I click, drag and drop, repeating the process until I have all the necessary files I need. Slowly, they begin to download onto the USB. Each second feels like an eternity.
Ten percent.
Fifteen.
My wrist in pain from the mouse, I stretch it out, peering around the monitor to check that nobody is lingering outside the door.
Twenty percent…
Thirty…
Fuck, come on!
It’s game over if I’m caught.
My pulse starts drumming in my throat.
Forty…
Fifty…
I don’t know what business Dad has with this Aslanov guy, but I’m going to find out. First, his name appears in my father’s private records. Then he’s calling my father on the phone. And for whatever reason, Dad feels he needs to deal with the call in the boardroom, without me listening.
Sixty percent…
Seventy…
The door thuds.
I jolt up, brought out of my daze. Peering past the monitor, I inspect the door. It rattles again.
Shit!
Someone’s obviously trying to get in.
Eighty percent completed…
Oh, come on!
The rattling stops and whoever’s out there starts knocking on the door.
I tense my shoulders. I’m going to be in so much shit if I’m caught. There’s not long left to go before the download has completed, but I’m clearly out of time.
There’s the faint jingling of keys outside.
I hold my breath.
Ninety…
Ninety-five…
The key turns in the lock.
One-hundred percent!
I yank the USB out of the computer and tuck it back into my blouse pocket faster than a lightning strike. Then, I race over to the couch just as the door opens to reveal Danielle’s face. I force my expression into something resembling calm, even though my heart is beating so hard I’m sure she can see it through my shirt.
I give her a smile, my arm draped around the back of the couch. Acting casual also involves untensing my shoulders, but I can’t. The adrenaline is still pumping through me.
