Page 69 of Velvet Vaughn

“They had time,” she murmured. “And went through everything.”

“What about the building’s security system?” Remi asked.

“It’s extensive. Multiple cameras monitor the halls, entrance, and elevator.”

He didn’t tell them that while security had been important when he’d chosen the place, he hadn’t paid close attention to what those measures involved. After Chloe’s ordeal, he’d learned to locate cameras, identify exits, and scan corners.

Remi took out his phone and moved toward the window. “I’ll call building security. Find out if there’s footage.”

#

While Remi made the call, Anja reconnoitered the apartment a second time.

Anja didn’t touch the open cabinetry or the shelves as she walked the perimeter of each room with the same methodical focus she’d once brought to homicide scenes. She was looking for the thing that didn’t fit the pattern. The one detail that would tell her something about who’d done this and how long they’d stayed. Whether they’d found what they came for.

Leo’s bedroom was the worst of it. Suits had been yanked from their hangers and dropped, shirts lifted and let fall. The dresser was half-empty, socks and neatly folded clothes dragged out and left on the carpet. His laptop bag, the second one he kept at home, was open on the floor with the laptop still in it.

That was interesting.

They’d possibly looked through it but hadn’t taken it, so robbery wasn’t the motive. Which meant they either found what they wanted in something else, they’d been interrupted, or the laptop wasn’t what they wanted.

She went back down the hall. Leo was in the living room, standing with his hands in his pockets, taking stock of his own apartment as if he didn’t recognize it anymore.

“Laptop’s still there.” She nodded toward the bedroom.

“Do you think they got what they came for?”

“I think they got something. I don’t know what yet.” She took out her phone and started photographing the room in segments, including the pattern of the drawers and the arrangement of everything they’d left on the floor. “Did you keep anything here related to the thumb drive? Notes, printouts, backup files?”

“No. Everything like that’s at the safe house or with Tyler.”

She logged that away for later. “What about client files? Personal financials? Anything with names on it?”

He thought about it. “I have a contact list in the top credenza drawer. Business cards, some personal ones. Old contracts I brought home to review. I keep playoff tickets in there.”

“Anything with ApexPlay? Anything tied to Vic Shaw?”

His lips firmed. “Vic’s last voicemail. I printed the transcription.” He moved toward the credenza without touching it, stopped short, and peered into the open drawer. “Second slot from the top.”

She followed his gaze. The space was empty. Not ransacked-empty like the kitchen. Clean-empty. The intruder had taken that one specific thing and left everything around it intact.

Remi came around the corner from the hallway with his phone at his side. “There was a power outage mid-morning yesterday. It hit this building and one adjacent property.”

Anja had expected it, but knowing it was coming hadn’t softened the blow. Two outages, both targeted and timed to a breach. A failing grid wasn’t to blame. Somebody on the other side of this knew how surveillance systems worked and had the resources to selectively knock them out.

“Did security notice anyone in the building during the outage?” Leo asked.

“The lobby camera was down.” Remi folded his arms. “Elevator camera backup was on battery power. It might have something. They’re pulling the footage.”

“Tell them I want a copy of everything from Sunday afternoon, specifically Leo’s floor.”

“Already done.”

She turned back to Leo. “We need to go.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?”

“I’ll notify them so they can open a file, but since nothing was taken except for the transcript that we’re definitely not telling them about, their response won’t get us anywhere. We’re dealing with a professional.”