Page 52 of Flock This

Talk about getting the short end of the stick. Hell, I didn’t even get an end. Everyone else got a tree and here I was with a toothpick.

I thought about the Justice Department, about what I had to do to get in, to find the evidence, and laughed softly.

I might only have a toothpick, but I didn’t mind doing some eye poking with what little I had.

Chapter Fourteen

I had no doubt that Kelvin was pissed. I didn’t need to see him to guess. However, that was too bad. I’d left a note behind, stolen the keys to his fancy car, then taken off. I wouldn’t have been able to do so if Porter hadn’t dealt with the wolves, since the car rested outside the main gate.

When Kelvin woke later, after the sun had set and he’d discovered what I’d done, he’d be fuming.

That was a problem for future Grey, however. Honestly, future Grey had a hell of a lot of things to worry about. The fact that I would eventually be future Grey was yet another thing I chose to ignore for the time being.

I pulled the car into the parking lot of the main Justice Department building. I came here as little as possible, preferring to avoid the stuffy atmosphere.

The building held all the important areas for the Justice Department. They had the courier systems, including the bays and a place to receive packages. They held the offices for the Justices on upper levels, along with the main council meeting room. In short? This was the heartbeat of the Spirit world.

At least I knew this place better than I did the Castle.

I couldn’t get in through the front door anymore—I lacked clearance, and I didn’t want to risk setting off any alarms. However, having worked here for a few years, I knew all the best ways in and out.

After all, how else could I sneak away for midday tacos when I was supposed to be in training?

I wore a set of clothing I kept in my personal bay—a basic sundress with a shelf bra and built in shorts. It meant I didn’t need to have any underwear, making it easier to deal with. After getting out of the car, I tucked the keys and my phone into the bay to keep them safe.

I went around the back of the building, then peered at the large tree I liked to nap beneath when avoiding work. It was perfect, because the large, thick branches grew just outside of a room on the third floor.

It was jokingly referred to as the ‘Grey detention room,’ given my boss often sent me there to think about what I’d done.

And I typically snuck out of the window and down the tree for margaritas and tacos, because who could think without those? While it had started as a general work room, it had turned into my office eventually.

The bark dug into my fingers as I climbed and winced when it scraped my knee. I normally wore pants when climbing, but I had what I had. I worked my way up the tree, moving from thick branch to thick branch. Most of the windows had the blinds drawn, which I’d always found weird.

I panted hard by the time I reached the third floor, the point where I wouldn’t want to climb any higher given how the tree thinned. I didn’t trust anything higher would hold my ass, and dying from falling out of a tree was just pathetic.

I pulled open the window that I always left cracked, then slid in.

My office looked like it had when I left—basically unused. There were some stacks of papers, but I hadn’t touched any of them. Instead, they were memos and notes left by others who hoped I’d take a look at them.

Fuck knew I wouldn’t.

I glanced down at my front to find spots of blood on my knees, the bark having scraped me, along with sap on my palms. It wasn’t that I usually looked all that put together, but I sure looked worse than usual right now.

Given it was a Sunday, I expected the office to be mostly empty. Some deliveries were done on the weekend, but they were rare and no one came to the office on those days.

I twisted the handle on the office door and opened it slowly, listening for signs of anyone around. No steps echoed down the hallway, no laughing, no yelling.

All good signs.

I took one deep breath, then left the safety of my office. The place seemed deserted, just as I’d hoped for. I grabbed a folder from the basket on one of the doors I passed, holding it against my chest.

If I happened to run into anyone, I’d found carrying papers made others ignore me. I looked busy, as though I knew what I was doing and that I had somewhere important to go. People didn’t like to bother those who were busy, because they worried some of that work would land in their lap.

Thankfully, I saw no one. I took the stairs and avoided the elevator. After nearly getting caught in one by those two vampires, I’d found I’d prefer places with more room to maneuver.

My thighs complained, but eventually I got myself to the eighth floor, which held the bays for deliveries. I had the keycard I’d pocketed a few years back from Ruben, the one that gave me access to the entire building.

I’d rarely used it, since if anyone looked too closely into the records, they’d realized it had gone missing and might deactivate it. In fact, Ruben not noticing was strange. The man was usually so meticulous that him missing that detail had always been a mystery to me.

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