Page 34 of Quiver of Cobras
Finn’s jaw clenched.
‘You didn’t prepare for the possibility of CCTV cameras filming our every move.’
Before he could attack me again, Morgan interrupted. ‘Enough, children! We’re here for one reason and one reason only and that’s to get hold of the CCTV footage from the night in question before Rubus does. There’s no point squabbling over its existence – it’s there and we have to get hold of it. We might not get another chance, so stop fannying around.’
Finn and I glanced at each other. ‘Fannying?’ I enquired. ‘I’m not fannying.’
‘I’m not fannying either,’ Finn agreed. ‘If the Madhatter isn’t fannying and I’m not fannying then the only fanny remaining is … you.’
I stifled a giggle. Okay. Finn wasn’t all bad.
Morgan sighed. ‘Gods preserve me,’ he said. He allowed himself one heated glance in my direction, which promised even more than I dared imagine, then shook himself and pointed at the main door to the clubhouse. ‘Come on, you two.’
We walked up to the dark, silent and closed doors. I scanned round, checking the exterior walls. I couldn’t see any cameras. Maybe, I thought hopefully, this golf course didn’t possess any CCTV cameras. It was high time some luck landed in our direction.
Morgan beckoned me forward. ‘I take it you don’t remember how to deal with locked doors?’
‘Kick them in?’ I suggested.
‘I rather think,’ he said drily, ‘that it would be a good idea if no one discovered our intrusion. There are other ways of gaining access.’ He smiled. ‘Faery ways.’
I rubbed my palms together. Excellent. I still wasn’t sure what powers I possessed so I was more than willing to let Morgan play the role of professor. Come to think of it, he’d actually look rather sexy in tweed… Whatever he wore, I’d still tie him to a tree so I could have my wicked way with him.
‘Raise both your hands,’ he instructed. ‘And focus on the lock. You need to visualise the mechanism inside. We don’t want to damage it because we don’t want anyone to know that we were here. You just need to see the lock turning in your mind’s eye and…’
There was a click. I let out a crow of delight. ‘And we will gain access.’ My eyes gleamed. ‘We should do this more often. There’s a bank not too far from Rubus’s current place. I can sneak inside. I’m sure there will be loads of cash lying around, just there for the taking.’
‘We’re not bank robbers, Madrona.’
I pouted. ‘You’re no fun.’
Finn, apparently bored by this exchange, muscled past us. He turned the door knob and entered the silent building. I shrugged at Morgan and followed him in.
The darkened reception area of the clubhouse greeted us. There was a solid wooden desk with nothing on top other than a blank computer screen and a glass bowl of boiled sweets. Photographs of golfing prowess adorned the walls, along with a large board proclaiming the winners of the local tournament for the last seventy-odd years.
I reached over, grabbed a sweet and unwrapped it. The sound of the wrapper filled the small space and Finn and Morgan glared. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘It’s not like anyone is here to hear us.’ I popped the sweet into my mouth then immediately spat it out again. Yuck. Aniseed flavour.
‘Pick that up,’ Finn hissed.
‘I’m not surprised this place is always deserted if this is the quality of their freebies,’ I said, bending down to scoop up the offending sweet and drop it in the bin.
‘It’s a bit hard to play golf in the middle of the night,’ Finn pointed out.
I considered this. ‘I don’t feel that the possibilities for that have been fully explored. You could have LED golf balls and glow-in-the-dark flags. Maybe some rave music to add to the ambience.’ I beamed.
‘Let’s just get a move on, shall we?’
‘You’re just jealous that you didn’t think of the idea first.’
Finn sighed. Obviously deciding that talking to me further would only highlight his own creative inefficiencies, he turned away and stomped behind the reception desk. He opened the door marked Staff Only and walked inside.
Morgan strode ahead, his head swinging from left to right. I grabbed another sweet. Maybe they weren’t all aniseed. Nope. I spat it out again. It hit the marbled floor and rolled. I shrugged. Maybe I’d leave it there just to confuse whoever was here in the morning.
It didn’t take long for my two boys to find the room we were looking for. Finn was about to leave the reception area when Morgan called out in a hushed voice and beckoned us over. Behind an ugly rubber plant was a door with the word ‘Security’ emblazoned on it. We went inside.
Whoever owned the golf course didn’t give much consideration to their security guards. The room was little more than a cupboard. Yellow high-vis jackets hung on the coat rack along one wall. There were various blinking red lights and a computer on a desk on the other.
Finn sat down and turned on the computer screen. Almost immediately, several grainy black-and-white images flickered into view. I leaned down to get a closer look, drawing in a sharp breath when I saw some of the live images.
