Page 199 of Ruined Beta

Considering he was ready to pull a gun on us, I’m cool with that.

Victor drags him to his feet and then pushes him into the room where he falls flat on his face.

No gun shots sound out, and there are no voices or sounds of movement from inside.

Now, Victor puts his hand out for his gun.

I hand it over, glad to be rid of it.

I know I could use it if I had to, but I’d prefer it if I never had to.

He moves forward cautiously, only relaxing when he’s sure the room is clear.

He nods for me to follow him in.

We both step over the unconscious guy.

“Twenty minutes?” I ask, as I look around.

“More like ten,” Victor says as he checks his watch. “Seth’s brother’s outside watching the assembly point so he’ll tell us when they’re on their way back in, but dealing with this guy lost us some time so we should get moving.”

“Right.”

I move toward the desk, knowing he’d want to keep the jar close.

The desk drawers are locked, and there’s nothing incriminating on the desk.

His chair is sturdy, but I can’t see any way it could be hiding anything.

I lift the seat cushion anyway. Nothing.

His shelves are full of random clutter.

Pictures and ornaments that probably mean nothing to him.

I feel around the shelves, looking for some kind of hiding spot.

“Seven minutes,” Victor tells me.

Fuck. I need to find that jar.

I don’t want to leave without it.

“Can you pick the locks on his drawers?” I ask Victor, while I look around the wall behind the desk.

There’s an intricate design carved in wood that takes up most of the wall.

I stare at that design, wondering why he’d have something so random behind his desk.

Victor comes over and picks the drawer locks in three seconds flat.

We check through them, but we don’t find any trace of the jar.

“I’d take this though,” he says, passing me the file labelled with my name.

It contains my resume and a bunch of pictures that one of Harlan’s men must have taken of me.

I don’t remember seeing anyone lurking around with a camera, which is a little scary when I see how many pictures there are. Harlan’s been watching me. He must have an interested buyer. The thought makes my skin crawl.

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