Chapter 15 KELLI VARRARI #2
Most people would’ve been somewhere across the street with binoculars, sitting in a parked car, watching patterns and waiting for a weak moment to slip through.
That wasn’t me, though. I didn’t move like that, and I never had.
If I wanted access, I made it make sense on paper first, and once it made sense there, the rest of it fell into place.
It took me those three days to get everything lined up the way I needed it.
I tapped into the private security system Lennox used, and that alone told me what I was dealing with.
It wasn’t no basic setup. They had a full roster, rotating shifts, logged access points, badge tracking, all that shit meant to make people feel untouchable.
I didn’t rush it though, because rushing was how people got caught, and I didn’t have time for mistakes.
I sat back and studied it first. I watched how the guards clocked in, who showed up late, who left early, and who nobody really paid attention to.
Every system had a weak spot, even the ones built with money behind them, and I found mine in a guard who barely existed in their own records. He was always there, but never important enough to stand out, and that made him perfect.
I pulled his information clean, copied everything from his ID to his access level, and then I slid myself right into his place.
I didn’t erase him because that would’ve been stupid.
I just adjusted the schedule, shifted some hours, and added an overlap that made it look like coverage instead of a replacement.
On paper, it read like I was supposed to be here, and that was all I needed.
The badge was the easy part after that. Once I had the credentials, I made my own. It was the same clearance, same access, same everything. If somebody scanned it, it hit the system like it belonged, because it did.
The uniform came the same way. Inventory logs told me what I needed to know, and I checked it out before anybody could question it. By the time I stepped on the property, there wasn’t a single thing about me that didn’t line up if somebody decided to look.
And that was the part most people never understood. You didn’t sneak into places like this. You walked in like you had every right to be here.
I had been outside Lennox’s house for hours at that point, posted up with the rest of the security like I had been doing this job for years.
Nobody questioned me. Nobody gave me a second look.
I nodded when they nodded, moved when they moved, and kept my presence low enough that I blended into the rhythm of everything else.
I watched Roderick come and go like I was just another guard doing his job.
I saw his wife leave earlier in the evening, and when she passed by, I gave her a small nod like everybody else did.
She didn’t hesitate or look twice, and that told me everything I needed to know about how clean my entry was.
Time moved slow after that. The sun dropped, the lights around the property came on, and the whole place settled into that quiet that only came with money and security wrapped around it.
By the time midnight rolled around, the house had gone still. There was no movement or noise, but just guards rotating and the occasional low conversation that didn’t mean nothing.
I stayed where I was, letting the hours pass without forcing anything. Patience was part of the game, and I had already committed to doing this right.
At some point, one of the guards near me started making small talk. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, and he looked like he had been up too long to be asking questions, but he needed something to keep himself awake.
“You been on this post long?” he asked, taking a sip.
“Long enough,” I replied, keeping it simple while I reached back and pulled a cigarette from my pocket.
I flicked the lighter and brought it up, letting the flame catch the tip while I leaned into it just enough to get it going.
He watched me for a second, then shook his head. “Yeah… you can’t be smoking that out here. Mr. Lennox can’t stand cigarette smoke. It ain’t allowed.”
I glanced at him, then at the coffee in his hand, before taking a slow pull from the cigarette like he hadn’t said shit.
“You know,” I said, letting the smoke fall out easy, “they say cigarettes can kill you because of all that cancer shit.”
He looked at me, confused more than anything, like he wasn’t sure where I was going with it.
I tilted my head a little, my eyes dropping back to that cup. “But the way I look at it, you never really know what’s in anything you’re consuming.”
He frowned, about to say something, but the words never made it out.
His body shifted first, just slightly, like his balance was off, and then it hit him all at once. The cup slipped from his hand and hit the ground, spilling across the pavement as he staggered forward.
I moved without thinking, catching him before he could fall face-first and draw attention we didn’t need.
“Relax,” I muttered low, holding him up while his body gave out. “You good.”
His head dropped, and within seconds, he was out.
I kept him upright long enough to make it look like he was just leaning, then I moved him off to the side and dragged him behind a set of bushes where he wouldn’t be seen unless somebody went looking.
Once he was settled, I straightened out my uniform, adjusted the badge on my chest, and pulled on a pair of gloves before heading toward the house like I was responding to something routine.
The door opened without a problem. My access hit the system, and just like that, I was inside.
The difference between outside and inside hit immediately. It was quiet in a way that felt intentional, like the house itself didn’t allow noise to linger. Everything was clean, polished, expensive, and untouched.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a pair of glasses, sliding them on so I didn’t have to rely on any lights. The layout came into view clearer, and I moved through the space without hesitation, checking each room as I went.
Every step had purpose, and every movement was controlled enough that nothing shifted out of place behind me.
By the time I made it to the primary bedroom, I already knew something felt off.
The bed was occupied, but only halfway.
Jamie Lennox was laid out, completely still. I moved closer, keeping my distance just enough to watch her chest rise and fall without disturbing anything.
Her nightstand caught my attention next. A bottle of wine sat next to a prescription bottle, and when I picked it up, I didn’t need more than a glance to understand what I was looking at. She had been taking pills, probably to cope with loss and grief.
I set it back down and looked at her again, connecting it without needing to think too hard about it.
Then I noticed her phone.
I reached into my bag, pulled out a burner, and connected it clean, letting the transfer run while I stood there listening for anything out of place. The screen lit up with a picture of her and her kids, and for a second, I took that in without reacting to it.
Once the data finished, I set everything back exactly how it was and moved on.
The rest of the house opened up as I moved deeper, and eventually I came across a room that didn’t match the others.
It looked like a study. The door opened slow, and the smell of liquor hit before anything else did.
Roderick was laid out on the sofa with a bottle in his hand, completely gone. I stood there for a second, watching him, making sure this wasn’t some act or some half-sleep waiting to snap awake. He didn’t move.
I shook my head lightly. “These are some drunk, toxic motherfuckers.”
I stepped in, keeping my movements tight while I scanned the room. His jacket hung over a chair, and when I checked the pocket, his phone was inside.
I handled his phone the same way I handled his wife’s. It was quick, clean, and quiet, leaving everything exactly how I found it so there wasn’t a single sign I had been in this room at all.
Once I had what I needed, I put everything back and made my way out the same way I came in, not rushing, or hesitating, but just moving like I belonged.
By the time I stepped back outside, everything looked the same at first glance, like nothing had changed. But as I started moving toward the gate, I heard a voice behind me.
“Yo.”
I turned, and another guard was looking at me.
“You heading out?”
I nodded like it was nothing. “Yeah. Mr. Lennox wants me to check the back perimeter. Motion sensor flagged something earlier and he wants it cleared before shift change.”
The guard nodded, not even questioning it. “Bet. Be safe.”
I gave him a small look and turned back, walking off the property like it was just another part of the job.
I didn’t pick up speed until I was a good distance away, and even then, it wasn’t much. It was just enough to put space between me and that damn house before anything had a chance to catch up.
I lit another cigarette while I walked, letting the night air hit me while everything I just did settled in.
About a mile out, headlights cut through the dark, and a black car rolled up beside me.
The window dropped, and Renza leaned over with a grin. “Get yo’ crazy white ass in the car.”
I smirked, flicked the cigarette, and slid into the passenger seat.
He looked at me, still grinning. “Damn… you really went in that bitch.”
I reached over and shook his hand, letting that same calm sit in me.
“I told you,” I said, leaning back like it was nothing. “Say less.”
He laughed, hit the gas, and we pulled off into the night like none of this shit ever happened.