I took a deep breath, grabbed onto the edge of the window and pulled it up hoping not to bring about the piercing wail of an alarm going off. I held my breath until I put my foot inside and then the other followed suit. I was tempted to get down on the floor and kiss it, but I had other fish to fry than my own personal safety.
I took out a small penlight, moving it from one corner of the room to the other until I was sitting at her desk. There was a moment that I wanted get up and scream at someone. I felt like I was taking a few tentative steps in her shoes.
“I’m not that proficient with computers. I know my way around to do e-mail and check my Facebook status.” I did as he requested by first using the card that I had creatively borrowed. I was soon typing down the Internet address and then sending to him so that he could get his hacker friend to make a mirror image of this computer with his own.
“Jeffrey has gotten into the computer and I’m sure that you have noticed that he is perusing the contents as we speak.” It was kind of eerie to see the mouse move on its own with the cursor going from one file to another to copy its contents and put it into a file of his making. “He won’t look at anything. He’ll send me all the files intact. This guy knows what he’s doing and the money that I’m giving him makes his discretion bought and paid for.” I watched as the files were copied and that folder that he had made virtually disappeared leaving no trace behind that something was amiss.
“It looks like my job is done here. We’re going to need some time to look over all of those files. We should meet at the safe house.” I’d always wanted to say that, but the safe house in question was his home away from home. His mother was on vacation and had given him a key to make sure that the place was taken care of in her absence. It was apparent that she wanted to get some distance away from him and the tart that he was seeing…namely me. I didn’t leave her with a good first impression.
“It would be a good idea that you get out of there. The longer that you stay, the more likely that somebody’s going to catch you and have questions that you can’t answer.” I searched the drawers, listening to him speak with a chatter in my ear while I was doing it. I found nothing and I mean literally nothing. She had no hard copies and even the file cabinets were barren. She had no use to put something on paper. They were mostly for show to give the illusion that there were folders overflowing with contracts.
“I shouldn’t be surprised. In this day and age, everything is digital and backed up on servers that seem to be impenetrable. I want a reason to celebrate. I think that I can come up with some way to use a bottle of champagne, strawberries, and whipped cream in a deliciously naughty way. I’ll be there soon. Don’t start without me.” I was at the window when I heard two voices approaching.
“I don’t know what you are doing here at this time of night, but you can’t go in there without authorization.” The guard’s voice was shrill and quite strict for somebody that was playing at being a rented cop. “I don’t know you and I’ve never seen you in my life. You claim to be the boss, but there’s no way that I can allow you to go in there without proof.” He was being a loyal soldier and he was following his t
raining to the letter.
“I don’t have time for this nonsense. I was across the street enjoying a drink with a colleague when I realized that I forgot something. You followed me up here like a bloodhound. I’m trying hard to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m through playing with kid gloves. This is my authorization. Don’t make me show you it again or I will have you walking the unemployment line before morning.” Lillian had her hand on the door and I could see through the glass that she was about to enter. I looked around for some place to hide. I thought about going under the desk, but that would be like playing with fire expecting not to get burned.
“Oh… I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t know it was you and I only heard your name in passing. I don’t want to beg for my job, but I need this to support my family. I’m not going to give you some kind of sob story, but I’m going to ask for your forgiveness. I was told when I started a month ago that anybody that came up here would have to be either insane or in desperate need of a death wish. Nobody is here at this time. Even the janitors are not going to show up for about another hour.” The guard was backpedaling. The authority in his voice now turned to the cracked tone of some kid that was trying to get to first base.
“I’m looking at them now and I’m not happy. You promised me that you would deliver and you haven’t. There’s no way that she can possibly disappear from the face of the earth with no trace. I don’t want to hear it. I want her found with no excuses. If you can’t do it, I’m sure that there are other agencies that would gladly take my money. If it helps, I’ll even offer a sizable bonus for anybody with information that can come forward with the whereabouts of where Lillian is hiding. I don’t want to continually tell you this. It’s none of your business the reason why I want her found.” I was listening to every word, feeling like I was that fly on the wall but in a different way.
There was only one way to avoid detection. I was outside the window, keeping close to the wall and hoping that my feet weren’t going to slip and send me in a desperate grab for anything to break my fall.
“I’ve been patient and now my patience is wearing thin. I don’t know what is so difficult about this assignment. I give you money for a certain task and you fulfill that obligation. It is what makes America great. A contract has been made and I expect results, or you will find yourself in court dealing with so much of litigation that you won’t be able to see a red cent of what I owe you for several years. By that time, you will be bankrupt and begging me to put an end to your misery. I will play with you until I am suitably satisfied that you have suffered accordingly.” Had she known that I was within spitting distance, she probably would’ve had a heart attack.
