did recognize Phoenix. I glanced between them, eager to get into the building.
“No, my dad has offices on the eighth floor. He asked me to collect his briefcase.”
With an understanding nod, the man stepped back, and we moved past him with a nod of thanks. “Ah, OK. No problem.”
Just as he was about to turn away, his eyes caught mine, and his entire face lit up. “Dude, Reed Prescott? What the actual hell? You played on another level last night, man.” He bounced up and down on the spot, his mail forgotten.
“Thanks,” I replied, shaking his offered hand and ignoring Phoenix’s eyeroll as we all shuffled further into the space. The door hissed closed behind us.
“Oof, tough tackle, I take it,” the stranger added, motioning towards my face with a grimace.
“Something like that,” I replied with a smile.
“Brad Thompson,” I’m a big fan. Almost shit myself when I heard you were transferring from the Giants.”
We talked shop for a few minutes, which was unavoidable unless I was prepared to be rude. He asked for a selfie, but I declined, motioning to my face. I didn’t think it was a good idea if a photo existed of me in the lobby of Dominic Summers' offices on the day someone broke in. I autographed the envelope of one of his letters as a compromise.
Brad babbled for a bit longer and then reluctantly backed away. Nix’s expression was probably the reason for that. He had one of those looks that suggested we were short of time. He then left through the door that led to the apartments. It had a sign saying: Residents Only.
Once he had vanished, Phoenix turned to me with a look that saidwhat the fuck?
I held out my hands. “What?”
“Why didn’t you invite him to supper?” my brother snarked, clearly put out that I’d spent more time than necessary talking to a fan.
“I couldn’t exactly tell him to fuck off, could I?”
“No, but you could have cut it shorter. We’re on the clock here,” Nix grunted as we walked towards the elevator.
I felt like saying,sorry, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to act when I’ve been caught somewhere I shouldn’t be. Fucking asshole.
Moving to stand behind the annoying lug, I gave the clean carpeted space a once-over. The lobby hummed with a controlled energy. It had polished marble floors, mirrored walls, and there were various doors on either side of us. I sure hoped no one else turned up. Nix would probably implode from impatience. From the set of his shoulders, he was itching to get in and out, fast. Yeah, well, me too fucktard!
There were eight floors, going by the numbers above the elevator doors. Nix had told me that the place comprised office space and apartments. Hence, the Residents’ Only section.
Phoenix had previously explained that his father’s company was on the top floor. That was the reason I knew entering through a window wouldn’t work.
As we rode the carriage up to the top floor, Nix gave me a verbal plan of the layout.
There was a reception area with a code that, fortunately, Nix knew, and then offices on either side of a corridor that led down to a boardroom. Jasper now used his father’s old office, as Theodore had reduced his involvement in the day-to-day shit due to poor health. That was where we hoped the folder would be.
As the elevator pinged when we arrived at the correct floor, both Nix and I stepped out onto the floor belonging to Remmington Summers Consultancy.
We accessed the main door without issue as Phoenix entered the code. We both wore black hoodies and had pulled up our bandanas to cover the bottom part of our faces. It didn’t look like there were any security cameras in that part of the building, but it wasn’t always easy to tell. I had perfected the art of hiding my face even without a bandana. As a celebrity, you had to learn that shit fast.
Getting into Jasper’s office was a complete farce, with both Nix and me trying to jimmy the lock. Eventually, I managed to wiggle the catch free with an American Express Credit Card, and Phoenix’s shoulder did the rest. There was little finesse involved, and the broken door would not go unnoticed.
We entered the room and pushed the broken barrier closed. Nix then went straight to the window with his phone in his hand to signal to Harper. I assumed he’d told her where to look.
Taking a deep breath, I started to search. Nix had spoken about that green folder, which Jasper seemed to take everywhere, and Storm had also confessed to seeing it. I wasn’t only searching for that; I just needed to find something incriminating that I could use against him.
