Page 83 of Forged in Peril

“That sounds nice of him,” she said, smiling up at her. “So long as there’s nothing urgent on your desk, go for it. I’ll let Jaclyn know when she gets back.”

Melanie beamed, rushing back to her own desk and flinging several personal items into her bag before calling out a final goodbye and heading for the door.

Once again, Bristol was alone, but the mess before her was still overwhelming.

She began to pick up some of the potentially sketchy documents that she found, piling them up on the corner of Jaclyn’s desk. She’d just have to hide them and read them all later that night. Hopefully, she wouldn’t accidentally take anything that Jaclyn would be looking for.

Risky as it was, if she couldn’t find what she needed now, she would have no choice but to drag out her charade a little longer.

As she picked up the rest of the files off of the floor, she heard voices coming from somewhere down the hall. Though she doubted anyone would make their way into the secluded area that housed the legal department, she was beginning to feel panic rising.

She had to find those files. She was running out of time.

At last, after rifling through three more drawers and adding a handful of potentially useful folders to her stack, she got to her feet and made her way quietly over to the door of the main office.

Seeing no one in either direction, she ducked back inside, rushing toward the potted plant that Jaclyn kept on her desk and rooting around until she found the small golden key her boss kept hidden beneath a thin layer of soil.

Her heart pounded as she moved toward Jaclyn’s most secure cabinet. She’d seen Jaclyn hiding the key once, and she’d remembered its location, figuring that it might prove useful one day. She’d hoped that she wouldn’t have to use it, but with Mel gone, she could take the risk.

There were only a few files in the drawer, and none of them were the contract she’d been hoping to find. Most of it was stuff about the Senera Pharmaceuticals case. Though she wanted to take a look at it as well, there was no time to worry about anything that didn’t directly relate to Grapas. And if she took these files to read later, Jaclyn would surely notice their absence.

She pushed the drawer shut and turned the key in the lock before striding back over to the plant and burying it once more.

Nothing.

If the info she needed wasn’t in the files she was planning to delve into later, she’d officially hit a dead end.

It was time to get out of here.

She found an empty cardstock folder and began gathering up the stack on Jaclyn’s desk, trying to move as quickly as she could without leaving behind any evidence of her mess.

Within minutes, she was lost in her work, watching as the surface of the desk gradually came into view. There were just a few more to put back, and she’d be–

“Oh, very good,” Jaclyn said loudly from somewhere over Bristol’s shoulder, her voice oozing with fake cheerfulness. “Albert was right after all. You’re way smarter than you look, Chaplin.”

Bristol froze, the last of the files still in hand.

No.

How could she have been so careless?

She felt dizzy as she listened to the door of the office closing and locking with a click.

She set the folder on the desk, forcing herself to take a few slow breaths, not wanting to face Jaclyn even a second before she had to.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she stalled, but no plan came to mind.

The office had a single door, and Jaclyn was in front of it.

She was trapped.

She turned around.

Jaclyn stood straight, her eyes filled with ice.

Grasped in her hands was a gun, pointed straight at Bristol.

“Put the files back, close the drawer, and don’t talk.”

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