I was sweating profusely with the clothes that I was wearing sticking to me like a second skin. I was in desperate need of a hot shower and the possibility of inviting another to join me. I didn’t think that it would take all that much to get him to drop what he was doing and his pants in that order.
This whole thing has been going on for too long. You have one more week and then I’m going to cut the cord. If I have to do that, then you won’t find work in this town ever again. I’ll make sure that your reputation for failure will follow you from one job to another. I don’t want you to consider it a threat. It’s more of a promise. I believed you when you said that you could do this job.” She slammed down the receiver with enough force to make it rattle in its cradle.
She stormed out, fuming with the knowledge that I had disappeared with no way for her to get her clutches on me. It wasn’t easy doing this kind of work and sometimes it took somebody that was willing to do the impossible. My former clients told me that I was very good and that I should take the leap to leave what I was currently doing. I had an interest in doing this full time. I had to admit that the feel of my adrenaline rushing was a sensation that I could never get enough of.
I waited and then I made my way back over to that drainpipe and started to shimmy down. I heard cracking. I stopped and waited with bated breath to see if it was going to come loose from the wall bracket. It was barely holding it in place in the first place.
I could hear it creaking and I moved quickly to avoid a fall. It would certainly hurt me enough that I would feel pain for quite some time. I landed on my feet, looking up and seeing that it had remained intact by pure luck. There was no way that I would be able to do that again without having it come apart in my hands.
“I was worried when I saw her go in there. I can’t see in the office and that is the one place in the building that is not secured. It’s obvious that she doesn’t want people to have any kind of record of what goes on in there. I’m sure that she had a heated debate with her head of security over that matter.” Speaking of her head of security, I saw Susan and she was looking right at me.
“I’m going to have to go radio silence for a moment.” I stood there ready for her to attack, but she walked right past me and went into make that necessary surprise trip to catch them doing something wrong. “It looks like Susan has once again mixed up her schedule to keep them guessing.” She not only made them guess, but she had my heart racing in my chest.
“That was too close. Get out of there and come home immediately. You have no idea what this persistent danger is doing to me. I can think of a couple of things that will help to relieve that stress.” I was glad that he was thinking like I was. I wasn’t going to have to leave him spent and looking stunned by my behavior.
“I can’t leave. I have to go back to the bar and make my excuses. I doubt that they would even remember that I was gone, but I can’t take that chance.” I had a change of clothes in a car that I had bought sight unseen during an auction. It was this beat-up clunker, but it had good bones and underneath the hood was almost pristine.
I slid in the passenger seat, watching the bar and making sure that nobody was going to come out. I couldn’t afford for them to find me in a state of undress. I quickly took off the black pants and underneath was that same ugly looking brown dress that made me feel like I was trying too hard not to be noticed.
“I have a meeting with Lillian and the board of directors in two days. I want to find her at my mercy. I’m going over the files, but so far there’s nothing here to put her at any scene of a crime. There is no impropriety and I don’t see anything that resembles embezzling of company funds. I’m going to have to dig a little bit deeper. I have something to occupy my time until you get here.” I was doing all the hard lifting and he was at the safe house. I wasn’t sure, but I was feeling that I was doing a lot more than he was.
“I know the reason why you can’t be seen, but that still doesn’t make me feel any better about being here underneath her nose. So far, she hasn’t recognized me, but that security expert is making me feel like somebody’s walking over my grave every time that she looks at me.” I popped my head up from the back seat, making sure that I wasn’t going to jump out and find myself accosted by one of my colleagues.
I got out and carefully closed the door. I saw the homeless man that I had paid $5.00 to look after it and then I gave him another five upon my return. He waved the bill in the air with a toothless grin. His shaggy and dirty hair was the perfect complement for the ratty looking clothes that looked like they hadn’t been washed in weeks.
“The likelihood of anybody stealing it is slim to none, but I still have to give you something for your diligence.” He looked confused and I could tell that my highbrow vocabulary had gone right over his head. “I’m just saying that I’m grateful that you are here to look after it. He nodded his head and grumbled something under his breath. There was really no way that I was going to understand what he was saying.
“I don’t see why you even bother to give him anything. If it was for charity, I might understand, but that clunker is not worth the money that you spent. If it gets stolen, then you can always get another one.” He did have a valid point, but to lose it would only compound the issue.
“Let me see if I can explain it to you, Marshall. If it’s stolen, then there will be a report and then I would become more than just wallpaper. The last thing that I want is for them to see me. I have to remain in the shadows, working on our behalf to get what we need without attracting Susan to my activities.” I went across the street, stayed by the door and then went in when somebody came out.