Chapter 40

40

Teddy flicked the lights on in Kevin’s bedroom and said, “Time to get up.”

Kevin flipped onto his side so that his back was to the door. “Five more minutes.”

“You said that fifteen minutes ago.” Teddy clapped his hands loudly. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”

Kevin groaned, flung his legs off the mattress, and sat up. “What time is it?”

“Eleven p.m. Come on. It’s time to get to work.”

A few minutes later, Teddy, Vesna, Kevin, and Hans were gathered in the living room.

“Status on Braun?” Teddy asked.

“He left at nine-thirty,” Hans said. “His car drove directly to his residence, and it hasn’t moved since.”

“Any sign of Wenz?”

“He was here for about an hour between six-thirty and seven-thirty and has not returned.”

“All right. Kevin, it’s time for you to do your thing.”

Kevin opened the messenger bag he’d brought with him and removed a cardboard box about the size of a smart-phone.

“Here you go,” he said and handed it to Teddy.

Teddy opened it. Nestled within a bed of foam inside was what looked like a slightly longer than normal thumb drive. He put the top back on and held it out to Kevin.

“What?” Kevin asked.

“Take it.”

Confused, Kevin did.

“Let’s go,” Teddy said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re coming with us.”

“But—but why? I can talk you through it.”

“Which means there’s a higher chance for errors than if you do it yourself. We can’t risk tipping them off.”

“What if I’m discovered?”

“Didn’t you say this could all be done from the communication systems hub on the first floor?”

“Well, yeah.”

Teddy clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

Grabbing at straws, Kevin blurted out, “I wouldn’t hold up well under torture.”

“Good to know. Come on.”

“But—”

“If anyone gives you trouble,” Vesna said, “just spray them with breath freshener. That seems to work for you.”

“I said I was sorry!”

Teddy, Vesna, and Kevin sneaked into the BLS building through a rear employee entrance and made their way to the communication systems hub. Vesna made quick work of picking the lock, and in no time they were inside.

The room was the size of a small bedroom and was lined with electronics on racks.

“Your show,” Teddy said to Kevin.

It took Kevin a couple of minutes to identify the devices serving BLS’s floors and another two to get the modified thumb drive mounted in the correct place. He then plopped on the floor, yanked a laptop out of his messenger bag, and started typing.

As time passed, Teddy began to worry something had gone wrong. But then Kevin said, “Ha!”

“Shh,” Vesna said.

“Oops, sorry,” he whispered.

“Did it work?” Teddy asked.

“Of course it worked. I now have full control of all the security for floors ten, eleven, and twelve.”

“Cameras, too?”

“Cameras, too.”

“Good work.” Teddy handed out comm gear, then said to Kevin, “You’re our eyes. If you see anyone even thinking about heading to wherever we are, you let us know.”

“That’s a lot of pressure.”

“Think of it this way: if we get caught, they’ll start looking for whoever helped us bypass their security, and the first place they’ll look is this room. So it’s in your best interest to stay on top of things.”

“Are you trying to stress me out?”

“I’m trying to make you understand the gravity of the situation.”

“You know,” Kevin said, “now that I’m in their system, I could do everything from across the street.”

“The more times we go in and out of the building also increases the chance of something going wrong. Don’t worry. We’ll pick you up on the way out.”

“Can we go now?” Vesna asked. “Or does he need more hand-holding?”

“Knock, knock,” Teddy whispered. He and Vesna had just taken the emergency stairwell to the top and were now standing at the door to the twelfth floor.

The lock clicked and Kevin said over the comm, “You’re clear.”

Teddy opened the door, and he and Vesna stepped quietly into a long hallway.

They were operating under the assumption that Felix Braun kept data concerning BLS special projects clients either on an unnetworked device or written on a piece of paper, such as in a notebook, in his twelfth-floor office.

“Go left,” Kevin said. “Then right at the next corridor.”

“How many other people on this level?” Teddy asked.

“Three. One in an office nowhere near where you’ll be, and two guards at a desk by the elevators.”

“Copy.”

Kevin guided them to Braun’s office.

“Don’t touch the door,” Kevin warned. “It’s locked and alarmed. I’ll give you the go-ahead once I have it open.”

Kevin had yet to get back to them when Teddy heard a door open somewhere else on the floor, but far too close for his liking.

In a low voice, he said, “Kevin, check the cams.”

“What?” Kevin paused, then said, “Oh, shit. One of the guards is heading your way.”

“Remember what I said about being our eyes?”

“Right. Sorry. Give me a sec.”

Teddy could hear the guard moving down a nearby hallway in his and Vesna’s direction.

She looked at him and mouthed, What do you want to do?

They’d come prepared to run into trouble like this. In Teddy’s pocket was a preloaded syringe that would knock someone out and mess with their short-term memory, and a bottle of additional medication if they were facing more than one problem. Teddy was reaching into the pocket where he’d stored it when the lock to Braun’s office clicked.

“Go!” Kevin said.

Teddy eased opened the door and followed Vesna into Braun’s office. They stilled just inside, listening to the footsteps in the hallway draw nearer.

Teddy half expected the guard to stop right outside and yank the door open. But he continued on without pausing, his steps soon fading to nothing.

“He’s gone,” Kevin said a few moments later. “Um, sorry again about not seeing him before.”

“Just try not to let it happen again,” Teddy said. He glanced at Vesna. “Where do you want to start?”

She looked around. “I’ll take the bookcases.”

“Then I’ll take the desk.”

She nodded and they began their search.

The surface of the desk was clear of anything but a monitor, a trackpad, and a keyboard. Teddy tried the drawers. Unsurprisingly, all were locked.

He picked each and checked its contents. The only drawer holding anything remotely interesting was the larger one at the bottom. In it were a few dozen files, but none appeared to have anything to do with the special projects unit.

“Safe,” Vesna whispered.

Teddy joined her at one of the bookcases. She had already removed several items from a shelf and exposed a safe that had been hidden behind a sliding panel. On the safe door was a glass touch screen and nothing else.

“It’s a Dalby Utra,” Vesna said. “First one I’ve seen in person.”

“What do you think?”

“In theory, I should be able to get it open.”

“Then give it a go.”

From her backpack, she removed an electronic device with several wires hanging from it. As she started to attach the sensors to the safe, Teddy turned to continue searching the room.

As he did, a framed photo on top of the pile of stuff Vesna had cleared away caught his eye. He picked it up and stared at it.

“Forget about the safe,” he said.

Vesna looked over her shoulder. “Why?”

“I know who the client is. Or, more accurately, we were wrong. There is no client.”