Page 52 of Locked Down

Frantic now, she looked around Tracy’s desk.“Did you write it down somewhere?”she murmured as she started searching in the desk drawers. Nothing. She rifled the papers on the desk, but still she found nothing that resembled a password. Then she looked under the blotter. A small piece of paper was lodged underneath. On it was the word Scorpion with an exclamation point, a dash, and a colon, along with the number thirteen. This had to be it. Tracy always said thirteen was her lucky number.

She typed in the letters and symbols as she found them, and the device unlocked.Yes!

Now, where to start looking? Vic quickly clicked on several files but didn't find anything super-secret. Just old work. It wasn't until she found the file marked SSP that she knew she'd hit pay dirt. Super-secret project. So totally Tracy, it made Vic smile. And then it made her stomach drop; she was betraying her friend.

Vic clicked on the file and it opened. She stared at the screen. There was no possible way. This just couldn’t be true. She blinked and rubbed her eyes just in case it was some kind of trick but no the screen didn’t change. She clicked off the banner that had appeared and clicked on a few more marketing pieces. They all had the same information. Vic's knees gave out and she crashed into Tracy’s chair.

It just couldn't be true. Her breath caught in her throat and there was a loud sound that came from the boardroom.Shit.She quickly closed the files and made sure everything was exactly as it had been. She closed the laptop and then skirted around Tracy's desk to go sit down at her own.

She had no sooner parked her butt in the chair than the boardroom door opened, and everyone started filing out. Tracy walked towards her and rolled her eyes and then went over and sat down at her desk again. Vic’s heart was slamming so hard against her rib cage it was almost impossible to sit still. Would Tracy know that she’d been at her desk? Vic waited, sweat dripping down her back. When Tracy started chattering on about her date, her cat, and why she hated D.C. in the summer, Vic drew her first deep breath since she’d sat down at Tracy’s desk. It was a damn good thing Tracy wasn’t expecting any kind of real response because Vic was incapable of giving one. She was speechless.

Of all the things she thought her uncle might be up to, this one had never entered her head.

Ryker came out of the boardroom a few minutes later, glancing in Vic’s direction. She gave him a slight nod.

“Are you okay?”Tracy asked from over the top of the cubicle divider.

Vic jumped, and then turned and stared at her.“I'm…I’m sorry what?”

“I asked if you are okay? I've been talking to you for the last five minutes and you haven't responded.”Tracy frowned at her.

“Uh, I'm sorry I guess I just wasn't paying attention.”

“You’re pale as a ghost. Are you feeling okay? There's some sort of spring cold going around. Maybe you caught something.”

“I… I don't know. I guess it's possible. I'm not feeling great. I think I'm going to go to the bathroom.”

Vic made her way over to the bathroom and slipped inside, making sure the door was closed tightly. She braced both hands on the sink. This didn't make any sense. Why would her uncle want to do that? Well, that was a stupid question. She knew why her uncle would want to do that but it just didn't make sense. She splashed some water on her face and then dried it.

This was insane. She just wanted to get out of there. The hell with having a job. She could make her father change his mind, and revoke that rule, couldn’t she? She stared at herself in the mirror. That could be a problem. She didn’t know her parents well at all and had no clue if he would let her off the hook about the job. She doubted it though, and she wasn’t willing to risk it. She just needed to keep her head down and, hopefully, all this wouldn’t come out before she left. It would turn her life into even more of a circus than it already was.

Returning to her desk, she tried to focus on her various work assignments but hadn’t been able to concentrate on any of them. She’d made all kinds of mistakes as she waited for an opportunity to talk to Ryker. But so far, there hadn’t been a single time they were both free.

Austin had barely stopped and acknowledged her when he arrived earlier. That was fine by her. There was a palpable frost between them. For the first time ever, she wanted to be as far away from her uncle as possible. She realized now she'd always sought his approval for everything she did. Now, she didn't want to be anywhere near him. If the flyers were true, his life and that of anyone else around him was about to turn into a zoo.

Vic stood and stretched. Finally, it was after six and everyone was heading out slowly to go to dinner. Tracy and her crew were going to go out and eat and then come back and work. Her uncle had left an hour ago to go to some function. Normally, he'd make her as well, but he was still annoyed with her, and she was fine with that.

She grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer and hurried toward the elevator. She hit the sidewalk moments later and started towards the bus stop and then paused. She was done with public transport, at least for the time being. She'd been saving all her money just in case the solar farm wasn't in good condition, but her plan for her future was only two weeks away. She’d take an Uber and damn the expense. The expense would be worth it.

Twenty minutes later she was home.

She poured herself a drink and was making dinner when there was a knock at the door. She walked over, glanced at the peephole, and sighed heavily.

She opened the door and admitted Ryker.“Hey,”she said as she went back over to the kitchen.

“So, you got in?”he said as he leaned against the counter.

Couldn’t he take a minute to acknowledge what she’d done? That she’d abused her friend’s trust as he’d asked? A little respect would’ve been good.“I'm fine. Nice to see you too. How was my day? It was not too bad. Of course, betraying my friend by breaking into her laptop sucked, but after that, it was much better. I only had to draft fifteen pointless essays on legislation for my uncle who's never gonna read them and then I had to schedule three meetings and pick up some dry cleaning. But yeah, overall, not a bad day.”

“Vic.”Ryker cocked an eyebrow.

She was getting emotional, and who could blame her, but crying wasn’t helpful.“I know, I know.”She raised her hands.“This is serious, I know you just want your information, but a little courtesy might be nice.”

“Fine,”Ryker said through clenched teeth.“How was your day, Vic? Are you doing okay? What are you making for dinner?”

Vic glared at him and then stirred her vegetables.“Yes, I got into the computer. You are not going to believe what's going on.”She still couldn’t believe it.

“Why don't you enlighten me?”He picked up her glass and took a sip of her drink.

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