Page 15 of Miki

Closing it over gently behind me, I smiled as I made my way in through the basement.

Marko had hacked the system and taken over the security feed a short while ago, recording footage that would now be shown on a loop by the cameras to hide my actions.

As the staff had already left for the night, there were no lights on the floors, but the stairs were lit enough light for me to see while I bolted up the five flights of stairs to take me to the fourth floor and Mathieson’s Law Office.

Feeling exhilarated, and panting hard, I gasped out, “I’m here!” and a few seconds later, the office door unlocked. Fantastic!

My heart raced with the effort of the run and the thrill of the situation.

Slipping inside, I made my way over to Mathieson’s private office and opened the door.

There were no lights on inside his office either, but I utilised the torch on my phone to help me see as I fired up his computer. Once it was on, I quickly linked it up to the gadget Marko had provided so he could hack into it and download the hard drive.

While that was happening, I hid several tiny cameras around the room. The feed from them would go directly to Marko’s laptop and my phone. It didn’t take long to do. This wasn’t our first rodeo. We had done this sort of thing before.

Getting the hard drive information took the longest, and it was just completed when Marko hissed again, “Someone’s coming!”

“The guard?” I asked.

“No, someone else appears to be breaking in!” he stated. “Hide!”

Shit! What? Who?

With just a few seconds to spare, I snatched Marko’s gadget and shut down the computer.

After ducking into the small bathroom, I left the door just open enough so that whomever it was could see that it was a bathroom and hopefully ignore it while still leaving me hidden from view.

Tuning into the video feed from our cameras on my phone, I watched in silence, knowing the bit of light it produced could not be seen from within the office.

The office door opened, and I held my breath as I watched. A smallish figure dressed in black entered. Peering closer, I studied the approaching figure. It appeared to be female.

“Is that a woman?” Marko’s question broke the silence, and I almost cursed, thinking I was about to be discovered before I remembered the earpiece lodged in my ear.

“Looks like it,” I whispered.

A woman was breaking into Mathieson’s office! Why?

CHAPTER 7

EILIDH

THAT NIGHT – THE BREAK-IN

As I hid in the shadows of the building across the street from Mathieson’s office, I watched the goings on in the brightly lit foyer. The staff had left for the night and there was only one security guard left on duty. Perfect!

Once the guard left the front desk for his break, I crept around to the side entrance of the building, where I expected he would come out for a smoke. Just as he’d informed me he would when I spoke with him earlier this evening in the same spot after asking him for a light.

My nose scrunched in disgust at the thought. I hated cigarettes and didn’t smoke, but had deliberately learned to do so while working undercover. It was an excellent way to strike up a conversation with strangers and get information, and it had worked perfectly yesterday.

Posing as a worker from the building I was now lurking beside, I casually remarked about looking forward to finishing work for the day. The guard told me he was working late into the night. After asking him if he found it boring working alone at night, he said he usually took a nap after his dinner, which helped pass the time.

Chuckling at the memory, I shook my head at how easily the idiot had given up vital information. Some security guard. Because of his penchant to say too much, I now knew he was working alone, would no doubt come out for a smoke on his dinner break, and would likely take a nap afterwards. I also knew where the smoking area was and the entrance he would use to get in and out.

While we’d chatted, I had also noticed that he had wedged a brick into the door, leaving it partially open, and I hoped he would do that again.

Movement caught my eye and my body tensed as I peered intently at the side door.

Yes! There he was. I was right. Stupid rent-a-cop was not the sharpest tool in the box!

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