Suicide Mission (Guarded Secrets #1)

19: "I thought we had an intruder."

Once I had made it past the main entrance I glanced around to make sure there was no one here. I didn't see any lights on or hear voices as I slowly made my way through the hallway. When I was sure that there was no one near me, I dropped from the ceiling. The landing hadn't been as graceful as I had hoped, despite Rum's last minute training to help with my clumsy footing, but I had managed to not get stuck to the ceiling. I put the gloves back in my pocket, in hopes that I wouldn't need them again for the rest of my time here.

From what I could tell there was no one in this building, and hopefully that meant that this was going to be easier than the team or I anticipated. The lights were off and most of the doors were closed, but not locked. I assumed that it was because, as Spit Fire had said, everyone was getting ready to make the big move somewhere else in the compound. They assumed they were safe, that no one would attempt to break in after the previous failed mission, but they hadn't been expecting me. I was dedicated to finding this information and bringing it back to Sharp Shooter, then I could have a new life and help others instead of hurting myself and those around me.

Maybe I won't need Raider's help after all, I thought to myself preemptively as I started my search. I knew that there was at least one room in this building that was going to hold all the files. So one by one, I went into each of the offices and tried to look for anything that would be useful for us. I was told I could take anything and it would give us some information, but unfortunately most of the offices had been cleaned out. Most times, the entire room had been emptied and packed away in preparation for the move. There was nothing at times, not even a desk or a scrap of paper left behind, when I made it into some of the rooms. If there was anything important in these offices, we lost it.

When these guys moved, they moved, I thought to myself as I continued my search.

I would pull open drawers and cabinets in some of the offices that still had furniture in them, only to discover nothing except cobwebs and dust. After a while I was discouraged to even look in the stripped offices because there was nothing left in them. I kept going through a few more offices that had been packed way, just hoping for anything that would be useful, but eventually I gave up. I had to move on, mostly out of fear that I would get caught the longer I stayed in the building, but also that I needed to stop wasting my time and find what I needed. When I decided that the bare rooms would be a waste of my time, I was able to speed up the search for a room with more potential.

By racing past empty offices, I gave myself time to thoroughly search the ones that had something left in them. I had opened countless doors in the long hallway in my search. When I made it to the end of one hallway, I was led to another long corridor of doors. Eventually, I lost track because I was fully engulfed in the maze of corridors and doors. It reminded me a little too much of the agency building, and I was sure I wouldn't like that if I was about to get caught.

About half way through the hallway maze, I found the only office that was locked. "Bingo," I said to myself as I knelt down to inspect the lock. It was a simple door lock that you could pick with a credit card or a bobby pin. I had done it numerous times when I got locked out of my houses, so I knew how to do it, but sometimes that took too long. Luckily for me, I had a lock pick and I wouldn't have to waste time with the novice tools of the trade.

I produced the slender metal tools from my pockets and uncapped the protective coverings before I went to work on the lock. The lock popped open swiftly, and I was able to push the door to reveal the new room. A prideful smile spread across my lips as I silently congratulated myself for the speediness of the pick. I stepped in to see that this office had filing cabinets lining the walls and what wasn't covered with cabinets was covered with pictures. After all the other offices were open and had nothing in them, I figured that this would be the best shot I had for finding any information.