Page 82 of Veiled

Our drive into the city is quiet, and I can tell she’s nervous about today. My first mission with high stakes and the possibility of being arrested had me rattled, too. I should say something to calm her nerves, but I can’t.

She is the first to break the silence once we’re in the city, “I’ll run from here.”

I look at the GPS on the dashboard, then to her, “It’s still another two miles away.”

She actually rolls her eyes at me, "Exactly,” she says, like it’s no big deal. “If I’m going to sell that I’ve been out for a run, I should probably have the sweat to back it up. It’s been a few days since I’ve run, and it’s hotter here, so the sweat should come a little easier.”

“Fine,” I mutter as I pull over to let her out. “I’ll be waiting on the side of his building for your signal.”

“Sounds good,” she says. “See you soon, Ace.”

There’s that nickname again. I have no idea where it came from, but she called me it on our first night together and again when she moaned for me not to stop as I fucked her with my tongue. And just like that, it became the best name I’ve ever been called.

Fuck, I wonder if she calls him that, too. Maybe it’s her way of not calling out the wrong name in bed?

After finding a parking spot around the corner from the front door to avoid any street cameras from catching my license plate, I walk up and pretend to be checking my phone while I lean up against the side of the building.

The lack of traffic this early on a weekend is the only reason I can hear her footsteps running up the sidewalk a couple of minutes later. She’s fast!

And then I hear her voice, “Excuse me! Have you seen a black lab run by here?”

I can’t hear the security guard, but a second later she says, “I accidentally dropped his leash when I tripped, and he took off in this direction.”

His voice is getting closer, and I can start to make out bits of what he’s saying. “Sorry—haven’t—an by. You sure—came this way?”

I peek out around the corner and see her bent over, tying her shoe and smiling up at him. “I’m sure you’re busy,” then making her voice more sultry, “But would you mind looking in the alley behind the building for me while I check the next block over? It’s so dark, I’m a bit scared to go back there.”

There’s that calculating, seductive woman Lucas described. I know this is for the mission, but how easily she becomes an entirely different person speaks of years of practice.

The security guard's eager voice is closer now, clearer. “Not at all. And once we find him, maybe you’ll give me your number so we can find better ways for you to work up a sweat that you won’t trip during.”

“What the fuck? Who says that?” I accidentally say out loud, thankfully quiet enough they can’t hear me.

She laughs at that disgusting pickup line, and I watch her run her hand down his arm the same way she rubbed mine the night we met at the Staggering Ox. “Sounds like a date,” she says, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Over my dead body is she going anywhere with him.

And then I hear my cue, “His name is Carter!”

I don’t waste any time getting inside and up the stairwell to the eighth floor. Annalise is right behind me, but I'm sure after running here, she’s tired. I should slow down, but we need to make the most of every minute, and if I'm honest with myself, I’m feeling too petty to care if she’s sore.

Greg’s office is a nice size with a decent view of the city, but nothing like the opulence I would have expected after the show of self-grandeur he put on yesterday. Annalise and I split up to different areas of the office to search for the hard drive.

When I reach the desk, stacks of papers and folders fill most of the drawers. One drawer that I have to pick the lock on has a surprising amount of what looks like maps of the kingdom in it, but they aren’t the hard drive, and I can’t let myself get distracted.

As I carefully look through the contents of the last drawer, the fire alarm blares.

Annalise hasn’t found anything yet. We’re fucked.

“Maybe we got it all wrong, and it is at his house? Or in his car?” She is second-guessing herself, but after spending the day with Greg, I honestly don’t think he would take the drive home where Tara or one of their many unsupervised guests could find it.

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here.” Any second, the first responders on scene are going to start establishing their “incident command center” and assigning a team to check the level the alarm was set off from. I have to imagine that whoever is trying to sabotage us knows well enough to set it on the same floor we’re on, so they search here first.

“Wait!” We have to check the bookshelf. It’s our last chance not to fail. Maybe there is a hollowed-out book that will feel extra light, or a wall safe behind them. “Help me look behind these books really quick.”

I only have half a shelf left to search when Annalise says she’s found it and pulls out a small safe. It’s a solenoid-based electronic lock with a key override. It’s a wafer lock, one of the easiest locks to pick.

You would think if you were trying to hide important information, you would use a better lock, but I guess they didn’t want to splurge on a better safe for a mock mission. Not everyone grew up learning how to break in where they weren’t wanted like I did.

“Let’s go. We have to hurry. The lobby is going to be swarming with first responders any minute. We’re going to have to take the emergency exit out the back,” I tell her, and we make a break for it.