The voices become clearer as they get closer, so now I can tell that at least one of them is a girl.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
A guy answers. “Yes, I’m sure. Would you stop freaking out? You’re making me freak out.”
They could be teenagers or maybe college students. Their voices are too youthful to be older than that. I’m not sure whether this reassures me or makes me more panicked. Kids are prone to making rash decisions. Kids do stupid things when under pressure. Do they have a gun?
“You guys leave lights on in here?” the girl says. “That’s very wasteful, you know.” Apparently, we have a future environmentalist in the building. Nice. I roll my eyes. Doesn’t she realize what she’s doing is more serious than leaving a few lights on? She’s breaking and entering! Where are her parents when she’s off breaking the law?
“How am I supposed to know?” the guy says. “I don’t work here.”
Interesting. The guy doesn’t work here, but he seems to be the one initiating this little visit. Is he here to steal something? Is he related to somebody who works here? I feel like a total spy right now. I strain to hear as much as I can. Who knows? I might be asked to be a witness at some future date.
I duck down even farther. Only the top of my head and my eyeballs are over the top of the desk now. Shadows appear outside the glass windows of the office I’m in. I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t bother turning a light on when I came in. The glow of the computer screen is enough to illuminate the whole room, especially with the lights from the office across the hall shining in. Lucky will be in full view if they go into that office more than a few feet. He’s too big to hide anywhere.
“Come on,” the guy says. “It’s in here.”
Now I can see the two figures clearly. They’re young, but the guy is big. Really big. Like football-player big.
I’ve seen enough. I duck down all the way below the desk, and climb into the knee-hole very carefully and quietly. I pray they can’t hear me breathing. I nearly have a heart attack when the light to the office goes on.
What will I do? What will I say? Will the big guy beat me up? Will he call the police? How will I explain my presence here? Will they believe I’m part of the cleaning crew? That I have permission to be here?
I knew I shouldn’t have come. I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I do this? This is like breaking and entering. Why did I think this had no risk? A thousand other thoughts are running through my brain, and my ears are on fire as I try to imagine the many different scenarios that could possibly roll out in the next five seconds.
I hear footsteps on the carpeted floor. Closer and closer they come . . .
Here it comes . . . The moment of truth . . .
A loud crash rings out from another office.
“What was that?” the girl asks, sounding almost as panicked as I feel.
“Wait here. I’m going to go check.”
“I’m not waiting here by myself! Don’t leave me alone! No way!”
When I hear them leave the office, I let out a long sigh of relief. Lucky caused a distraction to take the heat off me, but now he’s in trouble. What should I do? We’re a team! I can’t abandon him, much as I might want to.
I grab my cell phone and text the first person I think of who can save me. Dev. I don’t stop to question why it’s him who comes to mind and not the actual police, who are supposed to be acting as our backup.
Me: Help! We’re busted! Someone’s here!
His answer comes immediately.
Dev: Can you get out without being seen? Do they have weapons?
Me: I don’t know!
Dev: Call 911. Give them as much detail as you can. Hide. I’m on my way.
I dial 911, holding the phone to my ear and covering my mouth so that I can muffle my voice as much as possible. I hear nothing in the office from Lucky, and I have no idea where the couple has gone, but they can’t be far.
The dispatcher at the police department picks up my call. “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
I whisper as softly as I can and still be heard. “Hi. I’m with Bourbon Street Boys Security, and we’re at the Blue Marine administrative offices doing some night work, and there’s been a break-in. Can you send someone?”
“Ma’am, we have already received a call from your location, and officers are just outside the rear door. Can you tell us if there are any weapons involved?”
Relief flows through me. Of course Lucky called them. It’s probably what I should’ve done in the first place.
“I’m not sure. There are two people who look to be in their early twenties, maybe, or late teens. One of them is not familiar with this office, but the other one is; however, he doesn’t work here.”
“Do you recognize them? How do you know this information?”
“I overheard their conversation. I don’t know what they’re here for, but the male said something about showing the girl something. He’s very big. I didn’t see any weapons, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”
“Thank you. Are you in a secure location?”
“Yes. I’m hiding under a desk in the office on the left, farthest from the back door.” I’m actually very proud of myself that I remembered my location and was able to pinpoint it so accurately. I feel kind of secret-agent-ish. Now that the police are right outside, my fears have taken a backseat to my involvement in this little scenario. It’s not nearly as awful as it was two minutes ago. Adrenaline is making me tremble all over, though. I’m sweating too. Fun on a Wednesday night!
“Copy that,” the dispatcher says. “Please hold the line.”
My ear and cheek are sweating where the phone is pressed up against my face. I can smell my breath, and it ain’t pretty. But I’m not moving, no matter what. I’ll stay here until I cramp up and keel over. The only way I’m crawling out is if Lucky comes and tells me it’s all clear.
