32. June
32
JUNE
A s we pull into the parking garage, I go over the plan again. “Right? So if somebody finds us in his office, what do we say?”
“That you forgot some documents, and you're here to make sure that you don't screw up a big presentation.”
“And if they find us making copies of those documents?”
“Same thing. You say that it's not unusual for lawyers and paralegals to be there late, right?”
I nod. “But it is pretty late now, and it's gonna be kind of weird to explain that. Do you think that this is a bad idea?”
“Considering when we were in the hotel that one paralegal texted you in the middle of the night and he was still at the office, I think it'll be fine. I imagine everybody here knows that Andre doesn't accept any excuses for screw-ups. This is just a natural consequence of that.”
I blow out a breath of relief. “All right. We can do this.” Just as I unbuckle my belt, he grabs my hand. “What?”
“Are we sure we can do this? Is this the best way to go about things?”
Is he asking that now ? “If you can think of a better plan, tell me before we go in there.”
Anderson stares ahead. Silence falls in the car as he thinks. If this man can pull a better plan out of his ass before we get out of the car, great. I don't exactly see another way out of this. Doing anything against Andre could be a death sentence. But he shakes his head. “I've got nothing.”
“Okay, then let's do this.”
We get out of the car and go into the building. Pretending everything is normal used to be second nature to me. But right now, it feels like hell.
If we take this evidence to Elliot, then he will know what Andre is up to, and he can act to stop it. If he stops Andre from making these purchases, then my boss will know that he has a mole. Given my closeness with the family, I'm the most likely suspect.
So, right now, I may be setting myself up. I don't want to be in Andre's crosshairs. But I don't have much of a choice. I have to earn Anderson's trust back. He says he believes me. But proof is much more convincing. And I don't want to leave any room for a shadow of a doubt.
We get on the elevator and go up to Andre’s floor. Using the key card that he gave me, I have access to everywhere. All Executive rooms. His office. Anywhere. Now, I just have to hope that that's where he's storing the documents.
It's after eight so most of the lights are off, and we use our phones for light. Anderson quietly notes, “Snazzy office.”
“Andre likes nice things.”
“No wonder he hired you.”
“Flatterer.”
He caresses my ass as we go down the hall. “Nothing like a little danger to get the blood flowing.”
“Are you serious? You're turned on right now?”
“June, we may be facing some serious consequences soon, so anytime I'm around you, I'm turned on. No point in wasting opportunities.”
I hiss at him, “This is not an opportunity. We are here for good reason.”
“And?”
“And stop touching my butt,” I whisper.
He snickers, but his hand drops away.
We have been extraordinarily lucky so far. No maintenance crews, no cleaning crew. I'm not sure if they come later or what because the office is always immaculate. When we reach Andre's door, I have to steady myself. This is it. No going back now. If we're caught, we have to use our cover story and hope that it is convincing.
I really don't want to have to use the cover story.
First, I knock. No answer. I slash the key card, and the door opens. We dash inside and quietly close the door. Anderson reaches for the light, but I stop him. “No. Keep using your phone.”
“Why?”
“In case he has eyes on the office externally, I don't want to have to worry about it.”
“June, it's weird enough that we've been using our phones this whole time, but if we keep using our phones, it's going to look like we have something to hide. You're a lawyer who came back for documents. That's all this is, remember?” He has a point.
“Okay, yeah, you're right. Let's turn on the lights. Make this look legitimate.” So I click them on. Everything is as I saw it before, with the exception that there is no convenient pile of documents on his desk. “Well, I can't say I'm very surprised that he put them away someplace, but I am disappointed because that makes this more complicated.”
“You know, it's sort of amazing that in this digital day and age, he would have anything in writing. The practice of law is still remarkably old-fashioned.”
I narrow my gaze at him on my way to Andre’s desk. “That's brilliant. Help me look in these files.” But when I pull the drawer, it's locked. “Well, shit.”
“Got a Bobby pin?”
“You can pick locks?”
He shrugs. “Well, no, but that's what they always do on TV.”
I skim my hands around Andre's desk. “If I were a key, where would I be?”
“Do you really think that he'd be keeping such important files in his office?”
“Where else?”
“His house. That's where my dad keeps his.”
