Something in the Orange

Chapter Three

Authors Note:
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"And when it all goes to Hell, will you be able to tell me "sorry" with a straight face?"
The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes - Fall Out Boy

Turning her car lights off, Vee creeps slowly down the street, it's barely midnight as she parks at the bottom of the hill, locking her car, she slowly sneaks through the shadows to the main gate. Shimmering up and over she sends a silent prayer to the pilates gods, thanking them for the strength.

Sticking to the shadows she creeps up the driveway, her eyes drawn to the yellow tape fluttering in the breeze. She adjusts her hood to ensure her profile is hidden as she approaches. The heavy wooden door cracked, from someone breaking it open. She covers hands with disposable gloves before turning the handle, the door swings open as she slips inside. Relief floods her as no alarm sounds.

Her eyes grow wide at the mansion in front of her, taking in all the glass, and white walls, the house shows no personality, just 50 shades of white and beige, nothing like the childhood home they grew up in.

Scanning the front rooms it appears that this is just the living areas, books strewn across the floors, along with glass and feathers, that she assumes are from the couch cushions. Shaking her head, her mind floods with criticism for ATF and the FBI, the lack of care causing anger to bubble inside.

Her eyes fall on the staircase tucked away, between the dining room and kitchen, she slowly heads up the stairs getting the first glimpse of this being someone's home, the frames lining the walls are smashed, but the photos in them remain. Her fingers brushing along the faces of ghosts that haunt her dreams.

Her mother's eyes warm with laughter as she holds a small Cristobal to her chest. As she moves along she sees pictures of her nephew, from a newborn to a toddler. A soft smile tugs at her lips as she thinks of the sweet baby boy she's only ever seen through a phone screen.

Sighing she remembers why she's there as she reaches the top step, the mess downstairs nothing compared to what's in front her, ATF left no item unturned as they ransacked the place. Anger rises in her as she makes her way down the hall, opening doors. As she reaches the final door on the left she smiles.

"Bingo" she mutters entering Miguel's office. His office in complete disarray, paper and books litter every surface. Shaking her head, Vee heads to the ceiling to floor cupboards, the doors already open as the shelving inside had been pulled apart. As a kid she used to love hiding in the hidden panels throughout their house, thanking the gods that Miguel was a creature of habit and had installed similar panelling in his new home.

"Idiots" she mutters as she grips the metal shelves, tugging on them until she feels them unlatch and she's able to slide them to the opposite side. Pushing on the wall until she finds the weak spot and the panel pops open.

She punches in Miguel's code and the whole panel gives away, a small safe room open in front of her, her eyes grow wide at the sheer volume of files in front of her.

slipping her backpack off her shoulders, she gets to work, quickly locating a secondary hiding spot, the system in the house is the same as her apartment, which doesn't surprise her, Miguel used the same contacts as José, and José had fitted out her apartment.

Popping open the panel, silver drawers slide out, hiding Miguel's personal laptop and diaries inside. She quickly scoops it up and shoves them into her backpack. her eyes rake over all the expandable files lining one side of the room. She wonders how many she can fit into her backpack, when a noise from downstairs has her spinning around, her breath hitching.