Natalia awoke, bound to a chair and blindfolded. The darkness of her confines made her panic and start struggling against her bonds. There was a loud creaking as a door opened. Slow footsteps approached her, stopping right in front of her. The presence of whoever was before her was threatening, even as she was trapped in the darkness of her blindfold.
"Wh-who's there?!"
Even so, Natalia mustered some bravery to ask. She felt the person move behind her, but didn't say anything. She wanted to bring herself to follow their motion, but she was frozen in place. A small 'click' was heard and she felt cold steel pressed against the back of her head.
"You will do well to answer my questions before you find out who I am."
The woman felt a surge of bravery.
"And what if I don't?"
There was no reply, but the press of steel getting harder on the back of her head was enough to show.
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As plans were put together, Aesop sat in his office, staring out of the window. He doesn't turn when Eli peeks in, clearing his throat softly. Eli stands behind Aesop, hands on his shoulder.
"Something bothering you?"
"Perhaps... Small issue, but if this isn't settled it is sure to evolve to a bigger one."
He leaned back against Eli, relishing the comfort of the warmth. Eli moved away to sit beside him, pouring tea into the cup. He passed it to Aesop, who blew on the surface before taking a sip. Eli leaned against the male's shoulder, staring out into the sea of clouds.
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Naib stared forward, not blinking. The mercenary was staring at the front gate from the window of a upper floor office. It may be far, but he could still see all the way down to the gates. The others were also stationed around the building in different corners, all waiting and watching. It was eerily silent in the buildings, but that was good. He watched on, waiting for anyone to go through. He looked at his watch, 2: 17 a. m. The first figure was spotted at 2:19 a.m. Followed by a few more when they made sure the coast was 'clear'. The figures disappeared from Naib's view when they entered the building, where soon they would probably disable the cameras.
The cameras.
Naib realised as he dashed to hide under something. If they were to make it to the cameras, surely they would see the people stationed in the building if they did not hide well. Naib grit his teeth, hoping the infiltrators wouldn't take much notice to the cameras. The longer he hid, the more impatient he grew. There had been nothing but silence, and he was beginning to wonder if he should go down to see what's going on when some footsteps were heard outside. He shrank back to the shadows, feeling his heart rate increase when he heard the door swing open.
"Is this the boss's office?"
"No I don't think so..."
"It's on the top floor idiots!"
A familiar voice rang out. They moved away from the office, footsteps fading off. One thing was for sure, they had something to do with Aesop's office. But that familiar voice... No, it can't be, right? He made a mental note to check out Aesop's office after they left to see if anything was off. hours passed by before they finally left. There had been creaking and drilling noises during that time. Naib was already itching to sprint upstairs by the time they went past the gate, locking it to make it seem like nothing ever happened.
He ran up, skipping multiple steps and tripping a few times. His heart raced as he barged into Aesop's office. He looked around every corner carefully, trying to find whatever they were drilling away at, but he found no new crevices in the surface. The carpeted floor was undisturbed, no dents of footprints or stains anywhere. Even so, he made sure to inform Aesop later on. Better safe than sorry.
The others had already gathered by the lobby, waiting for Naib. Norton stretched a little and stifled a yawn, clearly sleepy from hiding in one place for so long.
"So what did y'all see or hear?"
"A lot of drilling."
"Yea..."
"But I couldn't find anything out of place! Am I not doing it right..."
"No, it's alright. None of you are doing anything wrong. I heard drilling too, at boss's office. but I didn't find anything. No cracks, no marks, nothing."
A murmur went around the small group. Someone in the back piped up.
"At some point I thought I misheard, but one of the voices sounded a lot like Mr Riley."
Naib straightened and looked over at Norton, who was deep in thought. His brow was furrowed, not wanting to believe it. The person that said this cowered a little as everyone turned to him.
"Alright alright enough staring. Go on buddy, speak on."
"Well, I always passed documents to the secretary's office when they needed to be signed or approved, and I always hear Mr Riley telling the people to hurry up. He always repeats this phrase, "Come on come on I haven't got all day, times waits for no man." And just now as I was hiding, I heard that voice say this too..."
"Hm... What do you guys think?"
Norton excused himself to pick up a phone call. Naib watched him as he went to a corner, the same serious expression on his face. The mercenary had never seen him this concentrated before, and was even surprised when that expression was broken by a smirk. He walked back to the group of people and called for attention.
"I had someone placed near Freddy Riley's house in the evening, to monitor what time he reached home, and if he left after that. Now I would like to confirm, what time were the people spotted entering the building?"
"2:19."
"And what time was it when all of them left?"
"Approximately 4:00."
"Alright then. Freddy Riley arrived home after work as he usually would and didn't leave the house. However around 1:45 a.m. he was spotted getting into his car and pulling out of the garage. Around 4: 25 his car arrived back and he went in. He was dressed in full black clothing, had a black mask on and was holding a large case. He then tended to some plants outside before he finally went in."
He snapped his fingers as he smiled, showing his teeth.
"I suppose that's enough to prove he's suspicious. Any objections?"
