Chapter 15
“Crap. We can’t be caught by them.” Leo whispered.
The men’s heads were still down in deep conversation.
Esmie swiveled around, searching for an escape.
She stared at the locked door, then put her hand on the handle, wishing the electronic pad would open for her.
The door beeped and the LED node on top of the swipe blinked green.
Esmie bit down on her squeal of excitement and entered, pulling on Samson’s arm to follow her.
“How did you…?” Samson and Esmie grabbed Leo before he could finish his question and dragged him inside. Samson quietly shut the door. Leo faced her, arms crossed, waiting for the answer to the question he didn’t fully ask.
“How was I able to open the door?” Esmie raised an eyebrow at her brother.
“That wasn’t telekinesis. It’s your next power to reveal itself.
You have the ability to control electronics too, it seems.” Samson whispered before placing a finger on his lips as the men’s voices sounded right outside the door.
They were muffled at first, then Esmie concentrated on what they were saying.
Suddenly, she was able to partially see through the door.
It was like seeing through a blurry window with colors and shapes melding together but she could still make something out.
“Let’s finish this conversation in here.” A blurry shape with shoulder length mahogany hair gestured to the room they just vacated.
“Why not the more secure one? You know what will happen if someone overhears us.” The second one with a blonde buzz cut angled his body toward the door they were behind.
Esmie gasped and stepped back. She glanced around but the room was filled with chairs lined up in rows and a projector screen on the opposite wall.
There was nowhere to hide. Samson must have picked up on her apprehension as he too moved from where he was, searching for a way out or a hiding spot.
His hands were held out in front of him as if he was going to push something. Odd.
“That room is for briefings which are all logged. If we use our access there, someone will clock it and have questions for us later. At least with this one, it won’t be as obvious.
” The man with mahogany hair turned away and opened the door across the hall.
The other man followed him inside and they closed the door.
“That was close. Too close.” Samson responded. Esmie blew out a sigh of relief.
“Who were they?” Esmie saw Samson and Leo’s faces were a bit paler than usual.
“One is the CEO from Genetronetics TMC and the other the commissioner. Why they are meeting together…” Leo shook his head not finishing the sentence.
The look on his face expressed he had an idea but didn’t want to voice it out loud.
“Whatever it is you can bet it’s not good which is why they are being secretive.
If we would have run into them, they would have questioned us, and who knows what the commissioner would have done.
He isn’t known to be very nice.” Leo squeezed his lips together in a slight frown.
Esmie stared at the door, focusing on the two men in the other room.
She wanted to hear their conversation and what they were trying to hide. Maybe it would help her in some way.
“We need to get your sister out of here. Is there anywhere she can go? Back to your place?” Samson cracked the door open, peeking out and ruining Esmie’s concentration. Listening in on their conversation seemed to be a no-go.
“Well, she definitely can’t go back home because of our parents. Sorry, Quita, you're going to have to stay with me for a few days.”
Esmie shrugged, attempting to hide the excitement from her face.
Staying a few days in the city at her brother’s apartment was a dream Esmie didn’t dare dream.
How Leo was going to get that past their mother, she had no idea, but the thought of actually getting to live outside of her parents’ home, even for a short time, was exactly what she hoped for.
Samson handed Esmie her hoodie. She pulled it over her head before he placed the cuffs back on her wrists. “Sorry, have to go back the way we came.”
Once Samson felt they were safe to leave, they crept out and walked as quickly as possible back to the elevator bank to take them downstairs.
Fortunately, the hallways were empty. They entered the lobby, where only one security guard was at the main entrance, engrossed in checking the machine.
With his back turned, they snuck past him, making their way to the parking garage.
With the hallways emptier, they were able to skirt by without being noticed. The exit was only a few steps away.
“Aye! Did you do it?” A voice called behind them. They froze. All three turned.
“What was that?” Samson called back. A figure approached them.
“Did you get your licks in?” It was the same voice who checked them through security in the Atrium earlier.
He had a smirk on his face. “Oh dang, you got her good. That’s a nice shiner on her eye.
” Esmie sucked in a breath. She forgot to put her sunglasses back on.
She dropped her head as Leo angled her body away from the security guard.
“Uh, yeah. We did. Now we gotta get her back before anyone notices, if you know what I mean.” Samson stood in front of Esmie and Leo ensuring the guard couldn’t see them while Leo pulled the sunglasses from the front pocket of her hoodie and shoved them back on her face.
“Gotcha.” The guard clicked his tongue. “See ya around.”
“See ya.” Samson grasped one of Esmie’s shoulders, while Leo grasped the other. They pushed her forward, walking at a breakneck pace she could hardly keep up with due to her much shorter legs. She bit her lip, refusing to speak out in case someone else overheard and stopped them.
As soon as they sat in the creaky leather seats of Samson’s black Chevy Camero, Esmie released a stuttered breath.
Both Samson’s and Leo’s shoulders sagged.
That was much too close, and she wasn’t even fully out of the clear yet.
The anticipation of escaping the Law Enforcement Division of the Capitol building, made her forget she was going to be staying at Leo’s.
Excitement danced in her belly at what she would encounter.