Page 68 of A Touch of Treachery
He nodded and moved off, his steps silent despite the brittle snow underfoot.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my galvanism yet again, straining to find any energy in the vicinity, any bright flares, telltale tingles, or sharp crackles that might indicate something nearby was drawing or emitting electricity ...
There.
A warm, sparking sensation tickled my magic like a bulb flickering in a socket.Still keeping my eyes closed, I latched on to the sensation and turned my body toward the flow of energy.I took a few careful steps forward, like a moth fluttering toward a candle flame, then opened my eyes to see ...
The security light at the end of the clearing.
Frustration coursed through my body.I already knew the light was there, so why did my galvanism keep pointing it out?It was just a lone bulb, and it wasn’t even as bright as the similar lights around the hotel—
Crunch.
A footstep broke through the snow behind me, and a new aura pinged my senses.I whirled around.
A security guard wearing a green jacket was standing about ten feet away, a gun leveled at my chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
Irodetheelevatorto the penthouse.By the time it stopped, I had settled my nerves and sharpened my resolve.I’d won the first round in the game Henrika was playing, and I had to be on my toes for round two.
The elevator arrived with a louddingthat made me flinch.The door slid back, and I stepped into the foyer.To my surprise, no guards were waiting in the space.I didn’t hear a whisper of sound, and the elevator remained open behind me.
Curiosity propelled me over to the double doors that led into Henrika’s penthouse, and I cautiously tried them.Locked.I glanced around, wondering if this was a test—or trap—but I didn’t see any security cameras embedded in the ceiling, and my synesthesia wasn’t muttering about any hidden dangers.
I bent down and took a closer look at the doors, which were locked with a numbered keypad.None of the white paint on the numbers was chipped or smudged, so I couldn’t figure out the code that way.Next, I ran my fingers over the buttons, jiggling and pressing them.Three of the buttons felt looser than the others, as if they were the only ones that were ever touched.
I chewed on my lower lip, thinking about the numbers, along with everything I knew about Henrika.After a few seconds, I rolled my eyes and punched in the numbers 724—July 24, Henrika’s birthday.
The light on the keypad flashed green, the lock clicked, and one of the doors popped open.I snorted.A birthday code?Seriously?That was even more obvious than Desmond using 007 as the code for the wall safe in his apartment.
I glanced back over my shoulder, but the elevator was still open and waiting.It didn’t seem like a guard was going to suddenly appear, so I pulled the door open a little wider and stepped through to the other side.
The same telltale staticky tingle that had fried my comms jewelry earlier in the day swept over my body again.I shivered at the uncomfortable sensation, moved past the expensive furniture and pricey knickknacks in the front of the suite, and went over to Henrika’s library.These doors were also locked, although they required an actual key instead of another code.
I plucked a small brown bobby pin out of my purse.Unlike the other hair accessories Joan had packed, it was just an ordinary bobby pin, with no knockout needles or other gadgets hidden inside.I bent the pin into the shape I wanted, then stuck it into the lock.It took me less than thirty seconds to coax it open.I stuck the bobby pin into my purse, twisted the knob, and stepped through to the other side.
Lights blazed in the library, but no one was inside, and Henrika wasn’t hiding behind the furniture waiting to jump out and yellboo!
My heart kicked up into my throat, but I swallowed it down.My gaze flicked over to Henrika’s desk.Her laptop was open, and the screen was unlocked.My fingers itched with the urge to start tapping away, but I resisted the temptation.
Henrika might have let me into her inner sanctum seemingly unsupervised, but I was willing to bet she was watching me through a security camera, and I wasn’t about to fall for such an obvious trap.Besides, I doubted Henrika kept anything of importance on that laptop or the scientist’s worktable in the corner.No, her real secrets would be tucked away with the Redburn formula, wherever it was stored.
I marched over to the shelves that lined one wall.Just like with a person’s desk, you could tell a lot about someone by the mementoes they kept, but nothing jumped out at me.The books were classic titles bound in supple leather and stamped with foil, the kind of books people bought but never actually read, while the framed photos were posed shots of Henrika smiling and shaking hands with famous folks.The jewelry inside the glass cases was pretty, but none of the pieces was as expensive, dazzling, and ostentatious as the Grunglass Necklace I was still wearing.
Frustration pounded through me.Henrika could come here any moment, and I had nothing to show for my snooping.I spun away from the shelves and stared out over the space again.Henrika’s desk, the scientist’s worktable with beakers and vials filled with who knew what, the fireplace, the fancy furniture spread across the equally expensive rugs underfoot.
Once again, I didn’t see anything unusual or out of place.More frustration pounded through me, so I drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out, just like I did on my yoga mat whenever my muscles were shaking from holding a difficult pose and I needed to steady myself.
Calmer, I took another look around, and I noticed something was slightly ...off.
I drew in another breath, then slowly let it out and reached for my magic just like I would lengthen my arms and legs in a yoga pose to get that tiny bit of extra stretch.I studied the library through the lens of my synesthesia, but nothing happened.
More frustration simmered in my veins, but I kept reaching out with my magic.I wasn’t looking at a document or a spreadsheet, so there were no typos or addition errors to find.I needed to shift my perspective and search for things that were ...out of place ...and just ...didn’t belong with the immaculate furnishings.
So I drew in a third breath, then let it out, like the others.Calmer, I turned in a slow circle, examining every single part of the library with my synesthesia, and a few muted grays flickered in my field of vision, like bulbs that couldn’t quite decide whether they had enough juice to fully light up.
