Page 47 of Chosen Beta

“Well, Melvin,” she starts. “I might have mentioned we should have our staff shortage sorted out soon. Pete is from the new company.”

Now, he looks at me, and I catch the irritation in his stare before he covers it with his typical ‘good guy’ mask.

“Oh, really?” he asks. “I thought this young man was one of Dr. Clarke’s visitors.”

“I am,” I tell him before he can turn his gaze back on my girl. “I’m also head of operations at Lennox Securities, and Ms. Cole is hiring our team.”

If he’s the guy, he’s not going to like that news one little bit.

“That’s good to hear,” he says, without skipping a beat. “We’ve been burning the candle here since Ms. Cole took over.”

“And this is your security office?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

The room looks pretty dark from what I can see. A lamp is lighting a section of the room that’s out of view, but there are no overheads.

“If you want the tour,” he offers, pushing the door open more with his back and gesturing to us to come in.

I step inside first, and I find out the room is only slightly bigger than a closet.

The monitors are on a desk with one leather office chair in front of it.

A walkie sits on the desk in front of the monitors, alongside a landline phone.

The lamp is a battery-operated lantern hanging from a hook on the wall by the side of the desk.

Lana steps into the room beside me.

“Oh, wow,” she murmurs. “This is claustrophobic.”

“It can be,” the guy admits. “I’d offer you a drink, but I can’t open the fridge when the door is in front of it. You get used to the lack of space, but it’s not a two-man office.”

I watch the monitors carefully, going from screen to screen, and confirming that there isn’t a feed for the camera that’s been installed in the hallway of the previously unused wing.

“These are all the cameras you have?” I ask.

“Eighteen feeds aren’t enough for you?” He laughs.

“Considering how big this place is, no.”

He shrugs. “I work with what we’ve got. We have all the main areas covered. Patrols take care of the rest.”

I look at Lana. She turns her gaze from the screens to me.

“I’ve seen enough.”

She nods, and glances at him. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

I follow her out of the tiny room.

He hovers in the doorway. “If you need anything else, you know where I am.”

“Thanks,” Lana says, giving him a wave.

He goes back into the security office, and I hear him lock the door.

I look around and move toward the door across the hall, trying the handle and finding it locked.

“You have keys for all these rooms? Or does that guy have them?”

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