“Ma’am are you still on the line?” asks the operator.
“Yes. I’m here.”
“The officers are going to enter the location. Stay where you are. Do not get involved.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
The next thing I hear is a banging on the door and someone shouting. I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds episodes to know that they’re doing their knock and announce before entering. I hope they don’t break the door in. I don’t remember hearing those two people locking the door behind them.
The back door bangs open and a voice comes to my ears much clearer.
“This is the New Orleans Police Department! We are entering the building! If you are in this building, you are trespassing. Please come out with your hands up. Do not draw any weapons.” I hear little footsteps running and then the girl screaming.
A male voice comes next; I think it’s the tall intruder. “Hey! We’re not trespassers! My dad owns this place.”
I roll my eyes. Holy shit. What are the chances that the one night we decide to come work here, an owner’s son also decides to come out to the office to cop a feel with his girlfriend?
The lights go on and shine brightly into the office. I squeeze my knees against my chest. I don’t think Ozzie would want Lucky or me to show our presence here to these two kids. The file says that there are four owners of this business, and I have to believe that this kid is related to one of the owners who is not in the know about our operation. Mr. Jorgensen would’ve made sure to keep an eye on his kid on the night he knew we’d be coming here.
A police officer is in the middle of the hallway, speaking to the two intruders. I can’t see anything, but I can tell from the sound of his voice that he’s not by the office I’m in. I stay put anyway.
“Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“I told you, man, this is my father’s office. I’m not intruding, so you can’t arrest me.”
“Son, I am not going to debate this with you. I don’t know who you are, and I’m not in the habit of taking the word of peopl
e who break and enter a business at one o’clock in the morning. So turn around and put your hands behind your back. We’ll work this out after I have you secured.”
“Jerry, just do what he’s saying.”
“Shut up, Heather. He can’t tell me what to do. This is my property.”
I hear a boom and a struggle and then some swearwords. “Get off me, man!”
There’s more grunting, followed by sounds of clicking. “You have the right to remain silent . . .” The voices get fainter as the intruder is hauled off down the hallway. When I finally get brave enough to pop my head up above the desk, there’s a man standing in the hallway looking right at me. My eyes go wide. Thank God he’s wearing a police uniform, or I probably would have passed out with fear.
He winks at me, gives me a little salute, and walks away, headed for the back door. I sink back down onto the carpet, feeling like I’m going to vomit. My head is spinning and I’m covered in cold sweat.
I cannot believe that just happened. Sounds of the girl whining and her boyfriend grumbling disappear as the delinquents and the arresting officers leave the building. There are locking noises and then silence.
I wait there in that office sitting on my butt listening to my heartbeat in my ears for the longest time, surprised I’m not having a heart attack. I didn’t know my heart could even go this fast. I hold my hands out in front of me and marvel at how much they’re trembling. I look like a drug addict in bad need of a fix.
Soon enough, there’s a sound coming from the doorway. Then Lucky is there standing next to my desk, looking down at me as he holds his hands out. “Can I help you up?”
I grab his hands and use them to leverage myself onto my feet. I brush my pants off and straighten myself up as best I can. I waste a little more time smoothing my hair back into its ponytail. It’s probably hopeless, but I need these few extra seconds to calm myself down. It isn’t Lucky’s fault that this happened, but I am very tempted to take my anger out on him anyway.
“So, that was unexpected.” He gives me a half grin.
“It most certainly was.” I don’t share his sense of humor over it.
He gestures at my computer. “Are you finished here?”
I grab the seat and pull it over, sitting down on it. “Almost.” Work will calm me down and take my mind off the craziness I just suffered. Turning the monitor on, I verify that the upload of the virus is complete. “Yes. All finished.” I eject the thumb drive from the computer and pull it from the tower. Standing, I move the chair back into the spot where it was when I first arrived. “Are you finished?” I’m really proud of myself. Inside, I feel like I want to tear some doll heads off or Hulk-out on this guy, but outside I’m as cool as a cucumber. Lucky would never know from looking at my calm expression that I want to maim him.
“The only thing we have left is the actual server. How about if we go do that one together?”
I nod. “I’m just going to make a quick phone call and I’ll join you.”
Lucky nods and walks off. I step into the hallway and call Dev. He answers on the first ring.
“Are you okay?” The sounds of traffic are in the background. He’s still on his way to rescue me, I think.
I sigh heavily, so relieved to hear his voice on the other end of the line. It somehow magically makes all the crap I just went through seem like not such a big deal anymore. “I’m fine. The police showed up and hauled two kids out of here. I can’t believe I panicked like that over teenagers. You don’t need to come out here. Really, we’re fine. I overreacted.”
“Hey, don’t say that. You had every right to freak out. And you handled it perfectly.”
“Perfectly? I don’t think so. I called you, and I’m pretty sure I should’ve called the cops.”