But I shake my head, still skimming my hands around. “No, Andre likes to keep things compartmentalized. This is business stuff, so I think that business stays here.” Then I feel a latch. I give it a pull, and all the drawers open. “Are you fucking kidding me? That's not secure.”
“Maybe he loses his keys a lot and needs a backup system. Who cares? Start looking.”
“Not yet.” I point my phone at Andre’s organizational setup and start clicking.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to be able to pack everything back in the way that he had it.”
“Oh. Good idea.”
After I get enough pictures, we dig through the files and find them right off the bat. “This is it right here. All the shit that I gathered for him. He wanted everything in original hard copy and no other copies made.”
“Makes sense. If it's not digital, it's harder to find. Where's the copy room on this floor?”
“I'm not taking that chance. I downloaded a document scanner on the way here.” And with that, I whip out my phone and scan all the documents, front and back. I’m not taking any chances that Elliot could whine about the documents not being real. Afterward, I photograph them on Andre's desk. I will give him no excuse to say that we lied about this.
I tell Anderson, “All right, that's everything. Let's pack this up and go.” We tuck away everything just as we found it according to the pictures I took before. In some ways, this has felt almost too easy. Our luck has never held out for this long. Before I open the door, I click off the light. “How soon do you think Andre will know? That it was me, I mean.”
“He may never know.” But by his tone, I can tell he doesn't believe that either. For now, I'll let the pleasant fiction slide. We might be lying to ourselves, but I'll take it.
Just as I turn the door lever, we hear a sound in the hall. Squeaky wheels.
I whisper, “Cleaning crew.”
“Do they come in here?”
I don't bother to answer. The squeaking is too close. I grab his hand and race to the nearest door. There are three off of Andre’s office. One is to his private bathroom, but I don’t know what the other two are. Fearing the crew may be here to also clean the bathroom, I pick one of the other doors. It happens to be a utility closet.
Anderson closes the door behind us, and silently, we listen. The office light clicks on, shining around the doorframe. But it’s not enough light for us to see much inside the closet. After a minute, I realize whoever it is isn't snooping around. We hear the wheels squeak, and then they go silent for a minute, like the person is cleaning. They're not looking for us. They’re just doing their job.
I whisper, “We’ll wait a few minutes and then go out there.”
“I guess we kind of blew the whole ‘hey, we're just innocently here for forgotten documents’ thing when we decided to hide.”
I snort a laugh. It was a stupid move on my part, but instinct took over. It couldn’t be helped. Still, I can laugh at myself for it. “You think?”
“We are not cut out for a life of crime.”
I shake my head, smiling. The utility closet is bigger than I had expected. Maybe ten by ten. There’re all sorts of equipment in here, and I can't see them because I refuse to turn on the light. But when I flash my phone over them, it's mostly wooden boxes and miscellaneous storage. Odd that Andre would have this kind of storage attached to his office. He’s so meticulous … “
Maybe there’s more in here than meets the eye. But no matter how curious I am, I’m not here to explore. Besides, exploring makes noise that we cannot afford, so I leave the crates alone and concentrate on listening for the cleaning crew to leave. I leave my phone on a shelf so we can kind of see, and it doesn’t shine around the doorframe for them to spot us.
Anderson murmurs in my ear, “Well, if we're going to get caught, then maybe we should get caught for a different reason.”
“What are you talking about?—"
He presses me against the cabinet and kisses me, stealing my breath away. A shiver rushes through me, forcing out a gasp. Parting my lips, I let him in. I know this is stupid. We’re as likely to get caught making too much noise as we are for being in the wrong place, but after everything we’ve been through, I need this. I need him.
Alarm bells go off in my mind as I reach for him over his pants. He lets out a hiss of need, grinding into my hand while we kiss harder. He’s already a rock for me. I can’t tell if it’s a fear boner or if he’s feeling as needy as I am. The heat in my body is impossible to ignore.
Anderson unties my trench coat belt and unbuttons my blouse, leaving me exposed. He growls in my ear, “This is one of my favorite bras.”
“The lace?”
“The front clip.” He unhooks it, and my breasts spring free. His mouth is on my nipples, nibbling and teasing me. I can’t believe we’re doing this here and now, and part of me is into it. The fear. The rush. We’ve faced countless dangers together. This one is entirely different. This is a danger we’re choosing.
That cleaning crew could walk in here at any moment. Better make them count.