Page 78 of Tango
Supervise us doing it? My heart begins to pound, and my fingers dance over the firearm tucked in my vest. I don’t want to use it, but if it’s our lives or someone else’s?—
The door creaks open again, and a new person joins the group. “You took long enough,” a gruff, masculine voice complains.
“You want to do this?” Perry snaps. “By all means, you can empty all of the trash cans in the entire building.”
I remain as still as I can, barely even breathing.
“You going to look inside or what? I’d like to move on with my day.” Perry is agitated, irritated at the interruption.
Look inside? Fear ices my veins, and I close my eyes tightly. Lord, please don’t let them see us. Please shield us from their sight.
“Go on,” the voice says again.
Relief momentarily mutes the fear as the bin starts rolling again. I count the seconds, comparing it to the time it took to get inside the last time. That way, if there’s any change to the routine, I can alert Tucker. So far, though, it’s been smooth sailing.
We pause, likely right before the waste room so Perry can scan his badge in. I hear the door open then wait until my bin comes to a stop.
“Hey, Keith, do me a favor and go check the bins on the fourth floor.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I’ll handle the bathrooms on floor one, but I can’t remember if we emptied all the office bins.”
He groans. “You got it. I’ll do just about anything to not have to clean the bathrooms in this place.”
“Then this is a good deal for you. Afterward, take your lunch.”
“Thanks, Perry.”
“Yeah. Now go. I don’t want any complaints if there’s trash remaining in there when everyone arrives Monday morning.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.” The door opens and closes again, but I remain where I am until I can be sure Perry is gone too. He always liked me, but I doubt enough that he’d risk jail time letting us go should he discover us.
“Girl, get out of the bin. You forget you told me about this hiding spot?”
Busted. My heart pounds. Slowly, I tug the cover down and sit up. Perry is grinning at me, the corners of his brown eyes crinkling in amusement. When I started working here, he’d been a gruff old man, short-tempered and frustrated. But, after a few weeks, I wore him down. We started eating lunch together once a week, and he became a sort of surrogate grandfather to me. “Hey, Perry.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.” He reaches out and takes my hand, so I climb out. Since I’m not sure where we stand, I don’t reveal Tucker just yet.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised it took you this long to sneak back in. With everything going on, it’s been total chaos in this place. You know they put that brat, Kara, in your place? She’s running the show upstairs these days.”
“I’m not surprised. Are you going to turn me in?”
He arches a brow. “I guess that depends on why you’re here.”
“I didn’t do what they said I did.”
He waves a hand in front of his face. “I know you didn’t. You’re no thief. I bet it’s Kara who’s the real thief. I never liked her. And now that she’s marrying Darren?—”
“Wait, Darren the security guard?”
He nods. “You didn’t hear?”
“I’ve been a bit busy.”
“Good point. Yeah, they’re engaged now. Mr. Huck has pretty much given them free rein of the place. They’ve changed up everything and are watching whatever we do like hawks. You know us janitors aren’t even allowed to go through the front entrance? Or be on any active floors during office hours?” He shakes his head. “They’ve got us down to two on staff at any one time, and we have three hours to clean the entire place top to bottom on weeknights.”