“I’m your trainer, in charge of your personal security. I’m glad you called me. But next time, yeah. Maybe call the cops first.”
We both chuckle.
“What are you doing now?” he asks.
“Just finishing up with the server.” I peek around the corner, but Lucky is out of sight. “I probably need to go help Lucky out.”
“Okay. I’ll let you go. Thanks.”
“For what? Making you panic?”
“No,” he says, his voice going softer. “For calling me when you were scared.”
I snort. “Scared? Who was scared?”
He laughs. “That’s my girl.”
I hang up feeling like my brain is filled with helium. I could float, I’m so high with a combination of post-panic adrenaline, boy-crush hormones, and the idea that when things got too hot to handle, I still did almost everything right. I didn’t panic too much, and I walked away without a scratch. I am the honey badger, and I don’t take no shit from nobody.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
On my way to join Lucky, I take my cell phone, which still has that one unanswered text to my sister floating on the screen, and send May another message telling her it was a false alarm and to ignore it. Lie.
I enter a large storage closet that houses all of the office supplies and the server for the Blue Marine administrative offices. Lucky is there and he’s just finished hooking his laptop up to the computer.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod. “Yep.”
He goes to work, following the instructions I gave him before we got here. I watch over his shoulder to make sure he doesn’t miss any steps, correcting him and pointing things out when he makes minor errors.
“I’m so glad you’re here with me,” he says, waiting for a command to run its course.
I don’t know what to say to that. He’s glad that I was here when intruders came? He’s glad that my life was at stake? Is he crazy?
“When stuff like that happens, you just have to fly by the seat of your pants. You’re obviously a quick thinker and good on your feet.”
I’m trying not to warm at his compliment, but it’s difficult. Who doesn’t like to be called a quick thinker?
“Well, I sent a text to my sister, and I called Dev before I called nine-one-one, so I don’t know how cool I actually was.”
He looks up at me for a moment. “Really? That’s awesome. You’re even better than I thought you were.”
I refuse to smile, even though I definitely feel complimented now. It doesn’t feel like that big a deal to make a couple calls. Anyone would have done what I did. “Why? I don’t get it.”
“You didn’t freeze up. You didn’t panic. You just saw the situation, and you handled it. You did exactly the right thing.”
“I felt like I was completely out of my element, and that I was doing everything wrong.”
He stops working to focus on me. “No, absolutely not. I know you haven’t had any training in this kind of thing, in security work of any kind, but I think you’re a lot like your sister. I think you’re a natural.”
“I don’t get why you think my sister is a natural. I mean, she’s a great photographer, nobody’s debating that, but she’s not a ball buster.”
He points to the computer screen. “Am I done here?”
I type in a new command and then nod when it finishes five seconds later. “Yep. We’re done.”
Lucky powers down and closes his laptop. As he disconnects it from the server and packs it into his case, he responds. “Being a ball buster only comes in handy once in a great while. What we need on our team, what we consider an asset, is somebody who can think on her feet, who has quick reflexes and a sharp mind. Somebody who’s observant, who can evaluate a situation, and on-the-fly make the right decision on how to deal with it. Your sister, from the moment she walked through our doors, was able to do that. You really can’t train that stuff. You’re either that kind of person or you’re not.” He focuses on me with a very serious expression. “We can work from a certain base and improve on it, but if you don’t have the base to begin with, there’s not much we can do. Your sister was born with that, and now I know you were too.” He shrugs as he throws his computer cas
e’s strap over his shoulder.
“Lucky, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to tell you . . . I was scared shitless when those people were in here. I’m not so sure I have this fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants base you’re talking about.”
“So? So was I. That’s a totally natural reaction. If you had reacted any other way, I’d worry about you.”
“Do you mean to tell me that every time you guys are faced with a conflict, you’re scared?”
Lucky puts his heavy hand on my shoulder and stares me down. “Never underestimate the power of fear, Jenny. Fear keeps you alive. And if you’re special, fear helps you focus. Fear helps you zero in on the solution that you need to execute immediately. May has that instinct. I think you do too. But we’re gonna let Dev and Ozzie decide if I’m right.” He lets me out of his grip and moves to leave the server room.
I rush to fall in behind him. Just the sound of that man’s name makes me feel calmer. “Why does Dev decide?”
“Dev is our trainer, but not just with physical training. It also includes mental training. Dev can usually tell pretty early on whether somebody has the mental strength to handle the entire training package.”
Now I have a bunch of questions, but I’m afraid that every single one of them is going to sound like me seeking compliments. So instead of asking anything, I just mull over what he said. We collect all of our things from the first desks where we started, turn out the lights, and head down the hall together.
“Are you sure it’s safe to go out there?” I ask.
“I’m going to double-check before we open the door.” Lucky takes out his phone and sends a text. A few seconds later there’s a response and he nods. “We’re good to go. Stay behind me.”