Page 67 of Six
The hallway was empty except for the three of them, and he snagged her around the waist. “Heather?” he asked.
“Hhmm?”
“Turn around, please.”
Heather chuckled but did as requested, and Gavin leaned in for a deep, though brief, kiss. “You have everything you need?” he asked when he pulled back.
She nodded.
“Good. Cyn and the crew should be doing their thing”—he looked at his watch—“right…about…now.” Less than two seconds later, the fire alarm began pealing. “Go,” he directed Six. “In five seconds, this hallway is going to be flooded with people.”
She dropped another kiss on his scrumptious lips, nodded to Heather, then slipped into a utility closet across from the elevator as Gavin guided Heather down the stairs. A few seconds later, the formerly empty hall filled with everyone from the executive floor as they made their way to the stairwell.
Taking her phone out, she opened her trusty listening app and slipped one earbud into her ear. Adjusting the sound so as to filter out the screeching of the alarm, she started listening to the conversations happening on the other side of the door. Several people chatted good-naturedly, wondering if this was a fire drill. A few ignored the potential for danger altogether and were talking about what they’d done over the weekend. All in all, it was an orderly evacuation and, as expected, Julia, Austin, and Kaden were the last to leave.
Thankful for her handy device and the application on it, she listened to their hushed conversation as they made their way to the stairs.
“I don’t think we should leave,” Julia said, for the first time showing both a backbone and some sense.
“People will notice if we’re not outside,” Kaden replied. “You know how it goes. Once we’re outside, the fire marshal won’t allow anyone back in until each person is accounted for. If we’re not there, it will draw attention to us.”
He was right, although Six thought they were already dallying enough to bring attention to themselves. In fact, from the sounds of it, they’d stopped walking and were standing in the hall talking.
“You can’t possibly think this is a coincidence,” Julia snapped.
“Of course it’s not,” Austin snapped right back. “But security assured me that both Heather Wheaton and the woman she came with, as well as the three members of the cleaning staff that Scott reported, were under control. There’s little we can do without drawing unwanted attention to ourselves.”
“So we just leave?” Julia asked.
The trio started walking again, answering Julia’s question. “It’s standard protocol for internal security to lock our IT systems down in situations like this. If somehow they managed to evade the guards, they’ll be locked out of any system they might have tried to access.”
The sound of the stairwell door opening echoed in the hallway. “Ms. Newcross?” came Holly’s voice.
Both Austin and Kaden mumbled something under their breath, but it wasn’t distinct enough for Six to pick up.
“We’re on our way, Holly,” Julia responded. “We were doing a final sweep of the floor. We wouldn’t want to leave anyone behind now.”
Six smiled to herself. No, they most definitely wouldn’t want to leave anyone behind. Especially not the one person thathadbeen left behind.
“Of course not. That’s very thoughtful of you,” Holly said. A few seconds later, the door banged shut, and with the exception of the screaming alarm, the hallway fell silent. Six turned off the app and returned her earbud to her bag, but remained in the utility closet, waiting for the message that would give her the all clear. Several minutes passed with no message, but she wasn’t worried. It took more than a few minutes to clear an eight-floor building—nine if she included the basement. To pass the time, she posed with a mop, then with a bucket that had the dried-up wrapper of a candy bar stuck to the bottom. She was about to pretend to be flirting with Mr. Clean when her phone dinged with the anticipated message. Quickly snapping the picture, she sent it to Gavin with a text telling him she’d met another man.
Without waiting for his response, she stepped out of the closet and made her way back to Julia Newcross’s office. Knowing that the guards—the real ones—were all outside waiting for the fire marshal, she didn’t bother trying to hide from the cameras. Entering the room she’d left less than twenty minutes ago, she paused in the doorway and assessed the scene.
The complaint was still lying on the desk, but other than that, there were no visible files or paperwork. Julia’s computer sat on her desk, but like a good corporate citizen, she’d powered down the device when she’d left. Six grinned. It was a good thing she’d brought her own.
Getting quickly to work, she withdrew a laptop from her bag, as well as a small rectangular device. Taking a seat in Julia’s massive leather chair, Six turned her computer on, plugged in her password, then pulled up the file she wanted. Once it was on her screen—frozen in a sick sort of tableau—she hooked up the extra device, then put it to sleep. Eyeing the office for a place to hide, she decided that sometimes, hiding in plain sight was the best option.
Six spun Julia’s chair until the back of it was facing the door, effectively giving her the cover she needed. She hoped. Because other than crawling under the desk, which she wasn’t about to do, there was nowhere else she could be both out of sight and yet close enough to hear what she hoped would be an enlightening conversation.
Ten long, boring minutes later, her phone dinged with a message from Gavin.
“If you want to leave me for a bald man with an earring and questionable grooming habits—those eyebrows say it all—and who is old enough to be your grandfather, I won’t stand in your way. Although given how you like things raw and just the right kind of dirty, I’m not sure a man obsessed with cleanliness will serve you in the long run. At least not like I do.”
Six laughed out loud.“I’ve reconsidered my position,”she typed.“As you well know, I don’t like to play second fiddle to anyone or anything and well, he’s made it clear that I can’t compete with a muddy floor. I fear I’d always be trying to get his attention and would end up rolling in the mud to do so. While I’m not opposed to a getting a bit—or a lot—dirty, I think that if I’m going to go to the effort, it better be because you’re on top of me. Or under me. I’m not that picky.”
A long paused came before he answered.“You are picky, I just happen to be the lucky one you picked. Maybe tonight we can have a picnic outside for dinner. After dark. It did rain recently.”
She smiled and was about to answer when a message from Cyn came in.“While the grin Gavin is wearing is somewhat entertaining, whatever you two are texting about will have to wait. The marshal is letting everyone back in.”
