Page 53 of Buried Treasure
Chapter 18
Sydney was going to call Andy, she really was, but then she got distracted or found an excuse or would lose her confidence. What would she say to him? How do you finally respond to someone after sleeping with them and then not calling for a week?
Sydney woke up on Monday morning thankful that she had nowhere to be. Her work at the law firm was done for now and there were no more documents to review or questions to answer.
But she still had things to do, the first of which was to finally put on her big girl pants and get in touch with Andy. She had been keeping an eye on Ryan's place and knew the team got back late last night from their long road trip. That was her excuse for continuing to put off calling Andy. Why call him when she wanted to see him and talk to him in person? When after a week of seeing John in that stupid office, she wanted to see a man who didn't make her question her faith in others? Of course, he could also just reject her after she left him hanging without even a text for a week.
So there she was, sitting at her kitchen counter, coffee in hand, staring at her phone and trying to will herself to finally pick it up and dial Andy's number. A phone number she had spent 20 minutes programming into her phone this weekend and making sure it was the right number again and again if, for some reason, she misplaced his card by some random accident. Of course, she also had the card sitting out on the counter in the exact spot he left it so she could always find it, just in case.
Sydney took a long drink from her coffee cup and a deep breath. She was going to do this. But just as her hand finally started to reach for the phone, it rang. Lucy's name flashed up on the screen, and Sydney audibly groaned before finally answering it.
"This better be good," Sydney said in greeting. "I was just about to call—"
"Do not answer your door."
"What?"
She could hear traffic in the background of Lucy's phone call as her friend breathed heavily into the speaker. "If someone knocks—"
Sydney's head snapped up in response to someone banging on her front door.
"Um, someone is knocking on my door," she said slowly.
She could hear Lucy curse loudly on the street. "The S.E.C. wants to search your apartment," she said. "Some questions came up after your work in the office last week, and they would like your cooperation."
"Cooperation? What does that mean?" she whispered.
"They're looking for a few things," Lucy said. "I'm getting on your elevator now. Don't open the door until I get there."
Sydney heard the elevator doors close and Lucy's phone call cut off. That old elevator never cooperated with modern technology. But she couldn't worry about that now because someone was banging on her door again.
"Sydney Barton, this is the S.E.C.," said a polite but firm voice. "We can hear you inside. We're know you're home."
Her eyes started darted around her apartment. Did she have dirty dishes lying around? Any bras she tossed off and left in plain sight? Embarrassing DVDs? And then her gaze fell on her desk.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Sydney Barton."
She ran over to her desk and just stared at it, too afraid to touch anything. Were there papers she didn't want them to have, things she didn't want them to see, documents they would want for her case? Sydney rarely kept papers from the office at home and her work computer had already been confiscated by the S.E.C. So what could they possibly want to find in her apartment?
"Sydney?" She could tell the man outside was losing his patience. "Sydney, open up."
"Hey!"
Sydney heard Lucy on the other side of the door, her lawyer voice kicking in full force. What followed was a muffled negotiation in the hallway between Lucy and the door-knocking guy while Sydney stood still in her living room. She ducked her head, trying to keep her composure. They came to her apartment. They were going to invade the one and only place Sydney had found solace and protection during this whole ordeal. The sofa she snuggled into while watching trashy television. The bedroom where she could hide from the outside world. The places where she had found comfort in Andy's arms.
She looked down at the ratty t-shirt and black sweatpants she had slept in.
"Sydney? It's Lucy."
She couldn't help but scoff. Sydney knew exactly what her best friend sounded like, even if her best friend had her lawyer voice on from the other side of her apartment door. But even Lucy's tone couldn't reassure her. This was going to suck.
"Sydney, can you let us in?"
She walked over to the door and reached for the handle, taking a deep breath before slowing opening it. On the other side were Lucy with two people in blue windbreakers with yellow letters on the back. Those same damn government-issued windbreakers she saw in her old office a few weeks ago.
"Sydney Barton?" She recognized the man's voice as the same one that had repeatedly been saying her name. "We'd like to search your apartment."
