Page 16 of Miki

Some security guys took their jobs seriously and were good at it. I respected that, but some were wannabe cops who couldn’t make the grade and took a security job so they could pretend. Others were simply lazy time wasters who didn’t really care. This guy fell into the latter category. Frowning at his approaching form, I muttered “useless” to myself before feeling guilty.

It was probably wrong of me to judge under the circumstances. Considering he was only watching over offices and not the crown jewels. Besides, for the measly amount of money he was probably getting paid, his lack of care was understandable, in a way. It also made things so much easier for me, so I guessed I should be glad of his lack of work ethic.

As soon as he exited the building and headed to the smoking shelter, I crossed the road and crept up behind him. When he had his back to me and his head down as he lit his cigarette, I slipped into the building, ran to the stairwell, and headed up the stairs to Aiden Mathieson’s office.

Thank goodness I ran a lot because by the time I reached the fifth floor my heart was racing, and I my breathing was laboured. Who knew what state I’d be in if I wasn’t fairly fit?

Before I left the stairway, I stopped to drag some much needed air into my burning lungs.

When my breathing had finally returned to normal, I entered the corridor and hurried towards Mathieson’s office. Keeping my head down and my hood pulled forward to cover my face, I did my best to avoid the cameras in the hallway.

As I reached the office door, I took out the pass I stole from Mathieson’s secretary as she left the building earlier. I scanned it, and it let me into the main office.

Yey! So far, so good. I worried that she might have already noticed it missing and notified security. Obviously not.

Using my flashlight to light my way, I hurried straight to Mathieson’s own office and slipped inside. His computer was on, and as I pressed the keys, I saw it was just shutting down.

That seemed odd. I frowned. Why would it still be on?

Shaking my head, I ignored the question. I didn’t have time to worry about it.

The top two drawers of his desk contained the usual sort of office junk. However, the bottom drawer was locked.

Taking out my special tools, I had the lock picked in no time. As I slid the drawer open, I smiled, happy that the skills I learned years ago were finally being put to good use.

Warmth spread through me, and a small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I thought about how I’d learned those skills.

My mum’s cousin Joe had been a thief but, after a short stint in prison, he went straight. Luckily, he found a job with a security firm consulting on security measures. They found the knowledge he gained during his criminal activities exceptionally helpful, and although Joe always carried his set of tools with him, he never used them for illegal purposes again. He just liked always having them nearby, like a security blanket, he once told me.

After Mum passed from cancer when I was a child, I found her jewellery box. It was one with a little lock, but there was no key. Unable to open it and not wanting to break it, I’d been distraught. Thankfully, Joe was there to save the day. He took out his special tools and showed me how to break into the box without causing any damage. I was only eight years old, so I thought it was great fun.

For years after that, whenever Joe was babysitting me or whenever I was upset and needed to be distracted, he would find me other locked things and let me play with his tools and break into them. He kept different things in his garage, including old safes, and spent hours trying to get into them. As I grew older, he let me help.

That had been a lot of fun.

Joe would also tell me stories about jobs he had done in his youth before he had been caught. I learned a lot from him about breaking into different places and the various security measures that exist in today’s world, and I still had the small set of “Tools of the trade” he had given me for my thirteenth birthday.

He was long gone now, and I missed him as much as I did my parents. A wave of sadness hit me, and I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to get back to the task at hand.

So, because of Joe, I had skills. Maybe not the skills you would expect a police officer to have, but they came in handy whenever I had a robbery to investigate. They would certainly come in handy in helping me gain the evidence I needed to avenge my dad’s murder.

Unfortunately, the drawer did not hold any hidden secrets. In fact, it was empty. In frustration, I reached inside and carefully examined the edges, but there was nothing I missed.

Quickly closing it up, I crept around, checking all the usual places people hide things, but again found nothing.

Pushing down feelings of disappointment, I took a step back and scanned the room. There had to be something. I was sure a man like Mathieson had lots of secrets, so where was he hiding them?

The computer was an obvious answer for some of them, but a lawyer like Mathieson would have hard copies of things as back up. I needed to find them. I glanced again at the computer and wished Joe had also taught me hacking skills. Unfortunately, that sort of thing was before his time and since I wasn’t technically gifted, finding anything on the thing was a big fat no-no for me.

Narrowing my eyes, I zoned in on the picture on the wall behind his desk and smirked. Of course!

Moving it aside revealed the safe I’d suspected was there.

Really? Very cliched.

Chuckling, I shook my head. It seemed Aiden Mathieson was not too technical either. And not in the least original. However, that made it so much easier for me.

The safe was an old-fashioned dial type, too, which had obviously been there for some time.

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