Page 7 of Marko

Unfortunately, Luca, who was due to take over the surveillance this morning wouldn’t be here for at least another few hours. He had a business meeting to attend first thing. So, I pinched my thigh and slapped my cheek to stop my eyes drifting closed while I silently watched the house.

Stretching my arms up over my head, I stifled a groan as my back and neck creaked. God, I could really do with another coffee and maybe a massage right now. Unfortunately, there was no chance of either.

Damn, it had been a long night. I rubbed at the back of my neck and fidgeted as I checked my watch again. It had literally only been a couple of minutes since I’d last checked it and I was about ready to climb the walls.

Police shows always skimmed over surveillance and you never saw just how long and excruciatingly boring doing this kind of thing could be. Or how bloody difficult it was to stay awake when nothing was happening.

Not to mention the fact that I badly needed a pee. I looked at the container I had in my backpack for just such emergencies and frowned in disgust.

Hell no! I need to stretch my legs, anyway.

After checking that the street was empty, I made sure the interior light was turned off in the cab, so it wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention if anyone was looking out of a window. Then I silently opened the van door and stepped out. My stiff legs protested at the movement, and I had to bite back a groan. Thankfully, they soon loosened up as I walked on silent feet towards a small park area. Behind the cover of some bushes, I quickly did my business. Relief flooding me as I released myself.

Returning to the van, I settled back into the seat and prepared for another few hours of boredom. Or maybe not. I straightened in the seat. Miss Martin was heading this way.

Hmmm. Where are you off to, sweetheart?

Melissa didn’t appear to notice me sitting in one of our nondescript white vans across the street, dressed like your average worker in dark blue overalls and a baseball cap. She didn’t even look my way, but unable to stop myself, I looked at her. Wow, if I thought her beautiful before, well neither her picture nor ogling her from a distance had done her justice. She was even more beautiful in real life.

Since she was on foot, I assumed she was going to walk to wherever she was going or take public transport. Either way, I needed to follow. Underneath my overalls, I had on jeans and a dark T-shirt, so I quickly shucked out of them, grabbed my black hoodie and backpack and hurried after her.

We didn’t go far. Around fifteen minutes’ walk from her apartment, we turned a corner, and I realised she was headed for the bank where her account was set up. I stayed close on her heels until she entered the bank.

Following her inside, I pretended to read some leaflets on bank loans while I watched her speaking to a member of staff. A couple of minutes later, a man, whom I assumed was the manager, appeared. He greeted her and then led her into his office where they remained for quite a while.

Another member of staff entered the office with what appeared to be paperwork and then left again. A further minute passed and Melissa emerged with the manager, but she didn’t turn to leave. Instead, they headed through a security door. Before the door closed, I noticed stairs at the end of a hallway leading down. It looked like they were headed down to where the vault and safety deposit boxes were kept.

Interesting.

Unable to follow her downstairs and unwilling to hang around inside the small bank any longer in case my actions caused suspicion, I stuffed one leaflet in my pocket and headed back outside to wait.

Spying a coffee kiosk across the street, I made my way over and ordered a badly needed latte. As I took a deep breath of the rich aroma, the fatigue began to lift, and I felt more awake with each inhalation. Taking the first sip, the warm, velvety liquid energised me instantly, spreading a comforting heat through my body and sharpening my senses.

Standing there sipping the drink also helped me look less conspicuous as I watched the door. While I was waiting for my quarry to reappear, I checked in with my assistant Josh. He helped with a lot of my legitimate business but also my less savoury stuff. I’d tasked him with finding out a bit more about Melissa Martin, but because of an issue with one of our legitimate building projects he was working on, he hadn’t had the time to do more digging on her yet. So, unfortunately, there was no new information for him to give me.

Just as I finished up my call, Melissa finally reappeared.

CHAPTER 5

MELISSA

FRIDAY MORNING – OPENING PANDORA’S BOX

My guts churned as I walked all the way to the bank on autopilot, buried in my thoughts and feeling jittery, desperate to find out what was inside that damn box.

The bank manager appeared almost immediately after the teller called him and took me into his office. I signed some paperwork, and he handed me a bank card for my new account before taking me downstairs to the vault where the safety deposit boxes were kept.

As the man keyed in the security code to the door, I bit my lip to hide my smirk. It was something I could have opened with my eyes closed. Being down here brought back some bittersweet memories. I had never actually broken into a bank, but I had often broken into personal vaults and safety deposit boxes elsewhere with my dad. I loved those memories, but at the same time, they saddened me. His death was still so new and my grief was still too raw to think of the times we spent together without feeling like I wanted to cry.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed aside my grief. This wasn’t the time to break down.

Stepping into the room, I glanced around. The walls were lined with little square compartments, each with a number. I followed the manager over to number 113. My box apparently. After opening the metal door, I removed the box inside.

Once I’d retrieved it, the manager escorted me to a small private area behind a screen which allowed for boxes to be opened away from unwanted scrutiny.

“I’ll wait outside,” he said before leaving.

My hands shook and my stomach churned even more as I stared at the box for a minute. I had been desperate to open it, but now that I had it in front of me, I was feeling a sense of impending dread.

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